calories

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cortney876
cortney876 Posts: 35 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am new to the whole counting calories thing. Ok so if i get on the treadmill and burn 433 calories why does the calories for today increase im trying to lose weight not gain. It was 15 something now that i burn some it increased my intake to like 2000 something help please

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  • galgenstrick
    galgenstrick Posts: 2,086 Member
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    The goal you set in MFP (lose 1 pound a week or whatever) does not include exercise in it. So you would theoretically reach that goal by eating your calories and just going about your day. If you start doing cardio, then you would lose weight more than that goal (theoretically) and would need to eat more calories to get back on track with your goal.
  • seiffertrk
    seiffertrk Posts: 49 Member
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    In my case goal calories were figured accounting for the exercise that is part of my plan. Originally I was just doing the math to take out what MFP put in again. They've now added the option to not add exercise calories back in, but it is only available in the premium (pay for) version.
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Be aware, however, that the estimate of calories burned is usually overestimated, and most people only eat back 50-75%.
  • MsJulesRenee
    MsJulesRenee Posts: 1,180 Member
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    You may eat back some of the calories burned to fuel your body (calories are usually higher on the app/exercise machine than you actually burned). Most people eat back 50%. It is up to you if you want to eat them or not - go with how your body feels. MFP is set up to eat your calories back. You will lose either way.
  • cortney876
    cortney876 Posts: 35 Member
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    This system that yal have going may actually work for me the support is so unreal. I mean the real time response. We have have a set calories for each day will that put a hold on a weight loss if u dont eat all of those calories
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
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    Calories are a math equation. Basically, 3500 calories = 1 pound. So let's say that in a normal day with your normal activity, you burn 2000 calories. If you wanted to maintain your current weight, you'd just keep eating 2000 calories. But if you want to lose 1 lb per week, you eat 500 calories less each day (1 lb = 3500 calories/7 days = 500 calories per day) So that would give you 1500 calories to eat. But now let's say you go on a run and burn another 400 calories. That means you've burned 2400 calories for the day, not 2000. To keep your 500 calorie deficit, you would now eat 1900 calories, not 1500.

    Some people don't eat back all of their exercise calories, and that's fine...just make sure you net (what you eat minus exercise) more than 1200 cals for women, and 1500 cals for men (or some sources say 1800 for men, but I don't think that accounts for shorter men).
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    Everyone's given you great info :)

    What MFP does for its ORIGINAL calorie goal is take the amount of calories you would burn just by existing (laying in bed, not moving) and multiply it by 1.x. The x is based on your daily activity level. The more active you are, the bigger x is and that in turn means your calories are higher. This does NOT include purposeful exercise. It's just daily activity (walking around the house, to and from your car, at work, etc).

    MFP then subtracts from that number to give you your deficit. It's -250 calories per 0.5 lb/week loss.

    From there, if you do purposeful exercise (ie: 30 minutes of running to burn 300 calories), you log that in MFP because it is NOT included already.

    BUT all of these things are just estimations. For many people, the calorie burn given by MFP and/or a machine is much too high. So if the machine and/or MFP says you burned 300 calories, it's recommended you eat 50%-75% of that amount back for 4-6 weeks and see if your weight loss averages out appropriately.

    That is, if you set MFP for a 1lb/week loss, after 4-6 weeks have you lost 4-6 lbs? If yes, great & you can keep eating back the same amount. If you've lost less, you need to eat back fewer calories. If you've lost more, you can eat back more.

    I hope that makes sense and helps a little!

    ~Lyssa
  • cortney876
    cortney876 Posts: 35 Member
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    Sorry but thats confusing my calorie intake supposed to be 1586 and i burned 432
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    cortney876 wrote: »
    Sorry but thats confusing my calorie intake supposed to be 1586 and i burned 432

    Then you need to eat back at least part of that 432 to ensure you're fueling your body properly. That's what this all comes down to.

    ~Lyssa
  • cortney876
    cortney876 Posts: 35 Member
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    Ok got it thanks to everyone

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