Do you eat Your Exercise Calories

Do you eat back your exercise calories even when your stomach/body is telling you your full for the day.
«134567

Replies

  • thisvickyruns
    thisvickyruns Posts: 193 Member
    I work to my weekly goal, and eat all my exercise calories, just maybe not all on the same day.

  • mpkpbk2015
    mpkpbk2015 Posts: 766 Member
    I work to my weekly goal, and eat all my exercise calories, just maybe not all on the same day.

    Thanks for sharing, I was just wondering since it seems like your supposed to eat back the calories you get from exercising and when ever I do that I am either too full or gain that week.
  • kenlad64
    kenlad64 Posts: 377 Member
    I don't eat back all my exercise calories, but I do have some as long as the macros stay balanced, or as balanced as I can get them
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,036 Member
    mpkpbk2015 wrote: »
    Do you eat back your exercise calories even when your stomach/body is telling you your full for the day.

    My stomach/body rarely tells me I'm full for the day. It's really easy for me to add calorie with high calorie low volume foods, ice-cream is one of my favorites after I've done a run for example. Or I might also have a larger dinner than usual after a high exercise day.

    I do eat back all of my exercise calories, as calculated by my Garmin, because my experience has shown me that it's accurate. (I don't necessarily eat them back the same day, I might leave some for the next day for example.) But depending on the source of the calculation, the estimated calorie burn might be inflated, so that's something to take into consideration when deciding how many calories to eat back.

    Shorter term weight gain isn't necessarily fat gain, it could also be some water retention from the exercise or extra food waste in your system from eating more.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    I use the TDEE method...so essentially, yes...I do eat back exercise calories in that they are already included in my total activity level and I take my cut from TDEE. I don't use the MFP method of setting activity level to day to day stuff and logging exercise separately...but when I did, it pretty much worked out to be 6 of 1, half dozen of the other.

    With MFP I had 2000 calories to lose about 1 Lb per week...with logging exercise I was eating around 2300-2500 gross calories per day to lose 1 Lb per week. With TDEE I eat the same...pretty much 2300-2500 calories per day to lose 1 Lb per week...the only difference is that my exercise is included in my activity level and thus my base calorie target is higher than it is with MFP...but after exercise gross calories are pretty much the same.

    If you're not losing weight and/or gaining weight from eating back exercise calories as MFP intends, then something else is off...logging is off...erroneous entries...inaccurate serving sizes...over-estimation of exercise calories, etc.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,216 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I use the TDEE method...so essentially, yes...I do eat back exercise calories in that they are already included in my total activity level and I take my cut from TDEE. I don't use the MFP method of setting activity level to day to day stuff and logging exercise separately...but when I did, it pretty much worked out to be 6 of 1, half dozen of the other.

    With MFP I had 2000 calories to lose about 1 Lb per week...with logging exercise I was eating around 2300-2500 gross calories per day to lose 1 Lb per week. With TDEE I eat the same...pretty much 2300-2500 calories per day to lose 1 Lb per week...the only difference is that my exercise is included in my activity level and thus my base calorie target is higher than it is with MFP...but after exercise gross calories are pretty much the same.

    If you're not losing weight and/or gaining weight from eating back exercise calories as MFP intends, then something else is off...logging is off...erroneous entries...inaccurate serving sizes...over-estimation of exercise calories, etc.

    I had a very similar experience and have seen much more success via the TDEE method than when trying to quantify/measure my exercise output. My logging accuracy needed to improve as well but with neither side of the equation right it's hard to make any sort of informed adjustments.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,721 Member
    I eat back my exercise calories . . . sooner or later. Usually the same day, but not always. If I didn't eat back my exercise calories close to consistently, I'd lose weight. I'm generally in maintenance, have been losing a few vanity pounds super slowly by intention . . . but as a generality, I have to eat back my exercise calories eventually, mostly, or I'll lose weight I don't want, need or intend to lose.

