Eating back exercise calories?
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cheshirechic
Posts: 489 Member
Do you eat back your exercise calories? Why/why not?
There are probably thousands of threads on this but I couldn't find them.
For me, rn, I'm not. I usually burn (it's all an approximation anyway) 400 extra. Eating 1400 rn, without adding those back.
Thanks!
There are probably thousands of threads on this but I couldn't find them.
For me, rn, I'm not. I usually burn (it's all an approximation anyway) 400 extra. Eating 1400 rn, without adding those back.
Thanks!
2
Replies
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Long term, I think everyone should account for the calories they're using through activity, whether they're adding them upfront through a TDEE-style approach or adding them after the fact like MFP does. In your case in particular, 1,000 is pretty low to be netting.
If you're looking to progress in fitness, meet certain body composition goals (most of us don't want to just lose weight, we'd like to also reduce body fat), maintain energy, and meet nutritional goals, it's a good idea to consider the calories you're using through your daily life and additional activity.7 -
Why aren't you eating yours back?
I eat every last calorie I earn back. Food's pretty much the last vice I have left. 😀11 -
I eat every extra calorie my (Garmin) fitness tracker gives me, because I know (after months of tracking) that it's pretty reliable for me and I've lost weight as intended.
If anything, my Garmin underestimates my calorie burns slightly, although I'm not sure if that's specifically exercise-related or a general underestimation (I do know my runs burn more calories than my Garmin says, based on a calculator I use).1 -
If instead of using MyFitnessPal you used a TDEE calculator would you take off the exercise estimate it includes in your daily allowance?
If instead of using MyFitnessPal you used an all day tracker would you take off the exercise part of its daily combined estimate of all your calorie needs?
Yes I eat back all my exercise calories because I exercise for fitness, health, enjoyment and performance and not for a short term goal of losing weight.
Think ahead to weight maintenance at goal weight - you have to take exercise into account, it's a skill you could learn now.
For best results don't rush your weight loss.7 -
I do not exercise to maximize my deficit.
My deficit is my deficit - when I have one, I'm in maintenance now - and it's purpose is to lose weight. My exercise is a separate entity, and it's purpose is to: live life, have fun, general fitness/health. The two are NOT related for me. I do not exercise for 'calorie burn' or increase my deficit or even to lose weight at all.
So, yeah, absolutely I account for the calories I burn when I exercise (though I use TDEE more than MFP's NEAT + exercise). I don't move to be able to lose faster. I MIGHT at points have moved to be able to eat more and still lose/to preserve my chosen deficit, but not to lose faster or increase my deficit.
Also, again, I'm maintaining now. If exercise for weight loss only, I 'd be what? Not exercising now? And if I wasn't used to accounting for those calories I'd be... either continuing to lose or having MANY more calories to get into my day to prevent that. None of those options sound great.
(Also, if I tried to eat 1400 calories a day and eat no calories from exercise back I'd be in for a bad time with my general NEAT dropping because I felt like crap. Most of my loss happened @ 2000 (gross) calories a day.) worked fine.6 -
I don't. But I burn only about 330 calories during my daily 30 minute workouts and eat about 1200-1400 calories when in deficit. 80lbs/36kg down with about 20lbs/9kg to go.1
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Of course I eat them.
I'm maintaining my weight now (have been for 5+ years, with a bit of up and down within that healthy range). If I didn't eat back my exercise calories, I'd lose weight, and that would be a really dumb thing to do when I'm at BMI 20-point-something (around 125 pounds at 5'5", which is a good weight, on the lighter side, for me).
I ate back exercise calories while losing, too, because:
(1) it was good practice for maintaining - I used weight loss to practice quite a few skills I'd need to stay at a healthy weight long term. (I'd been overweight/obese for around 30 years before that, and that needed to be *over*, permanently.) Estimating exercise calories is a skill I need in maintenance.
(2) I value my exercise performance, including the strength that's useful in daily life, and the appearance benefits of properly fueled exercise for body composition (muscle/fat ratios).
In one sense, exercise calories aren't special. They're not a different type of calories from tooth-brushing calories or car-driving calories. On MFP, we're encouraged to account for them separately because they're more variable than daily life calorie burn for most of us, and it teaches the useful lesson that when we move more, we ought to eat more . . . or move less, eat less.
