WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? (Eating back exercise calories)

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missmarcy1992
missmarcy1992 Posts: 35 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Thanks for viewing my post in advance :)

This week I only lost a couple of ounces. (from 266.4 to 260.0). I want to lose POUNDS,specifically 2 lbs a week if its possible.

I was exercising every single day except Sunday. I made sure I would burn 600 calories each day. Therefore at the end of the week (600 x 6= 3600. There is 3500 calories in a pound) I would lose at least a pound.

After I exercised I was eating most of my exercise calories back. My daily goal is 1910. But i was eating over 2,000 calories a day.

I think i went wrong by eating my exercise calories back because MFP set my calories to 1910 to lose 2 lbs a week. Eating over 2,000 was not the calorie goal MFP generated for me to lose weight.

Any advice on what I could be doing wrong? Is eating my exercise calories back a good thing?

-Thanks again.
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Replies

  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,785 Member
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    Some people think you have to. I don't think so. But you need to find out what works for you. So maybe give it one more week and if your not seeing what you want to see at the end of next week then quit eating those calories back and see where you are.

    I personally think it defeats the purpose of working out, but I like it on some days cause I'm hungry from my workout and would like something extra.

    You have to find what works for you and let others worry about what works for them.

    FYI....I have one week where I lose next to nothing and then bam the next week I'm losing a lb a day. So don't be so quick to change things just yet. Wait it out. If I have two weeks in a row where I'm not losing then I'd def. mix it up some.
  • dnunny
    dnunny Posts: 125
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    You'll have weeks like that. I lost .2 last week and 2.8 this week. I've lost 10 in a month. Don't be discouraged. I haven't figured out the eating calories back. I sometimes do, sometimes I don't. I just started out, so I don't have a lot to go by.
  • missmarcy1992
    missmarcy1992 Posts: 35 Member
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    Thanks so much tmauck4472 . I thought eating back exercise calories would help but when I thought about it, it just defeated my purpose of working out. All those calories I burned, I ate back and then some lol.

    So Im going to work out ,stay within my calorie goal, and not eat my exercise calories back. That makes more sense anyway.
  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
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    Thanks for viewing my post in advance :)

    This week I only lost a couple of ounces. (from 266.4 to 260.0). I want to lose POUNDS,specifically 2 lbs a week if its possible.

    I was exercising every single day except Sunday. I made sure I would burn 600 calories each day. Therefore at the end of the week (600 x 6= 3600. There is 3500 calories in a pound) I would lose at least a pound.

    After I exercised I was eating most of my exercise calories back. My daily goal is 1910. But i was eating over 2,000 calories a day.

    I think i went wrong by eating my exercise calories back because MFP set my calories to 1910 to lose 2 lbs a week. Eating over 2,000 was not the calorie goal MFP generated for me to lose weight.

    Any advice on what I could be doing wrong? Is eating my exercise calories back a good thing?

    -Thanks again.
    I wouldn't eat exercise calories back as you have a good amount of weight to lose and can afford to lose 2 pounds per week.
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
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    Do you know what your BMR and TDEE are? Also keep in mind that depending on where you are in your cycle, you could retain enough water to madk any weight loss.
  • missmarcy1992
    missmarcy1992 Posts: 35 Member
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    Thanks dnunny. I see what you mean. At least I lost something this week. It just feels like its going so slow. But I guess slow is the best way. There are alot of fast things people do to lose weight like diet pills, surgery and all. But I want to do everything natural so I will keep pushing.
  • OhKelsey1
    OhKelsey1 Posts: 139
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    I don't think eating exercise calories back is your problem--I think it's your daily calorie goal. That's pretty high, especially for the goal you're trying to reach. What are you diary settings?
  • salfally
    salfally Posts: 6
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    Yes. I agree. Thatz how I do it & itz worked for me.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    MFP tells me to net 1200 calories per day to lose 1.4 lbs. per week. When I work out, I have to eat more than that to net my 1200. So, if I burn 600 calories one day, I need to eat 1800 to net my 1200 calories. That still ensures that I lose weight each week (though I don't usually lose as much as MFP predicts). Sure, I could lose more weight if I didn't eat them back, but I would be too tired to continue working out and would feel deprived. Eating more is a HUGE motivation for me to exercise.
  • mrsmel55
    mrsmel55 Posts: 168
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    It could be sodium causing you to retain fluid. Check out the group Eat More 2 Weigh Less....It's very interesting and could help you. I figured out my BMR and TDEE and eat 20% below my TDEE and do not eat exercise calories back. I shoot for the about the same amount of calories every day. It really helped me. Check it out and decide for yourself.
  • AmbyrJayde
    AmbyrJayde Posts: 257 Member
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    Don't rely on MFP's database for calorie burning. Either HRM or only eat a portion of them back. Once I did that my weight started dropping again.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    I don't think eating exercise calories back is your problem--I think it's your daily calorie goal. That's pretty high, especially for the goal you're trying to reach. What are you diary settings?

