success not eating back exercise calories

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  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    The OP- 10stonemeplz has deactivated their account.
    But for those still looking for that answer, I think it is different for everyone. For me personally I wasn't seeing results with eating my calories back. Stopped doing that and weight is coming off and muscles are developing. Like I said, that is for me personally but I have also been told by several doctors that my metabolism is really low. It is what works for me.

    The only way will will not lose by eating them is if:
    you over estimate how much you burn from exercise,
    under estimate how many calories you actually ate,
    retaining more water,
    have a lower BMR them MFP calculated for you (less than average amount of muscle at your weight), or
    have a thyroid or other hormonal issue.

    Otherwise you would lose your goal amount of weight eating them back
  • jpinge
    jpinge Posts: 71 Member
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    I eat most of my exercise calories back....phsshhhh...that is why I exercise so much lol....I like to eat and don't want to feel deprived. It has totally been working for me. I started losing weight before MFP....80 pounds and then 20+ since starting here. I have a hrm and on the days that I have not fueled my body well I definitely see a decline in calories burned the next day. It is my body, I figured out what it needs to run efficiently and to burn efficiently so that I lose weight, slow and steady. Somedays I am really just not hungry enough to eat them all and then I don't worry...again I am listening to my body and it tells me what it needs.

    As far as the biggest loser contestants....they lose massive amounts of weight most weeks. I don't think I will ever have or even try for such a massive weight loss in that short of time. It is a shame that we don't get to really see their diets as well as their exercise. I think it would be interesting to see what they eat and if it is something they can easily sustain in the real world.

    Good luck, just listen to your body...it will tell you what it needs
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,720 Member
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    OP didn't want to eat their exercise calories back. Whoever it was didn't see the point and figured they knew better. The person joined in January, a little under 4 months ago.

    OP has since deactivated. How do you think they're doing now? I'd wager dollars to delicious donuts they've completely given up because they spent 2 months trying to workout hard and not eat.

    Eat food. Exercise. Look great.
  • kwest_4_fitness
    kwest_4_fitness Posts: 819 Member
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    Well, the OP deactivated. :/ That was a waste of typing, lmao!
  • Alonnea
    Alonnea Posts: 70 Member
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    I don't have as much to lose as some so I can't speak for all. I do eat most of mine back though. I plateaued and upped my calories and actually started losing more then I was losing in the first place. I don't necessarily eat all of them but everyday I try to eat some of them back. I'm working on building muscle and doing weight training so I feel like eating them works better for me. Like I said this is me, not everyone works the same or wants the same things.
  • allisonrozsa
    allisonrozsa Posts: 178 Member
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    I'm pretty sure they do. I remember a season or two ago where Jillian was up in arms over one of the contestants who was not eating the excess calories back (for him, it was slowing down his metabolism and weight loss).
  • SigneFL
    SigneFL Posts: 2
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    Sorry, that's just not true. MFP gave me the same number of calories that every professional has ever given me: 1200. MFP is NOT setting calories much lower. They are right on the money as far as how many calories I need to eat to lose weight.

    I don't know why a couple of social-weight-loss-oriented web sites decided that this is the way to go. The only reason I can think of is that they 1. didn't want people to go "anorexic" on them and eat a LCD + do a lot of exercise on top of that and/or 2. they thought it was a cool concept that would somehow set them apart from other weight loss plans.

    To my way of thinking it is much more likely that people will eat badly and then think to themselves, "well, I'll just burn this off later". This concept of "eating back your calories" does nothing to help people establish healthy eating habits, it just gives them the idea that they can eat whatever they want as long as they burn it off.

    If I nourish my body at 1200 calories, and then burn 500, I AM STILL NOURISHED. Unless I am some kind of olympic athlete or body builder, then the only thing that eating those calories back will accomplish is to slow my progress.

    No disrespect to you or anyone, but again I say: until or unless I see empirical evidence showing otherwise, this is an unproven idea that will merely lead people to a slower weight loss and NOT teach them the healthy eating habits they need to learn.

    Peace out.
  • d4rkn3ss06
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    There is SO MUCH research that shows that you are suppose to eat back all your exercise calories!!! Your body needs fuel!! On this site you are eating what you need to lose which means you are at a 500 calorie deficit!! This doesn't count exercise so if your exercise your body needs more energy to make up for the hard work you just did to not eat them is to starve your body of the fuel it needs!! Under eating is just as bad as over eating!
  • d4rkn3ss06
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    I
    Sorry, that's just not true. MFP gave me the same number of calories that every professional has ever given me: 1200. MFP is NOT setting calories much lower. They are right on the money as far as how many calories I need to eat to lose weight.

    I don't know why a couple of social-weight-loss-oriented web sites decided that this is the way to go. The only reason I can think of is that they 1. didn't want people to go "anorexic" on them and eat a LCD + do a lot of exercise on top of that and/or 2. they thought it was a cool concept that would somehow set them apart from other weight loss plans.

    To my way of thinking it is much more likely that people will eat badly and then think to themselves, "well, I'll just burn this off later". This concept of "eating back your calories" does nothing to help people establish healthy eating habits, it just gives them the idea that they can eat whatever they want as long as they burn it off. I ALWAYS eat back my exercise calories and have lots inches and pounds and gained muscle so its really not that absurd!

