Eating Back Exercise Calories

Losing weight requires burning more calories than you consume. Some people do this through diet, some people do this through exercise, some people do this from both.

Let's say that I want to have a 500 calorie deficit a day. If I do this through diet alone, I don't have to worry about exercise calories because there are none. If I do this through exercise (no change in calories consumed), I should NOT eat those exercise calories back.

This site plans the deficit through diet alone. That means that it looks at your weight loss goal (1 lb a week, 2 lbs a week, whatever), and does that entirely through calorie restriction. You will lose weight on this alone. When you exercise, this adds a larger deficit.

However, there is also the fact that everything on this site is a guestimation. Your metabolism might vary. It might tell you that you burned way more calories than you actually did. So part of it is finding a balance, recording a trend, and seeing how something is working. If you notice after a few weeks that eating back calories is not giving you any results on the scale or in inches, try only eating half of them back. If you're still not happy, don't eat any of them back.

Things to watch for, if you think you might be under-eating: fatigue, headaches, and irritability. If you're experiencing any of these, try upping your calorie count.

(As for a personal thing, it varies for me - I try to eat half the calories back normally, and all of the calories back when I'm menstruating.)

Also consider most people that don't use this site, already have their numbers in their TDEE calculation. There is truly several ways to approach and I will demonstrate with math. For basics, your BMR is 1500 calories, you have a desk job and workout 5-6 days a week (strength/cardio) and burn 500 calories on average an want to lose 1 lb per week.

The MFP way:

TDEE = 1500 * 1.2 = 1800
Caloric Needs (CN) = 1800 - 500 = 1300 <-- goal from MFP
Total calories = 1300 + 500 = 1800 <-- total calories post exercise.


The other way (which is what most nutritionist/dieticians/etc follow)

TDEE = 1500 * 1.55 (moderately active) = 2325
CN = 2325 - 500 = 1825 <-- what your daily intake would be


Both give you about the same number. And both approaches will help you meet your objective, but I believe, mentally, the second one is easier as you aren't chasing your exercise calories. Now the major difference is the second one has the belief of eating the same amount of calories daily (so 1 or two days, you will eat more than you would from the MFP way) but you have to realize, it's just as important to feed your body when it needs to repair as it is when its working to break down the muscles and burn calories.

I'd say the only problem with eating back exercise calories is that they can be hard to measure accurately and some people tend to overestimate (that short walk to a shopping centre, walking up stairs once a day and so on).
Other then that it's your choice :-)
By the way, I eat most of them back (around 75%) except when more than 1000 kCal.

This is another reason I always suggest including exercise into your TDEE, so you don't have to worry. If you notice you have a more active day, then add another 200 calories.

Also consider most people that don't use this site, already have their numbers in their TDEE calculation. There is truly several ways to approach and I will demonstrate with math. For basics, your BMR is 1500 calories, you have a desk job and workout 5-6 days a week (strength/cardio) and burn 500 calories on average an want to lose 1 lb per week.

The MFP way:

TDEE = 1500 * 1.2 = 1800
Caloric Needs (CN) = 1800 - 500 = 1300 <-- goal from MFP
Total calories = 1300 + 500 = 1800 <-- total calories post exercise.


The other way (which is what most nutritionist/dieticians/etc follow)

TDEE = 1500 * 1.55 (moderately active) = 2325
CN = 2325 - 500 = 1825 <-- what your daily intake would be


Both give you about the same number. And both approaches will help you meet your objective, but I believe, mentally, the second one is easier as you aren't chasing your exercise calories. Now the major difference is the second one has the belief of eating the same amount of calories daily (so 1 or two days, you will eat more than you would from the MFP way) but you have to realize, it's just as important to feed your body when it needs to repair as it is when its working to break down the muscles and burn calories.

****This**** makes a lot of sense. Thank you so much for putting it in easy to understand terms.