Eating back exercise calories
distortedvision78
Posts: 43 Member
Eating back exercise calories does not make sense to me. The point behind exercise specifically cardiovascular is to create a calorific deficit which leads to fat burn. I understand that resistance training increases BMR.
Someone please explain the reasoning behind this weight loss methodology?
Someone please explain the reasoning behind this weight loss methodology?
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Replies
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Well, the point of cardio is more for heart health but I shout the loudest when I say I exercise for more food.
Ok, so here's the thing. Setting up your calorie goal in mfp doesn't take exercise into account. Just your bmr and daily activity level so you already have a deficit you're aiming for. Not eating purposeful exercise calories back puts you into a bigger deficit which is potentially harmful because undereating is no bueno.
Plus....more food! 3 -
Most calculators just figure your exercise into your daily calories. Myfitnesspal does not.
Here's the explanation(s)
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p11 -
"The point behind exercise specifically cardiovascular is to create a calorific deficit which leads to fat burn."
No the point behind CV exercise is for health and fitness. And even enjoyment....
You are burning fat 24 x 7 whether you exercise or not. Fat burning is normal and doesn't need to be forced, that's why we store it away for future use.
Fat loss comes from being in a sustained caloric deficit whether you exercise or not. Primarily that deficit comes from eating a bit less.
"I understand that resistance training increases BMR."
Insignificant and if you are getting smaller unlikely to happen. Massively over-exaggerated by the diet and fitness indistries.
Resistance training is for health, function, retention of muscle. And even enjoyment...
"Someone please explain the reasoning behind this weight loss methodology?"
You picked a deficit - lets say 1000cals a day. That deficit is worked out only for a day with no exercise.
If you exercise and burn 500 cals your deficit is now 1500cals. Not a good idea at all.
Excessive deficits are awful for your body and also for getting the most out of your exercise.
Think about the various calorie counting methods:
TDEE calculator - includes a daily average of your weekly planned exercise.
Trackers such as Fitbits - includes that day's exercise.
MyFitnessPal - accounts for your exercise on the day you do it.
Doesn't it strike you as strangely consistent that all methods include exercise? After all the idea of calorie counting is to estimate both calories in and calories out. Also remember when you reach goal weight your exercise continues to be just one of many perfectly usual energy needs for your body.
It's also a damn sight easier to lose weight on a higher calorie allowance than be excessively hungry.
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Please look at my food diary. I think my diet needs modification. Please note the glucose tablets and the Lucozade were to treat a hypo. I am Type 2 IDDM diabetic.
I am currently 152kg. I'm building up my gym regime. I've set my daily calorific intake at 2000cals. But I think it realistically should be 2500cals. My objective is to lose 3kg of fat per month ie 0.75kg per week. I've done this in the past so I know this is a realistic and sustainable rate of weight loss.0 -
This is how MFP is set up to work. If you said that you wanted to lose weight during your set up --- your daily calorie goal is *already* set at a deficit to your maintenance calorie level.
If you do not eat back your exercise calories, you will be creating too high of a deficit to be effective or sustainable to lose weight.
This is something that is confusing to a lot of people starting to use MFP.
Generally speaking though -- creating a calorie deficit by exercise calories - is not a weight loss strategy that is supported by science. That's why people say 'you can't outrun a bad diet'. Or other sayings to that effect.
Burning calories through exercise shouldn't be the main source of your caloric deficit. It can help a little - sure. But exercise and overall consistent activity is good for you, not for weight loss - but for overall cardiovascular and respiratory health.
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This isn't his first rodeo. In looking for his diary I saw he asked the exact same question in just about the exact same wording a little under 2 years ago.
Some of the same people even answered.
OP, maybe this time you'll actually believe/listen to us.
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Exercise calories are the tastiest 🤷♀️4
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Chef_Barbell wrote: »Exercise calories are the tastiest 🤷♀️
I ride my bike for red wine or ice cream.3 -
This isn't his first rodeo. In looking for his diary I saw he asked the exact same question in just about the exact same wording a little under 2 years ago.
Some of the same people even answered.
OP, maybe this time you'll actually believe/listen to us.
Yes I remember. I'm listening and heeding the advice.
What is the best TDEE to use to calculate my daily calorific intake?
Please comment on my current diet. I'm trying to make improvements.
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distortedvision78 wrote: »Eating back exercise calories does not make sense to me. The point behind exercise specifically cardiovascular is to create a calorific deficit which leads to fat burn. I understand that resistance training increases BMR.
Someone please explain the reasoning behind this weight loss methodology?
If exercise defaulted to losing weight, a lot of people who exercise regularly for their health and overall wellbeing would just wither away and die.
