Should I eat my burned calories?

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  • SweetDee80
    SweetDee80 Posts: 62
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    I try my hardest to not eat those burned calories. It just defeats the purpose of working out and burning all those calories off, in my opinion.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    I try my hardest to not eat those burned calories. It just defeats the purpose of working out and burning all those calories off, in my opinion.

    Good luck.

    The whole argument about whether or not to eat your exercise calories comes up several times a day, and usually starts a rehash of the whole argument.

    I'll only say that it is the foundation upon which this website was based - set a specific caloric deficit that allows you to lose weight at a measured pace whether you exercise or not, balancing speed of weight loss against risk of messing with your metabolism and stalling weight loss.

    Exercise for your health, eat at the defined caloric deficit to lose weight slowly and sustainably. Eat back your exercise calories because you are not exercising to lose weight faster, you are exercising to be healthier.

    Feel free to experiment, of course, but on your journey keep your mind open to the idea of trying eating back your exercise calories if you find that your weight loss has stalled. Do a search on the forums for "metabolism reset". It comes up fairly often when "faster weight loss" turns into a multi-month plateau.

    I honestly hope it never happens to you - really. But keep an open mind to it if you hit a long plateau, and/or start feeling tired or hungry all the time.
  • Scubanana7
    Scubanana7 Posts: 361 Member
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    Way back when I was your age we never even THOUGHT about eating back exercise calories. We lost weight. We didn't starve to death and we didn't die horribly malnourished. Sometimes I think everything has to be so over thought. Eat less. Exercise. Lose weight. Pretty simple.


    I'm with you. Maybe if you are under 40, you can eat your exercise calories. The rules change as you age and you have to find out what works. Eating back mine erases my workout. And I'm NOT going to erase my hard work. Yeah, maybe I'd still lose.....an ounce a week. And that's not for me. I'd rather lose 1 to 1.5 pounds/week. Some weeks that doesn't even happen. So I will not eat my exercise calories. I called them 'banked' so I don't get suicidal when I do have a weak day and cheat! like we all do....
  • Mercenary1914
    Mercenary1914 Posts: 1,087 Member
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    NO...You should never eat overcooked calories...That's nasty....
  • BigDaddyBRC
    BigDaddyBRC Posts: 2,395 Member
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    Because you didnt use the Search Feature.


    There are 2 paths. Choose one. If it works go until it doesnt. then change.
  • Tzippy7
    Tzippy7 Posts: 344 Member
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    I use it like a safety net. If i dont feel like eating them back I dont. If im neutral about it i dont. If im hungry than I do. It gives you room to be flexible.
  • thegoya
    thegoya Posts: 100 Member
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    I'm under the impression that if you account for the exercise you do during your week in your settings then the additional calories burned are already accounted for and therefore should not be eaten back.

    On the other hand, if you use sedentary then anything you do over and above are bonus calories and can be eaten back even if not all of them.

    Is this right?
  • coombsy87
    coombsy87 Posts: 50 Member
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    YES eat your exercise calories back!!!

    Like other people have said, think of it as fuelling your body.

    I eat back all of mine and I am still losing weight, just try to eat healthy.

    Only thing I would recommend is getting a HRM or something similar that will calculate your actual calories burned... mFP does tend to over estimate how many are burned. It's not far off though!

    Don't listen to people who say don't eat them back... They will all be hungry! And not leading a healthy lifestyle that they will stick to for the Reston your life. That's the key... Not a quick diet fix, it should be a lifestyle change. Just do what you think is best, but think of it as "could I eat/exercise like this for the Rest of my life"?

    Good luck!
  • JoshuaL86
    JoshuaL86 Posts: 403 Member
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    I'm under the impression that if you account for the exercise you do during your week in your settings then the additional calories burned are already accounted for and therefore should not be eaten back.

    On the other hand, if you use sedentary then anything you do over and above are bonus calories and can be eaten back even if not all of them.

    Is this right?

    MFP doesn't account for your workouts.
  • irisheyez718
    irisheyez718 Posts: 677 Member
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    I'm about to turn 43 next week, I eat back my calories and its working fine for me. I feel MUCH better than when I first started and had this same mindset.
  • xALEXANDROx
    xALEXANDROx Posts: 3,416 Member
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    If you search this topic, it's been answered many times.

