do i need to eat back the calories that i burned for workin
ruffalicious
Posts: 779 Member
i have questions, do i need to eat back the calories that i burned from working out?why and why not? if yes, that are the best healthy foods to eat it back?
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Replies
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no you don't want to do that. That is the only thing I had a problem with regarding this site. It puts the calories you burned with the calories you didn't eat at the end of the day as though you are allowed all those calories now..NOT...it's silly why they do that. Just remember you have a certain goal of calories to eat in one day and don't go over. When you exercise (burn calories) and it tells you that you 'earned' this many calories....I just ignore that. I don't get their analogy.0
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http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
Read the last paragraph!0 -
thank u hollyberry201 for that info :happy: i been doin exactly that, thinking im s'posed to eat more cuz i worked out n now my calorie intake is too low... thank u sooo much for the info, im guessing thats y i havent lost but 1lb n 1 wk n im workin my butt off trying :sad:0
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YES eat back your calories. If you are set to eat 1200 calories per day that is the MINIMUM you should consume. Doing that alone, without exercise, is a healthy way to safely lose weight. If you add exercise to the equation then you should definitely 'eat back' the calories to prevent you from falling into survival mode.
Let's do the math: If you exercise and burn 400 calories every day and still only consume 1200 calories your 'net' calorie intake is just 800 calories per day. Besides the fact that this is too few and is difficult to sustain a healthy lifestyle, chances are you will not stick to this plan because you will be hungry!! And really, you can't run your car with no gas in it and it's the same thing here. You need to properly fuel your body. How can you exercise with no energy?
Also, because your body is being deprived of the necessary calories to survive properly, your body will natuarally fall into 'survival mode'. It will adjust to only receiving a small amount of calories by SLOWING down your metabolism thereby slowing down your weight loss. It will hold on to the few precious calories you give it.
The healthy approach is to eat back your calories to reach a minimum of 1200 calories consumed per day.0 -
thank u hollyberry201 for that info :happy: i been doin exactly that, thinking im s'posed to eat more cuz i worked out n now my calorie intake is too low... thank u sooo much for the info, im guessing thats y i havent lost but 1lb n 1 wk n im workin my butt off trying :sad:
I strongly disagree with hollyberry201. You ARE supposed eat the calories back. Now that doesn't mean have an ice cream sundae, but you should eat them back with healthy choices. See my brief explination above.0 -
YES eat back your calories. If you are set to eat 1200 calories per day that is the MINIMUM you should consume. Doing that alone, without exercise, is a healthy way to safely lose weight. If you add exercise to the equation then you should definitely 'eat back' the calories to prevent you from falling into starvation mode.
Let's do the math: If you exercise and burn 400 calories every day and still only consume 1200 calories your 'net' calorie intake is just 800 calories per day. Besides the fact that this is too few and is difficult to sustain a healthy lifestyle, chances are you will not stick to this plan because you will be hungry!! And really, you can't run your car with no gas in it and it's the same thing here. You need to properly fuel your body. How can you exercise with no energy?
Also, because your body is being deprived of the necessary calories to survive properly, your body will natuarally fall into 'stavation mode'. It will adjust to only receiving a small amount of calories by SLOWING down your metabolism thereby slowing down your weight loss. It will hold on to the few precious calories you give it.
The healthy approach is to eat back your calories to reach a minimum of 1200 calories consumed per day.
thanks for the math! it made me understand why we really need to eat back the calories we made. so now my question is what are the best food to eat it back?0 -
Lean meats, veggies, fruits, nuts, whole grains, healthy fats, dairy... what do you like? Do you cook? Do you have any dietary restrictions?
I'm sure if you look around the message boards you will find a wealth of information and ideas. I've gotten some great recipies off here too. And I always like to try new foods too. I'll get an idea from here and stop at the grocery store to give it a whirl! Most I really enjoy, some... not so much! LOL0 -
I cannot see any point in eating back the working out calories, if you getting your minimum calories intake ( let us say 1200 calories ) so you don't have any problem if you burn 2000 calories.
