Why do so many people ignore calories burned with exercise in CICO?
atypicalsmith
Posts: 2,742 Member
I don't get it. Writer says, "I'm exercising 4,000 calories a day and eating 2,000 calories but I'm not losing weight" and the answer is almost always CICO. Then there's the accusations that the poster is not logging calories accurately, not weighing the food, and that even though they claim to exercise, it's always "CICO". Huh? Is not burning calories by exercising calories out?
How can you say that you don't have to burn calories to have the CO part of CICO? Do you think it happens when we just lay around on the sofa watching television? EXERCISE burns calories and is part of the CALORIES OUT! Whoever is guilty, stop saying that exercise doesn't contribute, because it does. To those who cannot exercise for health reasons, I am not talking about you, even though I have a friend here who has everything against her yet she is still excelling.
Okay, off my soapbox.
How can you say that you don't have to burn calories to have the CO part of CICO? Do you think it happens when we just lay around on the sofa watching television? EXERCISE burns calories and is part of the CALORIES OUT! Whoever is guilty, stop saying that exercise doesn't contribute, because it does. To those who cannot exercise for health reasons, I am not talking about you, even though I have a friend here who has everything against her yet she is still excelling.
Okay, off my soapbox.
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Who, other than serious athletes who are unlikely to post such questions on MFP, is exercising off 4000 calories a day?
In the vast majority of cases, you will not burn as many calories exercising as you will save by eating less.0 -
Technically the body is always burning calories. And for most BMR + sedentary activity can have a deficit without exercise. I'm not saying you should not exercise or be more active, but the primary benefit of exercise is heart & lung health. It does allow one to eat more calories and have a deficit, or have a bigger deficit. But ignoring the CI part: its easy to eat more than you realize if not paying attention.0
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For the average person, most of the calories you burn each day are from all the energy your body takes to do the basic function like keep your brain alive. That is your BMR (basal metabolic rate). Exercise will add to the Calories Out side of the equation, but again for the average person they are burning maybe 200-300 calories per day from exercise, usually less than they think or the machine is telling them.
So, point a) is that you don't have to exercise, you burn tons of calories every day just by being you. point b) is that the reason we focus on the calories in side is that is where you get the biggest bang for your buck, and without careful logging people are often eating up to twice as much as they think they are.0 -
I really don't understand why this is such a hard concept for some people. I move more, eat a lot less per meal and snacks than I used to and the weight it slowly but surely coming off. Simple.0
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I wish one could log exercise without MFP automatically adjusting the daily caloric allowance.
Why? The reason it adjusts is because MFP automatically calculates the deficit you need to lose weight as the rate you specified. If you exercise you increase this deficit. Being in too large of a deficit can be unsustainable, lead to muscle mass loss as well as fat and can lead to you being insufficiently fueled to complete further exercise.
Unless of course you use TDEE method rather than MFP method and just want to have a check box to disable this function....... then I understand.0 -
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atypicalsmith wrote: »I don't get it. Writer says, "I'm exercising 4,000 calories a day and eating 2,000 calories but I'm not losing weight" and the answer is almost always CICO. Then there's the accusations that the poster is not logging calories accurately, not weighing the food, and that even though they claim to exercise, it's always "CICO". Huh? Is not burning calories by exercising calories out?
How can you say that you don't have to burn calories to have the CO part of CICO? Do you think it happens when we just lay around on the sofa watching television? EXERCISE burns calories and is part of the CALORIES OUT! Whoever is guilty, stop saying that exercise doesn't contribute, because it does. To those who cannot exercise for health reasons, I am not talking about you, even though I have a friend here who has everything against her yet she is still excelling.
Okay, off my soapbox.
BMR much?
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atypicalsmith wrote: »I don't get it. Writer says, "I'm exercising 4,000 calories a day and eating 2,000 calories but I'm not losing weight" and the answer is almost always CICO. Then there's the accusations that the poster is not logging calories accurately, not weighing the food, and that even though they claim to exercise, it's always "CICO". Huh? Is not burning calories by exercising calories out?
How can you say that you don't have to burn calories to have the CO part of CICO? Do you think it happens when we just lay around on the sofa watching television? EXERCISE burns calories and is part of the CALORIES OUT! Whoever is guilty, stop saying that exercise doesn't contribute, because it does. To those who cannot exercise for health reasons, I am not talking about you, even though I have a friend here who has everything against her yet she is still excelling.