    If you have read through how MFP is set up when you started your account, you would have noticed that MFP already creates a deficit for you, regardless of exercise. Which means that even if you don't exercise you will lose weight. When you exercise, you further increase that deficit, possibly to an unhealthy level. This is why MFP tells you to eat your exercise calories back. Think of food as fuel. Your body needs fuel.
    ^^^exactly^^
  • pixiesteph
    pixiesteph Posts: 17
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    oh my goodness i cant cope with this i am scared of ruining it and adding more weight by eating back calories that are too overestimated...on the other hand i dont want my metabolism to slow down or my body to store fat through not eating enough calories! either way i dont trust computer generated guesses to make the right choice for me...our bodies are all so different! i understand the frustration a person who suffers from anorexia feels. so much to think about ! i have started thinking about these things all the time so worried about what i do !
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    NO you do not have to eat them back and there are several reasons you should not.

    Reason one NOT to eat back those calories - aren't you working out to get a caloric benefit, in addition to building muscle? Because if you eat back the calories you eliminate the benefit

    Reason two NOT to eat back those calories - MFP wildly overestimates how many calories you burned working out. So, if you eat back all of them, you may end up eating back more than you really burned.

    If you must eat back calories, eat back only 30% or 50%, or whatever you want, but don't eat them all back!

    Reason two I can give you, and I would advise to only eat 75% for the reason you stated. Reason one however is a fallacy, as nobody is building any significant or quantifiable amount of muscle on a deficit and the reason it's recommended to eat back your calories is to preserve your lean mass throughout your weight loss.
  • Mzchasenpaper
    Mzchasenpaper Posts: 37 Member
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    If you do not eat them back your metabolism slows down and you don't get enough calories for the day so this is when your weight loss plateaus. The so called starvation mode sets in. your body will automatically begin to hold on to any calorie that enters the body. Do try to eat your calories back in the lowest fat foods possible for the best results, steamed veggies for example.
  • thegoya
    thegoya Posts: 100 Member
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    I'm under the impression that if you account for the exercise you do during your week in your settings then the additional calories burned are already accounted for and therefore should not be eaten back.

    On the other hand, if you use sedentary then anything you do over and above are bonus calories and can be eaten back even if not all of them.

    Is this right?

    MFP doesn't account for your workouts.

    I did not know this...thank you.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Way back when I was your age we never even THOUGHT about eating back exercise calories. We lost weight. We didn't starve to death and we didn't die horribly malnourished. Sometimes I think everything has to be so over thought. Eat less. Exercise. Lose weight. Pretty simple.


    I'm with you. Maybe if you are under 40, you can eat your exercise calories. The rules change as you age and you have to find out what works. Eating back mine erases my workout. And I'm NOT going to erase my hard work. Yeah, maybe I'd still lose.....an ounce a week. And that's not for me. I'd rather lose 1 to 1.5 pounds/week. Some weeks that doesn't even happen. So I will not eat my exercise calories. I called them 'banked' so I don't get suicidal when I do have a weak day and cheat! like we all do....

    Uhhhhh nope the rules do not change in this regard - the concept is still the same - you will have a deficit built in already, which takes into account your age. I effectively eat my calories back, lose a lb a week and am over 40. Also, it you eat them back and call it a 'cheat day' or eat them back in a more premeditated way - you are still eating them back.
  • abdk1213
    abdk1213 Posts: 2
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    I also bought an HRM, but according to mine, the calories I burn are more than the calculations that MFP gives me, by quite a bit actually.
  • mom2mozart
    mom2mozart Posts: 307 Member
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    I eat most of them back and I continue to lose weight each week... I'm down 28 pounds in less than 4 months. I'm in a healthy BMI range now and just trying to shed my last belly fat... I highly recommend that you eat what you burn. You are already starting at a several hundred per day calorie deficit. Why would you want to be hungry? Why would you want your body to run on fumes all the time? It is not necessary. Eat a balanced diet, and don't deprive yourself treats. That way you are more likely to stick with it... This should be a new way of life, not a quick fix.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    I'm under the impression that if you account for the exercise you do during your week in your settings then the additional calories burned are already accounted for and therefore should not be eaten back.

    On the other hand, if you use sedentary then anything you do over and above are bonus calories and can be eaten back even if not all of them.

    Is this right?

    MFP doesn't account for your workouts.

    ^^this - the MFP activity levels are for your non-workout lifestyle
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
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    Well, I eat back most of mine, that I earn from doing a lot of cycling, and I go by the mfp calculations, having found it tallies with several other sites. I am maintaining, which is what I am meant to be doing, and that is eating 1800 without exercise, and anything up to 3000 with exercise. I don't see the point in drastically restricting yourself when this is meant to be a lifestyle change, not a diet. The weight is far more likely to go straight back on at a later date, unless you intend on spending the rest of your life at an extreme deficit, which doesn't seem much fun and will eventually wear you down. (I speak from personal experience)

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