As per my experience with MPF, I get the best result when I minimized the ( Net calories ) but with eating the minimum of 1200.
For me I know myself, If I eat back what I burn I will go back to my weight before I join MPF.
The most important rule in ( eating - burning )…..it’s better to eat and burn than eating below the calories goal……for example if your goal is ( 1500 ) it’s better to eat 2000 and burn 501 to be under your goal rather than just keeping your food under 1500…….but that anyway doesn’t means that if you burned ( 2000 calorie ) you have to eat it back.0 -
I REALLY NEVER EAT THEM BACK0
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no you don't want to do that. That is the only thing I had a problem with regarding this site. It puts the calories you burned with the calories you didn't eat at the end of the day as though you are allowed all those calories now..NOT...it's silly why they do that. Just remember you have a certain goal of calories to eat in one day and don't go over. When you exercise (burn calories) and it tells you that you 'earned' this many calories....I just ignore that. I don't get their analogy.
You set a goal of xlb to lose weight, MFP calculated a defict to allow you to do that i.e 500 cals, 1000 cals etc
When you exercise and burn calories you are making the deficit bigger so MFP tells you to eat them back to get back to the deficit you chose.
So, the point of eating them is to keep the SAME deficit as you'd have even without exercise.0 -
Well then I'm completely confused! LOL
Okay, I'm supposed to eat my net caloric value each day at least right?
So I do.
I do a little exercise and burn off some cals.
If I eat them back, didn't I just exercise for nothing?
Why not lay in the bed all day and only eat my net cals and forget the exercise. According to what I think y'all are saying, I would still lose weight. (which I know for a fact I will not lose weight that way.)0 -
Well then I'm completely confused! LOL
Okay, I'm supposed to eat my net caloric value each day at least right?
So I do.
I do a little exercise and burn off some cals.
If I eat them back, didn't I just exercise for nothing?
Why not lay in the bed all day and only eat my net cals and forget the exercise. According to what I think y'all are saying, I would still lose weight. (which I know for a fact I will not lose weight that way.)
If you believe this then you are not understanding how MFP works.
Unlike some other sites, your daily calorie goal already has a deficit built in so you would lose weight without exercise.
The daily calorie goal is not your maintenance calories, unless you set MFP to maintain.0 -
When I joined MFP, I set my goal to lose 1 pound per week, that's 3500 calories. To lose 1 pound per week, MFP gave me a calorie limit per day of about 1500 calories (don't remember to exact number at the moment) keeping in mind how many calories I burn doing everyday activities (you enter this when they ask you about your lifestyle: active, sedentary, etc.) I picked sedentary lifestyle, which has you using around 2000 calories per day just to do everyday activies. So MFP already has me set at losing 1 pound per week, that's a 500 calorie per day deficit, not doing any exercise, just everyday activies.
During a typical exercise session, I burn around 900 calories. If I were to only eat 1500 calories per day, I would only net 600 calories, not nearly enough to supply my some odd 2000 calories used to get through the day lifestyle. Thus, my body would get weaker, and I would be hungry all the time. While I don't typically eat back all my exercise calories, I try to eat back a good 2/3 of them. That would bring me to 1200 - 1300 calories per day, which is usually the minimum amount of calories per day a woman my size needs to survive.
If you have any questions about this, you should ask your doctor. MFP does not know your individual needs.0 -
Ok, well...I'm full, as in satisfied on my net calories. But my exercise is low right now because I'm waiting on my treadmill to get here UPS.
So here is what I'm going to do. If, when I start exercising more, if I start to feel hungrier, I will eat some of those burned cals back in clean foods.0 -
Ok, well...I'm full, as in satisfied on my net calories. But my exercise is low right now because I'm waiting on my treadmill to get here UPS.
