Do you lose more when you eat back exercise cals?

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  • MFPfriend
    MFPfriend Posts: 1,121 Member
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    I looked at your diary, and your macros are actually pretty good. MFP sets protein a little low. You can always go over on protein. And while you are over on carbs, it's not bad at all! You're still under 200 right now. And fiber is good, so don't ever worry about going over on fiber.

    If you're having problems eating exercise calories, eat something right after you work out. Something with good protein and carbs (chocolate milk is great for this).
  • mrsvatitagain
    mrsvatitagain Posts: 275 Member
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    I rarely eat back all my exercise calories unless there is a reason to, like a special event or something. For the most part I have days where I eat them and other days I do not. That being said I don't plan to eat them just because they are there and my body has responded fine to either situation. I think you have to find what works for you. This question is asked all the time and some people are believers of eating them all back, others never eat them back, another set of people do sometimes and dont other times. Find what your body responds too.

    My only advice is don't allow yourself to be hungry. Eat if you are hungry, period!
  • TheFitHooker
    TheFitHooker Posts: 3,358 Member
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    I think everyone is different, I tried the eating them back and I did nothing but gain. My doctor told me to not eat them back, and since I stopped doing that, I've lost. It depends on where you are I really believe. I'm waiting for a Plateau to kick in, and I'm sure it'll happen soon. I naturally have a low metabolism. So it's different for everyone, what works for me, might not work for you.
  • Twins2007
    Twins2007 Posts: 236 Member
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    I ALWAYS ate all my execise calories back until the scale STOPPED...For 5 months!!

    Either I was eating hidden calories or not burning what I thought I was or maybe, just maybe my metabolism is slower...Anyway...I don`t eat All of them back anymore and the scale is starting to move again...

    EVERYONE is different...

    Good luck!
  • nc90
    nc90 Posts: 83 Member
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    I am literally racking my brain trying to figure this out. Help me out, MFP friends! :(

    Right now this is the calorie breakdown:

    1300 is my goal and I've had 560 in exercise cals, I've got 484 cals remaining. Are those calories to be eaten back? I don't understand. Do I aim to have a low number of calories remaining at the end of the day?


    It's all about your NET intake. On the home page in the big box where it says "Calories Remaining," it lists your "net" for the day on the right hand side. MFP has told you yours should be around 1300, it can be under on some days, but you usually want to make sure it's always at least 1200, otherwise your body is not getting what it needs.

    I hope this helps! In my head I get it, but it doesn't always come out in words that are easy to understand :laugh:
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    I am literally racking my brain trying to figure this out. Help me out, MFP friends! :(

    Right now this is the calorie breakdown:

    1300 is my goal and I've had 560 in exercise cals, I've got 484 cals remaining. Are those calories to be eaten back? I don't understand. Do I aim to have a low number of calories remaining at the end of the day?

    Yes. I always left a little bit of a buffer in case I over estimated my calories burned or underestimated my food calories, but aim to eat a good portion of them.

    As for the numbers in the red - protein on this site is usually very low. Its ok to go over on fiber, that is also on the low side. Just had a quick look at your diary. One suggestion - more veggies!!! That will help balance the numbers a bit.
  • trinamarie73
    trinamarie73 Posts: 5
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    Keep an eye on your sugar and your carbs. I try to keep my calories within a 100 negative or positive and i'm ok with that but i manually adjusted my sugar & carbs after reading Jorge Cruise's book (The Belly Fat Cure). I love using MFP but they give me too much leeway on carbs & sugar and not enough protein. I always drink a good protein shake after my workout (Complete Nutrition has some great ones for women!) and then I eat about an hour after my work out. Also, check yourself if you are eating too close to bed. Complete Nutrition told me do NOT eat ANY carbs after dinner...none whatsoever! These are just some other things to think about why you may not be losing like you want. But yes, you definately want to eat back your calories.
  • Breadbar
    Breadbar Posts: 334 Member
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  • CalJur
    CalJur Posts: 627 Member
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    I rarely eat back all my exercise calories unless there is a reason to, like a special event or something. For the most part I have days where I eat them and other days I do not. That being said I don't plan to eat them just because they are there and my body has responded fine to either situation. I think you have to find what works for you. This question is asked all the time and some people are believers of eating them all back, others never eat them back, another set of people do sometimes and dont other times. Find what your body responds too.

    My only advice is don't allow yourself to be hungry. Eat if you are hungry, period!

    Spot on. Best response I've read on this never-ending question. Rarely in life does one size fit all. I'm always put back a bit when folks preach to others and say you must do this or must do that. The truth is it is up to you and how it makes your body feel. I workout hard and burn heavy calories each week. If I tried to consistently eat them all back my stomach would hurt. I go by how my body feels and if it tells me to eat more when I workout heavy I do. Some days it tells me all is good and just rest. Only you know your body.
  • becoming_a_new_me
    becoming_a_new_me Posts: 1,860 Member
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    Fiber and Protien are okay to go over on a bit. Fiber you can go over on a lot as long as you don't go over on carbs. This is because Fiber is expelled from the body and keeps you regular. If you are working out, a little protien overage is okay as long as it is from lean meats and is balanced by the fiber overage. You don't want to go over fat by too much because that is not burned by the body as easily. I have found great success keeping my fat low by using only egg-whites, substituting some of my meats with vegetarian options such as Morning Star and Boca. Use whole wheat instead of white grains, and limit oils, butters, and margarines. Spray butter is the best if you want the flavor, use plain yogurt flavored with garlic instead of mayo (even low-fat is too high), and for cooking try cooking sprays, extra virgin olive oil, peanut, or sesame oil. These do have a lower smoke point than canola or vegetable oil but have a rich favor.
  • skinnyjess15
    skinnyjess15 Posts: 82
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    I am literally racking my brain trying to figure this out. Help me out, MFP friends! :(

    Right now this is the calorie breakdown:

    1300 is my goal and I've had 560 in exercise cals, I've got 484 cals remaining. Are those calories to be eaten back? I don't understand. Do I aim to have a low number of calories remaining at the end of the day?


