Your Question Answered: Should I eat back the calories I burned in exercise?

My short answer is no.

My longer explanation is as follows…

When you burn calories, and your smartwatch or fitness device estimates them...it’s at best that, an estimate.

Here are my best suggestions for optimizing weight loss with exercise

• Track what you eat for two weeks. Every morsel. Eat to satisfaction. No cutting calories here. Again, eat to satisfaction.

• Work out as you usually would. Try to develop some sort of routine so the amount of calories you are burning is consistent. 

• At the end of the two weeks, average your calories in, and average your weights. 

• If you are overall losing weight, take those average calories, and those are your deficit calories.

• If, at the end of two weeks you are maintaining or gaining weight, cut your overall calories by 5-10%.

This formula will give you your personalized calories. It also allows you to eat to satisfaction, work out, and see where the balance is, for you.

This formula also gives you a sustainable way to eat, lose weight, and not end up bingeing because you are eating 1200 calories a day.

Remember, you always want sustainable weight loss.

Even if it is slow.

It means you are finding a way to eat in a way that works for you for the rest of your life. Not for the next three months. 

I follow the exact formula as above because it works. If I change up my routine, start working out more, etc., I just take another 1-2 week period to see where I’m actually at, and adjust.

You can do it, too. Trust me.

XO
Molly