bit confused about eating back exercise cals????

There is some interesting stuff in the furoms about eating enough and i think they have a point - mainly to do with starvation mode and reduced metabolism if you dont eat enough.

Try having a milky bed time drink and a couple of digestives to up your calories.

I was sceptical at first but it does work - if you keep your calories to around 1200 (ensure that you account for exercise calories too)

It also means you can be motivated to exercise if you want a treat (i am going to Pilates class tonight because i want the mince pie i was given yesterday and i know the calories will even out)

Add me as a friend if you want support and encouragement

Diane

MFP is set up so that you will have a 500-1000cal a day deficit according to your goals and required calories for daily activity.

Exercise is dealt with separately, so if you burn and enter calories as exercise, you're supposed to eat those calories in order to maintain the desired deficit.

Don't worry about it too much.
I used to have a fit over it all.

Whether your body goes into starvation mode or not or into ketogenesis it doesn't matter.

It only affects the rate that its lost and the optimum way.

Everyones obsessed with the optimum way.

Any way of losing the weight is great.

Aim for the cals that the site gives you. If you go over alot excercise.

If your under don't worry about it. You may go into starvation mode but the lost calories cancel it out in a roundabout way.

Its sugars and flours and bread that tend to be a pain. XX

This is an interesting topic... since I really didn't know what to do either with this... my net calories are usually around 900-1000 a day... and maybe thats not enough... I will try to increase that by eating some fruit and see what happens... I'm a newbie to trying to lose "my way"... and want to make sure I do it right by staying healthy in the process...

Great explanation, Bobby! Thanks!!

Check out some of the tools like the BMR calculator which will tell you what your basic metabolic rate is, that's what your body is/should burn daily without factoring in exercise.
When MFP calculates your weight loss goal it doesn't factor in the calories from exercise. Some people eat the back some don't. I use mine as a daily calorie cushion so I can have a small treat if I so desire, and if not I don't...Like Dutch Chocolate Blue Bell Icecream last night. And I didn't have to obsess/kick myself, etc. I digress
So once you know where your BMR is, keep your calorie intake below that, eat at least 1200 calories a day (net is something else) and let the pounds fall where they may,

I never eat my exercise calories back, and have lost 52 pounds. No, I haven't gone into starvation mode either.:grumble:

Another thing people often forget is to subtract the calories they burn every hour just sitting on their butt, for me it's about 70 calories. So If I burn 300 calories exercising for an hour I have to take away the 70 calories I would have burned anyway leaving me with 230. The whole point in exercising is to create a calorie deficit not to let you do more of what makes us fat.

I've noticed this is a hot button topic but here's how I personally do it.... if I'm hungry I eat more and if I'm not then I don't.

If I have a big dinner planned where I know low calorie eating will be a struggle sometimes I just don't eat exercise calories for a bit and that way if I'm slightly over one day I don't sweat it.

However sometimes if I eat really clean I'm just not hungry (the foods are so filling) so I don't sweat if I net under.

As long as you aren't depriving your body of nutrients or exercise 10 hours a day just to eat more - both are extremes. I think for most of us it's just about listening to our bodies and knowing some days we will be more hungry then others, more active then others etc...

YES PEOPLE! Eat your exercise calories back! If you are netting less 1200 your body is not getting enough nutrients! Everyone's metabolism is different, you may have to tweak the numbers a bit. But if you are just starting out, please go with what MFP recommends, they have built a deficit in your allotted calories already, so yes eat your exercise calories back!!

I'd buy that if you were say at or below 5% body fat for men or 10% for women.

Starvation mode is fake unless you dont have fat to burn on your body. talk to your doctor if you are concerned about this

Also, you definitely should not eat back all of your calories from exercise if only for this reason.

lets say you work out for 1 hour and burn 500 calories,
in that hour had you been sitting on your butt you may have still burned 50 -100 calories just from your body living.
the site does not account for the difference so when you enter 500, you really only burned a net of 400 because the site already gives you those 100 calories in your daily total.

for this reason i tend to eat back about half of my exercise calories.

seems to work

Edit I didnt realize someone else already pointed this out. But it seems to get forgotten all of the time so its worth repeating.

Starvation mode is fake unless you dont have fat to burn on your body. talk to your doctor if you are concerned about this

Also, you definitely should not eat back all of your calories from exercise if only for this reason.

lets say you work out for 1 hour and burn 500 calories,
in that hour had you been sitting on your butt you may have still burned 50 -100 calories just from your body living.
the site does not account for the difference so when you enter 500, you really only burned a net of 400 because the site already gives you those 100 calories in your daily total.

for this reason i tend to eat back about half of my exercise calories.

seems to work

Edit I didnt realize someone else already pointed this out. But it seems to get forgotten all of the time so its worth repeating.

This guy gets it!

With a 1000cal a day deficit, you'd have to really mess up your exercise calorie estimate to not lose weight.

Agreed

This is the way I understand it:

BMR x Daily Activity Level + Calories Burned During Exercise = Calories needed to maintain weight

For example: 1,500 x 1.2 + 500 = 2,300 daily caloric need

To lose 2 pounds per week, reduce your caloric intake by 1,000 calories

2,300 – 1,000 = 1,300 calories per day to lose weight

In this calculation, exercise calories are already factored in.

There is a BMR calculator on this site but it does not account for normal daily activity (ranges from 1.1 to 1.4 depending on your activity level - a google search will probably turn up a chart or something. I got mine from my Certified Fitness Trainer materials that I recently ordered).

The BMR calculators and the activity level factors are only estimates. Some people may find that they need to up their caloric intake a little and some people may find they need to lower it some (just don't go below 1,200). I've played around with my caloric level until I found what works for me. I use a heart rate monitor when I exercise to get a more accurate reading on the calories that I'm burning but, even then, I don't believe it is an exact number. Again, I just experimented until I found what works best for me now.

I spent several months not really paying attention to what I ate (my diet has been terrible - fast food and junk food - boo!) and as a result, I've gained a lot of weight even though I exercise at a high intensity level. I don't feel I've worked out unless I'm dripping with sweat I got lazy thinking that all the exercise I was doing was an excuse to eat whatever I wanted. I found out that it just doesn't work like that for me. I may not like it but reality is what it is. From this experience, I decided to go back to keeping a food and exercise diary. I was talking with a trainer at my gym and she told me about this site.

I've been tracking my calories and exercise for the past 2 and half weeks and have lost 5 pounds which is about right. I do not "eat back" the exercise calories that I burn. My thought is that if I find that I'm losing more than 2 pounds per week, I'll up my caloric intake a bit. If I'm not losing 2 pounds per week, I'll cut back on my calorie intake. I believe that keeping a diary is so important for this reason. You can tweak what you're doing as needed. I think that I sometimes fall into the trap of "one cookie won't hurt me" and before I know it, I've eaten the whole box. Keeping a diary keeps me accountable.

I do a circuit training/interval routine in the morning using body weight exercises (takes about 30 min) and I do 30 minutes of interval training on either the elliptical or treadmill in the evening. I use my heart rate monitor to ensure that I'm keeping my intensity level high and not just going through the motions. I do this 5 days per week. I'm two weeks into this plan and I like the results I'm getting.

What I've learned is that everyone has an opinion on what the best way is. I think you just have to experiment and find what works best for you.

I say, if you're hungry, eat them back. If you're not, don't. If you're in between, eat some back. The main thing is that at the end of the day, your net is under the goal set for your caloric deficiency. Then you're golden.