Who's Had Success Eating Back Exercise Calories?

CyberEd312 · June 2012

Oh yeah!! Eat them back every day and have lost a few pounds in the process.... :drinker: Gotta fuel your body if your doing those workouts..... Best of Luck...

wendyjo3 · June 2012

I started eating almost all but maybe 100-200 back about three weeks ago, and I have continued losing 1-2 lbs per week! There is a group on here called "eat more, weigh less" which is based solely on this principal I think. Look into it!

monkeyriley · June 2012

Who's Had Success Eating Back Exercise Calories?

This Guy!

jamm2000 · June 2012

This is a great question with very encouraging responses. I am usually afraid to eat my exercise calories, as it seems counter productive to me. I think I can relax a little more now and eat some of those calories if I really want / need to.

JamieDeBree · June 2012

I always eat mine back...and I've been steadily losing 1-2 lbs per week. I'm not into the "starve yourself" thing - if I'm hungry, I eat. If I eat over my calorie allotment, I workout to bring it back into balance.

So far, so good! :-)

sugarandspice27 · June 2012

This IS very encouraging. I like eating (Who doesn't?) and I don't mind a slow (steady) loss, especially if it's something I will be able to maintain for the long haul. Some people here say they eat at very restricted calorie levels and that's the only way they can lose weight. I do see some with very large losses and wonder if I should be doing this too. I don't think it's something I can do (certainly not for the rest of my life). I hate being hungry and I'd rather exercise more.

Brandicaloriecountess · June 2012

I do, yet I don't. I spread my calories out for the week so that I am not starving on my rest day.
I basically take my maintenance level and subtract about 300 from food and 300 from exercise.
That gives me a deficit of about 3500 a week if you allow for error and I have been losing weight
way faster than when I was eating less. I eat about 1800 a day but am going to up a little since I
am adding P90X to my normal workout schedule.

jadedone · June 2012

I've been eating back a portion of mine since the beginning. Usually 50-75% unless I am not feeling too hungry. I tend to eat them back on the second day on those days.

BodyCombatGirl73 · June 2012

I too eat most of mine back, except for maybe 100-200 calories, and I lost 11 pounds in the month of May! I love this part about tracking because I love to eat and my hubby is a great cook, so it allows me to enjoy life! It also encourages me to get my workouts in and if there is a day I can't get to one of my classes, I take the dog for some seriously brisk walks, ride my bike where I can, mow the lawn, etc.! Seems to be working so far!

melcowenfitness · June 2012

Hmmmm..... I've never eaten back my exercise calories but instead try to stick to a range of calories/day (1800-2100). Seems to work for me. I do, however, eat way more calories than I used to because I know my body needs it. When I was trying to work out and only consuming 1300 calories/day my energy levels and my weight loss suffered for it.

So, my question is this - are there any studies out there that show that eating back calories based on your exercise burn for that day is more beneficial than using something like the Harris Benedict equation that already accounts for your average daily burn from BMR as well as activity level?

Really curious to hear your opinions on this!

rprussell2004 · June 2012

I've only ever eaten back the exercise calories in my 5 months here.

Down 36 pounds so far.

Works for me!

Heck, I figure I've burned them so it's not gonna HURT me...

heagler870 · June 2012

This week I am exercising hardcore and burning about 1,200 to 1,500 calories per day with exercise alone. I try to eat 75% of those burned calories. It gets hard to do because I have to eat so much and I'm on a limited food budget. But anyway, I am not gaining weight so I am okay with eating most of those calories back.

shaydon80 · June 2012

I WAS eating back my calories but having little success so I've been allowing myself to eat half of them for the past week or so. No HUGE difference in results but somehow I just feel better

tinana_RN · June 2012

I almost always eat back my exercise calories-- I'm not having a problem

kayleesays · June 2012

*hand raise*

SoViLicious · June 2012

Thank you for posting this because I was wondering if I should eat them back also. Ive been feeling very hungry lately.

shaydon80 · June 2012

I WAS eating back my calories but having little success so I've been allowing myself to eat half of them for the past week or so. No HUGE difference in results but somehow I just feel better

Enonoid · June 2012

I usually burn 300-400 and I eat back most of them. I am steadily losing at least a pound a week.

Same with me.