If you set up MFP as designed, exercise is unaccounted for activity in your activity level...MFP IS NOT a TDEE calculator, MFP is a NEAT calculator. Example using my numbers. MFP would give me 2,000 calories per day to lose 1 Lb per week at lightly active (just my day to day, no deliberate exercise). This means that MFP is estimating my maintenance calories without doing any deliberate exercise to be 2,500 calories per day. Lets say I go on a 10 mile bike ride and burn 300 calories. I can eat those back because they aren't accounted for in the original equation. I can eat 2300 calories and still lose 1 Lb per week (as I established as my goal), because my estimated maintenance of 2500 calories would have also increased by those same 300 calories to 2,800 calories.
Alternatively I could use a TDEE calculator for which I would include both my day to day normal stuff and my average exercise in my activity level. It's 6 of 1, half dozen of the other...most TDEE calories give me around 2300 calories to lose 1 Lb per week. The only difference is where I accounted for the exercise. After the fact with MFP, and upfront with a TDEE calculator. Regardless, you are accounting for that activity which is why you eat back calories with MFP...to account for otherwise unaccounted for activity.
How much this really matters would depend on the size of your already established deficit without exercise in you calorie target and the size of the calorie expenditure from exercise. Overly large calorie deficits are unhealthy and put a lot of stress on the body and are usually counterproductive in the long run.
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Right, so MFP has calculated a daily intake goal of 1890cals. I'll work with that and eat back my exercise calories. 1890cals does seem low to me though.0
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distortedvision78 wrote: »Right, so MFP has calculated a daily intake goal of 1890cals. I'll work with that and eat back my exercise calories. 1890cals does seem low to me though.
What rate of loss did you select as your goal? What did you put as your activity level as per your day to day stuff? Is it accurate? It doesn't seem particularly low to me as that is around what I would get to lose 1 Lb per week if my day to day was sedentary...but even with a desk job, my day to day is actually light active without exercise. In general, our calorie needs aren't really as substantial as many think, nor does exercise burn the number of calories many people think.1 -
distortedvision78 wrote: »Eating back exercise calories does not make sense to me. The point behind exercise specifically cardiovascular is to create a calorific deficit which leads to fat burn. I understand that resistance training increases BMR.
Someone please explain the reasoning behind this weight loss methodology?
You're confused about the way this works and the many reasons for or points of exercise. A healthier approach will pay dividends for you.2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »distortedvision78 wrote: »Right, so MFP has calculated a daily intake goal of 1890cals. I'll work with that and eat back my exercise calories. 1890cals does seem low to me though.
What rate of loss did you select as your goal? What did you put as your activity level as per your day to day stuff? Is it accurate? It doesn't seem particularly low to me as that is around what I would get to lose 1 Lb per week if my day to day was sedentary...but even with a desk job, my day to day is actually light active without exercise. In general, our calorie needs aren't really as substantial as many think, nor does exercise burn the number of calories many people think.
1 kg per week. Right. Just completed today's food diary. Bad day ~ 3000 cals intake.0 -
As a test, enter into MFP that you want to maintain your current weight, and enter your general daily activity (sedentary, active, etc.) which does not include your workouts. That's MFP's TDEE estimate for you. For me it's 2,440 as a sedentary male. If you then tell MFP you want to lose 1 pound per week, the new daily goal will likely be 500 calories less.distortedvision78 wrote: »Right, so MFP has calculated a daily intake goal of 1890cals. I'll work with that and eat back my exercise calories. 1890cals does seem low to me though.
It's not complicated. Some days I burn a few hundred calories in a workout, some days I don't. Some times I take a week off working out, e.g. if I'm traveling. That's why I enter my workout calories each day as I do them.1 -
distortedvision78 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »distortedvision78 wrote: »Right, so MFP has calculated a daily intake goal of 1890cals. I'll work with that and eat back my exercise calories. 1890cals does seem low to me though.
What rate of loss did you select as your goal? What did you put as your activity level as per your day to day stuff? Is it accurate? It doesn't seem particularly low to me as that is around what I would get to lose 1 Lb per week if my day to day was sedentary...but even with a desk job, my day to day is actually light active without exercise. In general, our calorie needs aren't really as substantial as many think, nor does exercise burn the number of calories many people think.
1 kg per week. Right. Just completed today's food diary. Bad day ~ 3000 cals intake.
You've chosen the highest setting, which might be the right choice for you. But if you go slower you get to eat more food. Plus your exercise anyway. Simples.0 -
distortedvision78 wrote: »Right, so MFP has calculated a daily intake goal of 1890cals. I'll work with that and eat back my exercise calories. 1890cals does seem low to me though.
