Do you "eat back" your calories burned?

I used to not eat them back and didn't see the results that I wanted. I started eating them back and while I haven't weighed myself in awhile, I feel much more statisfied with my progress and I'm full and happy all day. I don't have those days where I have a huge appetite and feel more in control.

It's a personal choice. You can try it and see if it works for you. If it doesn't, you can go back to what you were doing. If it does, then you can look forward to greater progress.

Yes, and I always have. It hasn't kept me from losing at all. Right now I'm having a hard time because I'm burning 800-900 calories from breastfeeding and that's a lot of extra calories. I can't even exercise until I'm eating more. But, I know that I need to. I've started to lose a lot of hair in the shower, and that scares me. It could just be hormones, but since I didn't lose hair after either of my first two pregnancies, I'm thinking this has more to do with me not eating enough.

I eat them most of the time, or at least 1/2 of them. Plus, I work night shift, so sometimes I NEED the extra fuel to get me through the night :happy: It hasn't affected my weight loss... that being said, I know everyone is different!

I will now I have a HRM. Just be careful you are ABSOLUTELY sure how many calories you burned. Don't go by the machines or MFP figures as if its wrong you will self sabotage.

What brand HRM did you purchase?

jsut a cheap; one from tesco's.

YES! I do eat back most of my calories burned. My experience is this:

My BMR (which is the amount of calories your body needs just to survive) is about 1800. You're going to burn more calories then just from all your day to day activities. When factoring in my TDEE (total daily energy expendature) at a sendentary lifestyle (eventhough I do exercise) this bumps up my calorie needs to about 2300 per day.

If you subtract 1800 from 2300 there is your 500 calorie per day deficit. When you add in your exercise you're only adding to your deficit.

I'm a huge advocate of eating at your BMR only because for my this is a lifestyle change not a quick fix. Another great way to figure out what you need to be netting is to use the numbers you would need to maintain your ideal weight.

Good luck

my goal is about 1600 and i am usually at about 1400 on average for what i eat in a day. Typically when i go to the gym I'll burn between 400-600 calories and ill maybe eat half back. This kind of comes into play if you reach plateaus. I've hit 3 and each time i would increase my calorie intake for a bit and i would finally overcome them after being stuck for like a month at the same weight. If your body doesnt get enough it will just hold onto what it can and so this may be why people say to eat them back.

Not good, as a guy your minimum should be 1500 net (1500 plus what you burned from exercise) any less and you risk losing a large % of lean muscle instead of mostly fat. You have to ask yourself, do you want to lose weight, or lose fat?

Sorry for the double post! but clearly hit the wrong button.

well, Im also only 5'6'' so im short for a guy. I run a lot and I have been increasing time and distance when I do and notice the muscles in my legs gettting stronger. I have quite the story from going to a spin class at the very begining of my gym experience where i couldn't keep up and struggled but now it is not a problem any more at all.

That doesn't really change things much. 1400 is too low. 1600 is the goal to reach, not something you want to be way below, and 200 below is way below especially if you only eat half your calories back. You will likely lose a lot of muscle. I have seen it, and it is a lot harder to put muscle on than it is to maintain it in the first place.

Thanks all! I appreciate the feedback and will definitely try it out! It will probably keep me from hitting plateaus every 10 pounds as I have been doing.

my goal is about 1600 and i am usually at about 1400 on average for what i eat in a day. Typically when i go to the gym I'll burn between 400-600 calories and ill maybe eat half back. This kind of comes into play if you reach plateaus. I've hit 3 and each time i would increase my calorie intake for a bit and i would finally overcome them after being stuck for like a month at the same weight. If your body doesnt get enough it will just hold onto what it can and so this may be why people say to eat them back.

Not good, as a guy your minimum should be 1500 net (1500 plus what you burned from exercise) any less and you risk losing a large % of lean muscle instead of mostly fat. You have to ask yourself, do you want to lose weight, or lose fat?

Sorry for the double post! but clearly hit the wrong button.

well, Im also only 5'6'' so im short for a guy. I run a lot and I have been increasing time and distance when I do and notice the muscles in my legs gettting stronger. I have quite the story from going to a spin class at the very begining of my gym experience where i couldn't keep up and struggled but now it is not a problem any more at all.

I'm only 5'6 as well, but I am eating a net of 1750 to 1850 to lose weight (0.5lbs/week). I could see a net of 1600-1700 for 1lb/week, but not less than that.

Some, but not all. I try to let my WL be my guide.

I can't say I fully understand the concept of net calories though, so it's a work in progress.

Nope... I do not. I eat when I'm hungry. I don't see a point in forcing myself to eat.



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