    It's all about your NET intake. On the home page in the big box where it says "Calories Remaining," it lists your "net" for the day on the right hand side. MFP has told you yours should be around 1300, it can be under on some days, but you usually want to make sure it's always at least 1200, otherwise your body is not getting what it needs.

    I hope this helps! In my head I get it, but it doesn't always come out in words that are easy to understand :laugh:



    Thank you, that makes perfect sense! I just get nervous when I see '0 calories remaining' or something like that. I weigh in every Monday morning, so tomorrow is another moment of truth. I didn't log my weight last week because of TOM, so I'm hoping I'll have a loss tomorrow. If not, I have to take a different approach to the way I'm eating.
  • FitAtFifteen
    FitAtFifteen Posts: 51
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    I eat about half of them back, I think MFP over estimates my calories.
  • bilzprincess
    bilzprincess Posts: 107 Member
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    build muscle-build muscle-build muscle-eat healthy. and don't leave too many calories "in the bank". the LAST thing i'd teach MY metabolism is "live with less than 1200 calories per day". no way.
  • cirellim
    cirellim Posts: 269
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    You certainly wouldn't lose more however if you are still steadily losing while eating exercise calories back then continue to do so until you hit a plateau. That way you have a way of continuing the weight loss (stop eating the exercise calories) without having to reduce your actual calorie intake just be careful that you're very accurate with how you track exercise calories I see so many people on here logging "cleaning the house" or other things like that.
  • skinnyjess15
    skinnyjess15 Posts: 82
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    You certainly wouldn't lose more however if you are still steadily losing while eating exercise calories back then continue to do so until you hit a plateau. That way you have a way of continuing the weight loss (stop eating the exercise calories) without having to reduce your actual calorie intake just be careful that you're very accurate with how you track exercise calories I see so many people on here logging "cleaning the house" or other things like that.


    I log cleaning house, too, because I do it everyday and there's always lots to do. I wear my HRM when I do it, though, so I know my cals logged are accurate.
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
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    You certainly wouldn't lose more however if you are still steadily losing while eating exercise calories back then continue to do so until you hit a plateau. That way you have a way of continuing the weight loss (stop eating the exercise calories) without having to reduce your actual calorie intake just be careful that you're very accurate with how you track exercise calories I see so many people on here logging "cleaning the house" or other things like that.

    I beg to differ. I lose more eating exercise calories than when I didn't. And I eat a LOT of exercise calories. :)
  • prairiedawg2014
    prairiedawg2014 Posts: 367
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    everyday i have anywhere from 150 - 400 + cals left to eat....but im not hungry. do i really need to eat these cals even if im not hungry? also everyday iam over my protein as much as 45g. is this ok?
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    everyday i have anywhere from 150 - 400 + cals left to eat....but im not hungry. do i really need to eat these cals even if im not hungry? also everyday iam over my protein as much as 45g. is this ok?

    What are you netting? That is your total calories eating - calories burned through exercise = net
    What is your weightloss goal set at? 150, not bad. 400 is a little questionable depending on how much of a calorie deficit you are already at. If you are at a lower level, like 1lb a week, then it isn't so bad, but if you are at 2lbs you may be going too low.
    150 calories isn't hard to make up. Look at adding calorie dense foods like nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil, even cheese.
    If you are using low calorie versions of food, use the full ones instead.

    And the protein setting here is very low. It is likely ok unless you have a health issue.
  • thejackswild79
    thejackswild79 Posts: 102
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    One of the biggest issues with eating back all the calories burn is that I tend to believe it is common to underestimate calorie consumption and over estimate calorie burn. Over time, that little bit (or in some cases a lot) of error can result in slower weight loss or in weight gain. I personally learned this the hard way and really had an eye opening experience when I started using a heart rate monitor. I was very active even at my heaviest weight which meant that my heart rate didn't get up as high as it might for other people at that weight, which meant that the programs were calculating my calories burned at a much higher rate than I was actually burning.

    Instead of focusing on eating back those calories, I work to eat a balanced recovery meal or snack (depending on the workout intensity) and otherwise eat normally. For moderate work outs, that is normally 100-150 calories. For more intense work outs that is 200-300 calories. I do have a few days a month where I have huge calorie burns that result in an extra meal entirely but that is by far not the norm.
  • lloydmel
    lloydmel Posts: 259 Member
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    In my opinion it really depends on what you eat. IF you eat processed foods and packaged things... you will have a higher calorie intake and therefore should make sure to not eat over what you have set for yourself, and your progress will be slow. You won't be able to eat as much food and you won't have as much progress because you aren't getting as much nutrients for the amount of calories that you eat.
    HOWEVER, if you eat very healthy and clean, it is darn near impossible to eat all of your exercise calories back. I eat very clean nearly every single day and I have a huge deficit.
    When I started MFP, I would eat my calories back, and was eating decently healthy; healthier choices but I was still eating more processed or packaged food that I should have. Now, I rarely eat half of my calories back but I eat A LOT of food, and I am not hungry.
    Do not deprive yourself... eat 5 or 6 small meals a day and try to make those meals nutrient dense foods; if you follow those guidelines, you can't really go wrong, either way.... I sometimes don't even get to 1200 calories a day... and this is not from lack of trying, it is from the foods I eat being very low in calories because I eat very cleanly.

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