KayLgee · June 2012

I don't make an effort to however I am more lenient on the days I work hard, if i burn around 300-600 cals I will generally consume around 200 on top.

christina_theresa · June 2012

I almost always eat back my workout calories. I found that the faster your lose weight the faster it all comes back. I've been taking the slow and steady approach to weight loss and it has been very successful for me. 73 lbs down!

taunisha26 · June 2012

I get so confused when it comes to the calorie thing. To me it doesnt make sense to eat the calories you've burned...so I dont. I've still had success losing weight. Maybe each person is different. But I thought the idea was to burn more than you eat...or at least some of it. I drive my self crazy trying to figure it out!

Gergal73 · June 2012

I'm one of the few that can't eat them back or I gain... I tried eating back exercise calories for 6 months and gained 1 pound. After becoming very frustrated, I spoke to my Nutritionist and Dr. about this and they advised to try not eating back the exercise calories to see what happened with the weight loss. That was 2 months ago and I've dropped 14 pounds... Our bodies are all different. Takes a bit to figure out what each specific body type needs to lose weight. Good luck to you!

just4u_cara · June 2012

Like everyone has stated, eat back your exercise calories to fuel your body.

I eat back on average 75% of my exercise calories (or drink them back on a night out!) and I'm still losing. When I ate too little, I stalled out pretty quickly. Once I started eating them again, I started shedding again. Messes with the mind, but it does work.

Good luck!

kgprice11 · June 2012

I've been working out a lot harder this week than I have in the last 2 months combined. I've been hungrier lately, but looking back over my diary, I'm not eating back all my exercise calories. Of course I'm nervous to, but I'd like to. Can I hear from some people that have had success consistently eating back their exercise calories?

Eating you workout calories is one of the better things to do. However if you do not eat healthy filling portions you will actually gain weight instead of lose it. I prefer a protein shake after my workouts just to recover faster while getting healthy calories in me

JerseyGirl081 · June 2012

I was nervous too when i started eating back exercise cals but realize that your body needs calories to just live & to keep you doing those intense workouts optimally and when you burn up calories that your body needs to keep you running normally and you dont replenish them you can feel bad all around. Low energy, hunger, sleep problems, etc and most horribly put your body into starvation mode. Then your metabolism is so low it wont burn any calories that it needs to survive. So you hit a plateau or believe it or not gain weight.

But i started eating back my exercise calories when i hit a plateau and holy smokes the weight melted off. My goal was 1lb loss a week but i started losing 2lbs a week just from uping my calorie intake. It was pretty amazing. Now i just refuse to starve myself, which i felt like i was doing in comparison to now, cuz i know i can lose weight and still eat really well.

Give it a try. What have you got to lose except pounds :-) Good luck with whatever you decide! You can do it. :-)

omma_to_3 · June 2012

I eat them back. Almost all of them, every time. I started working out last October and have lost about 28 lbs. since then. It didn't make me lose faster or slower than I had been, but I got to eat MORE FOOD. Exercise calories taste WAY better than regular ones LOL.

MissTattoo · June 2012

I have a BMF so I try to eat between 2200 and 2600 daily since I'm burning between 2700-3100 calories a day depending on if I'm working out or not. My BMR is 2100. I've been losing slowly, but I'm losing and the inches are coming off faster than the weight and I'm lifting heavy so I'll take it. It took about a month or so for me to start noticing a change on the scale though once I upped my calories.

HornsUT32 · June 2012

For about 6 weeks in a row I ate back most of my exercise calories and lost between 2 to 3 pounds a week.

Last week I worked out more (burned between 600-1200 calories, 5 times a week), and was only netting between 500-600 calories a day. I gained 1.2 pounds.

I feel like I messed my whole body up, because I am still up about 5 days later. Next week I am going back to eating more...for sure.

ahbril · June 2012

I can only eat 1200 cal a day and I usually have a rage of 200-400 cal left after the work day. I hit the gym after work and work off at the most 300 but not usually since I only do about 10-30 min of cardio after I do weight lifting. And I eat all my worked out calories and then some. But I never eat more than 1200, I'm usually under by about 100-300 cal.

So basically I do all that and have been losing 1-3 lbs a week

.

borpy · June 2012

I ususally eat back if not all my exercise calories then at least my calorie goal for the day. I've been losing a 1lb a week fairly steadily. It really works.

Who's Had Success Eating Back Exercise Calories?

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