Eating back calories

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cydneebauman
cydneebauman Posts: 122 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you all eat back your exercise calories? I'm finding myself satisfied with my allowed calories without eating back what I burn exercising.

Am I eating too less?

Replies

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Well, this is how the website is designed. You get a calorie deficit before exercise, so adding calories back (ideally) gets you to your original deficit. The trick is figuring out how many calories to eat back because calorie burns are estimates (some estimate are better than others).

    Under eating can lead to a host of problems: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322157.php

    Hunger isn't a good indicator of adequate nutrtion if that's what you mean by satisfied. How fast are you losing weight? You could actually be eating more calories than you think.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    Yes. You need to eat back the exercise calories if you are using MFP's calorie goals. If not, you are eating at a bigger deficit than you are supposed to, and depending the size of your deficit, that can be unhealthy.

    I am actually less hungry on days I exercise than on days when I don't. I still make sure to get the required calories to fuel my body properly.
  • cydneebauman
    cydneebauman Posts: 122 Member
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    TeaBea wrote: »
    Well, this is how the website is designed. You get a calorie deficit before exercise, so adding calories back (ideally) gets you to your original deficit. The trick is figuring out how many calories to eat back because calorie burns are estimates (some estimate are better than others).

    Under eating can lead to a host of problems: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322157.php

    Hunger isn't a good indicator of adequate nutrtion if that's what you mean by satisfied. How fast are you losing weight? You could actually be eating more calories than you think.
    TeaBea wrote: »
    Well, this is how the website is designed. You get a calorie deficit before exercise, so adding calories back (ideally) gets you to your original deficit. The trick is figuring out how many calories to eat back because calorie burns are estimates (some estimate are better than others).

    Under eating can lead to a host of problems: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322157.php

    Hunger isn't a good indicator of adequate nutrtion if that's what you mean by satisfied. How fast are you losing weight? You could actually be eating more calories than you think.

    I weigh everything, so I know my calories I consume are pretty accurate.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    Of course I do.
  • lin_be
    lin_be Posts: 393 Member
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    Yes. I’m starving if I don’t.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    As you are under-cutting the calorie goal that you selected by the options you picked when you filled in your set up then yes - you are eating too little.

    My overriding goal was and still remains good health and eating the appropriate amount of food (not too much, not too little) is a part of that.
  • 1BlueAurora
    1BlueAurora Posts: 439 Member
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    I eat them back. My body needs the fuel to exercise. When I didn’t I lost weight too fast and started losing my hair! It took months to reverse that trend.
  • matrosov65
    matrosov65 Posts: 25 Member
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    I eat some of them back. I think MFP guides you at 500 calorie deficit. My research and talking to my doc it is more a range in between 500-1000 calorie deficit is acceptable. So days I feel that I'm stuffed. I push that upper limit of 1K and days I feel hungry I eat them all back and stay at that 500 mark or anywhere in between. Your mileage will vary significantly. I only have 10 pounds to loose and I'm in the gym 4-5 times a week and doing some physical projects, like yard work or outdoor stuff with kids, on weekends. I also use fitbit and I think it is too generous with how it gives you exercise calories to the tune of 30-40 percent so that gives me some safety net as well of not running too much of a deficit. Regardless of all that you should make sure that you eat the MFP minimum I think it's 1500 cals.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    matrosov65 wrote: »
    I eat some of them back. I think MFP guides you at 500 calorie deficit. My research and talking to my doc it is more a range in between 500-1000 calorie deficit is acceptable. So days I feel that I'm stuffed. I push that upper limit of 1K and days I feel hungry I eat them all back and stay at that 500 mark or anywhere in between. Your mileage will vary significantly. I only have 10 pounds to loose and I'm in the gym 4-5 times a week and doing some physical projects, like yard work or outdoor stuff with kids, on weekends. I also use fitbit and I think it is too generous with how it gives you exercise calories to the tune of 30-40 percent so that gives me some safety net as well of not running too much of a deficit. Regardless of all that you should make sure that you eat the MFP minimum I think it's 1500 cals.

    MFP sets a deficit based on the rate of loss you choose. If someone chooses 1 lb/week then yes it’s a 500 calorie daily deficit. The rate of loss and the deficit one can sustain is also dependent on how much someone has to lose. Generally only those with 50-100 lbs to lose should be aiming for 2 lbs per week or a 1000 calorie deficit. If you have less than 20 lbs to lose it’s advisable to go for 0.5 lbs/week in order to preserve lean body mass and help ease the transition to maintenance - which is what you should be aiming for. That would be a 250 cal deficit.

    FitBit can overestimate calorie burn for some individuals, but often what happens is that people just mistrust the large adjustments because they have a preconceived notion of how much they burn. For example I’m a petite female with a desk job but when I’m active, averaging 12-15 k steps per day and exercising, FitBit says I burn around 2200 calories, which is well above what a calculator based on my stats would predict. Thing is, that is what I burn and I know that because I trusted the adjustments, are back the calories, logged fairly actively, monitored my results and lost the weight I wanted to lose at the predicted pace and I’ve been in maintenance for several years now trusting those numbers.


  • matrosov65
    matrosov65 Posts: 25 Member
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    For me fitbit is in the ballpark but I wouldn't say it's entirely accurate. I am 5'6 157 lbs so my BMR is 1589 a day or 66 an hour according to online sources When I go for a 2 mile brisk walk on treadmill at 3.5 mph fitbit consistently gives me burn rate of close to 400 cals. Everywhere I looked the estimate is 200 cals add BMR to it and it should be call it 300. Similarly with weights. My fitbit calorie adjustment on my weight days is pushing 1K. That's for a circuit or two of lighter weights and higher reps and a 2 mile walk in the evening. According again to online estimates it should be round about 400 mark for weights for the total of 700. So I tend to split the difference most days. And know that I can always have a snack or two if I choose to.

    Since I got into weights again recently it's hard for me to figure out my loss rate so far last three weeks I lost 2 pounds and an inch and half off the waist.
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
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    I eat some of them back.

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