    It does seem really high to me as well. When I started I was about 97 lbs. overweight and my 2 lbs. per week loss calorie goal was around 1460. I don't know how tall the OP is though - I'm only 5'4".
  • chlorisaann
    chlorisaann Posts: 366 Member
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    OK What did you set your activity level at in MFP?? And what is your actual daily activity NOT including exercise?? I am 331lbs and sedentary most of the day and MFP put my daily cals at 1760, at my weight my cals should be higher than yours unless you have your activity level set quite a bit higher....
  • slepygrl
    slepygrl Posts: 249 Member
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    I use my exercise calories as extra padding. I can eat 1350 a day. If I go over a little, it's ok. But I rarely go over. It's like having a little extra money in the bank. It makes me feel my secure.

    You need to celebrate your losses no matter how small they are. You're doing GREAT!! Keep up the hard work!!!
  • rcthale
    rcthale Posts: 141
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    Find out what your BMR is, and use a few online calculators to make sure they give roughly the same number. Then just count calories and exercise as normal, but ignore MyFitnessPal's goals. Use your BMR and then target about 500 below that daily for a pound of loss each week.

    MFP told me that my BMR is around 2200, but several other online BMR calculators agree on about 1800.
  • missmarcy1992
    missmarcy1992 Posts: 35 Member
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    OhKelsey1, What would you like to know about my diary settings?
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
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    if you tell MFP that you want to lose 1lb a week, it builds enough of a deficit into the calorie allowance it gives you for you to lose that much. I told MFP that I wanted to lose 1lb per week...my BMR is like 1990, so MFP tells me to eat 1490. I eat as much as I can to get as close to netting 1200 a day. It hasn't slowed me down one bit--I am losing an average of 1.3lbs a week ( last week was 2.4lbs). Some days I eat as much as 2400-2600 calories!
  • ashlinmarie
    ashlinmarie Posts: 1,263 Member
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    I don't lose weight if I eat back my exercise calories. It works for some and not others. I would stop eating back most if not all of your exercise calories for a few weeks and see if that helps. HOWEVER have you measured yourself? You could be losing inches and not pounds.

    Also, if you do change your calorie goal, don't expect immediate results. It can sometimes take a few weeks for your body to catch up. Losing weight is a long and arduous process...as they say, we didn't put this weight on overnight and it isn't going to come off overnight either.
  • missmarcy1992
    missmarcy1992 Posts: 35 Member
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    chlorisaann, I set my exercise to 4 days a week for 45 mins ...
  • ruststar
    ruststar Posts: 489 Member
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    I don't think eating exercise calories back is your problem--I think it's your daily calorie goal. That's pretty high, especially for the goal you're trying to reach. What are you diary settings?

    It's a perfectly reasonable goal for someone who is 260+ pounds currently. She will need to adjust downward as she loses, but it's fine place to start.

    To the OP: As for eating the exercise calories - that's the way MFP was designed. The 1910 is your 2 lb a week goal without exercise - the deficit is already built in. Exercise 3600 calories away in a week and ostensibly you should be losing 3 pounds a week, because you just added more to the deficit MFP created for you. Unfortunately, there is a window with calories. You need a deficit, but you have to be careful it's not too large. Where is that threshold for you? I don't know, and I'm not going to tell you to eat your calories back if you don't want to. But that is how the site was designed to be used, and many people have found that it works. If you've been eating all your calories back you might find that eating part of them instead is more effective - expecially since there is no way of knowing how accurate your calorie burn really is.

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