PLEASE HELP! I am obese. Should I be eating back exercise ca

Eating your exercise calories back will be more and more important as you get closer to your goal. My goal is 15 pounds, so I eat mine back always. Not sure what the "schedule" is on this.

Also, as you become more fit, you will burn fewer calories. Do you use a heart rate monitor? Perhaps your calorie burn is overstated (?)

i always ate my exercise cals. I thought it was helpful in the beginning because if I was really craving something, like PIzza, I could eat it but I knew exactly how far I had to run to earn it!

I lost 50 lbs and always ate my exercise cals (unless I wasn't hungry, of course).

I think it's a "to each their own" sort of thing, but if you are eating 1200 cals and working out like the ****ens, I would advise eating your exercise cals because going too low in your net cals can mess up your metabolism (I'm not a doctor, but I've heard this from enough sources I consider reliable that I trust it).

bump

I am 5 feet 7 inches and I started at 200 pounds. I did exactly what MFP told me to do and lost 40 pounds before I got pregnant. I set my goals in the beginning to lose 1-1 1/2 pounds and lowered that as I got closer to my goal weight. I always ate back my exercise calories, but also religiously stayed within my calorie range. Oh - and those first couple weeks, I dropped a ton of weight before I started seeing weight loss anywhere from 0-2 pounds a week. Just don't get frustrated that it's taking too long - it's better to focus on knowing that it WILL work if you just keep at it!

Good Luck!

No, you are right, it wouldn't be muscle yet. You can't gain muscle in a calorie deficit and would need to be strength training anyway, not just cardio.
I think it depends on your settings. What did you put as your weekly goal to lose, your activity level and how many calories is MFP telling you to eat?

This is not true. Depending on where you were physically prior to starting, you could be gaining muscle. The reason I say this is because muscle gain is not only caused by lifting weights. ANY weight bearing exercise can increase muscle mass, especially when you are going from sedentary to active.

Zumba would be considered a weight bearing exercise in this case, and in order to support your body mass in the motions, your leg muscles would have to build up and become stronger. As far as I understand, you aren't in a deficit, as you were eating your BMR and exercise calories.

This is why measuring inches is super important.

ANY exercise that has any weight resistance can cause muscle gain. Your body mass is considered weight resistance. This is why doing things like lunges, squats, push ups, etc will develop muscles. Please don't believe that you have to be specifically strength training with weights in order to build muscle.

That being said, I agree that your muscles are probably swelling with water. Try waiting at least 24 hours of a rest day after your last workout before weighing, and get a tape measure.

It's entirely up to you - I eat some back but not all the time as the more I exercised the less hungry I became!

If you have a lot to lose you don't need to eat them back, however when you have under 20 lbs to lose you should eat 60-70% back.

This is just what worked for me. I'm in my last bit of weight loss and if I don't eat most of my exercise cals back I gain.
My father in law is eating most of his back after a 90 lbs weight loss, but he said he didn't at the beginning.

If your are fit and trying to increase muscle mass (getting bigger muscles) you have to eat more. Muscles require proteins to repair.

And if you are obese you can gain muscle mass at a calorie deficit (only exercise calories). However someone with a strong BMI cannot gain muscle mass at a deficit.

Really listen to your body. Are you really hungry or are you eating cause it tastes good. (this is my habit) If you are hungry eat those exercise calories. This journey is supposed to be positive not torture.

Again, it is NOT muscle gain. It is your body reacting to exercise! And intense exercise at that, I'd recommend giving yourself at least one (if not two) rest days a week.

Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/83600-why-you-gain-when-starting-a-new-workout

"...The muscle becomes inflamed and slightly swollen with fluid retention. This temporary retention of fluid can result in a 3- to 4-pound weight gain within a few weeks of a new program"

The answer: Keep doing what you're doing. If in a few weeks you're still up, then it's time to look at your food intake.

I dont eat mine. My body has ENOUGH fat to burn if it needs energy & fuel.

I was obese when I started this journey (5'7", 260 lbs) and I've eaten every single calorie I can get my hands on for the last 2+ years! Don't force it though, if you're not super hungry then there's no need to eat just to reach your daily goal, but do make sure you net at least 1200 in order to make sure you're properly fueling your body.

Also, to be a bit more accurate on the calorie count if you don't have an HRM, you can edit the # that MFP gives you by whatever factor you choose (I'd recommend 50-75% for a more accurate #). So say you enter your Zumba as Dancing for 60 minutes and the box comes up saying 700, you can then click in that box and change the 700 to 525 (700 * .75). That way you can utilize the calculations that MFP gives you instead of having to do the math in your head all the time.

Lastly, I just wanted to add one more voice to the chorus about your weight going up due to exercise. It is definitely not muscle gain as that takes a lot of time and training, especially for us women. Since we're just talking about a week, you can safely assume it's water weight due to your muscles retaining water as part of their natural healing process. Keep eating right, being active and drink plenty of water, especially on your exercise days.

Keep up the good work!! You're doing great so far!

ETA: By the way, the reason MFP tells us to eat our exercise calories is because they set a higher calorie deficit. Many other calorie calculators give you a higher daily goal and assume you're going to be active. With MFP, you don't HAVE to be active to lose the weight so when you are active, they want you to make up for those calories burned in order for you not to have too drastic of a calorie deficit.