Do you "eat back" your calories burned?

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  • serenity216
    serenity216 Posts: 512 Member
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    This is exactly what happened to me and then I start losing again once I started eating the calories back. I usually around 100 calories though.
    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.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,224 Member
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    When I used the calorie guidelines MFP gave me I did. Why, because what you want for consistent weight loss long term is a moderate deficit. MFP already figures that into your base calorie amount not including exercise. Thus exercise can take a reasonable caloric deficit and turn it into a huge one which will for most people result in plateaus in the long run as well as losing a lot of muscle mass.

    Realise that most other site and programs figure your intended exercise into the amount of calories they give as your goal. Thus, the deficit is based on a number including intended exercise in your activity. In that case you simply eat that amount every day. This, by the way, is what I do now. I have set my own calorie amount based on http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ and include my intended exercise in the amount I use. I took a bit off the maintenace calories that site calculated, and that is what I eat every day. In the end it is pretty close to what I ate here at MFP with exercise calories included, although I no longer have the days where I have 3000 calories to eat because of how much activity I did. I just eat my 2000 give or take a couple of hundred every day. The number will go up as my weight goes down. I have 30 pounds to go right now. When I get to 20 to go or so, the number will likely go to 2250.
  • ebony__
    ebony__ Posts: 519 Member
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    I always eat between 75% and 110% of them. Your 1200 cal goal it to lose your goal amount of weight without exercising, once you exercise your body requires that fuel to be replenished or you want have enough fuel for the rest of the day.

    As an example your day to day requirements are like a tank of gas. if you use a tank of gas/week going to and from work, if you go on any extra trips or errands you will need to add more gas in order to have enough gas to get to work. So if you need 1200 for day to day stuff (you will lose weight with 1200 cals and no exercise), then when you do extra (workout) you need to put more calories in your body.

    I like this analogy :)
  • abibrand
    abibrand Posts: 10
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    As long as I net over 1200, I'm happy.
  • Im_NotPerfect
    Im_NotPerfect Posts: 2,181 Member
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    Absolutely. You EARN them for a reason....I'm not burning calories from my already low calorie count (where my deficit is already figured in). I exercise so that I can eat more!
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,224 Member
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    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.
  • fionarama
    fionarama Posts: 788 Member
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    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.
  • Coco_Puff
    Coco_Puff Posts: 823 Member
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    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?
  • CalJur
    CalJur Posts: 627 Member
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    This is an oft-asked question. Use the search function and you will tap a wealth of information on this topic.
  • ebony__
    ebony__ Posts: 519 Member
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    I'm curious about this too, I'm on 1300 a day plan so far I haven't felt hungry enough to eat more than that regardless of exercise
  • thepetiterunner
    thepetiterunner Posts: 1,238 Member
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    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.
  • ebony__
    ebony__ Posts: 519 Member
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    I'm curious about this too, I'm on 1300 a day plan so far I haven't felt hungry enough to eat more than that regardless of exercise

    ( except one silly day :p)
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    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.
  • scoyne999
    scoyne999 Posts: 59 Member
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    Always and I thoroughly enjoy every single one. I work HARD for them!
  • krystina_letitia9
    krystina_letitia9 Posts: 697 Member
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    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!
  • krystina_letitia9
    krystina_letitia9 Posts: 697 Member
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    Always and I thoroughly enjoy every single one. I work HARD for them!

    Amen!
  • fionarama
    fionarama Posts: 788 Member
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    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.
  • ConnieM20
    ConnieM20 Posts: 493 Member
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    I always eat between 75% and 110% of them. Your 1200 cal goal it to lose your goal amount of weight without exercising, once you exercise your body requires that fuel to be replenished or you want have enough fuel for the rest of the day.

    As an example your day to day requirements are like a tank of gas. if you use a tank of gas/week going to and from work, if you go on any extra trips or errands you will need to add more gas in order to have enough gas to get to work. So if you need 1200 for day to day stuff (you will lose weight with 1200 cals and no exercise), then when you do extra (workout) you need to put more calories in your body.

    great way to explain it, now i understand :)
  • mstemen
    mstemen Posts: 111 Member
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    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
  • TKHappy
    TKHappy Posts: 659 Member
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    I find (for myself) that NOT eating calories burned leaves me run down, tired, and with no results...I'm pretty sure my body goes into starvation mode. I eat 75% of my calories burned and I lose weight, see more musle definition, and am not tired by noon. I think everyone is different and you just have to find out what works best for you!

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