Should you eat back exercise calories?
- 2 Minutes Read
Users frequently ask, "Should you eat the calories back that you burn from exercise?" In most instances, adding back calories from exercise can delay weight-loss progress. Learn why this may happen and other considerations.
Should you eat back your exercise calories?
Whether you should eat back your calories from exercise depends on your health goals.
In general, most nutrition professionals do not recommend eating back exercise calories. Fitness trackers may not accurately measure calories burned with exercise, and people tend to overestimate how much food they need post-exercise.
Eating calories burned from exercise may not help if your goal is weight loss. But if your goal is weight gain, adding back the calories burned with exercise may be beneficial.
Total energy expenditure
The gold standard for measuring total energy expenditure (TEE) is doubly labeled water. However, it is not feasible for everyday use. Instead, healthcare professionals and nutrition and health apps like MyNetDiary use validated predictive equations to estimate TEE. To find out how MyNetDiary calculates TEE, click here.
Accuracy of activity trackers
Relying on a fitness tracker to “earn” extra food can erase your calorie deficit. Although wearable devices or fitness trackers can calculate TEE, their accuracy is questionable. Many activity trackers do not provide energy estimates within an acceptable range and commonly overestimate calories burned with exercise by 30%. So, eating back those calories could mean you consume more than you expended. That snack you thought was offset by exercise may overshoot your deficit, stalling or reversing weight loss. Treat the calories your activity tracker shows you burned as overestimates; do not use them as a license to eat more.
Additionally, energy expenditure is not constant. It varies with the activity, intensity, duration, and other personal factors, such as stress and perceived exertion levels.
The influence of mindset
Do you ever feel like you've earned a treat after working out? This reward mentality is a form of compensatory behavior that leads to overeating after exercise and can undermine the calorie deficit you're working toward. Research has found that people tend to eat larger portions on exercise days. Adding back calories from exercise may trick your mind into thinking you “deserve” more food or should consume larger portions. Over time, these behaviors slow your weight loss.
Exercise-induced changes to appetite hormones
Exercise influences appetite hormones, but scientists' understanding of it continues to evolve. Research shows that higher-intensity exercise suppresses appetite, but the effects of strength training on appetite are less clear.
Regular exercise changes appetite, balancing an increased desire to eat with improved feelings of fullness with a meal. Although hunger increases, satiety occurs earlier during a meal. For instance, aerobic exercise at a medium intensity may make you feel less hungry or full sooner at mealtime.
Adjusting your MyNetDiary settings
When considering whether you should eat back exercise calories, we do not recommend it.
To ensure you have the “Add Exercise to Calorie Budget” setting turned off, go to the Me tab >My Weight Goal & Plan>Exercise Plan. Check that “Add Exercise to Calorie Budget” is toggled off. You can adjust the percentage of calories you want added back to your daily calorie budget. Adding back less than 100% of calories may mitigate any overeating to help you stay on track with weight-loss goals.
If you are hungry after a workout or a big day of exercise, you can decide to add back calories from exercise. But there is no need to or benefit of adding eating back exercise calories. If you notice increased hunger with aerobic exercise, consider switching to a more strength-based routine.
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Mar 31, 2025
