[skinnyelle39]

I believe this question has been posted on 3fc before but I cant find the thread and am SUPER interested in the feedback . Do you eat back the calories you burn through exercise? If so... how many? For example if you allow yourself a certain amount of cals per day by calorie counting, say 1500, and you burn 250 while exercising do you actually consume 1750 cals or close to it because technically you are within your "budget" because of exercise? If so, what are your losses like? Are you still able to pull off 2+ lbs per week?

[tuende]

I don't. I eat the same 1500 cals/day regardless of exercise. I exercise 6 days a week, mixing cardio and 3 days of resistance training (some days I do both). It's a balance, because I want to be sure I'm eating enough to build muscle, but at the same time I still want to be losing fat. I don't lose 2 lb/week, but at this point I don't really expect to.

The only exception to my 1500 cals/day is that sometimes I do a class at the gym after my workouts, just because they're happening then, it's fun and I have nothing better to do (This is usually some kind of dance-y thing, not something really intense). If I find that I'm SUPER hungry later, I might throw in 150-200 extra calories of something with a lot of protein to off-set the difference.

But that's just me .

[whatupton]

My calorie intake is at 1500 right now, and I usually work out about 4x a week. I usually do the elliptical and burn around 400 calories. Currently what I am doing is trying not to eat back the calories I burn. Like the other day I was 427 calories under for the day because of my elliptical workout. Of course, some days I do eat a little bit more and maybe end under 200 (some days are harder than others!) Then there are some random days I am under 600-800 calories because of my workout. So for me it just evens out.

Prior to my current weight loss goal I was doing what I said above and was losing weight steadily. 2 lbs though? I'm not sure about that I think mine was coming off at around 1.5 lbs per week. Hope this helped.

[tinneranne2]

On the rare occasions that I exercise, I do generally eat back what I've burned. Physical exertion makes me hungry! lol

My losses are not tracked with any regularity, just whenever I find myself around a scale. Also, because I don't stay on plan for any significant period of time I tend to gain back a couple pounds and then lose them again so my weight loss has not been at an impressive rate by any means.

I've lost 16lbs since February. I'd say that's more than fair given the stop and start half-assed effort I've been putting in (or not putting in, depending).

I look at it this way (and it may just be the rationalization of a lazy person) the time is going to pass either way...and I want this change to be permanent. I'll either be losing or maintaining. The rest of my life will consist of watching what I eat and trying to be more active. Who cares if I lose all the weight in 6 months or a couple years? It took time to get fat, it will take time to get healthy.

Sorry, got off topic there..

[mamamorgan]

I eat a 12 to 1300 calories a day, if dont eat back the 250.to 400 I burn at the gym then I am faint, fatigued, etc. So yes, I eat back my calories. I was losing a pound a week until I hit my plateau. I hope to finally get past it this week with.extra intense cardio workouts & one day of IF.

[Cheece]

I've really only been calorie counting for 3 weeks, but yes I eat back some of my calories burned. Myfitnesspal has me eating 1200 calories a day, so if I don't eat back some of my exercise calories, I end up starving and am in danger of going on a binge so far I've lost 2 pounds each week for the past 2 weeks, and around 1 pound the first week.

[Kahokkuri]

I currently eat right around 1400kcal a day whether or not I exercise. I usually burn 300-500kcal during a workout and I do my damnedest not to "eat it back"!

[kelly315]

generally speaking, I don't tend to increase my calories for exercise- unless I've had a massive burn day.

[sgregg]

I posted this in the calorie counting thread the other day! Haha!! Glad to see some more input!

[BreathingSpace]

I don't actually. I don't even enter my exercise in my Lose It App because it automatically calculates and ups the amount of calories I can have in a day. I just want to eat 1400 calories, regardless of if I exercise or not.

However, if I have been exercising all week long, it would make me feel way less guilty about eating something off plan on the weekend and I think have less of an impact.

Just my thoughts/opinion though.

~BreathingSpace~

[Scarlett]

I don't either. Unless your Michael Phelps I don't think you burn enough that you need to compensate. Also I don't trust calorie burn estimates.

But I don't calorie count either, I just eat mostly the same thing every day. If I'm really hungry I'll eat.

The exception for me is races. I run a 5k about once a month and after completing a race, I go home, shower, put my new shirt on and pig out for the rest of the day (though I don't go TOO crazy).

[Bikini Ready]

I do and I don't. I always get my 10,000 steps in but how I get them determines if I add more calories to my day. If I get the steps by running 6 miles, which I did today! , I will eat some extra protein for sure. If I get the steps by strolling around all day I stay about 1200 calories. Everyone is different though so try both and see which works best for you.

[sontaikle]

I don't. I eat around 1200-1400 calories a day and generally don't increase or decrease for exercise.

I usually exercise 6 days a week, but for some reason I find that the day I don't exercise I eat on the higher end of my range, while the other days I eat on the lower end.

[petitefleur]

I track with MFP and since I don't have a heart rate monitor, I only count 2/3 of the calories it says I've burned. I workout 7 days each week, and burn anywhere from 600 - 900 calories according to MFP. I'm allowed 1200, so I usually eat anywhere from 1600 to 1800 calories per day.

As of my last weigh-in, I've lost 31 lbs. That's an average of 1.63 lbs per week.