So here is what I'm going to do. If, when I start exercising more, if I start to feel hungrier, I will eat some of those burned cals back in clean foods.
Yes, the best thing is to always listen to your body. As long as you're not starving yourself, you're doing just fine.
MFP isn't always right, if had to eat back ALL of my exercise calories, I would have to force myself. I just can't eat that much food in one day!0 -
I eat back my exercise calories. It's not stopping my weight loss. Why deprive yourself when you don't have to? Your body needs fuel!0
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I think 'ill just go bang my head against a brick wall.....less painful!:laugh:0
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Yes you eat your calories back!!!
MFP (if you are losing) gives you a deficit anyways.
So if your BMR is 1400.
It already sets your goal to 1200. Because going below that is dangerous.
So that's a -200 cal deficit!
If you exercise lets say you burn 500 cals...
That is -700 cals deficit.
You dont have to eat them all. But at least make your net goal 1200!!!0 -
thank u hollyberry201 for that info :happy: i been doin exactly that, thinking im s'posed to eat more cuz i worked out n now my calorie intake is too low... thank u sooo much for the info, im guessing thats y i havent lost but 1lb n 1 wk n im workin my butt off trying :sad:
I strongly disagree with hollyberry201. You ARE supposed eat the calories back. Now that doesn't mean have an ice cream sundae, but you should eat them back with healthy choices. See my brief explination above.
Agreed. Any doctor will tell you that advice is wrong.0 -
YES eat back your calories. If you are set to eat 1200 calories per day that is the MINIMUM you should consume. Doing that alone, without exercise, is a healthy way to safely lose weight. If you add exercise to the equation then you should definitely 'eat back' the calories to prevent you from falling into survival mode.
Let's do the math: If you exercise and burn 400 calories every day and still only consume 1200 calories your 'net' calorie intake is just 800 calories per day. Besides the fact that this is too few and is difficult to sustain a healthy lifestyle, chances are you will not stick to this plan because you will be hungry!! And really, you can't run your car with no gas in it and it's the same thing here. You need to properly fuel your body. How can you exercise with no energy?
Also, because your body is being deprived of the necessary calories to survive properly, your body will natuarally fall into 'survival mode'. It will adjust to only receiving a small amount of calories by SLOWING down your metabolism thereby slowing down your weight loss. It will hold on to the few precious calories you give it.
The healthy approach is to eat back your calories to reach a minimum of 1200 calories consumed per day.0 -
I compromise with myself & eat back half of my workout calories. Also, that way if I forget to log something I'm covered. Everybody is different, & you just have to find what is successful for you.0
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I do eat back some of my calories and I just hot a plateau....0
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When you exercise your body needs more calories. You don't necessarily need to eat all of them back, but if you don't get enough, your metabolism will slow down because of the starvation mode. When your metabolism slows down you lose weight much slower. Yes you can still lose weight, but it will be much much slower. The consuming of exercise calories keeps your metabolism revved up, and is based on research that states if you consume more than 1000 calories less than what you burn in a day, your body will respond by slowing your metabolism. That's why MFP computes no more than 2lbs of weight loss a week and recommends no more than 1000 calorie deficit from your daily metabolic rate. As you exercise more, the daily calories on MFP increases to keep you in that range to keep your metabolism fired up. The folks at myfitnespal aren't the only ones who incorporate this into their program. I assume you would agree with me that Weight Watchers is a reputable program, and they too are preaching that you should eat your exercise calories. You can either eat them the day you burn them, or eat them all on one day at the end of the week. Not only does it keep your metabolism up, it keeps you from binging after starving yourself all day. Hope this helps. 0
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I have always eaten them back, and as you can see from my ticker down below it has worked out wonderfully! Not only have I lost 40 lbs, I have also gone from a size 17/19 in jeans down to a size 6 for the first time in years. Started out at 165, currently at 125 as of this morning's weigh-in and working on the last 5 before goal. (I add this for reference since I see OP's goals are similar :-) ).