What that is also saying is that your weight maintenance calories (for a day with no exercise) is estimated as 2990 - that really isn't low. It does make it very clear the issue with picking a 1kg/week weight loss target.
I had a look at your exercise diary and your estimates don't seem unreasonable, with the relative sizes of the numbers involved they really don't have the power to derail your progress.
If you prefer a same every day calorie goal (sounds hateful to me, but I'm not you!) then this is a good TDEE calculator - https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/0 -
distortedvision78 wrote: »Right, so MFP has calculated a daily intake goal of 1890cals. I'll work with that and eat back my exercise calories. 1890cals does seem low to me though.
What that is also saying is that your weight maintenance calories (for a day with no exercise) is estimated as 2990 - that really isn't low. It does make it very clear the issue with picking a 1kg/week weight loss target.
I had a look at your exercise diary and your estimates don't seem unreasonable, with the relative sizes of the numbers involved they really don't have the power to derail your progress.
If you prefer a same every day calorie goal (sounds hateful to me, but I'm not you!) then this is a good TDEE calculator - https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
The exercise calories aren't estimated they are from my Polar Grit X HR monitor.0 -
distortedvision78 wrote: »distortedvision78 wrote: »Right, so MFP has calculated a daily intake goal of 1890cals. I'll work with that and eat back my exercise calories. 1890cals does seem low to me though.
What that is also saying is that your weight maintenance calories (for a day with no exercise) is estimated as 2990 - that really isn't low. It does make it very clear the issue with picking a 1kg/week weight loss target.
I had a look at your exercise diary and your estimates don't seem unreasonable, with the relative sizes of the numbers involved they really don't have the power to derail your progress.
If you prefer a same every day calorie goal (sounds hateful to me, but I'm not you!) then this is a good TDEE calculator - https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
The exercise calories aren't estimated they are from my Polar Grit X HR monitor.
FYI: even a HR monitor doesn't measure calories, it also estimates. How reliably it estimates will depend on the type of exercise and on your individual body.4 -
distortedvision78 wrote: »distortedvision78 wrote: »Right, so MFP has calculated a daily intake goal of 1890cals. I'll work with that and eat back my exercise calories. 1890cals does seem low to me though.
What that is also saying is that your weight maintenance calories (for a day with no exercise) is estimated as 2990 - that really isn't low. It does make it very clear the issue with picking a 1kg/week weight loss target.
I had a look at your exercise diary and your estimates don't seem unreasonable, with the relative sizes of the numbers involved they really don't have the power to derail your progress.
If you prefer a same every day calorie goal (sounds hateful to me, but I'm not you!) then this is a good TDEE calculator - https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
The exercise calories aren't estimated they are from my Polar Grit X HR monitor.
Yes they are very much estimated and depending on exercise type and the person they may range from reasonable to low to high.
Heartbeats are not a form of energy and counting heartbeats is not counting calories.
There is a large range of heartbeat ranges, both for resting HR and also exercise HR.
e.g. I went for a bike ride with an elite level cyclist - at the same speed I was at 150bpm as I was trying hard and he was barely over 100bpm as my hard effort was his easy effort. Calorie burns though would have been very similar.3 -
distortedvision78 wrote: »distortedvision78 wrote: »Right, so MFP has calculated a daily intake goal of 1890cals. I'll work with that and eat back my exercise calories. 1890cals does seem low to me though.
What that is also saying is that your weight maintenance calories (for a day with no exercise) is estimated as 2990 - that really isn't low. It does make it very clear the issue with picking a 1kg/week weight loss target.
I had a look at your exercise diary and your estimates don't seem unreasonable, with the relative sizes of the numbers involved they really don't have the power to derail your progress.
If you prefer a same every day calorie goal (sounds hateful to me, but I'm not you!) then this is a good TDEE calculator - https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
The exercise calories aren't estimated they are from my Polar Grit X HR monitor.
Yes they are very much estimated and depending on exercise type and the person they may range from reasonable to low to high.
Heartbeats are not a form of energy and counting heartbeats is not counting calories.
There is a large range of heartbeat ranges, both for resting HR and also exercise HR.
e.g. I went for a bike ride with an elite level cyclist - at the same speed I was at 150bpm as I was trying hard and he was barely over 100bpm as my hard effort was his easy effort. Calorie burns though would have been very similar.
This!
And if I run relaxed with a HR of over 180 with someone else with same gender and weight who has a HR of 130 we'd burn about the same.
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distortedvision78 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »distortedvision78 wrote: »Right, so MFP has calculated a daily intake goal of 1890cals. I'll work with that and eat back my exercise calories. 1890cals does seem low to me though.