If someone has a pretty-slow weight loss rate target (say, half a pound a week), and doesn't do much exercise (hundred or two calories, maybe, perhaps 3 days a week), it's probably fine to let them increase deficit (make weight loss faster). If someone's already targeting an aggressive loss rate, like 2 pounds a week, then does hundreds of calories of exercise daily, that's a Bad Plan, IMO. In between, it's a question of how much health risk a person wants to take on.
Fast loss increases health risks, and can make the process unsustainable. Losing any meaningful amount of weight is a long-term process, and sustainability matters to reaching goal.
Besides, exercise calories taste the best. 😉6 -
Of course I eat them.
I'm maintaining my weight now (have been for 5+ years, with a bit of up and down within that healthy range). If I didn't eat back my exercise calories, I'd lose weight, and that would be a really dumb thing to do when I'm at BMI 20-point-something (around 125 pounds at 5'5", which is a good weight, on the lighter side, for me).
I ate back exercise calories while losing, too, because:
(1) it was good practice for maintaining - I used weight loss to practice quite a few skills I'd need to stay at a healthy weight long term. (I'd been overweight/obese for around 30 years before that, and that needed to be *over*, permanently.) Estimating exercise calories is a skill I need in maintenance.
(2) I value my exercise performance, including the strength that's useful in daily life, and the appearance benefits of properly fueled exercise for body composition (muscle/fat ratios).
In one sense, exercise calories aren't special. They're not a different type of calories from tooth-brushing calories or car-driving calories. On MFP, we're encouraged to account for them separately because they're more variable than daily life calorie burn for most of us, and it teaches the useful lesson that when we move more, we ought to eat more . . . or move less, eat less.
If someone has a pretty-slow weight loss rate target (say, half a pound a week), and doesn't do much exercise (hundred or two calories, maybe, perhaps 3 days a week), it's probably fine to let them increase deficit (make weight loss faster). If someone's already targeting an aggressive loss rate, like 2 pounds a week, then does hundreds of calories of exercise daily, that's a Bad Plan, IMO. In between, it's a question of how much health risk a person wants to take on.
Fast loss increases health risks, and can make the process unsustainable. Losing any meaningful amount of weight is a long-term process, and sustainability matters to reaching goal.
Besides, exercise calories taste the best. 😉
There’s a good point made here - accounting for and eating back your exercise calories is good training for those inevitable times when you are injured, change jobs, or are otherwise unable to be active, and need to reduce your calories accordingly. Lots of runners in particular gain weight when injured because they get used to maintaining at a certain level and don’t think of it as connected to their running.
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I eat back about half. Some days I don't eat any, others I eat back every one. But in the long run it's about half.2
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Exercise to support eating. Doesn't seem that healthy to me.2
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wilson10102018 wrote: »Exercise to support eating. Doesn't seem that healthy to me.
It is, though. Regular exercise is the single most healthy thing you can do for yourself, and if eating more food motivates you to do it, that’s fine. Eating more and exercising enough to maintain at that calorie level is far healthier than being sedentary and eating less to maintain at that activity level.10 -
cheshirechic wrote: »Do you eat back your exercise calories? Why/why not?
There are probably thousands of threads on this but I couldn't find them.
For me, rn, I'm not. I usually burn (it's all an approximation anyway) 400 extra. Eating 1400 rn, without adding those back.
Thanks!
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
4 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »Exercise to support eating. Doesn't seem that healthy to me.
I've done it for 35+ years. I can eat more because of exericse.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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I think you have to see what works for you as far as how accurate the exercise calories are- i.e. if you eat them all back, do you still lose as expected? A lot of people overestimate what they burn and underestimate what they eat, which can lead to issues if you regularly eat them all back. The only exercise I do is walking and I know my fitbit way overestimates calories. I use my exercise calories as a cushion if needed but I would never eat all of them, because at least for me it's not accurate. I usually will allow myself to go over my regular calorie goal by maybe 50-100 calories as long as I've done my walking that day. I also have my goal set to lose 1 pound per week and therefore get a higher daily calorie goal to begin with, so if I'm accidentally off in the other direction I don't really need to worry about undereating either. Most days I eat around 1600 calories.4
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wilson10102018 wrote: »Exercise to support eating. Doesn't seem that healthy to me.
Eating to support exercise is a very healthy mindset.13 -
I usually eat back between 50-100% of mine. I still lose weight.
