To Eat or Not to Eat Exercise Calories back??

Kelblue1
Kelblue1 Posts: 139 Member
edited October 20 in Food and Nutrition
FIrst let me say... YES I know you are supposed to eat them back... but the last time I tried this I was not losing weight, I actually gained a lb or two. After two weeks I stopped. Usually I eat about half back now. Should I give it more time for my body to adjust? I'm just wondering if it's just that everyone is different. Some can eat back and lose and some can not maybe. Any suggestions??

Replies

  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
    Two weeks isn't a long time in the world of fitness. Fixation on the scale isn't so great either.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    I wouldn't judge anything as successful or not until I gave it a month. A week or 2 just isn't long enough for the body to adjust and then to really evaluate the results.

    As far as whether or not you eat them back, it depends how big your caloric deficit is. As long as you are keeping it healthy/reasonable you should be fine.

    Also, make sure you are logging/tracking accurately. It's very easy to mis-estimate cals (both consumed and burned).
  • katkins3
    katkins3 Posts: 1,359 Member


    Also, make sure you are logging/tracking accurately. It's very easy to mis-estimate cals (both consumed and burned).

    This^

    It's important to ensure both food and exercise calories are accurate. If you expend more calories than you consume you Will lose weight, (sometimes fluids will mask the loss for a while, but don't let that fool you).
    Keep going!:wink:
  • marymariedaniels
    marymariedaniels Posts: 2 Member
    I have always had this question as well. I know its important to keep a certain amount of calories in your body to keep you metabolism functioning but it seems if I re-consume the calories I burn I also do not loose weight either. So I am following what you do, I eat about half of my calories back. Also, I would suggest investing in a heart rate monitor because it will give you a much more accurate reading of your calories burned. You will be surprised at the difference you see between the monitor you are wearing and the monitor attached to the cardio machine you are using. Its a little shocking at first but it gave me motivation to work harder and longer to burn the extra calories. :)

    2275431.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools
  • Kelblue1
    Kelblue1 Posts: 139 Member
    That's another thing. When I do my goals in MFP it tells me when I put in I work out 40 min a day 7 days a week that I burn like 1900 calories. Well. I have a HRM and I burn about 3500 a week. Therefore I'm not sure if I should change my calorie intake or what I should do. I'm alittle confused by that one!
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Ignore MFP's workout estimates/suggestions. Set your caloric intake appropriately, then use your HRM to track burned cals. I think MFP's workout goals are intended to be used as goals, much the same way you have fat/carb/protein goals.
  • Kelblue1
    Kelblue1 Posts: 139 Member
    Ignore MFP's workout estimates/suggestions. Set your caloric intake appropriately, then use your HRM to track burned cals. I think MFP's workout goals are intended to be used as goals, much the same way you have fat/carb/protein goals.

    Do you have a suggestion on the best website to figure what I should actually be taking in? Or an equation to figure it out? Thank you!
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    MFP has one built in... that's how it figures out your daily goal. You put in your age, height, weight, gender, activity level and weight goals and it calculates a goal for you.

    That number is what you should be netting each day.
  • zumbagada
    zumbagada Posts: 24 Member
    I think a lot of it comes down to whether you are hungry or not. If you've worked out and built up a lot of extra calories, and are hungry, you should eat healthy food until you are no longer hungry. Don't be trying to eat a bunch of junk to make sure you meet your calorie target. If you've worked out, and are not at all hungry, then your body is telling you that it's fine with what it's already consumed. You just don't want your deficit to get too extreme, otherwise you stall out. Anyways, that's just what I saw when I was doing weight watchers a few years back.
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