You might want to be conservative about eating them back if you're not very confident of the estimation - for example if you are having to rely on MFP estimates or gym machine estimates, you might try eating something like 50-75% and see how it works out for you. If you have a device like a heart rate monitor, bodybugg, bodymediafit, etc, you might be able to feel more confident about the estimation and eat a larger percentage or all of them. I tend to eat all of them as per my HRM, unless I have a cheat day coming up. If I'm planning a day where I'm know I'm going to go over, I might go just a little low for a few days or a week beforehand (like leaving 100-200 of my exercise calories at the end of the day, but no lower than that). My goal right now is set at 1360 per day, so even if I leave 200 exercise calories un-eaten at the end of the day I still net at least 1160. And then I more than make up for that on my cheat/spike day. LOL But normally I eat goal + exercise which puts me eating a total of anywhere from 1600-2000 per day depending on how much I worked out. Going under on some days and then over every now and then averages out over time.0 -
Ask yourself.... is this a diet or is this a lifestyle change? If its a diet, you will discontinue it one day, and well the weight will come back.
Can you survive the rest of your living life on a minimal calorie intake (of 1200 cals) really, come on? If your goal is to simply lose weight, starving your body will certainly do the trick, of course until your metabolism slows so far down that you just stop losing weight. Then you will be back on the forums complaining about not being able to lose weight.
What's the point of exercise you say? That's the tool you use to create your deficit, not starving yourself... it won't work long term. Please feed your body clean foods, at a good 500-1000 calorie per day deficit and stick with it. If you exercise, eat those calories back to maintain that deficit, it just simply works.0 -
Probably, because I am at the start and at such a high weight right now, with lots of stored fat, I don't feel as intensely hungry on my allotted net cals. But don't worry, I'm listening to y'all and paying attention. Now as time goes by I will have the information to know what to do and when to do it. So thank you so much. It's starting to all make sense lol.0
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I aggree with branohockey! Fuel your body correctly and you will see the best results! As far as what to eat after exercise goes, I would say the best things would be lean meats with green veggies or a whey protein smoothie with fruit, greek yogurt, and spinach!0
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Well then I'm completely confused! LOL
Okay, I'm supposed to eat my net caloric value each day at least right?
So I do.
I do a little exercise and burn off some cals.
If I eat them back, didn't I just exercise for nothing?
Why not lay in the bed all day and only eat my net cals and forget the exercise. According to what I think y'all are saying, I would still lose weight. (which I know for a fact I will not lose weight that way.)
Here's the thing. If you go by what MFP tells you to consume, you are still creating a 500-1000 calorie deficit each day. That means you are still burning more than you are consuming. When you exercise, it fires your metabolism up to burn more calories when you are at rest. This is where you are going to lose most of your weightloss. A high metabolism will increase your resting metabolic rate, which will burn even more calories than when you exercise Excercise only counts for about 10-20% of your weightloss. Learn how to fire up your metabolism and that's where you will lose the most weight. 0 -
just so I'm clear, when you say "500-1000 calorie per day deficit " you are talking about a deficit of the <From Normal Daily Activity> and not from the <Net Calories Consumed* / Day> in the GOALS section of MFP right?0
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just so I'm clear, when you say "500-1000 calorie per day deficit " you are talking about a deficit of the <From Normal Daily Activity> and not from the <Net Calories Consumed* / Day> in the GOALS section of MFP right?
If you set up your profile and told MFP you want to lose 1 lb per week, it builds a 500 calorie per day deficit into your calorie goal. If you tell it you want to lose 2 lbs per week, it builds a 1000 calorie per day deficit into your goal. This is based on what your body would normally burn throughout daily activity. MFP sets your calorie goal such that you will lose weight just by eating that amount, even if you do not do any additional specific exercise.0
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