    If I nourish my body at 1200 calories, and then burn 500, I AM STILL NOURISHED. Unless I am some kind of olympic athlete or body builder, then the only thing that eating those calories back will accomplish is to slow my progress.

    No disrespect to you or anyone, but again I say: until or unless I see empirical evidence showing otherwise, this is an unproven idea that will merely lead people to a slower weight loss and NOT teach them the healthy eating habits they need to learn.

    Peace out.

    1200 is the minimum about of calories a "normal" person needs to survive with our any or little activity! so yes if you do nothing your body is nourished and fine!! if you exercise and burn 500 cals than your body just used 500 of your 1200 so now your at 700 cals for your body -_- you really think that is what a adult human body needs? that just doesn't make sense!!! i agree with you that this wont make people choose healthy food but neither does just eating your normal calories. you can 1200 calories of crap and not be making healthy choices but that wasn't the question.
  • Nopedotjpeg
    Nopedotjpeg Posts: 1,806 Member
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    "I want to hear success stories about people underfeeding their bodies!"
  • thetiwi1890
    thetiwi1890 Posts: 256 Member
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    Bump...just curious :wink:
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
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    Sorry, that's just not true. MFP gave me the same number of calories that every professional has ever given me: 1200. MFP is NOT setting calories much lower. They are right on the money as far as how many calories I need to eat to lose weight.

    I don't know why a couple of social-weight-loss-oriented web sites decided that this is the way to go. The only reason I can think of is that they 1. didn't want people to go "anorexic" on them and eat a LCD + do a lot of exercise on top of that and/or 2. they thought it was a cool concept that would somehow set them apart from other weight loss plans.

    To my way of thinking it is much more likely that people will eat badly and then think to themselves, "well, I'll just burn this off later". This concept of "eating back your calories" does nothing to help people establish healthy eating habits, it just gives them the idea that they can eat whatever they want as long as they burn it off.

    If I nourish my body at 1200 calories, and then burn 500, I AM STILL NOURISHED. Unless I am some kind of olympic athlete or body builder, then the only thing that eating those calories back will accomplish is to slow my progress.

    No disrespect to you or anyone, but again I say: until or unless I see empirical evidence showing otherwise, this is an unproven idea that will merely lead people to a slower weight loss and NOT teach them the healthy eating habits they need to learn.

    Peace out.

    No, you're really not well nourished at that level. The World Health Organization came up with the 1200 calorie amount when researching the MINIMUM number of calories that could be given to starving people to help keep them from starving. It's the MINIMUM for nominal health for a relatively INACTIVE person.
  • BuckeyeLife
    BuckeyeLife Posts: 313 Member
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    One simple thing I see that makes this topic not worth reading... OP's account has been deactivated. "I don't like your approach, I quit."

    My cousin is dropping an insane amount of weight weekly(8-12 lbs, more to lower side lately) and he is not even remotely eating enough. Can you lose weight this way? Sure, can you really screw your body up, yep. Been pushing him to get his calorie intake up.
  • Oilfanchick
    Oilfanchick Posts: 32 Member
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    Very well said......
  • cindyrey
    cindyrey Posts: 53
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    WHEN I EAT BACK MY CALORIES I DON'T LOSE, BUT WHEN I JUST EAT 1200-1400 CALORIES I LOSE ABOUT A POUND TO A POUND AN A HALF A WEEK.
  • apham16
    apham16 Posts: 5 Member
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    I only eat them if and when my body tells me that I am still hungry, and I am still losing weight.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    I only eat them if and when my body tells me that I am still hungry, and I am still losing weight.

    this is a dangerous methodology for people who's metabolic systems have been altered by long term underfeeding. The human body will adjust to many things, long term reduced calorie intake will eventually adjust the hormones (like leptin and ghrelin, the hormones that tell us when we are hungry), so someone who has abused their body for a long time with overeating won't have the correct "warning system" to tell them when they should eat. Likewise, someone who constantly under-eats won't receive the warning signals about energy deficiency that someone who is eating at a healthy rate is.

    Long story short, if you've been eating healthy your whole life, it's generally ok to "trust your body" otherwise, be wary of this, you may be doing more harm than good.
  • rachelbethany
    rachelbethany Posts: 211 Member
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    EXACTLY.
    swhitney2, Sweet_Potato, sittingduck76: All that means is that the calorie estimates being used are inaccurate. MFP can be VERY off for estimations of calorie burn. If you only eat 50% of your exercise calories you aren't saying 'I can't eat back everything I burned' you're saying 'I don't think that estimation of my calorie burn is accurate so I'll go with a lesser number'.

    Same thing =)
  • wk9t
    wk9t Posts: 237 Member
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    I do if I'm hungry, if I'm not I dont worry about it.

    /\ /\ /\ /\ /\

    This. It works for me.
  • clobercow
    clobercow Posts: 337 Member
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    I eat 500cal below BMR. I exercise anywhere between 400 and 800 calories per day. I do cardio and I lift. I do not eat my exercise calories. I've lost INCHES! and almost 15 lbs in 25 days.

    There is no need to consume exercise calories if you feel fine. People on here like to spread 100% pure bull****.

    People will blabber on all day about "starvation mode" "eating too few calories" "don't eat this, don't eat that" blah blah blah.

    Who gives a ****? Not me. Nor should you.

    Here is my tip.

    Use your brain and do what works for you.

    That is it.

    Nothing more.

    Trolls need not reply. Say I'm wrong all you want.
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