DO you eat back your workout calories?

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2

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  • Mercenary1914
    Mercenary1914 Posts: 1,087 Member
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    If I am trying to gain weight ...I eat back the calories...if I am trying to cut or lose weight...I don't eat back the calories....Defeats the purpose unless you short changed your calorie goal from the start...
  • jessienmiller
    jessienmiller Posts: 73 Member
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    I just tr to stay around my normal caloie limit and still work out, I don't personally see them as extra calories to eat. I thought thats why we work out i to have a defecient.
  • bluefox9er
    bluefox9er Posts: 2,917 Member
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    When I hit my goal weight last september, I never touched my exercise calories. I lost my weight ,no plateaus,no problem, was getting by on 1,300 calories a day, burning around 1,000 every day.

    Now, i have gained 10 lbs and trying to lose them. This time, I eat back about half of my exercise calories..I again work out around 1,000calories a day. I lost 2lbs in February, and since then I have gained another 3 lbs....having said that, i feel better, more healthier.

    Im not sure if eating back exercise calories will help me lose my weight, i know when i didn't eat them back, my weight loss was constant and very steady, but I certainly enjoy the feeling of not feeling extreme hunger now that I eat them back.
  • joannmdunn
    joannmdunn Posts: 22
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    No I don't since I am trying to lose weight I try to stick to or below my goal of 1500 cal.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
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    If I am trying to gain weight ...I eat back the calories...if I am trying to cut or lose weight...I don't eat back the calories....Defeats the purpose unless you short changed your calorie goal from the start...

    That is not true. Please explain how eating back your exercise calories "defeats the purpose"? MFP already has you on a deficit!
  • Bhart72
    Bhart72 Posts: 1 Member
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    I've done both. It all depends on you! But you should not have to force yourself to eat!! But don't feel bad about what ever you decide its a journey to weight loss....
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
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    I just tr to stay around my normal caloie limit and still work out, I don't personally see them as extra calories to eat. I thought thats why we work out i to have a defecient.

    Yes, MFP already creates that deficit FOR you when it gives you your calorie goal. Even if you didn't work out, you would still lose weight eating at the amount set for you! But you should still work out!
  • niknak2308
    niknak2308 Posts: 315 Member
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    You need to be looking at your Net Cals total at the top of your home page and decide whether you need to be eating them or not - if you're under your daily goal, then eat away lol. MFP takes into account the fact you want to lose weight so has already made adjustments to your calorie goal to account for this.

    However, there are lots of different opinons for and against. Personally I prefer to think of my exercise as EARNING me calories, not BURNING calories. If you are exercising and you DON'T eat those cals back, you'll be trying to make your body survive on much less than it needs (remember MFP has already given you a low calorie goal total to figure in a deficit over the week resulting in weightloss) . You'll also be slowing down your metabolism in the long term which will slow the rate at which your body will burn your calories.

    I didn't eat my exercise cals for the first month or so, the weight fell off, I then lost really slowly for another month, then plateaued for a month. I then decided to do the dreaded thing of upping my cals (everything I read told me that's what to do but I still doubted it!), and that week I lost no weight but lost 3 inches, the following week I lost 3lbs, then I carried on at a better weight loss rate ever since. I find when I plateau again for a few weeks, if I up my cals I start losing again.
  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
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    I eat when I'm hungry. Solves that problem.
  • N_Bridgeman
    N_Bridgeman Posts: 45 Member
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    Eat them back ppl. take a minute and read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/206951-asked-my-trainer-re-eating-back-calories
  • Werglum
    Werglum Posts: 378 Member
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    Yes, but I wasn't losing for AGES until I bought a HRM and found out that mfp was giving me way too many workout calories! A lot of the time I was eating up enough to make my deficit only 150 or so per day and then I guess inaccuracies in food logging (although I do weigh and measure everything it is not an exact science) meant that my loss was minimal or nonexistent. Since I've got my HRM I've lost about 3lbs in 2 weeks.
  • Chloe_P78
    Chloe_P78 Posts: 43 Member
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    http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

    Brilliant :)
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    Why bother eating anything at all if trying to lose weight?
  • uglyhobo
    uglyhobo Posts: 108 Member
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    Yes, you always should. Myfitnesspal already underestimates caloric requirements in most people. Then when you eat too little and do not eat back those exercise calories, yes you will lose weight faster, but you'll just be losing more muscle and the same amount of fat.
  • BrienJD
    BrienJD Posts: 541 Member
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    I usually eat them all back. It's actually getting harder as I'm not as hungry as I used to be. But I still love pizza and italian and snacks and I can't have them if I don't exercise.
  • Mercenary1914
    Mercenary1914 Posts: 1,087 Member
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    If I am trying to gain weight ...I eat back the calories...if I am trying to cut or lose weight...I don't eat back the calories....Defeats the purpose unless you short changed your calorie goal from the start...

    That is not true. Please explain how eating back your exercise calories "defeats the purpose"? MFP already has you on a deficit!
    First reason...One...The calories you burn are estimates...and unless you are eating only foods that come with ALL the nutritional information..who knows what amount of carlories you actually ate...I am about to head to Bone Fish & Grill....There is no real way for me to accurately put in the amount of calories of everything I eat and drink there...so I could go over or under on my estimate....

    Second reason....I am speaking from personal experience I ate the same 6 meals every day for two Months...."my goal was to go for 3 months :)" but anyways..I hit a plateau...and when I increased my cardio by running in the mornings I saw a lost in weight...but when I went back to the workout I was doing but decreased my calorie intake by 250 to 500 calories which equate to my average 30 to 40 min cardio burn I lost weight faster....

    Final reason...if you set a goal to eat a certain amount of calories and you have a goal to cut or lose weight...Why cheat yourself out of the hard work....you will think your self faster if you look back after 3 or 6 months and realized you didnt add 200 calories a day as a reward...

    But if you are just maintaining...all bets are off...
  • losethatshit
    losethatshit Posts: 22
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    NO.

    Terrible idea and really inefficient. If you're calories are set at, lets guess ~1300 a day you can live on that. there's no reason to eat more than that. Anything you burn is just icing on the cake. Losing weight is 70% diet and 30% exercise.
  • LTGPSA
    LTGPSA Posts: 633 Member
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    Yes! :flowerforyou:
  • marylovehellokitty
    marylovehellokitty Posts: 146 Member
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    I'm still confused about this. it's like 50/50 lol.
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
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    MFP already creates a deficit for you when you choose your activity level.

    MFP is set up so that it already creates a deficit, meaning you will lose weight even if you don't exercise. When you exercise, you further increase that deficit. Think of your exercise calories like fuel. When you workout , you need energy, you need fuel. Food is fuel.


    P.S. Please please use the search function before posting a thread !!
    P.S. Please lighten up. Apparently it didn't bother you since you read it and then bothered to post an answer and then whined about them asking. What's the big deal?

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