Not trusting the "eating back your calories" theory

According to the tools, I burn 544 calories per hour on the elliptical at a moderate pace. So after just an hour on the elliptical, I could eat 544 extra calories with no weight gain/loss?

It seems obvious, but I can't trust it for some reason. I must sound really dumb, lol, but can anyone relate to feeling guilty or having second thoughts about eating back exercise calories?

Yeah I feel that way all the time. I ate a taco bell bean burrito for lunch, which was 370 calories, so I wanted to burn that off... I walked for an hour and a half and ran for 30 minutes, which altogether is 585 calories according to CC, but I still want to try to stick to my regular calorie goal for the day of about 1400-1500 calories anyways.

Original Post by muttlover:

According to the tools, I burn 544 calories per hour on the elliptical at a moderate pace. So after just an hour on the elliptical, I could eat 544 extra calories with no weight gain/loss?

It seems obvious, but I can't trust it for some reason. I must sound really dumb, lol, but can anyone relate to feeling guilty or having second thoughts about eating back exercise calories?

 I've never bothered. I exercise 6 days a week so I just ate more until the scale stabilized.

instead of eating back your calories, eat more earlier in the day so that you stabalize out with your total calories. Try not to go below your bmr

people go all crazy about this, its not that big of a deal really.

I never "eat back" all of the caloreis burned from my workout. If I do feel hungrier from the workout I will feel no guilt in having something small before or after the workout, but I don't see the point in eating back 500 calories that I worked off. Never made sense to me and I've lost 30 pounds.

Well if you're going for a deficit of say 500 calories, just eat your maintenance calories and let your exercise of burning 500 be your deficit, if you feel better that way.

If you deficit 500 from your food intake, and then exercise another 500 off, that puts you at 1000 deficit which is too much unless you're very overweight. Which is why in that case you'd 'eat back your calories'.  I always just logged my activities and then kept eating until my eat meter was 500 less than whatever my burn meter says. Make sense?

Original Post by auralay:

Yeah I feel that way all the time. I ate a taco bell bean burrito for lunch, which was 370 calories, so I wanted to burn that off... I walked for an hour and a half and ran for 30 minutes, which altogether is 585 calories according to CC, but I still want to try to stick to my regular calorie goal for the day of about 1400-1500 calories anyways.

 

Whats the difference between exercising and eating back calories or eating at taco bell and then exercising off the calories.......Its a classic glass half empty or half full example. 

Seems like the difference is psychological.

For weight loss, the important thing is the deficit -- consuming 500-1000 calories less per day than what you burn in total. So if your food target would be 1500 calorie at 500 cal deficit if you were sedentary, and you burn 1000 calories more in exercise, of course you need to eat more, otherwise you would have a 1500 calorie deficit which is too high. That's just making sure you're taking enough fuel to keep your body going.

But if someone overeats unhealthy food and then exercises to burn it off, that is problematic.  For example, feeling compelled  to eat ice cream, and then going to the gym to furiously burn off those calories.  That's a form of bulemia using exercise to purge.

  

IMO, the whole point of working out, including lifting AND cardio is to burn fat when you're not exercising. Yea when you work out you burn calories during the session, but it doesn't stop there, it ADDS to what you're burning during the day as well. Even just sitting, walking around or doin daily activities will burn more because working out speeds up your metabolism, don't feel compelled to work off what you eat at that moment, over days and weeks it evens out if you stay at maintenence or below.

Original Post by jjlewis305:

Original Post by auralay:

Yeah I feel that way all the time. I ate a taco bell bean burrito for lunch, which was 370 calories, so I wanted to burn that off... I walked for an hour and a half and ran for 30 minutes, which altogether is 585 calories according to CC, but I still want to try to stick to my regular calorie goal for the day of about 1400-1500 calories anyways.

 

Whats the difference between exercising and eating back calories or eating at taco bell and then exercising off the calories.......Its a classic glass half empty or half full example. 