Okay, off my soapbox.
Well, yes. It DOES happen when you're just laying around on the sofa watching television. Unless you're a zombie. I don't want any zombies on this forum.0 -
I've never seen anyone claim that exercise doesn't count toward calories out. I have heard people say that exercise calories are often overestimated and that intake is often underestimated.0
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ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »I've never seen anyone claim that exercise doesn't count toward calories out. I have heard people say that exercise calories are often overestimated and that intake is often underestimated.
This.
I have literally never seen anyone say that exercise isn't part of CICO.
But what is the answer then?
If someone is burning 4000 calories in exercise and eating only 2000 and not losing weight, where is the problem?0 -
Some people manage to dismiss exercise altogether and the contribution it can make towards burning calories and potential deficit.
They first focus on consuming less because thats easier for most people to do than burn the equivalent. I think I get your point OP in that exercise can still make a significant contribution in terms of calories burned towards helping you stay in deficit. You are annoyed because people dismiss it?0 -
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ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »I've never seen anyone claim that exercise doesn't count toward calories out. I have heard people say that exercise calories are often overestimated and that intake is often underestimated.
I used to use a different app and I swear it would cry real tears every time I took a spin class. I'd rather not count the exercise calories than have a neurotic app tacking 800 calories onto my dinner requirements because it disapproves of my life choices.0 -
Am I the only person who is not even sure what the OP is trying to say?0
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atypicalsmith wrote: »I don't get it. Writer says, "I'm exercising 4,000 calories a day and eating 2,000 calories but I'm not losing weight" and the answer is almost always CICO. Then there's the accusations that the poster is not logging calories accurately, not weighing the food, and that even though they claim to exercise, it's always "CICO". Huh? Is not burning calories by exercising calories out?
How can you say that you don't have to burn calories to have the CO part of CICO? Do you think it happens when we just lay around on the sofa watching television? EXERCISE burns calories and is part of the CALORIES OUT! Whoever is guilty, stop saying that exercise doesn't contribute, because it does. To those who cannot exercise for health reasons, I am not talking about you, even though I have a friend here who has everything against her yet she is still excelling.
Okay, off my soapbox.
And yet, how many times has it turned out the OP isn't recording food consistently, doesn't use a food scale and most times eyeballs things, or/and it turns out they've been logging exaggerated burns? Almost always..if not just...always.
In regards calories burned just breathing and sitting on the couch, it's included in MFP's calorie deficit/maintenance/surplus # that it gives based on your activity level.
I never ever seen someone say exercise calories aren't part of the CO part of CICO. EVER. Please provide the link so we can all see where you are seeing this.
And also, this is a public forum. People are free to choose to help others figure out what the real problem is versus only patting somebody on the back going, "Hey buddy. It's okay. I'm sure somehow it'll get better if you keep doing what you are doing even if it isn't really working."0 -
mudmonkeyonwheels wrote: »I wish one could log exercise without MFP automatically adjusting the daily caloric allowance.
Why? The reason it adjusts is because MFP automatically calculates the deficit you need to lose weight as the rate you specified. If you exercise you increase this deficit. Being in too large of a deficit can be unsustainable, lead to muscle mass loss as well as fat and can lead to you being insufficiently fueled to complete further exercise.
Unless of course you use TDEE method rather than MFP method and just want to have a check box to disable this function....... then I understand.
My macros are set the way they are for medical reasons, and it's not using any of the MFP defaults. When MFP adds calories, it also adds to the individual macros. If I followed the macros it set after I log exercise, I would end up sick. If there was a way to either customize how it adds the calories, or an option to have it only raise the calorie number, but not screw with the macro grams, it wouldn't be a problem for people in my situation. At maintenance, it wouldn't be so bad, but I'm not memorizing those numbers every time I lose enough to recalculate.0 -
stevencloser wrote: »atypicalsmith wrote: »I don't get it. Writer says, "I'm exercising 4,000 calories a day and eating 2,000 calories but I'm not losing weight" and the answer is almost always CICO. Then there's the accusations that the poster is not logging calories accurately, not weighing the food, and that even though they claim to exercise, it's always "CICO". Huh? Is not burning calories by exercising calories out?
