eating back your exercise calories?

If you eat 1200, but burn 600, you've only effectively eaten 600 calories. That is not enough. It is important to watch your net calories.

MFP is not like a traditional diet. In a traditional diet, your cals are set, and you exercise. But, in the set cals, it is assumed that you will exercise.

MFP does not do that. MFP says, if you want to lose weight, eat x calories. Because there is already a calorie deficit built in...-250 cals for 1/2 lb per wk, -500 cals for 1 lb per week, etc. so, there is a deficit, in case you don't exercise. So, when you do exercise, you are supposed to eat those calories back.

Not eating your calories on this plan is basically harming you more than it is helping.

That was well explained

Personally, I'd find another doctor!

Really though, it depends how you have calculated your exercise calories, I think this is where most people get confused.

Most OTHER calorie calculators (ie. not MFP) ask about how much exercise you are going to do each week and then work out your calories goal including this information. This means that it includes the calories you need just to stay alive, plus an extra amount for working out.

MFP works out your calories without including exercise and assumes that you will add them in as you do them (so you don't get credit for the exercise until you have actually done it!). This means that your calorie allowance includes the calories you need just to stay alive, plus an extra amount for working out. It's just a different method to get to the same end point.

So, if you are using MFP to calculate your daily calorie allowance, then you should be adding in and eating your exercise calories.
If you are getting your daily calories allowance figures from somewhere else, then you should check with them, most likely you won't add in exercise calories.

It's realy pretty simple!

Your deficit is already built in so your exercise calories are exactly that calories that should be eaten to sustain (fuel) your workouts. I am a firm believer in eating them back and have lost alittle weight in the process. I would recommend getting a good heart rate monitor ( I have a Polar FT60) to better track your calories burned. I then only consume 85-90% of them leaving 10-15% for error in logging or estimated calories burned.... Best of Luck to you.......

Always eat some back, that's fuel for the next day!

Funny I've only been on this site for about a week and I hear this question soooo frequently. I believe the answer is to eat the calories back IF YOURE HUNGRY...don't force it. Very high deficits don't necessarily yield faster results. The body needs fuel and if you starve yourself especially after working out intensely, the body doesn't just only grab fat and burn it up...tends to eat muscle, hold fat stores...you feel like dirt....you get me? Hope this helps! Cheers!

Hey there. I've wondered the same thing originally, but with some trail and error find that eating at least some of my exercise calories works best. I have found that while i may feel okay and not really need the calories that day, without them i will feel weak and exhausted and STARVING the next day (which stops me from exercising that day, starting a bad cycle). Just make sure you eat good food for a working body with those calories.
PS. have also heard about the milk thing from a nutritionist. Not chocolate milk though, which is through the roof with sugars that you just don't need. But dairy, such as a smoothie, within half an hour of an INTENSE workout is supposed to help with muscle fatigue and post work out nutrition. Don't know if it's true, but to be honest, i don't get enough calcium, so it can't do much harm.

For endurance, or intense efforts, it is actually chocolate milk.

Exactly for the sugars. You've just burned off a bunch of glucose stores with either type of workout.

The chocolate milk not only has the sugars to replenish, but also the fat to slow that down in hitting the bloodstream, and protein for some immediate muscle repair.

Strawberry or other flavors would meet those needs too. Perhaps not spinach flavored. Ugh.

How can we have enough energy to do intense workouts if we do take in energy?

Well in my case there's 7 pounds of surplus fat on board which is worth 28,600 calories so I would be looking to do intense workouts by using some of that.

If you have very low body fat this obviously can't work, but if you're looking to lose fat then the calorie deficit comes from your fat reserves. If you exercise you make a bigger deficit.

There are three reasons I exercise:

1. To keep me aware of how hard my lungs work so I won't be tempted to go back to smoking.
2. To get me stronger and fitter so I can do stuff like climb mountains.
3. So I can eat more food.

Life would be so dreary if I actually had to eat tiny portions or skip rich goodies just because eating more than X calories will make me gain. So, I exercise a lot. That way, I can eat meals that actually fill my plate or contain yummy stuff like cheese or whatever.

For endurance, or intense efforts, it is actually chocolate milk.

Exactly for the sugars. You've just burned off a bunch of glucose stores with either type of workout.

The chocolate milk not only has the sugars to replenish, but also the fat to slow that down in hitting the bloodstream, and protein for some immediate muscle repair.

Strawberry or other flavors would meet those needs too. Perhaps not spinach flavored. Ugh.

I really loathe chocolate, and don't like flavored milk in general, but regular old 2% milk for a nightly snack seems to be helping w/endurance for the next day.

I eat all the exercise calories back, drink 8-16 oz of Chocolate milk after a run, life is good!