Exercise calories - to eat or not to eat!

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bigbugboo
bigbugboo Posts: 161
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all

Can anyone tell me if you are supposed to eat back your exercise calories or not?

I have read that if you don't eat them back, you will stop losing weight because your metabolism will slow down, but I always thought that exercise boosts metabolism, even long after the exercise is finished!

To be honest, exercise makes me feel perky, and far from hungry.

What do others think (and do)?

Thanks in advance

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Replies

  • Millie77
    Millie77 Posts: 39
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    You will get a LOT of mixed answers on that. You gotta figure out what's best for you. :)
  • chatterbox3110
    chatterbox3110 Posts: 630 Member
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    I don't eat all mine back, I have to admit, but I'm losing weight.

    I suppose it depends on your own body really, works for some but not for others.
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
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    Mfp already creates a calorie deficit for you. So when you workout and don't eat those back, you get a very large deficit - which can increase your muscle loss...not good!

    I would suggest eating at least most of them back :]
  • mummy_gerdes
    mummy_gerdes Posts: 336 Member
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    if i want a treat then i will eat the calories back but usually i try not to and im losing weight. you have to figure out what works best for you.
  • cschmidt42
    cschmidt42 Posts: 190 Member
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    I don't eat mine back, I usually don't lose if I do, but I think it just depends on each individual.
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
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    some times i do, sometimes i don't. one day i'll burn 1000 calories, and maybe re-eat like, 100-200 of those calories. the next day i may just burn 500, but i'll re-eat all those.

    i like a protein fruit smoothie after a work out, so that helps me recover after a work out, and consume some calories.
  • elianexox
    elianexox Posts: 177 Member
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    Well I think that you need to listen to your body. If you come back from workout and you're really hungry, don't try to control your hunger and eat your calories left. If you're not hungry, simply don't eat them back. Your body will tell you what it needs.
  • agthorn
    agthorn Posts: 1,844 Member
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    Eat them back. You have less than 20 pounds to lose. You should also not be trying to lose more than a pound a week.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Hi all

    Can anyone tell me if you are supposed to eat back your exercise calories or not?

    I have read that if you don't eat them back, you will stop losing weight because your metabolism will slow down, but I always thought that exercise boosts metabolism, even long after the exercise is finished!

    To be honest, exercise makes me feel perky, and far from hungry.

    What do others think (and do)?

    Thanks in advance

    11877720.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

    Since you don't have much to lose if you don't eat them you risk burning a large amount of lean muscle. If you don't want to eat them back, then change your activity level to active, this will give you more calories to account for exercise.

    Most professionals will tell you not to eat you exercise calories back because they added it into your TDEE, whereas MFP ignores exercise and only accounts for it when you perform it. Either way should get you to the same place.

    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" may tell you to eat 1750 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 12,250 (1750*7) almost the same number of cals for the week. 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 MFP 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 1750/day above.

    Something else you may be interested in is setting a weekly loss goal with a safe caloric deficit.
    Here is a good reference, if you have over 100 lbs to lose you can lose more than 2 lbs/week safely, that being said it is best to set a realistic safe weekly loss goal and:
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -20 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

    The reasons: the less you have to lose the less fat stores you have to pull from. The less fat you have to pull from the less your body wants to take any. So if your deficit is too large given your stats you will burn a large % of lean muscle. Doing the above also helps set you up for maintenance without a large increase in caloric intake all at once.
  • katkins3
    katkins3 Posts: 1,360 Member
    Options
    This is a big question on MFP. If you put the topic in "Search", you'll see lots of threads on it, some of them get pretty heated.
    I eat my calories back, but don't give grief to those who choose not to. I also do an Intermittent Fast once a week, (another heated topic).
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    i always make sure that i net 1200 at the very least when i am trying to lose weight. and i eat them all if i am maintaining.
  • JoAnn73
    JoAnn73 Posts: 161 Member
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    You just have to figure this out for yourself and what works for your body. I have read so much research on this topic and at this point. i do on some day and other days I do not.
  • thetiwi1890
    thetiwi1890 Posts: 256 Member
    Options
    Mfp already creates a calorie deficit for you. So when you workout and don't eat those back, you get a very large deficit - which can increase your muscle loss...not good!

    I would suggest eating at least most of them back :]

    ^^^this
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
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    Mfp already creates a calorie deficit for you. So when you workout and don't eat those back, you get a very large deficit - which can increase your muscle loss...not good!

    I would suggest eating at least most of them back :]

    ^^^this

    I agree with this too!
  • Cassandra1219
    Cassandra1219 Posts: 114
    Options
    My nutritionist told me to eat half of them back.
  • Peitilo
    Peitilo Posts: 10
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    The best thing to do is experiment with different eating habits. Me personally I try to eat within a half hour of the time I wake up, I try to eat 5 to 6 times a day. I eat smaller portions eat slower and I try to eat healthier. I just recently gave up soda and I try not to eat within 2 hours of the time I go to sleep.

    Everyone is different and another thing is to keep as active as possible. There are simple exercises you can do to keep your heart rate up. Good Luck to you!!
  • agthorn
    agthorn Posts: 1,844 Member
    Options
    My nutritionist told me to eat half of them back.

    Did you explain to your nutritionist that MFP already creates your goal deficit for you through diet alone?
  • bigbugboo
    bigbugboo Posts: 161
    Options
    "Since you don't have much to lose if you don't eat them you risk burning a large amount of lean muscle. If you don't want to eat them back, then change your activity level to active, this will give you more calories to account for exercise.

    Most professionals will tell you not to eat you exercise calories back because they added it into your TDEE, whereas MFP ignores exercise and only accounts for it when you perform it. Either way should get you to the same place.

    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" may tell you to eat 1750 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 12,250 (1750*7) almost the same number of cals for the week. 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 MFP 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 1750/day above.

    Something else you may be interested in is setting a weekly loss goal with a safe caloric deficit.
    Here is a good reference, if you have over 100 lbs to lose you can lose more than 2 lbs/week safely, that being said it is best to set a realistic safe weekly loss goal and:
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -20 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

    The reasons: the less you have to lose the less fat stores you have to pull from. The less fat you have to pull from the less your body wants to take any. So if your deficit is too large given your stats you will burn a large % of lean muscle. Doing the above also helps set you up for maintenance without a large increase in caloric intake all at once."
    [/quote]





    Thanks so much for taking the time to explain this in such detail. It's given me a much better understanding as to WHY I should eat the calories back and slow down the weight loss. I was under the misunderstanding that quicker loss was better, but now I see that it is not necessarily so. :happy:

    11877720.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

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