I don't want my exercise calories added to my total remaining food calories....

tgilk2255

.... is there a setting to change this?

I'm exercising to lost weight. Not eat more.

yasminquezada

I am on the same boat as you, can't seem to figure it out yet.

sculptcha

you can manually change the number of calories burned to 1.

MommyL2015

I'm fairly new to this but I understand it as the total amount of calories it allows for you for the day (according to how you have it set up for yourself) including those added back for exercise, will be for weight loss, not maintenance, so even if you eat them back, you will still lose. I could be wrong. I don't eat much of mine back but there have been days where I have just because I was hungry. (edited to add that even when I do eat them back, I do not gain weight, I have consistantly lost.)

To answer your question, I have no idea if that can be turned off or not.

RoxieDawn

No this is the MFP way.. The MFP deficit is calculated so you do eat some of your exercise calories back that you log daily. And this is assuming you have not over estimated calorie burn for exercise, this is why you should only eat some.

But since you do not want to eat back you calories you burned... just don't..

cbills65

A lot of people log their exercise but for the calories burned they use "1". That way they have accounted for the activity and time spent doing it but the earned calories won't show up. This is the only way I am aware of to circumvent the padded calories from exercise.

DirrtyH

This is going to blow your mind guys, but here's the super secret hack I came up with for this. Are you ready?

I.... don't log my exercise. !!!

pinkshoelaces

Uh, well MFP is designed so you can eat them back and still lose weight (Tho most suggest only eating half back because MFP can over estimate calories burned). If you don't eat them back, you run the risk of creating too large a deficit and burning yourself out from not properly fueling your work outs. I eat back most my exercise calories and I've lost 80 pounds so this method works.

But no one can make you eat them, so just don't log your exercise if that's what you want.

bmele0

I've lost 110 and I eat back some, if not most of my exercise calories back. As I get stronger and do more intense workouts, the more I need the fuel.

lemurcat12

You can not log it, or you can log it and change your burn to 1, as someone said upthread. Or you can ignore it. Not terribly difficult.

However, MFP gives you a maximum goal for a reason--health--so ignoring it and trying to go below it isn't really a good idea unless you don't think your logging will be accurate or you are quite overweight and under a doctor's care.

mbcieslak87

There are two schools of thought on this:

1. You can set your MFP to sedentary; this should lead MFP to guess your daily caloric burn and adjust from there according to your weight loss goals. With this line of thinking, then you can eat back your exercise calories, because they were not adjusted for in the sedentary setting. However, MFP tends to overestimate caloric burn in exercise, so I would suggest never eating back more than 70% of what it says you burned, if you want to maintain your goals (losing a lb a week, or whatever)

2. A second school of thought is following TDEE - 20 %/something similar (you can input your calorie goals manually into MFP, or use one of their higher activity level settings for a rough estimate); where you estimate your caloric burn throughout the week, with your workouts included and adjust for there according to your weightloss goal. If this is your preference, then you should not be eating back your exercise calories - you can manually input your exercise burn in as one (it won't let you put zero).

MFP's method of sedentary plus eating back what you burn can be great for beginners or those whose exercise daily/weekly varies greatly. However, if you follow a regular workout schedule from week to week and can closely estimate your output, TDEE - 20% offers a nice notion of being able to eat the average/same amount of calories everyday of the week, which IMO makes meal planning much easier. Both work - so it's just personal opinion for the most part. Below is a good website for figuring our your TDEE - 20% if you're interested.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

Good Luck!

PAV8888

tgilk2255 wrote: »

.... is there a setting to change this?
I'm exercising to lost weight. Not eat more.

While anyone is free to use any tool any way they feel like, understanding how the tool is supposed to work is often useful.

MFP already includes your complete, agreed upon, caloric deficit in the number of calories you get when you start your day. By not eating exercise calories back you are increasing this deficit.

For some people increasing this deficit is not a problem, because the increased deficit still has them losing weight within the "safe" 0.5% to 1% of bodyweight per week range.

For other people increasing this deficit IS a problem.

They end up netting as little as 500 to even 0 Calories, creating huge deficits, and losing a mix of muscle and fat. And depressing their BMR, and reducing their TDEE as a consequence. And feeling like crap. And rebounding and gaining all the weight PLUS a little bit more back.

So, yes, if you do understand how MFP works, and if your total deficit is such that you will lose within the generally safe 0.5% to 1% of bodyweight range, then go ahead and don't eat back your exercise calories.

Otherwise you may want to eat back:
50% of weight-training calories
75% of circuit training or HIIT calories and
100% of steady state aerobic activity calories.

and compare your expected to actual weight loss over a period of weeks and adjust.

onedayTHISYEAR

Never worked that out either...