If I don't eat enough then I get tired, weak and hangry! And that's not a Me that anyone wants to spend time with5 -
wilson10102018 wrote: »Exercise to support eating. Doesn't seem that healthy to me.
Eating to support exercise is a very healthy mindset.
Exercise to support eating is a very unhealthy mindset.2 -
I like food.
I also like trail running, horseback riding, hiking, swimming, paddle-boarding, and dog agility.
I've got a happy little cycle going where those two categories of things fuel each other. If I'm not doing the movement stuff, I don't get to eat as much food without getting fat again. If I'm not eating enough food, I can't do the fun stuff because I will be light headed and tired and feel gross and want to lay on the couch and take many naps instead of go run.
I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure that's just how that works and is the actual definition of 'having a healthy lifestyle' (my lifestyle is not perfectly healthy but I'm pretty confident on that part of it)8 -
rheddmobile wrote: »wilson10102018 wrote: »Exercise to support eating. Doesn't seem that healthy to me.
It is, though. Regular exercise is the single most healthy thing you can do for yourself, and if eating more food motivates you to do it, that’s fine. Eating more and exercising enough to maintain at that calorie level is far healthier than being sedentary and eating less to maintain at that activity level.
I substantially agree with this.
The only caveats I would have is that it can be really challenging to shift dietary habits, and it can be really difficult to always sustain exercise for some people.
I am troubled by gout, which, when it flares and makes exercise essentially impossible for between 3-7 days due to pain (also apparently increased risk of injury).
So while doing an exact amount of exercise and eating back to that limit is fine when the situation is stable, I know that if I am in the habit of assuming that I will be able to eat back the calories indefinitely I know I'll hungry some days when I'm not able to exercise, or putting on weight when I'm not exercising.
As I'm trying to lose weight at the moment I don't want my inevitable off days to completely destroy my progress, so I'm viewing 50% of my exercise calories as an insurance against having to take a week off later!
But as you noted: overall activity is paramount. Ideal includes a both activity and weight control, but if it has to be one, activity is the key.1 -
autobahn66 wrote: »rheddmobile wrote: »wilson10102018 wrote: »Exercise to support eating. Doesn't seem that healthy to me.
It is, though. Regular exercise is the single most healthy thing you can do for yourself, and if eating more food motivates you to do it, that’s fine. Eating more and exercising enough to maintain at that calorie level is far healthier than being sedentary and eating less to maintain at that activity level.
I substantially agree with this.
The only caveats I would have is that it can be really challenging to shift dietary habits, and it can be really difficult to always sustain exercise for some people.
I am troubled by gout, which, when it flares and makes exercise essentially impossible for between 3-7 days due to pain (also apparently increased risk of injury).
So while doing an exact amount of exercise and eating back to that limit is fine when the situation is stable, I know that if I am in the habit of assuming that I will be able to eat back the calories indefinitely I know I'll hungry some days when I'm not able to exercise, or putting on weight when I'm not exercising.
As I'm trying to lose weight at the moment I don't want my inevitable off days to completely destroy my progress, so I'm viewing 50% of my exercise calories as an insurance against having to take a week off later!
But as you noted: overall activity is paramount. Ideal includes a both activity and weight control, but if it has to be one, activity is the key.
This really can go both ways, too, and is fair.
I gave myself an avulsion fracture in my ankle early this month.
I said 'okay', decided to eat at maintenance instead of my small deficit and set my activity to sedentary because, well, broken ankle and that meant less activity.
Nope.
I kept dropping weight.
Some of this is 'the scale is a lagging indicator of habits/lifestyle'. Some of it is that I had no idea HOW LOW the threshold for sedentary was. Apparently just limping around daily life even with a desk job is above it.
OTOH, worth realizing that when you're actively trying to lose, your cushion is your deficit and if you're really injured you dont' want an aggressive deficit, anyway. Your deficit was probably bigger than most people's daily calorie burn through exercise. So you're not going to go backward if you keep tracking and paying attention. At most it's going to slow or you're going to pause the process by eating about what you were.
In maintenance when you're used to eating to maintain your weight WITH exercise in calories in there different story.
But that deficit will usually give you plenty of room to eat more without active gain while injured, as long as you're aware and keep tracking/watching, and get some practice at maintenance.1
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