Do you eat your exercise calories?

I think it all depends if you are trying to lose or maintain your weight. For me I had been eating most of my calories back but there was no loss. I now rarely eat more than 1600 and the weight is moving, slowly but surely.

I don't consider it that way. I eat enough to fuel my body. Some days I work out. Some days I don't. I eat the same calories (give or take) regardless.

Nope...if I do that, I kind of feel like I've cancelled out my exercise. I just started this a couple weeks ago, but the first couple days, I ate more, and noticed the scale didn't move as much the next morning as it did the morning after a really good day of exercise and NOT eating my earned calories!!

I don't, I asked my doctor for a plan for me and she told me not to eat the exercise calories, so I go by what she says for me to do!

Yup. I eat every last one of them, usually... sometimes more.

i found that unless i eat around 1400 cals per day regardless of my exercise i don't loose. most of the time i try to net 1350-1400 including exercise. if i don't eat back some of my calories after only a few weeks i burn out and want to give up as i've no energy and so it doesn't seem like its worth feeling so low. so i'd say you should try to eat your exercise calories, or at least some of them. MFP does account for exercise in your weightloss plan.

I appreciate this question! I'm noticing that myfitnesspal usually OVERESTIMATES what calories you have actually burned- sometimes by a lot. When I run I use a GPS and heart monitor it knows my weight and measures calories burned by my heart rate throughout the run vs speed and distance. In other words, it has more variables to go on. So on a 2 mile run, for example MFP may say I burned 318 calories but my Garmin says I burned 278. Over time that can really add up.

Also I'm thinking that instead of ignoring all calories burned by cardio exercise I should eat halfway through them. This should keep my energy levels up and help prevent burnout, etc. That's what I'm going to try anyhow.

Edit; I'm a bit jealous of those folks who have enough willpower to totally ignore their exercise calories burned and stick to their original calorie goal! Part of this is about listening to your body though. Sometimes you need more fuel :bigsmile:

I have tried it both ways and I find that eating some of them when Im hungry works for me. When I wasnt I didnt lose that fast and when I ate them all I didnt gain but didnt lose so now I eat some when Im hungry or I save them for the weekend and drink them lol

You just have to see what works for you, its all trial and error because its different for eveyone. GL

I try to. Somedays it happens and some that don't. You are supposed to eat them because if you are at 1200 you are approx 500 less to lose weight. If you burn 700 cals, you are now at a 1300 deficite for the day....thats' why you are supposed to eat them back.

Now me, I know I can't always eat that much, especially now as my stomach has shrunk. I try to keep my exercises at 200-300 calories, then I am usually able to eat most of them back. Eating back my workout calories has not affected my progress at all.

Now, my husband refuses to eat his exercise calories and he's still loses.