Eating exercise calories?

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jill1034
jill1034 Posts: 3 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am new to using the app. When I entered my exercise calories today it added them to my total calories. So I went from 1200 calories to 1600 calories for today. Should I eat my earned exercise calories? I'm just switching from Weight Watchers where I wasn't eating my exercise calories and I wasn't losing weight.

It says on my profile that I have a goal of 1120 calories burned each week. Is that factored in when it projects my weight loss, as in I need to burn that much to lose?

Any guidance on this would be great.

Replies

  • iWaffle
    iWaffle Posts: 2,208 Member
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    MFP uses your goals to determine your daily calorie needs. They build in a defect already to take into account how many pounds you are wanting to lose a week. Personally I eat back my cardio calories but I don't add anything in for weightlifting. Be reasonable in the cardio calories. I know most machines will tell you that you burned 400 calories jogging 30 min but it's not true. If you're honestly breaking out in a sweat you're burning just 7-10 calories a minute depending on your weight. Be honest with that and you should be okay. Don't add back in 400 calories if you walked on a treadmill for 45 minutes. That's just not correct. I always change my cardio calorie entry back to 200 calories (25 - 30 min on treadmill or elliptical) despite what the MFP app wants to enter for cardio.

    Start out eating those calories and if you don't see a change after a week or two then you can always cut it in half or just eliminate it all together.
  • mr_rat
    mr_rat Posts: 35 Member
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    I would not eat the exercise calories back. Or at least make a habit of it. Remember it's a very basic philosophy that is now made easier by technology. Calories in has to be less than calories out. that is if you are trying to lose weight. If you do eat them back once in a while ( once a week or so ) that would be fine, I would think.
  • jaysonhijinx
    jaysonhijinx Posts: 663 Member
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    I would not eat the exercise calories back. Or at least make a habit of it. Remember it's a very basic philosophy that is now made easier by technology. Calories in has to be less than calories out. that is if you are trying to lose weight. If you do eat them back once in a while ( once a week or so ) that would be fine, I would think.

    If you've set your goals to have a weekly lbs loss you'll already be setup on a calorie deficit. 1lb/week is a deficit of 500 if I remember correctly. Not eating back exercise calories will give you a lower net calorie consumption and if net calories stays low for an extended period of time it could have detrimental effects on your weight loss. I try eat mine back but generally have a couple of hundred left over. I exercise 6 days a week at the moment, sometimes 2 sessions in a day so I want to make sure my body is getting sufficient fuel!
  • fluffeesquirrel
    fluffeesquirrel Posts: 63 Member
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    Yup, MFP already builds in a deficit so you're just creating a larger one not eating them back. If you weren't losing weight without eating them back, then I would start because your body might need more fuel.
  • TrishJimenez
    TrishJimenez Posts: 561 Member
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    The system is designed so you loose weight whether you work out or not. If the deficit was calculated on how much you said you work out but then you dont work out what would happen? You would eat your deficit. so the system is set up that if you do end up getting your work out in then you add it in and you eat it back that way your deficit stays consistent. If you dont eat them then it is true you create a larger deficit for faster weight loss. But I have found that I am just to hungry if I dont eat them. Some people cut the work out calories in half just to be safe. I agree that it gives you a good cushion for error in case the work out allowance is to large or say you underestimate how much you are eating. But I would at least eat back some of them. Sometimes I save them for a few days like weight watchers does, for special occasions or in case I am hungrier one day and go over. But at the end of the week if you dont eat them you loose them.
  • maddymama
    maddymama Posts: 1,183 Member
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    I try to eat back half of my exercise calories. Some days I am hungry and eat more of my calories back, other days I don't seem to need 'em.
  • runfatmanrun
    runfatmanrun Posts: 1,090 Member
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    I eat mine. You should already be set at a calorie deficit so not eating them should help you lose quicker, in theory, eating them will keep you on a steady preset decline. Lots of arguments in here for and against but it's really all about how you feel. If you are hungrier after working out eat. If not, don't
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    I eat back my exercise calories (and then some at times!), depends on whether or not I'm hungry. If I'm hungry, I eat. And I'm still losing. Almost to my goal!
  • Mbellamy59
    Mbellamy59 Posts: 1
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    You don't have to. I use some but not all
  • MzMandi1025
    MzMandi1025 Posts: 78 Member
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    This is a common question on this site. From personal experience, I say to eat back some of your exercise calories. You don't have to eat them all, but enough to at least net 1200-1400. My calorie intake is set to 1630 a day with 1 1/2 lb loss per week. When I was eating back my exercise calories, I was consistantly losing at least a pound a week. I thought that by not eating the exercise calories back, it would increase the amount I would lose. All that did was stall my progress & set me back for 3-4 weeks. Once I started eating at least enough to net 1200-1400, I gained a few pounds back, then started losing again. You have to fuel your body properly in order to keep it running. The website already builds a deficit, so if you don't want to eat back your calories, you can always set your profile to maintenance level, that way whatever calories you'll burn will still keep you in a healthy range.
  • toysbigkid
    toysbigkid Posts: 545 Member
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    bumping
  • watchtheworld
    watchtheworld Posts: 39
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    I'm on 1200 cal, I burn 1000 a day with exercise currently and I'm eating nearly all of my calories back. Sometimes I don't (due to time or whatever), and I feel the next day's exercise isn't as good as when I do.
  • redcat17
    redcat17 Posts: 267 Member
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    I usually eat about half of mine back. I have a HRM and log the calories from it rather than use the MFP estimates that are usually a bit too high. Some days when I do a long weight training session I'll eat more depending on I feel.
  • siobhano_
    siobhano_ Posts: 101
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    This is a common question on this site. From personal experience, I say to eat back some of your exercise calories. You don't have to eat them all, but enough to at least net 1200-1400. My calorie intake is set to 1630 a day with 1 1/2 lb loss per week. When I was eating back my exercise calories, I was consistantly losing at least a pound a week. I thought that by not eating the exercise calories back, it would increase the amount I would lose. All that did was stall my progress & set me back for 3-4 weeks. Once I started eating at least enough to net 1200-1400, I gained a few pounds back, then started losing again. You have to fuel your body properly in order to keep it running. The website already builds a deficit, so if you don't want to eat back your calories, you can always set your profile to maintenance level, that way whatever calories you'll burn will still keep you in a healthy range.

