....and tell me why I would want to eat back the calories?

bag4498
bag4498 Posts: 14 Member
edited November 8 in Food and Nutrition
I see posts on here about eating back the exercise calories. Could someone please explain to me why I would want to eat the calories back when I'm trying to lose weight? My daily goal is 1200, if I burn 600 calories at the gym I don't think I want to now bump up my calorie intake to 1800. I didn't eat them back this week and lost 3lbs. Could this pose a problem in the future? need opinions please.
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Replies

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,271 Member
    The reality is, you should never eat back your exercise calories because they should already be factored into your daily caloric needs.......obviously you didn't do that.
  • nikolaim5
    nikolaim5 Posts: 233
    As long as you're not doing it everyday it's fine.
  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
    It's a secret.
  • nikolaim5
    nikolaim5 Posts: 233
    The reality is, you should never eat back your exercise calories because they should already be factored into your daily caloric needs.......obviously you didn't do that.

    Not entirely true. In order to maximize fat loss and minimize muscle loss it's best to SLOWLY loose the weight.
  • itsuki
    itsuki Posts: 520 Member
    Eating less than a NET of 1200 calories a day, for some people, can lead to a slowed metabolism. The net of 1200 a day is already a deficit. Netting 600 a day might help you lose weight in the short term, but in the long run it might hinder.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/390145-should-i-eat-my-exercise-calories
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,380 Member
    Because they are freakin' delicious, that's why. LOL

    It really depends on a lot of things. If you have already set your activity level to *include* the exercise you're doing, then it's kind of already accounted for. I personally set my activity level to NOT include my extra exercise, so when I do workout yes I eat my exercise calories. Since my activity level is set to 'sedentary', when I do eat my exercise calories I continue to lose weight at pretty much exactly the rate I requested in my profile. If I had accounted for my exercise when I set my activity level, though, I'd totally be sabotaging myself to eat those calories, I'd be counting them twice and it would screw up my progress. So I feel it depends on how you set your activity. Also on how you're getting your calorie estimation - if you're relying on machines or MFP estimates, there's no telling if it might be way higher or lower than reality. I have a HRM which I use for my calorie estimations, it's not perfect but it has to be better than a random average in the MFP database.

    Although w/ a calorie goal of 1200, no matter how you set your activity level I'd still personally say you should eat back at least part of them. If you eat 1200 and burn 600, you're then leaving only 600 for your body to run off of. Some say 'that's fine, I want to lose weight faster' but some find that doing that on a regular basis can actually slow them down, make it harder to perform in the workouts, etc.
  • kak2m4
    kak2m4 Posts: 167 Member
    Well, you want to NET at least 1200 calories per day. So, if your goal is 1200 calories, you eat 1200 calories, okay, and then you burn 600 calories at the gym, you're really only netting 600 calories. That means you're only giving yourself 600 calories to live on for the day. Doing this for an extended amount of time (not saying that you are, I'm just saying if you did), would cause your muscles to start breaking down to fuel your body, and your metabolism would slow waaay down, causing your weight loss to stall or stop altogether. Doing once in awhile if you're truly not hungry won't hurt you in the long run, but overall you have to be eating enough calories to fuel your body.

    So, if you eat 1800 calories and you work 600 calories off working out, you're still netting 1200 calories, which is your goal. So it's really better to "eat them back." Concentrate on what you're netting rather than the total calories you're consuming.

    Does it make sense? I thought it was ridiculous too until I had an "aha" moment where I suddenly understood.
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    The reality is, you should never eat back your exercise calories because they should already be factored into your daily caloric needs.......obviously you didn't do that.
    actually the way mfp works, is you enter you daily activity EXCLUDING exercise - notice when it asks your daily activity it doesnt list exercise, just professions.
    i do agree that if you include your exercise in your daily activities, you shouldnt eat your exercise calories, but thats not the way this site was designed.
  • kak2m4
    kak2m4 Posts: 167 Member
    Because they are freakin' delicious, that's why. LOL

    It really depends on a lot of things. If you have already set your activity level to *include* the exercise you're doing, then it's kind of already accounted for. I personally set my activity level to NOT include my extra exercise, so when I do workout yes I eat my exercise calories. Since my activity level is set to 'sedentary', when I do eat my exercise calories I continue to lose weight at pretty much exactly the rate I requested in my profile. If I had accounted for my exercise when I set my activity level, though, I'd totally be sabotaging myself to eat those calories, I'd be counting them twice and it would screw up my progress. So I feel it depends on how you set your activity. Also on how you're getting your calorie estimation - if you're relying on machines or MFP estimates, there's no telling if it might be way higher or lower than reality. I have a HRM which I use for my calorie estimations, it's not perfect but it has to be better than a random average in the MFP database.