How can you say that you don't have to burn calories to have the CO part of CICO? Do you think it happens when we just lay around on the sofa watching television? EXERCISE burns calories and is part of the CALORIES OUT! Whoever is guilty, stop saying that exercise doesn't contribute, because it does. To those who cannot exercise for health reasons, I am not talking about you, even though I have a friend here who has everything against her yet she is still excelling.
Okay, off my soapbox.
Well, yes. It DOES happen when you're just laying around on the sofa watching television. Unless you're a zombie. I don't want any zombies on this forum.
Never said anyone was a zombie.0 -
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mudmonkeyonwheels wrote: »I wish one could log exercise without MFP automatically adjusting the daily caloric allowance.
Why? The reason it adjusts is because MFP automatically calculates the deficit you need to lose weight as the rate you specified. If you exercise you increase this deficit. Being in too large of a deficit can be unsustainable, lead to muscle mass loss as well as fat and can lead to you being insufficiently fueled to complete further exercise.
Unless of course you use TDEE method rather than MFP method and just want to have a check box to disable this function....... then I understand.
My macros are set the way they are for medical reasons, and it's not using any of the MFP defaults. When MFP adds calories, it also adds to the individual macros. If I followed the macros it set after I log exercise, I would end up sick. If there was a way to either customize how it adds the calories, or an option to have it only raise the calorie number, but not screw with the macro grams, it wouldn't be a problem for people in my situation. At maintenance, it wouldn't be so bad, but I'm not memorizing those numbers every time I lose enough to recalculate.
You can always choose to log the exercise calories burned as 1. If you've got it attached to something like Fitbit, then disconnect.0 -
[quote="PikaKnight;31850623
I never ever seen someone say exercise calories aren't part of the CO part of CICO. EVER. Please provide the link so we can all see where you are seeing this.
And also, this is a public forum. People are free to choose to help others figure out what the real problem is versus only patting somebody on the back going, "Hey buddy. It's okay. I'm sure somehow it'll get better if you keep doing what you are doing even if it isn't really working."[/quote]
And that is perfectly fine.0 -
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atypicalsmith wrote: »
Again, I really have never saw someone say that. I've seen people who don't eat back their exercise to create a larger deficit. I have also seen people say that you don't have to exercise to lose weight (you don't) but I have yet to see someone say that exercise doesn't count at all.
A lot of us here will strongly encourage people to account for their exercise in some way, whether it is using a portion of the estimated calories (or all of them) or using the TDEE method.0 -
atypicalsmith wrote: »I don't get it. Writer says, "I'm exercising 4,000 calories a day and eating 2,000 calories but I'm not losing weight" and the answer is almost always CICO. Then there's the accusations that the poster is not logging calories accurately, not weighing the food, and that even though they claim to exercise, it's always "CICO". Huh? Is not burning calories by exercising calories out?
How can you say that you don't have to burn calories to have the CO part of CICO? Do you think it happens when we just lay around on the sofa watching television? EXERCISE burns calories and is part of the CALORIES OUT! Whoever is guilty, stop saying that exercise doesn't contribute, because it does. To those who cannot exercise for health reasons, I am not talking about you, even though I have a friend here who has everything against her yet she is still excelling.
Okay, off my soapbox.
There may be people that say exercise does not contribute but I have never seen anyone say that. I think what people say, in general, is that watching what you eat is a bigger part of weight loss than exercise. Yes you can lose weight sitting on the couch all day. There are all sorts of examples of extremely sedentary people losing weight - just think of war atrocities.
Exercise increases the CO part obviously and very important for your overall health.0 -
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stillnot2late wrote: »
I think she is venting about people downplaying the importance of exercise in the context of weight loss.0 -
I think this is what the OP is asking about. Statements similar to this are repeated frequently on mfp. They do give the appearance of ignoring or at least downplaying the CO side of the CICO equation. While you can generally maximize your deficit by decreasing CI, CO matters too. I exercise more because I like to eat more. I'm not willing to cut calories low as some people so I'm willing to exercise more so I can eat more.0 -
ncboiler89 wrote: »stillnot2late wrote: »
I think she is venting about people downplaying the importance of exercise in the context of weight loss.
Hmm. Maybe I don't know either. The initial post lead me to believe that OP was upset when people questions others about their calorie burns vs their calorie intake when people are complaining about not losing weight.
Their followup response confused me.
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I think many times people overestimate exercise calories...0
This discussion has been closed.
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