Do you enter your naturally-burned calories?

cjperkins

I have been losing weight through calorie counting off an on for the past several years. I know the basics to it. I understand that you need to burn more than you take in, in order to lose. Recently I started thinking, "Well what about the calories I burn just by being alive?...Should I count those as burned?" So I did a calculator to determine how much (roughly, of course) I burn naturally. It's something like 2,500. So for a while I was consuming 1,600 then entering that I burned my 2,500 plus whatever I burned via exercise. This obviously leaves me with a HUGE deficit each day. At first I thought this was great and that I would surely lose weight with a 2k+ calorie deficit each day, right? Well then, my weight loss plateaued. I am stuck at the same weight even though I have been eating well and exercising more. Now I'm wondering if perhaps I am burning too much and consuming too little, and my body is in starvation mode? I don't ever feel hungry and I still feel like I eat like crap sometimes!

So, does anyone else enter their naturally-burned calories at the end of each day, leaving you with a really big deficit? Should I be doing that or ONLY entering the calories I burn through exercise?

shadow2soul

MFP already takes into account your BMR (just being alive calories) + some of your daily activity (based on the activity level you picked). For this reason, you should only log exercise calories which are the only calories that MFP doesn't take into account until you log them.

jgnatca

Oops. Don't credit your naturally burned calories. That is already factored in.

brianpperkins

Read ... learn ...

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants#latest

fearlessleader104

The problem is that your naturally burned calories fluctuate from day to day depending in whether you get out of bed fast or slow, drink iced water or room temp water, etc...
I would say try everything out and see what works. I personally like to see big deficit numbers, so if I were you, I would totally keep doing it.

Machka9

"Well what about the calories I burn just by being alive?...Should I count those as burned?"

No.

If you're using MFP, those calories are already counted when you select "sedentary" as your activity level.

Also ...

-- 2500 for "naturally burned calories" seems really high. It's probably under 2000. Possibly under 1500. But you wouldn't add it in anyway, because, as I said, MFP already counts those calories when you select "sedentary" as your activity level. You'd be double counting.

-- consuming 1600 calories is not "starvation mode". Not even close. 500 calories per day might be "starvation mode", but you'd be losing weight then.

Only enter the calories you burn through exercise.
And if you've plateaued, try lowering your daily calorie goal. If you are currently consuming 1600 calories each day, try 1500 for a while.

cjperkins

I'm confused about how that is already factored in to mfp. If it just simply says your goal is to eat X and you have eaten X and have burned X, therefore you have X left to consume, where are the naturally-burned calories being factored in there?

shadow2soul

go to home and then click goals

brianpperkins

Read the provided link.

Machka9

Go to My Home. Click on Goals. You'll see it all there.

If MFP tells you to eat, say, 1500 calories ... it is telling you that because you naturally burn, say, 2000 calories and you've opted to go with a 500 calorie a day deficit.

When I go to My Home and click on Goals, it tells me I naturally burn about 1700 calories, so for a 500 calorie a day deficit, MFP tells me that my goal is to eat 1200 calories per day.

ana3067

cjperkins wrote: »

I'm confused about how that is already factored in to mfp. If it just simply says your goal is to eat X and you have eaten X and have burned X, therefore you have X left to consume, where are the naturally-burned calories being factored in there?

when you set up your account and chose your activity level...

maidentl

Where do you think the goal comes from? When you input your stats and activity level, MFP figures out how many calories it estimates you will burn each day and then creates a deficit from that amount. So if it thinks you will burn 2000 and you tell it you want to lose one pound per week, it will tell you to eat 1500.

In fact, if you are on your home page and click on "Goals," it will show you that estimate.

cjperkins

Got it.