    This, too. I'm assuming your activity level is set at sedentary since you're allotted 1200 calories?
  • ncw89
    ncw89 Posts: 61 Member
    The idea is that the calorie deficit is *already* factored in to give you the 1200. You need to net 1200 per day, which is total caloric intake minus the calories you burn. In theory if you have too small a caloric intake your metabolism will slow down and will start burning muscle instead of fat, which isn't what you want. You need to keep the deficit smaller: using your example, if you're eating in 1200 cals and burning 600 cals, without eating them back you are only netting 600 cals, which is way too low for your body to handle. It's not sustainable and it's unhealthy. If you eat the cals back, your metabolism will stay higher and therefore burn more fat, helping you lose more weight. Think about it: when (and it *is* a when, not an if) your matabolism slows and you plateau, what will you do then? Reduce your cals more? To lower than 600? Hmmm.
  • rollycollysmama
    rollycollysmama Posts: 143
    You need to maintain a deficit. if you burn 600 cals and your daily goal is 1,500 for example, if deff SHOULD eat at least 1,500. your body needs aprox 1200 cals a day just to function, and keep your metabolsim going. if you only eat 1,200 and than burn 500 your body is running off of 700 cals which in turn will shut down functions your body doesnt need, first thing to go would be your metabolsim, because it will start saving all the fat you eat and use it for fuel to make your body function. Think of it this way, you need gas in your car for your car to run, you cant just keep driving without refueling, eventually it will break down and you'll be screwed. Maintain a deficit of at least 500.
  • bag4498
    bag4498 Posts: 14 Member
    I totally get it now. Thanks so much for all the input.
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
    The reality is, you should never eat back your exercise calories because they should already be factored into your daily caloric needs.......obviously you didn't do that.
    actually the way mfp works, is you enter you daily activity EXCLUDING exercise - notice when it asks your daily activity it doesnt list exercise, just professions.
    i do agree that if you include your exercise in your daily activities, you shouldnt eat your exercise calories, but thats not the way this site was designed.
    This site works either way. Either you set your activity level to include your exercise(then you don't enter it), or you set it to sedentary and enter your exercise. Either way is the same net effect.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    I totally get it now. Thanks so much for all the input.

    Hooray! :drinker: Welcome to the club!
  • bag4498
    bag4498 Posts: 14 Member
    I totally get it now. Thanks so much for all the input.

    Hooray! :drinker: Welcome to the club!

    I read your link. Thanks for posting it.
  • Nopedotjpeg
    Nopedotjpeg Posts: 1,805 Member
    Don't. I prefer the people that refuse to read to be malnourished.
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    The reality is, you should never eat back your exercise calories because they should already be factored into your daily caloric needs.......obviously you didn't do that.
    actually the way mfp works, is you enter you daily activity EXCLUDING exercise - notice when it asks your daily activity it doesnt list exercise, just professions.
    i do agree that if you include your exercise in your daily activities, you shouldnt eat your exercise calories, but thats not the way this site was designed.
    This site works either way. Either you set your activity level to include your exercise(then you don't enter it), or you set it to sedentary and enter your exercise. Either way is the same net effect.
    but thats where most people get confused. im not saying it doesnt work either way - but you have some people on here who say "eat your exercise calories no matter what!!" not taking into account that person may have included their exercise in the daily activity level.
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
    The reality is, you should never eat back your exercise calories because they should already be factored into your daily caloric needs.......obviously you didn't do that.
    actually the way mfp works, is you enter you daily activity EXCLUDING exercise - notice when it asks your daily activity it doesnt list exercise, just professions.
    i do agree that if you include your exercise in your daily activities, you shouldnt eat your exercise calories, but thats not the way this site was designed.
    This site works either way. Either you set your activity level to include your exercise(then you don't enter it), or you set it to sedentary and enter your exercise. Either way is the same net effect.
    but thats where most people get confused. im not saying it doesnt work either way - but you have some people on here who say "eat your exercise calories no matter what!!" not taking into account that person may have included their exercise in the daily activity level.
    Yep, you definitely need to recognize the difference in the approaches for sure.
  • bag4498
    bag4498 Posts: 14 Member
    so before putting this post on here I would have allowed myself 483 calories for dinner (b/c that would put me at my 1200/day , but now I'm having to take in 900+ calories for the rest of the evening because I burned 500 calories at the gym. How the heck am I going to do that? maybe I should start tomorrow with this new way of eating. There is no way I can eat that much, not healthy eating. I had a hard time finding 1200 calories to eat as it was.
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,380 Member
    so before putting this post on here I would have allowed myself 483 calories for dinner (b/c that would put me at my 1200/day , but now I'm having to take in 900+ calories for the rest of the evening because I burned 500 calories at the gym. How the heck am I going to do that? maybe I should start tomorrow with this new way of eating. There is no way I can eat that much, not healthy eating. I had a hard time finding 1200 calories to eat as it was.