    This, exactly.

    MFP is built for you to eat either 250 calories (0.5lbs goal a week), 500 calories (1lb goal a week), 750 calories (1.5 lbs goal a week), or 1000 calories (2lbs goal a week) less than what your body is burning daily, through a combination of living (BMR) and your lifestyle, which you selected to be either sedentary, lightly active, moderately active or highly active. If you exercise, you EARN MORE CALORIES! Exercise allows you to eat a bit more food, which is one of the best things about it! As long as you're not grossly overestimating your burn, eating them all back will do no harm to your weightloss, it'll just make things easier. I usually eat back 1/2 of mine, but I always make sure to net my BMR, in order to keep my body running with enough fuel.

    Think about it, why would you eat less than you have to, if you could still lose weight, and be more likely to keep it off? You won't be hungry if you eat your exercise calories back so you'll be less likely to binge. Remember, eat the way you can imagine eating for the rest of your life, this is not a diet, it's a lifestyle change. Could you really continue to keep exercising but not eating more for 10 years?
  • 4rgl
    4rgl Posts: 106
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    Personally I don't even track calories out. I have MFP set at maintenance, I try choose foods that yield to a lot of food for less calories (eg. 1 slice of of pizza: not satisfying but a lot of calories vs. a huge fruit salad: makes me feel full for less cals) and I figure if I'm eating under maintenance and am losing at a reasonable rate of about 1-2 lbs a week, I'm doing ok. If I start losing too much, I eat more. If I lose too little, exercise more and eat a little bit less. This has been working for me.
    So I guess if your goal is to lose weight I wouldn't worry about eating back exercise calories. I would eat 200-400 under maintenance calories and stick to the lower end of this on days you exercise. Check your weight in 1-2 weeks, if you've lost a reasonable amount, keep doing what you are doing until you don't lose anymore. Then you re-evaluate.
  • gamerkiwi
    gamerkiwi Posts: 93 Member
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    I just count whatever calories I burn exercising as bonus weight loss.
  • jill1034
    jill1034 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks everyone. I use a HR monitor to get my calories so I think that is pretty accurate. I only do 1 day of really high burn for endurance and heart strength. The rest of the week is a average 150-250 calories. I think I'll see how things go for a bit eating the calories and then reevaluate. I am also going to check the maintenance setting and see those calorie suggestions.
  • cjbennett2012
    cjbennett2012 Posts: 38 Member
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    Eat the majority but not all back if u r working out hard, and by hard i mean SWEATING :wink:

    Leave about 100 - 200 calories left in ur diary on completion, the reason why it is important to eat exercise calories back is that u will have fuel for ur body to repair itself and to keep u going for the next workout, u will not perform well if u reduce ur intake just eat clean add in some more fruit and veg and enjoy a new body within a few weeks :smile:

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