* I don't know why, but my reply is showing up before the original post! *

I only eat them back if I'm hungry. It seems like that's what most people do.

For those of you who use MFP..

I usually burn about 300 calories/day working out. For some reason I always feel guilty eating back those 300 calories.

Does anyone not eat those back? I get that your body needs a certain amount to survive and all of that, but I'm just used to SparkPeople where they don't give you 'earned calories'

What should I do? What do you do? Does anyone have anything that will convince me one way or the other?

Also I'm DandelionCupcakes on there so if anyone wants to add me feel free!

That's fine I do that too , if you're hungry don't starve yourself , eat . Just make sure that it's healthy and you're not eating empty calories . You worked for it

How weird is that! It totally is.

And okay, that makes sense. For some reason that actually makes me feel a lot better, like it's not a huge deal. Whew. I dunno why but I was sort of stressed out about it!

Thank you! :3 That makes sense. Not just eating to eat but eating something that will be good for me.

Yes Ma'am , and anytime

No I never have. But do have days where I go over on calories and rely on my workout cals to balance me. I did used to do extra cardio to make up for extra calories too for peace of mind. I just feel odd busting my butt then eating back what I just worked out. But eating them back works just fine for some. I am in maintenance and doing less cardio and eating more and continue to lose. Just at a slow pace.

That's a great question, I didn't realize Spark People and MFP are different in that way!

No I haven't been....

My exercise cals aren't much since I only walk but what I do is I don't log my exercise cals, nor do I log the cream in my coffee. Balances out!

Yup, I eat the calories back. I didn't before but then it was explained to me that you are supposed to. Your body will go into starvation mode otherwise. Exercising allows you to eat more in the day and I LOVE eating so now I know I have to exercise in order to enjoy more food in a day and still lose weight

I agree, I am the same way. Especially on days when I workout hard and burn 500 or so calories, I definitely eat some of them back to keep up my energy. I also like you said, I just love eating haha! So I'm glad when exercise allows me to eat a little bit more.

I think this will depend on how much you're exercising and how many calories you are netting each day. If you are burning a ton of calories then you definitely should eat back at least some of them, especially if you are eating a low number of calories to begin with. I eat around 1600 calories daily and burn around 250, so I'm still netting 1350 which is fine. If I'm feeling fatigued or hungry on any given day, then I listen to my body and eat more.

No, I don't, unless I'm really hungry.

I do but only a small amount. I am usually super hungry after a jog and i take in approperiate sources for muscle recovery.