    Snacks. :-) Calorie dense foods, fruit, nuts, nut butters, etc etc.
  • Nopedotjpeg
    Nopedotjpeg Posts: 1,805 Member
    so before putting this post on here I would have allowed myself 483 calories for dinner (b/c that would put me at my 1200/day , but now I'm having to take in 900+ calories for the rest of the evening because I burned 500 calories at the gym. How the heck am I going to do that? maybe I should start tomorrow with this new way of eating. There is no way I can eat that much, not healthy eating. I had a hard time finding 1200 calories to eat as it was.

    Then how exactly do you need to lose weight? Maybe you should actually put on some stats (height/weight/regular workout) so you can get some less general advice.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    maybe I should start tomorrow with this new way of eating.

    Bingo. Armed with this knowledge, you can plan ahead better now and distribute the calories throughout the day. After a while you should have a rough idea of your total daily energy expenditure. When you know your total energy expenditure and what sort of calorie deficit you're targeting, you can plan the meals so you don't end up with a ton of calories at the end of the day.

    Planning is the easy part. :)
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    so before putting this post on here I would have allowed myself 483 calories for dinner (b/c that would put me at my 1200/day , but now I'm having to take in 900+ calories for the rest of the evening because I burned 500 calories at the gym. How the heck am I going to do that? maybe I should start tomorrow with this new way of eating. There is no way I can eat that much, not healthy eating. I had a hard time finding 1200 calories to eat as it was.

    Snacks. :-) Calorie dense foods, fruit, nuts, nut butters, etc etc.
    ^this, also olive oil and avocado are good choices.
    and i always get bashed for this - but cheese, or other full fat dairy, or some bacon (reasonable amounts, of course). i refuse to cut anything out of my diet - i just limit the amount i eat. instead of cooking with butter every day, i use it occasionally. sometimes ill have cheese every day for a week, other times i dont eat it for 2 weeks. i just make sure to fit whatever i eat into my goals for the day.
  • laineyluma
    laineyluma Posts: 358 Member
    I eat them back.. It has worked for me. :flowerforyou:
  • twinmama1987
    twinmama1987 Posts: 566 Member
    because MFP ALREADY takes away 500-1000 calories BEFORE you see your diary! & more thanh a 1000 cal defecit is not a good thing. be smart.

    i set mine to maintain and create my own defecit, plus i have my bodymedia.
  • irjeffb
    irjeffb Posts: 275 Member
    Does anybody have a link to an actual scientific study reinforcing this?

    Yes, popular belief is that you need to eat back the calories, that you shouldn't go under 1200 per day, etc., but everything I've been able to find that is an actual scientific study does NOT reinforce this theory.

    Just because a lot of people believe something, doesn't make it true.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    Does anybody have a link to an actual scientific study reinforcing this?

    Yes, popular belief is that you need to eat back the calories, that you shouldn't go under 1200 per day, etc., but everything I've been able to find that is an actual scientific study does NOT reinforce this theory.

    Just because a lot of people believe something, doesn't make it true.

    Because 1+1=2
  • ChrisStoney
    ChrisStoney Posts: 479 Member
    so before putting this post on here I would have allowed myself 483 calories for dinner (b/c that would put me at my 1200/day , but now I'm having to take in 900+ calories for the rest of the evening because I burned 500 calories at the gym. How the heck am I going to do that? maybe I should start tomorrow with this new way of eating. There is no way I can eat that much, not healthy eating. I had a hard time finding 1200 calories to eat as it was.


    8 ounces of chicken, with cheese and one ounce of almounds.... probably about 500 cals, might take 5-10 minutes to eat. yummm!
  • sexforjaffacakes
    sexforjaffacakes Posts: 1,001 Member
    so before putting this post on here I would have allowed myself 483 calories for dinner (b/c that would put me at my 1200/day , but now I'm having to take in 900+ calories for the rest of the evening because I burned 500 calories at the gym. How the heck am I going to do that? maybe I should start tomorrow with this new way of eating. There is no way I can eat that much, not healthy eating. I had a hard time finding 1200 calories to eat as it was.

    Just eat what you can, you don't need to force yourself to eat back everything. Aim for as much as you can - with calorie dense food like nuts oils etc, even a little dark chocolate would be okay. But If you feel stuffed you don't need to force it, some people only eat back half of their exercise calories, some people eat them all!

    Also, the approximate burned calories on this site can be quite over generous, so unless you use a heart rate monitor, I wouldnt eat every single exercise cal back because yeah as I said sometimes the site can give you too man exercise calories.

    But aye, on the whole, eating them back is good :D
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