    I routinely encourage people to figure out how they intended to maintain their weight at goal, before they actually reach goal, and experiment to dial in those habits while they still have a bit of deficit as a cushion in case of oopsies. If their maintenance plan includes continued logging, and includes separately logging exercise, it would be good to practice that routine for a while during weight loss, to work the bugs out.

    I like that I can manage my weight (maintain or lose) quite predictably, whether I'm exercising or not. That's an outcome of figuring out how to estimate exercise, within reasonable tolerances, for me.
  • mpkpbk2015
    mpkpbk2015 Posts: 766 Member
    kenlad64 wrote: »
    I don't eat back all my exercise calories, but I do have some as long as the macros stay balanced, or as balanced as I can get them

    Thanks for sharing - appreciate the feedback. Have a great evening.
  • mpkpbk2015
    mpkpbk2015 Posts: 766 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    mpkpbk2015 wrote: »
    Do you eat back your exercise calories even when your stomach/body is telling you your full for the day.

    My stomach/body rarely tells me I'm full for the day. It's really easy for me to add calorie with high calorie low volume foods, ice-cream is one of my favorites after I've done a run for example. Or I might also have a larger dinner than usual after a high exercise day.

    I do eat back all of my exercise calories, as calculated by my Garmin, because my experience has shown me that it's accurate. (I don't necessarily eat them back the same day, I might leave some for the next day for example.) But depending on the source of the calculation, the estimated calorie burn might be inflated, so that's something to take into consideration when deciding how many calories to eat back.

    Shorter term weight gain isn't necessarily fat gain, it could also be some water retention from the exercise or extra food waste in your system from eating more.

    Okay it was obviously my misunderstanding that you were suppose to eat them back on the day you received them from exercising as I am seeing from several post that is not the case. thanks for clarifying. Have a great evening.
  • mpkpbk2015
    mpkpbk2015 Posts: 766 Member
    If eating your exercise calories makes you gain weight (when you've set your goal to lose), then something is off in your overall calculation, most likely that you're underestimating what you're eating or overestimating the calories you've burned through exercise. It's also possible that your initial calorie goal is off (either because you've overestimated your base activity level or because you're one of the few people who just burn fewer calories than estimated).

    Not sure generally when it happened I was going by what the app said I burn doing the exercise. I very almost to the point of being OCD weigh and measure all my food. And my calories were determined through a metabolism test given by my doctor. The reason for my post was to see what other people's experience was with eating back their exercise calories since that's a basic premise of this program. thanks for sharing.
  • mpkpbk2015
    mpkpbk2015 Posts: 766 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I use the TDEE method...so essentially, yes...I do eat back exercise calories in that they are already included in my total activity level and I take my cut from TDEE. I don't use the MFP method of setting activity level to day to day stuff and logging exercise separately...but when I did, it pretty much worked out to be 6 of 1, half dozen of the other.

    With MFP I had 2000 calories to lose about 1 Lb per week...with logging exercise I was eating around 2300-2500 gross calories per day to lose 1 Lb per week. With TDEE I eat the same...pretty much 2300-2500 calories per day to lose 1 Lb per week...the only difference is that my exercise is included in my activity level and thus my base calorie target is higher than it is with MFP...but after exercise gross calories are pretty much the same.

    If you're not losing weight and/or gaining weight from eating back exercise calories as MFP intends, then something else is off...logging is off...erroneous entries...inaccurate serving sizes...over-estimation of exercise calories, etc.

    I've lost all my weigh 100 pounds and I am starting the maintenance phase and wanted to know others experience with eating back calories - I carefully weigh and measure and log everything that goes in my mouth to the point sometimes of being OCD. I used MFP numbers for exercise calorie burn so that might have been what was off. So I don't eat back my calories - my calorie needed for a given day was calculated via a metabolism test done by my doctor's office what's on MFP which was higher for my age, height and beginning weight. Just checking other users experience - Thanks for sharing.
  • mpkpbk2015
    mpkpbk2015 Posts: 766 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I eat back my exercise calories . . . sooner or later. Usually the same day, but not always. If I didn't eat back my exercise calories close to consistently, I'd lose weight. I'm generally in maintenance, have been losing a few vanity pounds super slowly by intention . . . but as a generality, I have to eat back my exercise calories eventually, mostly, or I'll lose weight I don't want, need or intend to lose.

