Eating back burned calories

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  • jeannec3631
    jeannec3631 Posts: 108 Member
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    a program i was on before didn't give you "reward calories" & most days i was fine because we had 4 days of 1200 & 3 of 1400 calories. however, i did at first eat what i earned from exercise but then decided i wasn't going to partake of the "reward" anymore unless i was having a piece of b-day cake, etc.
  • Sweet_kiwi99
    Sweet_kiwi99 Posts: 16 Member
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    I don't purposely aim to eat them back, but if I am hungry I will eat. It also allows me a little buffer for those days that I slack off. :)
  • Addicted2Fitness
    Addicted2Fitness Posts: 90
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    http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

    That's pretty funny!
  • staceyb2003
    staceyb2003 Posts: 203 Member
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    cute :)
  • murraycharlie
    murraycharlie Posts: 37
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    eat them back. if you go into starvation mode (i think that is under 1200 calories a day, but it may vary depending on the person) , it will cause your metabolism to slow down and your body will store more fat.
  • CaptainGordo
    CaptainGordo Posts: 4,437 Member
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    eat them back. if you go into starvation mode (i think that is under 1200 calories a day, but it may vary depending on the person) , it will cause your metabolism to slow down and your body will store more fat.
    The infamous "starvation mode" only sets in after a prolonged period of low caloric intake.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/390234-does-starvation-mode-exist-and-what-is-it
  • ARDuBaie
    ARDuBaie Posts: 379 Member
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    I find this topic interesting to say the least. No, I cannot add to it much in regards to whether to eat them or not. I do know that MFP does underestimate my calories burned. I have a ProForm treadmill that monitors heart rate and calculates calories burned. It also an adjustable incline setting, so if I put in 3.5 mph for 34 minutes, it comes up with 200-something, when the machine comes up with close to 400. I believe it is because I have the machine at the steepest incline which increases calories burned.

    Just curious what others think about that.

    I will use burned calories, but only once did I use all of them. I lost 2.8 pounds then! So I really do think that it does the body good to eat them once in a while.
  • twinmom01
    twinmom01 Posts: 854 Member
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    I find this topic interesting to say the least. No, I cannot add to it much in regards to whether to eat them or not. I do know that MFP does underestimate my calories burned. I have a ProForm treadmill that monitors heart rate and calculates calories burned. It also an adjustable incline setting, so if I put in 3.5 mph for 34 minutes, it comes up with 200-something, when the machine comes up with close to 400. I believe it is because I have the machine at the steepest incline which increases calories burned.

    Just curious what others think about that.

    I will use burned calories, but only once did I use all of them. I lost 2.8 pounds then! So I really do think that it does the body good to eat them once in a while.

    Most of the machines will be off too - it gives a general calculation based on the info you put in - usually weight and age...to get the closest calculation you need a HRM that can do personal settings...I find when I am doing Cardio the machine will give me say 375 calories for 30 minutes, my HRM will give me 325 and MFP will say something like 425...When I do my kickboxing class I will usually burn about 375-400 in my 45 minute class - when I go to put it in MFP it wants to give me a calorie burn of almost 600...
  • Lizzy_Sunflower
    Lizzy_Sunflower Posts: 1,510 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/390145-should-i-eat-my-exercise-calories

    Eat them!
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    It's not counter-productive. But obviously, the more you eat back, the slower your weight loss will be. I think if you're hungry, you should eat; your body is telling you it needs fuel.

    If you don't eat enough by not eating back exercise calories, the slower your weight loss will be. You will slow down your metabolism by not eating enough.

    We can't always trust our bodies to tell us when we are hungry. Plenty of us have gotten here because of emotional or boredom eating. Your mind can track you into being hungry.

    That is just a crutch! We didn't just come here to lose weight. We came here to learn how to understand our bodies signals. Its not your body that you can't trust. It is your head and your own will power.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    Personally, you should absolutely eat them if you are hungry. However, IF you are obese, your body can handle the deep calorie deficit. As far as metabolic burns, the body behaves differently depending on your ratio of fat to muscle, and therefore, the need to depend on food calories changes as you lose weight. I have not yet gone from being obese to overweight. Yet there are times when I absolutely have to eat those calories, and there are times when I don't.
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
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    It's not counter-productive. But obviously, the more you eat back, the slower your weight loss will be. I think if you're hungry, you should eat; your body is telling you it needs fuel.

    If you don't eat enough by not eating back exercise calories, the slower your weight loss will be. You will slow down your metabolism by not eating enough.

    We can't always trust our bodies to tell us when we are hungry. Plenty of us have gotten here because of emotional or boredom eating. Your mind can trick you into being hungry.

    That is just a crutch! We didn't just come here to lose weight. We came here to learn how to understand our bodies signals. Its not your body that you can't trust. It is your head and your own will power.

    That's what I'm saying. Some of us can't differentiate those signals yet. If you can't do that yet, you can't just trust your body and mind to work together. In addition, a lot of people have gained weight because they do not eat enough. In this case, they need to retrain their body to want more food to fuel itself.

    No matter what, MFP is set up to eat exercise calories. There is still a healthy caloric deficit while doing so.
  • Thinline1
    Thinline1 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks everyone for your replies. So far, I have NOT been eating them back (or very little). I have lost significant inches but am now at a plateau. I am set to weigh and measure again tomorrow so I will know a little more then how that has been working(or not).

    I have been basing by calorie burn off the cardio machines at the gym (not MFP) and will be getting a HRM soon to better gauge that.

    I will start eating more of my calories and see where that puts me. It makes sense to eat after I workout and am ravenous but I need to focus on eating the right nutrient dense foods as well.

    thanks again!

    -Jenn
  • Thinline1
    Thinline1 Posts: 3 Member
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    Not in the obese range at all. According to my bmi, I am just barely in the overweight range. I have never had my body fat measured, but I can only assume its higher than it needs to be =)
    Personally, you should absolutely eat them if you are hungry. However, IF you are obese, your body can handle the deep calorie deficit. As far as metabolic burns, the body behaves differently depending on your ratio of fat to muscle, and therefore, the need to depend on food calories changes as you lose weight. I have not yet gone from being obese to overweight. Yet there are times when I absolutely have to eat those calories, and there are times when I don't.
  • CaptainGordo
    CaptainGordo Posts: 4,437 Member
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    Thanks everyone for your replies. So far, I have NOT been eating them back (or very little). I have lost significant inches but am now at a plateau. I am set to weigh and measure again tomorrow so I will know a little more then how that has been working(or not).

    I have been basing by calorie burn off the cardio machines at the gym (not MFP) and will be getting a HRM soon to better gauge that.

    I will start eating more of my calories and see where that puts me. It makes sense to eat after I workout and am ravenous but I need to focus on eating the right nutrient dense foods as well.

    thanks again!

    -Jenn
    Awesome. Report back in this thread or another with your results! best wishes! :drinker:
  • brookeg20
    brookeg20 Posts: 54
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    Just a few quick thoughts on this:

    I wasn't eating back my calories at first, and I wasn't losing any weight. I couldn't figure out why, but then when I upped my calories and started eating some of them back I dropped almost two pounds in two days. I don't always eat them all back, but if I don't eat back some then I don't lose weight. I was eating around 1200 calories a day and burning between 300 to 400 in cardio. Now I eat a little over a hundred calories pre and post workout. This seems to really help.

    Also, I try to eat consistently so I don't feel like I'm starving. If I don't eat enough I freak out and end up eating wayyyyyy too much!

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