What rate of loss did you select as your goal? What did you put as your activity level as per your day to day stuff? Is it accurate? It doesn't seem particularly low to me as that is around what I would get to lose 1 Lb per week if my day to day was sedentary...but even with a desk job, my day to day is actually light active without exercise. In general, our calorie needs aren't really as substantial as many think, nor does exercise burn the number of calories many people think.
1 kg per week. Right. Just completed today's food diary. Bad day ~ 3000 cals intake.
It probably seems low because you've selected an aggressive rate of loss. 1 Kg per week (2Lbs per week) is 1,000 calories per day below your non-exercise maintenance calories which would be around 2,900 calories.1 -
distortedvision78 wrote: »Right, so MFP has calculated a daily intake goal of 1890cals. I'll work with that and eat back my exercise calories. 1890cals does seem low to me though.
Did you pick a rate of loss appropriate for the weight you have to lose?
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distortedvision78 wrote: »distortedvision78 wrote: »Right, so MFP has calculated a daily intake goal of 1890cals. I'll work with that and eat back my exercise calories. 1890cals does seem low to me though.
What that is also saying is that your weight maintenance calories (for a day with no exercise) is estimated as 2990 - that really isn't low. It does make it very clear the issue with picking a 1kg/week weight loss target.
I had a look at your exercise diary and your estimates don't seem unreasonable, with the relative sizes of the numbers involved they really don't have the power to derail your progress.
If you prefer a same every day calorie goal (sounds hateful to me, but I'm not you!) then this is a good TDEE calculator - https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
The exercise calories aren't estimated they are from my Polar Grit X HR monitor.
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I current weigh 152kg. My target mass is 85kg ie 67kg (147 pounds).
Problem I'm currently having is reducing my calorific intake. If I stick with the 1900 cals per day plus eating back current exercise calories I am constantly hungry and lack energy. I've also had more hypos than usual.
I am building up my exercise program at the gym after a prolonged absence. I think I need to tweak my diet also. I'm open to suggestions.0 -
So go slower? Target 2200 + workouts instead.
I looked at your diary. You're having a *lot* of calories at breakfast. Maybe cut down on the nuts, and do a bit more oatmeal if needed. I don't know if you have particular diet needs, but I assume there are generally more satiating or lower calorie options instead of some of the foods you have, like using artificial sweetener in your oatmeal instead of honey.
Add more protein too, that will help to satiate and retain muscle as you lose weight. There are days you're getting enough, but that's also when you're going way over target for total calories. I aim for 25%-30% calories from protein, which includes supplementing with protein shakes (most of the powder calories are protein) and bars.0 -
distortedvision78 wrote: »I current weigh 152kg. My target mass is 85kg ie 67kg (147 pounds).
Problem I'm currently having is reducing my calorific intake. If I stick with the 1900 cals per day plus eating back current exercise calories I am constantly hungry and lack energy. I've also had more hypos than usual.
I am building up my exercise program at the gym after a prolonged absence. I think I need to tweak my diet also. I'm open to suggestions.
So you have now learned through experience that 1900 + exercise calories is too low and you have learned your estimated maintenance is 2990 + exercise calories. That gives you a lot of numbers to choose from and @Retroguy2000 has made a sensible suggestion for your next experiment.3 -
Basic math. If you can lose 1lbs a week eating 1500 calories with NO EXERCISE, then adding 500 calories from exercise would leave you with a 1000 calorie net. Even if you ate back the 500 calories from exercise, you'd STILL BE at 1500 calories and losing that 1lbs a week. You DO NOT want to under eat because it WILL slow down your metabolic rate which affects your rate of loss if the deficit is too high for you.distortedvision78 wrote: »Eating back exercise calories does not make sense to me. The point behind exercise specifically cardiovascular is to create a calorific deficit which leads to fat burn. I understand that resistance training increases BMR.
Someone please explain the reasoning behind this weight loss methodology?
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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My opinion, just eat your BMR or a little under it. You should lose weight fine.distortedvision78 wrote: »I current weigh 152kg. My target mass is 85kg ie 67kg (147 pounds).
Problem I'm currently having is reducing my calorific intake. If I stick with the 1900 cals per day plus eating back current exercise calories I am constantly hungry and lack energy. I've also had more hypos than usual.
I am building up my exercise program at the gym after a prolonged absence. I think I need to tweak my diet also. I'm open to suggestions.
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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If you're struggling to keep to calories and you're feeling starving, set it to lose slower. You may be undereating for your activity level. Find the level under maintenance where you don't struggle to stick to calories. Then if needed you can lower your calories slowly so it's not such a shock to your system. It's difficult to go straight from overeating to a max calorie deficit0
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