    I routinely encourage people to figure out how they intended to maintain their weight at goal, before they actually reach goal, and experiment to dial in those habits while they still have a bit of deficit as a cushion in case of oopsies. If their maintenance plan includes continued logging, and includes separately logging exercise, it would be good to practice that routine for a while during weight loss, to work the bugs out.

    I like that I can manage my weight (maintain or lose) quite predictably, whether I'm exercising or not. That's an outcome of figuring out how to estimate exercise, within reasonable tolerances, for me.

    thanks for the maintenance advice - that's what I am trying to do is work out the bugs. So all my hard work doesn't go down the drain now. Appreciate your share.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    mpkpbk2015 wrote: »
    my calorie needed for a given day was calculated via a metabolism test done by my doctor's office what's on MFP which was higher for my age, height and beginning weight. Just checking other users experience - Thanks for sharing.

    Bear in mind your resting metabolism is just part of your total daily needs.
    Two people with the same RMR can have very different activity and exercise which results in very different total calorie needs.

    If you tell people what your exercise is then it is entirely possible that the exercise database here isn't the best way to get decent estimates.

    My experience is that I'm lucky that my main exercise is easy to get good estimates for, I must take my large exercise burns into account or I'd waste away to nothing. Very roughly my exercise averages out to 600cals / day but with massive variations day on day, week on week, even season by season.
  • cyfehr76
    cyfehr76 Posts: 45 Member
    Maybe this is a bad habit, but If I anticipate a meal that has a lot of calories, I tend to kick up my exercise for that day to balance it out. I'm no expert in the subject so my thoughts could be totally wrong. The one thing I have found out on MFP is that my induced hunger has significantly reduced when I record my daily intake and I stopped eating after 6pm.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
    I only eat them back if I am hungry, or to fit in something that I may not otherwise have room for. I also go by the activity calories from my fitness tracker and not mfp or machine based exercise calories. For ME, it seems to be fairly accurate.
  • mpkpbk2015
    mpkpbk2015 Posts: 766 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    mpkpbk2015 wrote: »
    my calorie needed for a given day was calculated via a metabolism test done by my doctor's office what's on MFP which was higher for my age, height and beginning weight. Just checking other users experience - Thanks for sharing.

    Bear in mind your resting metabolism is just part of your total daily needs.
    Two people with the same RMR can have very different activity and exercise which results in very different total calorie needs.

    If you tell people what your exercise is then it is entirely possible that the exercise database here isn't the best way to get decent estimates.

    My experience is that I'm lucky that my main exercise is easy to get good estimates for, I must take my large exercise burns into account or I'd waste away to nothing. Very roughly my exercise averages out to 600cals / day but with massive variations day on day, week on week, even season by season.

    thanks I will keep that in mind as I go forward. Thanks again. Have a great day.
  • mpkpbk2015
    mpkpbk2015 Posts: 766 Member
    cyfehr76 wrote: »
    Maybe this is a bad habit, but If I anticipate a meal that has a lot of calories, I tend to kick up my exercise for that day to balance it out. I'm no expert in the subject so my thoughts could be totally wrong. The one thing I have found out on MFP is that my induced hunger has significantly reduced when I record my daily intake and I stopped eating after 6pm.

    I find that I sleep better also if I stop eating and drinking after 6 too. Have a great day. Thanks for sharing.
  • mpkpbk2015
    mpkpbk2015 Posts: 766 Member
    I only eat them back if I am hungry, or to fit in something that I may not otherwise have room for. I also go by the activity calories from my fitness tracker and not mfp or machine based exercise calories. For ME, it seems to be fairly accurate.

    thank you for your share - have a great day. I am seeing MFP is probably painting a broad stroke to encompass all the users - so It's probable an average of what the burn of the exercise is.