Does everyone use the extra calories earned from exercise ?

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turnpike1920
turnpike1920 Posts: 5 Member
in Motivation and Support
I didn't lose last week so I'm guessing I shouldn't use my extra calories earned from exercise ? would be good to get your feedback on this and any tips / advice.
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  • mmstoeckle
    mmstoeckle Posts: 491 Member
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    I never lose if I eat my exercise calories. Estimates on actual calorie burn can be unreliable. I also have to be consistent with water too.
  • BuddhaBunnyFTW
    BuddhaBunnyFTW Posts: 157 Member
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    I try not to but it's a nice cushion if you are feeling like an extra nibble.
  • meganpettigrew86
    meganpettigrew86 Posts: 349 Member
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    I eat back what my fitbit tells me I burnt and it seems accurate. Mfp is known to overestimate and alot of people halve the mfp estimates. Only time I didn't eat back exercise calories was when cutting for fight and that was not fun.
  • liz0269
    liz0269 Posts: 139 Member
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    I went online and calculated an average calorie burn for an hour of exercise. I did this because I do several different things. I had been warned that MFP estimates high and I wanted an easy way to get an accurate calorie allowance. I average 330 calories per hour.
    This has worked really well for me. My weight is tracking right where it should be.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
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    I used to eat half my exercise calories back, and continued to lose at faster than MFP's estimate.

    Currently I eat almost all my exercise calories back, and when I do that I maintain/lose correctly. Then again, I log my food meticulously and slightly lowball my exercise.

    If I didn't eat back at least some of the calories I burn in 14 miles of cross-country hiking, or five miles of walking and two gym classes, I'd be in a pretty bad way.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,878 Member
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    Does everyone use the extra calories earned from exercise ?

    Yes ... always.

    Roughly 50% if I do a little bit of exercise like an hour's brisk walk.
    Roughly 75% if I do a medium amount of exercise like 2-3 hours of cycling.
    Roughly 95% if I do a lot of exercise like 6 hours of cycling.
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    edited June 2019
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    I've always used my exercise calories both when losing and during the 6 years I've been maintaining. I do use a fitness tracker to make sure I am logging walks at the right speed (its easy to ever-estimate, especially if its hot or you are going uphill!). I don't always eat all the calories on the day they are earned, but save them for the weekend. I always use a scale to weigh ingredients such as pasta - never use cup measurements or "average plate" entries, as that is far more likely to undermine your weight loss. If you log accurately you will lose weight eating your exercise calories.
    I have always used the MFP estimates with no problem - I know some trackers (including fitbit) can over-estimate calorie burn so I don't sync my tracker to MFP.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,170 Member
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    A week is too short a time to judge: Weight loss isn't linear.

    I estimated exercise calories carefully, and ate them all back, while losing about 50 pounds in less than a year at age 59-60, and have continued to do the same in 3 years since of maintaining a healthy weight.

    If someone has a slow weight loss target rate (for their current size) and doesn't do a lot of exercise, it can be OK to take the exercise calories as an add-on to calorie deficit (i.e., not eat them back). On the flip side, someone trying to lose weight fast, and doing a lot of exercise, would be taking quite a big health risk by not eating exercise calories back. Losing weight too slowly is frustrating, but losing weight too fast can be dangerous.

    In between those extremes, it's a matter of balancing risks vs. rewards. Fast weight loss isn't necessarily best: It's about balancing weight loss rate, sustainability of that weight loss rate (can we stick to it), health, and energy level (fatigue = reduced energy = reduced activity = lower daily life calorie burn: counterproductive).

    I'd suggest giving it another 2-3 weeks before making any major changes. Sometimes there's a bit of a water-rentention roller-coaster in the first weeks of weight loss, and extra water retention can mask fat loss on the scale. With a little more time, you should be able to get a better idea of what's really happening.
  • turnpike1920
    turnpike1920 Posts: 5 Member
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    Thank you to all who have responded, Im finding the discipline of logging everything good and Im convinced I will get there. Injury and poor mobility have taken their toll over the last 6 months and its a daily struggle to exercise the little Im doing , mainly short walks at a slow pace and swimming. I have taken all your tips and inspiring advice on board I will let you know how I get on .
  • PiscesIntuition
    PiscesIntuition Posts: 1,365 Member
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    I had not been eating calories back. I decided to give it a shot. When I did, I lost nothing that week. So now, I’m back to not eating my calories back.
  • Barbee1933
    Barbee1933 Posts: 5 Member
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    I think it really depends on how many calories extra you get, if it's a small amount, I'd reccomend you don't. In talking with my nutritionist, she suggested I don't eat the extra in which I wasn't anyhow. Also when I showed her what my daily alloted calories were, I needed to reduce it by 400-500 calories. She likes this app but found it a bit higher on the allotted calories given and so in order for me to lose I needed to reduce and it's going pretty well I'd say!
  • Runaroundafieldx2
    Runaroundafieldx2 Posts: 233 Member
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    Barbee1933 wrote: »
    I think it really depends on how many calories extra you get, if it's a small amount, I'd reccomend you don't. In talking with my nutritionist, she suggested I don't eat the extra in which I wasn't anyhow. Also when I showed her what my daily alloted calories were, I needed to reduce it by 400-500 calories. She likes this app but found it a bit higher on the allotted calories given and so in order for me to lose I needed to reduce and it's going pretty well I'd say!
    Does she not understand very basic mathematics?

    The app does not calculate calories, you do by the information you input
  • Runaroundafieldx2
    Runaroundafieldx2 Posts: 233 Member
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    I use around half of my exercise calories on the day then save the other half for a meal out and alcohol on the weekends

  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    turnpike1920 wrote: »
    I didn't lose last week so I'm guessing I shouldn't use my extra calories earned from exercise ? would be good to get your feedback on this and any tips / advice.

    I eat back half. I also try to walk at least 2 hours a day, strength train 5 days a week, and am currently training for a 5K run 3 days a week. Let's just say my workouts need fuel.

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