Yup another calorie question

Looncove_Farm

As you can see I havent been on MFP long and I have been trying to learn as much as I can in the Message Boards but sometimes its a bit overwhelming so I figured it was time to just ask, a very common question. calories.
MFP gave me a guidleine of 1430 calories to continue losing weight, and its working, im losing so theres no problem there.
I have all of these excercise calories, and I have read some comments that say dont eat them if your trying to lose weight and then another said it was OK to eat them as long as you still have a calorie deficit. I havent been eating the excercise calories because I dont feel hungry with the meals I have been eating and I seldom go over my 1430.

SO. When you say Deficit, do you mean you ate less calories than you burned or less calories than your guideline has given you?
What are "net calories"?

MFP says I burned 2843 calories as of 7:04pm and I consumed 1306 and my Calorie adjustment is 910. Should I be increasing my calories so I dont set myself up to fail? How do I read that? Ive looked on FAQ but didnt really get it, maybe im not wording it right.

Or maybe im reading too much into it and really shouldnt worry as long as its working.

Becca

Forty6and2

The way that MFP works is that it gives you a calorie deficit automatically. If it tells you to eat 1430, that means that 1430 is fewer calories than your body burns naturally, on its own, by doing normal every-day functions. When you exercise, you burn even more calories so you can eat back those calories. For instance, your goal is 1430, if you burn 200 calories that burn is making your existing deficit even bigger. If you eat back those 200 calories, you will still be at a deficit.

This is assuming, however, that you are calculating your burn accurately. If you are relying on the machine that you use or MFP to calculate your calorie burn, it is likely to be off. If you are using a heart rate monitor, though, it should be close to what you are actually burning during exercise and it will be more accurate for your calorie burn.

Hope this helps!

Forty6and2

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

This thread is also really good to read. It is quite dense but it addresses your concern in the first point so you're very lucky!

rosiegirl333

Hi, this is something i was confused about as well. But a question for you, when you established your goals, did you factor in that you would be exercising? For example, my caloric goal is 1500. but that includes the fact that i intend to work out 3 times a week for at least 60 min. So when I add my exercise to the diary and it tells me I now have X amount of additional calories but I just disregard that. I have even spoken with a nutritionist and she confirmed the same thing. That in order for me to lose weight only eat my 1500 calories and do not add in any extra that MFP gives me. I hope I'm making sense and I hope it helps a little.

Looncove_Farm

Thank you forty6and2, yes I am using MFP to calculate everything at this time. I am waiting for a HRM to arrive on the 25th and Im hoping to let that track some of my excercise calories.

Rosiegirl333, I work at a small horse farm and clean stalls and feed and clean the barn 3 hours every morning and then I come home and work our own farm, cattle, horses, goats, and a few other animals so im always moving, some cardio with Power90 as well. Its not unusual for me to go around 18,000 to 24,000 steps in the day. I have also been sticking to MFPs suggested calories and not using the excercise ones.

Thank you for the information

Forty6and2

rosiegirl333 wrote: »

Hi, this is something i was confused about as well. But a question for you, when you established your goals, did you factor in that you would be exercising? For example, my caloric goal is 1500. but that includes the fact that i intend to work out 3 times a week for at least 60 min. So when I add my exercise to the diary and it tells me I now have X amount of additional calories but I just disregard that. I have even spoken with a nutritionist and she confirmed the same thing. That in order for me to lose weight only eat my 1500 calories and do not add in any extra that MFP gives me. I hope I'm making sense and I hope it helps a little.

I'm not sure whether your question was addressed to me but I'll answer it anyway. As I mentioned before, I tend not to trust MFP's calorie burn calculation at all especially not the one with the initial set up. That is not taking into account the type of exercise you're doing and different types of exercise will burn different amounts of calories (ie, walking isn't going to burn nearly as many calories as spinning in the same amount of time) so I think the most accurate way to use MFP is to set it as if you were sedentary and then add in calorie burns calculated by a heart rate monitor. It's the method I've been using and it's been successful (lost almost 50 lbs)

rosiegirl333

@Forty6and2 I'll read that link when I have a moment, thank you! I didn't use MFP generic caloric settings as I had help from a nutritionist from the beginning. But she did recommend a heart rate monitor as well. I am using it every chance i get!

rosiegirl333

@Looncove_Farm You are really moving! Definitely burning more calories than the average "sedentary" lifestyle..

atypicalsmith

Hi Becca,

I personally don't eat back my exercise calories as a rule, but leave them as a sort of a "bank" for when I go over. As long as you aren't hungry after eating at or below your calorie budget, you'll do fine.

Looncove_Farm

rosie its a busy life but I wouldnt trade it for anything. I love the animals and I love being busy. I just need to shed this extra weight. Slowly but sure its happening.

Looncove_Farm

Thank you atypicalsmith. Im doing pretty good without them but im sure there will be days this summer that I need each and every one one of them when we start haying.

Christine_72

Looncove_Farm wrote: »

rosie its a busy life but I wouldnt trade it for anything. I love the animals and I love being busy. I just need to shed this extra weight. Slowly but sure its happening.

sorry don't mean to go off topic. Just wanted to say that I think...

Animal lovers are just naturally good people.

TiffanyR71

I'd say save them for a hungry day (like saving money for a "rainy day")...

Looncove_Farm

Thank you Christine, they are my world. I even have 2 of my 12 cattle for pets that will live here forever and we are patiently awaiting the arrival of a new Foal.

atypicalsmith

Looncove_Farm wrote: »

Thank you atypicalsmith. Im doing pretty good without them but im sure there will be days this summer that I need each and every one one of them when we start haying.

Oh, my, yes you will!