i was doing really well at 1800 calories but now in the last few months i have gone done to 1450 due to weightloss. i usually do not eat back calories when i work out. but i was wondering could i eat back my calories i burn?

so this is my basic breakdown:

Maintain cals: 2447
Deficit: 1000
So eating calories a day:1447


So my question is, if I work out for 500 cals worth or 400etc. can i eat them back?


i know that technically the math adds up but i dont know if my body will take to it? I also know our bodies arent linear machines and things dont work out like the math on paper all the time.

does anyone have experience or advice?

I am far too new at this to offer good advice, but i have done lots of reading and quite frankly I find so much contradictory stuff!! I am think i'll ascribe to eating at least some calories back. If you doing hard workouts and if your lifting weights (which everyone should!) you need to have enough calories to build or even maintain the muscle mass you already have. And of course a lb of muscle is MUCH smaller than a lb of fat and muscle keeps the metabolism going. Anyways I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am eating extra calories on days i lift weights, and if I am really hungry I eay back calories on days I do alot fo cardio. Technically the math should work that you should be able to eat them back. Maybe if you arent hungry take it as extra calorie deficit, but listen to your body and if it needs more nutrition definietly give it some really good healthy calories.

I will generally eat back some of the calories I burn through exercise, but I usually don't eat them all back. Just depends on how my body feels that day. I just try to eat healthy options when I do this.

I do not eat back the calories. But then if I am dragging & super tired or out of energy then I will start eating more 100-200 calories & see if that helps. It is really tricky - there is a lot of info out there saying yes do eat them & no don't. So once again, the best advice is "do what works for you." Good luck & i hope you find something that works for you! =D

I'd have to agree with DollyMichele—do what works for you.

You can use 1400ish as a base amount of cals and work from there. If you're hungrier on a particular day you can go higher, if not you can stick to 1400.

Working out doesn't necessarily mean you'll NEED those extra calories. My highest calorie day always seems to be my rest day, for example, because for some reason I'm always hungriest on that day. There are some days I'm under my calories despite working out like crazy!

If I were you, I'd think about either adding an extra 200 calories (as a start) for a few weeks and see how that works for you. Or, I would try some calorie cycling where I would have some higher days and some lower days.

I don't necessarily eat back calories, but I zig zag my intake, and the days I workout are usually my high days.

For example. My daily goal is around 1600 cals a day. That gives me 11200 a week to work with. Some days I eat close to 1,200, some days I eat close to 2,000, but at the end of the week I'm still around 11200.

I wouldn't increase your calories to offset exercise, alone, though.

How did you calculate your maintenance level of 2447? If you already included your weekly exercise regimen (e.g., moderate-to-intense exercise 5 times a week) to arrive at that figure, then it doesn't make sense to eat back your exercise calories if you want to stay at a 1000/day deficit. It would be like counting your exercise calories twice.

F.

that sounds like a great idea eat it back only if im hungry. i like. thank you!

thats sounds good. thank you.

alright cool. so just eat when i feel like i need it. it makes sense. thank you.

i think im going to do the extra 200. i havent been losing for almost 1 1/2 months due to cheating so much from feeling so hungry. so i think i just need to up my cals a tad bit. thank you!

i see alright cool thank you!


I use loseit.com

it calculates at rest with no excercize other than sedentary lifestyle. so the 1000 is without excercize. then excercize would make it another 400-600 a day.