One of the things I did was if I did 20 mins of something I put 2 mins so the calories it added would be little, but I understood how much I had done
OR
once you have eaten for the day or the NEXT day log your genuine exercise for the previous day, so that you don't accidentally use it, and that way if you want the graph for what exercise you have done you still have it

Now that I have changed the exercise I am doing I do like to see the graph of calories used... so I am now on the OR

malibu927

You eat in a calorie deficit to lose weight, you exercise for your health. As MFP is designed to be done without exercise, any calories burned will be added to your deficit. In order to keep your deficit healthy and sustainable, and to keep your body fueled to continue to workout, it's expected that you would eat back a portion of those exercise calories.

isulo_kura

You c

malibu927 wrote: »

You eat in a calorie deficit to lose weight, you exercise for your health. As MFP is designed to be done without exercise, any calories burned will be added to your deficit. In order to keep your deficit healthy and sustainable, and to keep your body fueled to continue to workout, it's expected that you would eat back a portion of those exercise calories.

Not everyone is using this method though. Many people are using the TDEE based system. So you either don't add the exercise or add it as one calorie burned or if you are in the US you could pay a ridiculous amount of money for MFP premium

geraldaltman

It can be aggravating, but at the end of the day, you want to be under your total calorie goal. I am also looking closely at staying at or under the key nutrition goal numbers. I am not there but I am learning how to swap out calories and/or what kind of foods I can have that won't bust those numbers but add some calories when I am short. Otherwise seeing the calories burned is a positive reinforcement for me to keep going, at least when the scale doesn't.

mayharmony

I just don't log exercise. Unless I need it for the calories that day, then I will log it and reduce the number of calories burned to about 70% as others have said.

lemurcat12

isulo_kura wrote: »

You c

malibu927 wrote: »

You eat in a calorie deficit to lose weight, you exercise for your health. As MFP is designed to be done without exercise, any calories burned will be added to your deficit. In order to keep your deficit healthy and sustainable, and to keep your body fueled to continue to workout, it's expected that you would eat back a portion of those exercise calories.

Not everyone is using this method though. Many people are using the TDEE based system. So you either don't add the exercise or add it as one calorie burned or if you are in the US you could pay a ridiculous amount of money for MFP premium

Fair bet that someone who says "not exercising to eat more, but to lose weight" isn't using TDEE method, since TDEE method includes an estimate for exercise in the calorie goal.

I do think a simple way to do it and not mess with TDEE is just tell MFP you are sedentary and want to lose 1 lb/week and then exercise to try and get another lb (assuming a 2 lb goal is appropriate for your weight, of course).

If I were doing that I'd do what I do for TDEE and put in 1 calorie.

joepratt503

sculptcha wrote: »

you can manually change the number of calories burned to 1.

this...that simple.

veganbaum

I'm going to assume you're new and haven't been lurking, or you wouldn't be asking this question. However, if you are creating a deficit from TDEE, please disregard the following.

I'd suggest using MFP as it is designed when just starting out, rather than adjusting. Adjustments can come later.

That means, logging your food accurately (by weight for solids, not cups or estimates), logging your exercise, and eating at least 50-75% of your exercise calories (to account for overestimation in exercise calories).

Try that for at least four - six weeks. Then start adjusting if your losses aren't where you expect them to be based on the numbers. As stated, this assumes you are using MFP's method, and not TDEE. Down the line you can learn more about TDEE and whether that will work better for you.

malibu927

isulo_kura wrote: »

You c

malibu927 wrote: »

You eat in a calorie deficit to lose weight, you exercise for your health. As MFP is designed to be done without exercise, any calories burned will be added to your deficit. In order to keep your deficit healthy and sustainable, and to keep your body fueled to continue to workout, it's expected that you would eat back a portion of those exercise calories.

Not everyone is using this method though. Many people are using the TDEE based system. So you either don't add the exercise or add it as one calorie burned or if you are in the US you could pay a ridiculous amount of money for MFP premium

I know how TDEE works. I used it for three months. But if you're following MFP's goals, then you should be eating back a portion of your calories.

kwolseth

DirrtyH wrote: »

This is going to blow your mind guys, but here's the super secret hack I came up with for this. Are you ready?

I.... don't log my exercise. !!!

Love this.

erickirb

say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a "professional" or TDEE calculator may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.

If you are following MFP's suggest caloric intake, please eat the calories back. If you follow TDEE you base calories will be higher, then just log cals as 1.

ninerbuff

DirrtyH wrote: »

This is going to blow your mind guys, but here's the super secret hack I came up with for this. Are you ready?

I.... don't log my exercise. !!!

And this is the correct answer.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

WHPFORD

If you are not hungry then don't eat them back. But if you are hungry you should eat them back assuming your calorie estimates for intake and burn are accurate. The reason it works is because when you burn off too much more than you consume your body basically thinks that there is a food shortage and will lower your metabolism and focus on fat storage...favoring muscle loss over fat loss. And if you are hungry you are more likely to eat whatever junk is easiest to grab; especially sugars. I've used this method before and lost weight, without being hungry! The only reason i've gained the weight back is health related including pregnancy....working on fixing that now.