Noobie. Confused about eating back calories and exercising

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Briankbl
Briankbl Posts: 13 Member
edited February 2019 in Fitness and Exercise
So, I just started this journey this week. Up until today, I've been using my WearOS watch to track heart rate and calories burned. I just discovered MFP today and decided on the free trial. This app introduced me to the concept of increasing my calorie goal due to exercise, and it broke my brain lol. I think I understand the concept of eating back calories, but I'm still confused. It also seems like a method that could dissuade one from working out and exercising. Say my cal goal is around 1500. I do some HIIT, cutting 500 calories. Now I need to eat that 500 back. I understand that will get me back to the 1500 goal, but my brain still reads that HIIT workout as being counterproductive. My brain reads it as "maybe I shouldn't have done that HIIT workout in the first place since I have to put those calories I burned right back in".

Can someone help me understand this better? Thanks.

Edit: I really don't think I can even eat 1300 more calories today lol. Attached some pics. n7bjugo6fdoy.png
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Replies

  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 860 Member
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    If your goal is 1500 and you burn 500 off with exercise that puts you at 1000 net which is the same as eating 1000 calories which in the long term could lead to under fueling your body. Mfp is setup so you choose a activity level based on everyday activity before exercise then you log and eat back at least a portion of the calories earned (I say as portion as they can be over estimated) most people start with 50% and track their progress from their
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    angelsja wrote: »
    If your goal is 1500 and you burn 500 off with exercise that puts you at 1000 net which is the same as eating 1000 calories which in the long term could lead to under fueling your body. Mfp is setup so you choose a activity level based on everyday activity before exercise then you log and eat back at least a portion of the calories earned (I say as portion as they can be over estimated) most people start with 50% and track their progress from their

    ^ and it focuses on calories for weight loss and exercise for fitness.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    Your goal calculates how many calories you need to eat to lose your desired amount if you don't do any exercise. If you exercise, you burn more calories, so you can eat more and still reach your goal.

    Exercise really shouldn't be thought of as a tool to let you lose more weight faster. It should be thought of as a tool to allow you to eat more and still hit your goals, as well as for overall fitness and health.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1
  • whatalazyidiot
    whatalazyidiot Posts: 343 Member
    edited February 2019
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    I won't be able to give a better explanation as far as how it is calculated, but this is how I like to look at it:

    MFP calculates your calories before you do any type of exercise.

    Other weight loss apps calculate your calories with expected or assumed exercise, so the calories are always higher on other apps than on MFP. But everyone is different with different activity levels, so it just seems really flawed to me.

    The reason I prefer the MFP method is because it is easy to see how much more I can eat on days I exercise, and what my calories should be if I feel lazy and don't want to do anything.

    It just makes more sense to me.
  • Briankbl
    Briankbl Posts: 13 Member
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    Thanks so much for the responses! So with my calorie burned at 685, I should eat back around half to begin with and go from there. So instead of needing to eat 1385 calories to reach my goal, I should only eat around 1042 for the rest of the day. If I'm following correctly.
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 860 Member
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    Briankbl wrote: »
    Thanks so much for the responses! So with my calorie burned at 685, I should eat back around half to begin with and go from there. So instead of needing to eat 1385 calories to reach my goal, I should only eat around 1042 for the rest of the day. If I'm following correctly.

    Eat whatever mfp gave you + half your earned exercise cals
  • Briankbl
    Briankbl Posts: 13 Member
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    Ok, thanks for the insight everyone. It seriously helped a ton! Thanks!
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
    edited February 2019
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    tsazani wrote: »
    There is a difference between calories USED during exercise and calories BURNED. Know the difference. I keep it simple.

    If I'm trying to lose weight (most of the time) I eat my BMR (basal metabolic rate) and add in my exercise burned calories. E.g. 1800 cal + 300 exercise = 2100 cal.

    When I'm trying to maintain weight (rarely) I eat my TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) and add in my exercise burned calories. E.g. 2100 cal + 300 exercise = 2400 cal.

    TDEE already includes exercise.

    That’s using NEAT and adding exercise.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
    edited February 2019
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    tsazani wrote: »
    I calculate my TDEE without exercise. Just the extra calorie burn of not lying in bed all day which gives you the BMR (basal metabolic rate).

    I'd never heard about NEAT until this thread. I'd say use it if my simple way doesn't work.

    Not disagreeing with you using what works for you, but the terminology is incorrect. TDEE is Total Daily Energy Expenditure which includes exercise. I don't want people reading to be confused if they use a TDEE calculator.

    NEAT is Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis is your bmr, plus daily activity outside intentional exercise. This is what this site uses and that's why you add in exercise as you go.

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