Who is and Who isn't?

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leenabeana1
leenabeana1 Posts: 67
in Food and Nutrition
I'd like to know who eats all their calories back and who isn't. And if you aren't if you are still getting the results you exspected? I see a lot of ppl's diaries and they are wayyyy under. And most days I myself am. But then I read about ppl who hit a plateau because they're not eating enough! It's confusing me:tongue:
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  • trophywife24
    trophywife24 Posts: 1,472 Member
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    I'm not... actually I don't even log my exercise on here. I think mfp grossly overestimates what we actually burn and I haven't bothered with a heart rate monitor yet. I loose just fine. I don't do extensive cardio though, I mostly lift, do pilates and a little spinning. My cals are set on 1500 a day.

    ETA Even when I did use mfp to log my exercise, I rarely ate back my calories, even when I started on 1200. No issues. If I'm hungry, I eat. If I'm not, I don't. :)
  • chris1816
    chris1816 Posts: 715 Member
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    That I have seen, most TDEE calculators are either innacurate or can vary wildly depending on what you use. The same goes for HRMs and many calculations for calories burned; even on MFP. With this, I make it a point only to -maybe- eat back 25-50% of exercise calories if at all. I don't make it a conscious effort; more on days I do strength training/cardio I don't sweat if I have a a bit extra that day, I just log it and carry on.

    However in my case, I'm fat/hambeast/lipomorph whatever you want to call it. If I'm eating at a deficit, days I exercise I am just increasing that deficit; which is good. Now for some in the lower body fat range, eating back exercise calories may benefit them but the reality is the body does not go into any "Starvation mode" or start magically defying the laws of physics to hold onto more stored energy than it can with what is being expended.
  • sarrylove
    sarrylove Posts: 88
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    You do need to eat enough or it isn't good for your body. Your caloric needs and how much you need to eat to lose weight is going to depend on your height, weight, activity level and how much weight you want to lose. I have a really good website I use to calculate mine. If you are interested, message me and I will help you out :)
  • Amber50lbsDown
    Amber50lbsDown Posts: 255 Member
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    Some days I eat some, some days I eat them all and some days I eat none.
    but I do it day to day and week by week. I know on the weekends or if we have a special day planned I will go over so I do a weekly average insted of daily.
    I find its working for me this way and I still get to enjoy everything I use too.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    I try to, but I don't burn much. 400-500 cals/day at this point in time. When I burn more, I will be doing my best to eat it back.

    The problem for me right now is that I'm big enough my daily calorie needs without working out is pretty high (2500 for maintenance). I get my info from my scale which also measures body composition. It's very accurate.

    I also use a HRM which is very accurate. The past few days, I'm finding MFP's numbers are turning out to be fairly close to what my HRM is reading.
  • NemoDog
    NemoDog Posts: 61
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    I don't eat back my exercise calories simply because I'm never that hungry after working out.
    I've been losing approx. 10 pounds per month but slowing down a little since I hit my 50 pounds lost...
    I also think everyone's body is different and none of us will get the same results doing the same thing.
  • ATOLLIT
    ATOLLIT Posts: 149
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    It really depends on how much exercise I have done.
    If I've had a day of being bored revising (like most at the moment haha) then I generally eat less healthily and will exercise in order to earn enough calories to eat what I want.
    If I have a more interesting day with less time available for eating, and then go for a decent length run, I am easily 2-300 calories under goal most days.

    I haven't noticed any difference really in results between good weeks and and weeks, mostly I have lost just over or just under 1 lb each week regardless.
  • GeorgieLove708
    GeorgieLove708 Posts: 442 Member
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    I eat back up to 50% of the calories earned according to MFP (They grossly overestimate in my opinion). At the same time, if I'm not hungry, I'm not going to force myself to eat just so I can get those calories back. I don't feel forcing myself to eat more just so I can follow some peoples' rules is really the best way to change my eating habits for the better. I've lost 16 pounds so far, but I have a lot to lose and it comes off easier, I'm a long way off from being able to determine if its working for me or not.
  • xxzimmer
    xxzimmer Posts: 37
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    I eat them back. I use to not eat them and I lost weight, and some muscle definition. A few months ago I started eating my cals back, and I have gained weight....but its from muscle growth not fat. Eat right, workout hard, and you will see the results you want.
  • DefyGravity1977
    DefyGravity1977 Posts: 300 Member
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    I do occasionally if I am still hungry, but the majority of the time I have some left over. You have to go with what works for your body.
  • lostwisdom
    lostwisdom Posts: 73 Member
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    I only eat them back when I'm super hungry, and as I'm on 1200 and only just begun it's most days atm (before this was probably eating around 2000 a day so a big change!), but I'm looking forward to when I can start coming under on calories after my exercise!
  • Silverstar46
    Silverstar46 Posts: 187 Member
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    I often eat back my exercise calories or at least some of them. MFP figures out what you need to lose weight without the exercise, so when you burn those calories away, you'd think working at even more of a deficit would help, right? Except your body NEEDS calories to work efficiently and you can damage your body by not eating enough. So I make sure to eat half of my exercise calories since I think MFP is a little too generous in the 'calories burned' area.
  • _stephanie0
    _stephanie0 Posts: 708 Member
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    i exercise so that i CAN eat more.... i soo cannot eat 1400 cals a day LOL...so yes, i eat mine, so i eat around 1700-1800 per day, and yes it works :)
  • Amryfal
    Amryfal Posts: 225
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    i do eat my exercise calories back, because it motivates me to exercise, lol - and because if i don't eat them back, i get hungry, which is not sustainable for me.

    but then, i'm relatively flexible on numbers, too - i deliberately set my calories lower than my BMR because i don't have a food scale, a heart rate monitor, etc. and if i turn my measuring into rocket science, i start to get OCD, which is also not sustainable for me. i've tried lower and higher daily calorie limits, and the weight loss stalls.

    when my current levels stop working, i'll change it up again until i find something that works. i can't obsess about #s because it's bad for my mental health. some people need more structure, though. whatever works for you.
  • Dee_84
    Dee_84 Posts: 431 Member
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    I eat most of my exercise calories back (I even log stuff like heavy cleaning :noway: ).
    I set my goal for 0.5 lb loss a week and have lost 9 lb in 11 weeks. So it definitely works for me!
  • MalSponseller
    MalSponseller Posts: 217 Member
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    I eat like 90% of them back, making sure that I'm AT LEAST over 1200 calories by the end of the night.
  • BrienJD
    BrienJD Posts: 541 Member
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    I eat mine back, so far (crosses fingers) I have had steady weight loss for the last six months. Might be hitting a plateau here now though. Eat em until it doesn't work anymore then adjust as necessary
  • mscrumbyy
    mscrumbyy Posts: 116
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    I eat them back if I'm hungry. I struggle to eat all my calories every day as it is but my appetite is pretty awful recently and I don't see the point in force feeding myself.
  • krawl78
    krawl78 Posts: 113 Member
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    Initially I didn't, and on the advice of some of my pals, I started to eat them back and gained almost 5 lbs in a few days. I reset my body and continue to lose at a rate that I think is great! For some people, eating back works, for others it doesn't. Weight loss is a science and you have to figure out your formula. Good luck!
  • candi_jo
    candi_jo Posts: 11 Member
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    I typically try to stay under, even if it's JUST under. I was told to look at my calorie goal like a daily budget. Maybe because I'm a saver, I like to have a little something left over at the end of the day! :) However, I can't vouch for results, because I'm just finishing up my second week using MFP.

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