Poll: How many calories do you "eat back" after exercise?

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1235

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  • samcorvus
    samcorvus Posts: 112 Member
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    All of them, but I only eat what I burn.
  • Slimjem55
    Slimjem55 Posts: 2
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    I have no idea, but I do "eat back" my calories. If I want that 1/2 cup of ice cream later, I can! YUM!!
  • FuneralDiner
    FuneralDiner Posts: 438 Member
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    Some I guess. Just depends how hungry I am.

    Tbh, I think eating back calories is a load of tosh, but that's just me. If someone wants to provide scientific evidence that you must eat back your work out calories, I'll eat my words.

    I'll take you up on that in one of my blogs. Stay tuned!
    OMG I knew it. Fine. :x
  • nikkiprickett
    nikkiprickett Posts: 412 Member
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    You're supposed to eat most of them back.
    You're not supposed to net less than 1200-1300 (even that's dangerous)

    It's simple, I eat when I'm truly hungry.
    Listen to your body, that doesn't mean eat all day
    it just means when you're hungry you know
    Just eat clean.

    And there is evidence on eating back calories. I read a MFP worker post on a message board saying
    they research all of their database exercise and everything they put on this site. Therefore, they researched this topic as well or they woudn't give you the calories back to eat!

    Also, all of the research I've done has proven the same thing, most of them actually say slashing calories is the worst thing you can do for your body.
  • amytag
    amytag Posts: 206 Member
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    I don't eat them back unless I'm hungry. I consider my exercise to be separate from my "diet" and rather just part of a healthy lifestyle. So I only gauge my progress by calories consumed.
  • sjschewlakow
    sjschewlakow Posts: 120 Member
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    Depends on the day. Most of the time I eat nearly all my exercise calories back. I have lost 25lbs on MFP alone by doing this.
  • tryinghard71
    tryinghard71 Posts: 593
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    I have a Polar FT60 heart rate monitor that I wear to get a more accurate calorie burn.. and I have always ate back 85% of my burned calories, leaving 15% for logging errors.... Been using this system throughout my journey and it has worked quite nicely.... Best of Luck....


    Wow! 310 pounds lost! Just wanted to say Wow! and Congrats!!!!
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    I'm not going to take the time to look for a study that proves my point right now (at work), but the reason why you SHOULD eat back most of your exercise calories is this:

    Imagine your body is like a car. Your BMR is like how much gas the car would burn if you were cruising down a highway.

    Now, when you exercise, it's like racing your car around a race track.

    Do you really think it'll burn the same amount of gas as if you were just cruising down the highway?

    MFP sets up your calorie goal to be a deficit of 500 calories (1 lb/week It'll be more if you choose to loose more). If you don't eat back your calories, then your deficit will be a LOT more than if you didn't. This will cause you to lose more weight faster, or worse, your body will start fighting back. You'll loose energy, have a harder time sleeping, become irritable, and you could even start putting weight back on.

    If you're racing your car around the race track, put more fuel into the tank!
  • maylene1853
    maylene1853 Posts: 58
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    i try not do, but there are days where i feel starved and ill eat back not more than half the exercise calories...and if i do eat them back, i make them count, lo fat hi protein
  • CLCinNOLA
    CLCinNOLA Posts: 82 Member
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    I have a Polar FT60 heart rate monitor that I wear to get a more accurate calorie burn.. and I have always ate back 85% of my burned calories, leaving 15% for logging errors.... Been using this system throughout my journey and it has worked quite nicely.... Best of Luck....

    Wow! EdDavenport, I didn't notice that you have lost over 300 pounds until reading the post above by tryinghard71 that quoted it. That's fabulous and a great testament to your persistence and the fact that your method works for you. I just ordered a Polar FT7 heart rate monitor and when I get it, I think I will try doing the same to see if it works for me as well. Your method makes a lot of sense to me, anyway. Basically you are eating back the vast majority of the calories, which ought to fend of "starvation mode", but also allowing for some error in measurement and as a retired scientist I like that too.
  • dlwyatt82
    dlwyatt82 Posts: 1,077 Member
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    It's not really a precise thing since the calories burned while exercising (and those in the shake I get at the gym) are estimates, but here we go:

    I do the StrongLifts 5x5 workout for 30-60 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of cardio (usually on the elliptical). The elliptical reports the calorie burn as between 400-500 for that 30 minutes, though many people say that those machines over-estimate calorie burns. Based on a formula I found for estimating strength training calorie burn, the time I spend lifting probably burns about the same amount, giving me a rough estimate of 800-1000 calories for the workout.

    I get a shake from the juice bar at the gym after my workout. Oddly enough, there's no nutritional information available for it, but the ingredients are: milk, frozen yogurt, peanut butter, 1/2 banana, and a scoop of whey protein. Based on that and the size of the cup it's in (as compared to my morning smoothie I make at home), I'll ballpark the shake at 400-500 calories.

    That's the only thing that's consistent. Sometimes I'll have a slightly larger dinner as well, if I'm still feeling hungry into the evening hours.
  • cyclerjenn
    cyclerjenn Posts: 835 Member
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    Some days I burn so many calories that i would be eating all day if I ate them back. My rule is if i'm hungry I eat. I just try to make sure to get in my 1400 calories at least.
  • trink68
    trink68 Posts: 48 Member
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    Sometimes all sometimes none sometimes half....just depends on the mood and appetite that day
  • bemott
    bemott Posts: 180
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    I always eat them all back and have lost 50 lbs in 6 months.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I eat as many back as is necessary to not feel hungry. I use the calories in MFP for both exercise and food and according to those I generally eat most of them back.
  • tnbaker81
    tnbaker81 Posts: 16 Member
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    I try not to eat them back. But sometimes I allow myself a little treat if I'm in the mood for something I don't normally eat.
  • JessicaMarie9382
    JessicaMarie9382 Posts: 197
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    I hardly ever eat any of them back.
  • p21usa
    p21usa Posts: 426 Member
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    Same here....have been eating back as many exercise calories (I am on maintenance for one month now) and am still losing about .5 lbs a week.
  • runfatmanrun
    runfatmanrun Posts: 1,090 Member
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    As many as I can.
  • ForRealAU
    ForRealAU Posts: 17
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    I eat them back if I am hungry. I listen to what my body is telling me. If I eat them back it will be only good choices made (lean meat, veggies, healthy oils, etc.) I don't grab a cookie.

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