Eating Calories Back After A Workout

PoundsOfJules
PoundsOfJules Posts: 28 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there!

So I've been going through some of the boards and it seems like the general rule of thumb is to eat half of your workout calories back. Does this mean that these calories should be consumed on the day you workout or can they be spread to days you don't workout as long as the deficit is still present at the end of the week?

Thanks :)

Replies

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    You can bank calories and spread them out. MFP is designed for you to eat them. the reason people say 50% is due to overestimations in cals burned on MFP and many machines such as elliptical.

    MFP uses NEAT method in which you eat the cals back, or there is TDEE which averages your workout cals/week. pick one method and stick with it long enough to see if it works for you.

    As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" or TDEE calculator may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

    So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

    What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.
  • PoundsOfJules
    PoundsOfJules Posts: 28 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    You can bank calories and spread them out. MFP is designed for you to eat them. the reason people say 50% is due to overestimations in cals burned on MFP and many machines such as elliptical.

    MFP uses NEAT method in which you eat the cals back, or there is TDEE which averages your workout cals/week. pick one method and stick with it long enough to see if it works for you.

    As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" or TDEE calculator may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

    So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

    What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.
    aisak13 wrote: »
    Honestly, MFP's suggested calories and macros are horrid... but as E said above, pick a method and stick with it. I find it easier to use TDEE as I am consistent with my workouts and my activity, so it makes meal planning a hell of a lot easier than saying "How much did I burn today". But that's what works for me... and yes, you can spread out your calories over the week.

    Thank you tons for breaking that down for me! When I started I was eating back all the cals and not losing any weight so I just stopped eating them back. That hasn't really been working either and - seems like you agree - not eating them back is wrong.

    It sounds like using the TDEE will make it loads easier for prepping and keeping consistant, as my workout schedule is relatively consistant.

    One of my biggest concerns is picking a method, sticking with it, and it ends up not being the correct one. Although I suppose anything is better than what I had been doing!!

    Thank you again both for your input :smile:
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
    I would not be able to eat at a deficit without eating exercise calories back, I only get 1300 cals and it is a struggle for me to eat that on days I completely rest from exercise. Even if it’s just 120 calories from lifting, I need those.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    On days like today where I burned over 400 calories rowing inside, I wouldn't be able to maintain a healthy deficit without eating exercise calories back. My calorie consumption would be way too low.
  • liz0269
    liz0269 Posts: 139 Member
    A third option is to do as suggested and eat back half of your calories but keep an eye on your weekly stats. In the app, at the bottom of the page is a button called Nutrition. If you click that, you can view your stats. There is an option to toggle by day or week. You can also set it up in the options to show for a fixed seven day period or for a rolling seven day period. I have mine reset every Monday. This gives me flexibility over the weekend because I know I have earned the extra calories. I never let myself go over my weekly calories.
    As far as calorie accuracy, I went a different route. I calculated an average calorie burn per hour of exercise and that's what I use. I do a variety of things but they average out to 330 calories per hour. It's easier to track and it is working. I am rarely hungry. I put in half a pound a week of loss and I am actually losing 3/4 to a pound per week so I am happy.

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