Eating Back Calories

ededar
ededar Posts: 36
in Health and Weight Loss
I know this is a pretty controversial subject here and people talk about it a lot. I tend to not eat them back because the exercise I get is walking, and I don't feel like I've really earnt that much. If I had sprinted or ran a big distance or did some high intensity stuff like some people do here then I would. But should I be eating back some from walking? I used to walk 4.8 miles a weekday.

Replies

  • sluedu09
    sluedu09 Posts: 107 Member
    You're going to get a lot of opinions on this one. As far as I understand it, if you have your profile set to sedentary, then you should eat back your exercise calories. Especially if you're at the lower end of the limit like 1200 calories a day. If you already have your settings at lightly-active or active then it's kinda up to you. A lot of people say only eat half of your calories back because MFP tends to over estimate calories burned. I say go with your body and do what works for you. It depends on the day, but I usually have to eat back my calories to lose weight. It actually helped me break through a plateau. But everyone's different.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    You're going to get a lot of opinions on this one. As far as I understand it, if you have your profile set to sedentary, then you should eat back your exercise calories. Especially if you're at the lower end of the limit like 1200 calories a day. If you already have your settings at lightly-active or active then it's kinda up to you. A lot of people say only eat half of your calories back because MFP tends to over estimate calories burned. I say go with your body and do what works for you. It depends on the day, but I usually have to eat back my calories to lose weight. It actually helped me break through a plateau. But everyone's different.

    ^This!^

    I eat mine back (always) because I am close to goal, I'm over 50 (and need to preserve muscle mass) and I use a heart rate monitor so calories are not over stated.

    Not everyone here has the same circumstances .... just keep an eye on things & tweek as needed.
  • kingofcrunk
    kingofcrunk Posts: 372 Member
    If I put all that effort into buring off a couple of hundred calories then I'm not about to happily pig them back into myself.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    If I put all that effort into buring off a couple of hundred calories then I'm not about to happily pig them back into myself.

    MFP (as designed) does NOT assume anyone will exercise. The calorie deficit is already built in. By exercising, you are increasing the deficit even more. Your body needs a minimim number of calories for "basic bodily functions" - heart, lungs, kidneys.

    Really large calorie defiits can be detrimental if your body does not get enough fuel. You may burn fat AND muscle. I want to lose weight .... but not at the risk of losing muscle mass.

    No one would suggest eating back lots of "garbage" just to meet your calorie goals. I build extra calories into my day ... when I know that I will be doing cardio.
  • kingofcrunk
    kingofcrunk Posts: 372 Member
    If I put all that effort into buring off a couple of hundred calories then I'm not about to happily pig them back into myself.

    MFP (as designed) does NOT assume anyone will exercise. The calorie deficit is already built in. By exercising, you are increasing the deficit even more. Your body needs a minimim number of calories for "basic bodily functions" - heart, lungs, kidneys.

    Really large calorie defiits can be detrimental if your body does not get enough fuel. You may burn fat AND muscle. I want to lose weight .... but not at the risk of losing muscle mass.

    No one would suggest eating back lots of "garbage" just to meet your calorie goals. I build extra calories into my day ... when I know that I will be doing cardio.

    Congratulations
  • JessyJ03
    JessyJ03 Posts: 627 Member
    Random thought but it seems people with more posts who have been around longer say EAT your calories and those who haven't been around as long say DON'T.

    I eat mine. I eat almost all of them. It ends up being between 500-800 per day extra.
  • kingofcrunk
    kingofcrunk Posts: 372 Member
    Random thought but it seems people with more posts who have been around longer say EAT your calories and those who haven't been around as long say DON'T.

    I eat mine. I eat almost all of them. It ends up being between 500-800 per day extra.

    Theres a possible correlation there. But then the length of time you've spent on a website does not indicate the length of time you've been dieting.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

    My short answer:
    If you are using MFP to calculate your calorie allowance, then yes, you should eat more when you exercise. MFP assumes that your total daily intake will be made up of your base calorie allowance plus the extra cals you burn exercising.

    If you use another system to work out your calories, then follow what they recommend. Most other systems already include extra cals if you exercise more. This means that you are still "eating exercise calories" you just don't see them separated out like MFP does.

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