I'm just saying I try to make sure and exercise if I eat something that might make me go over my calorie limit for the day. If I exercise first, I usually don't go and eat junk because then it feels like it's pointless to have exercised.

no, you don't sound dumb. you are calling a spade a spade, that's all.

i don't 'eat back' exercise calories. it seems foolish. considering there are days in each week that my calories go over my magical BMR+ it all balances out in the end. "eating back" is a form of self sabotage that is only useful for a] the VERY disciplined who NEVER have ANY slip ups calorie wise and b] those with a history of eating disorder and need to maintain every day for the rest of their lives and try to gain or hold steady.

pals of mine run to the gym when they overeat and i find they dont work as hard and only do say, an hour in cardio. they do not attend regularly and they do not lift weights. they complain the weight is not melting off.

after a big bbq or potluck, (my friends and i are foodies) i get the wink wink nudge nudge 'bet we are all running to the gym after this huh'  i just laugh it off, but i really want to stop them and explain it does not work like that.

i never see these people in the gym regularly. 

I don't look at it that way. I excersice regulary and on the days I do exercise I am more hungry. So I try not to eat too much more, but a little and I am losing 1 to 2 pounds per week.

If you are looking at what you can get away with, that is the wrong approach. You need to stick to a change of lifestyle. On the days you exercise and stick to your diet is when you really begin to lose the fat. 

I totally agree with Mr. Bob!

 I did the whole "I burned an extra 700 cals today" so now I can eat an extra 700 cals. It didn't work at all. I'm statying under 1850 (my target) & loosing allot of weight now.

 I only add an extra 200 cals on day where I burn at least 500 cals or more. I also do this on days I play hockey or work out.

Look at the grams of food your eating too. I found out that I was still over eating, but now just on good food.

Peace & good luck everyone.

Tim (udamann88)

If your deficit is very aggressive (1000+) then you need to be careful to eat more on exercise days.  I'm living proof.

I lost weight eating about 1500 calories/day (1000 calorie deficit).

3 months, 1500 cals, no exercise: lost 30 lbs.

Then I decided to start exercising for my health.  I burn about 3000 calories per week working out. I "plateaued".

12 months, 1500 cals, with exercise: lost 10 lbs.

For a while I decided it was all muscle mass (weighs more), but I didn't see it in the mirror.  I started paying better attention to my intake and burn.  I realized I was likely undereating by about 2500 calories per week.  So I upped my daily eat goal to 1800 last month.

1 month, 1800 cals, with exercise: lost 8 lbs. 

No more plateau. 

Original Post by phord:

If your deficit is very aggressive (1000+) then you need to be careful to eat more on exercise days.  I'm living proof.

I lost weight eating about 1500 calories/day (1000 calorie deficit).

3 months, 1500 cals, no exercise: lost 30 lbs.

Then I decided to start exercising for my health.  I burn about 3000 calories per week working out. I "plateaued".

12 months, 1500 cals, with exercise: lost 10 lbs.

For a while I decided it was all muscle mass (weighs more), but I didn't see it in the mirror.  I started paying better attention to my intake and burn.  I realized I was likely undereating by about 2500 calories per week.  So I upped my daily eat goal to 1800 last month.

1 month, 1800 cals, with exercise: lost 8 lbs. 

No more plateau. 

I totally agree! I hit a big plateau fairly quickly after I started working out.  After 2 months, I went bck to tracking calories in & out and have lost 5#'s in the last 2 weeks! (Total 16#'s now!)

Original Post by vicereine:

Well if you're going for a deficit of say 500 calories, just eat your maintenance calories and let your exercise of burning 500 be your deficit, if you feel better that way.

If you deficit 500 from your food intake, and then exercise another 500 off, that puts you at 1000 deficit which is too much unless you're very overweight. Which is why in that case you'd 'eat back your calories'.  I always just logged my activities and then kept eating until my eat meter was 500 less than whatever my burn meter says. Make sense?

I am still at the point where I have to eat more then my burn so exercising is the only way I can get a deficit of 500.  I would love a deficit on 1000 but I know as much as I would love to lose weight faster then one pound a week that I would just fall right back into old habits.