Do you eat your workout calories?

There's no science to this - just what I do. I am working on a calorie deficit model from my BMR. On days where I exercise I eat my full BMR. That usually works out at eating half my exercise calories back. A simple model which seems to work for me.

bumping for later reading

Question- for 10 months I ate about 1200 calories a day and burned 500 calories a day M-F never eating my Calories back and consistently lost weight. The last 4 months have been harder to lose, a nutritionist told me to eat 1400 calories a day & not to eat calories back. On the weekends I splurge a little with wine & dinner so maintain my calories but seem to be bouncing back from 110-115 pounds. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong? Although I'm eating more on weekends I thought neting 600-800 calories during the wk would help?
Any suggestions

@carpetm - Thank you! It's one of my personal favorites!

*edited to correct grammatical error*

Question- for 10 months I ate about 1200 calories a day and burned 500 calories a day M-F never eating my Calories back and consistently lost weight. The last 4 months have been harder to lose, a nutritionist told me to eat 1400 calories a day & not to eat calories back. On the weekends I splurge a little with wine & dinner so maintain my calories but seem to be bouncing back from 110-115 pounds. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong? Although I'm eating more on weekends I thought neting 600-800 calories during the wk would help?
Any suggestions

You may have damaged your metabolism by under eating for so long. I would suggest eating maintenance calories for 3-4 weeks (maybe longer) to reset your metabolism. Most likely you will gain a few lbs, but once you level off you could again go into a slight deficit (250-500 cals/day) to lose that weight slowly without hurting yourself.

Thanks for your response but you don't think maintaining my calories on the weekend is enough?

typically, no

Most of the time I do. MFP already takes a 500 calorie deficit off.

Wait, what?? So I have a 500 cal leeway? So if what was "set" for me was 1,200 but I work out 4+x a week and there's a 500 cal defecit...I should be taking in much more, correct?

I just HATE when the number turns red!!! LOL

MFP does NOT assume anyone will exercise. In your initial set up you stated "I want to lose XX pounds per week" MFP gives you the numbers to accomplish that .... or 1200 in your case ... which is the minimum MFP will give anyone.

When you ADD exercise into the equation .... (think of exercise / activity as calories out) ...... you increase the deficit. So it's like 1200 calories eaten LESS 500 calories burned. That's 700 net calories per day.

Your body needs 1200 calories (most women) just for basic bodily function: heart, lungs, kidneys. The problem with too large a deficit, your weight loss will stall, and your body may burn muscle as well as fat.

I just factored the workout calories into my "activity level" and did not eat them back. Then again, I rarely got close to my goal calories, usually netting way less. I can't afford to eat the healthy foods I do at twice the volume I do, and I have no desire to put crap into my body to make up for a fabricated "deficit"

I eat them back on most days, but save them a couple of days so that on the weekend when I go out to eat (we have a family dinner every Sunday) I have "extra calories" to use. It seems to work well for me.

yes. it's complicated, sorta (but not really)

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

I have eaten my exercise calories back and I've still lost, but no doubt I could lose mored if I don't. There have been weeks when I've done EVERYTHING right and I still didn't lose anything. For some people they won't lose if they eat their calories back, some people will. everyone's weight loss journey is different, so no 2 people will lose or even gain weight the same. Maybe you should experiment one week of eating your calories back and then experiment one week of not eating them back and see how it works for you. But I am almost more than confident that even if you eat them back, you'll still lose weight because you'll never burn the exact same amount of calories every single day, which means you'll always have different calorie targets everyday, so your body won;t get used to one particular intake amount. When your bnody can't predict what's going on, I've found that yuou'll always lose the weight. And of coarse don't forget to track your foods. I wish you the best of luck.

I try not to eat after 6PM and since I go to the gym in the evening, I dont "eat the workout calories". But I know if I really wanted to, I can eat a snack

The "eating back your calories" does not have to be directly after your workout, it can be sometime before.

I workout after work. On days when I know I "will be doing" cardio.... I add calories to my lunch (and sometimes dinner).

Keeping lean muscle mass is the most important factor for me ...... my health goes backwards if I lose the same % of fat as muscle. Healthy weight is more than just 1 number on a scale.

yup! I eat most of them. Sometimes more sometimes less. Down 68 lbs, no regrets

You will definitely need to eat back enough so that your net is not below 1200 calories. So enjoy them!

I dont and its not a problem. If I'm hungry then I may but for the most part no but everyone is different