Differences in eating when exercising and when you don't
Replies
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20yearsyounger wrote: »What does your fitbit weekly progress report say that your daily average calorie burn is?
Last weeks report says 2,246/day0 -
vivmom2014 wrote: »mrsnazario1219 wrote: »I've been eating back my exercise calories for a few weeks now. I had only tried not to for a week. I AM eating my exercise cals lol. I'm only having issues when I don't exercise
Oh my, I get it. I SO get it. I can almost *never* stay under calorie goal on non-exercise days (and I have 1850 calories w/o exercise!!) I think a lot of it is mental. When I exercise and see the extra calories earned, I'm at peace. I have plenty left over at the end of the day. I'm not THAT much hungrier when I
So, I don't have much help for you, but, hey you're not alone. There's lots of good advice above.
Thank you! I think it's partly that also
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lemurcat12 wrote: »Yes, I think that would be good.
Agreed, that sounds reasonable. But mostly it's about trying it for a while and seeing if it works better for you.
I do think that everything you've said indicates that your calorie targets on non-exercise days seem to be too low for you. Since you're using a Fitbit with negative adjustments, then sedentary/lightly active on MFP won't matter much. What will matter is having a goal that's a 500/day deficit instead of a 750/day deficit. Those extra 250 calories on non-exercise days should make a big difference.
Slow weight loss is good. Slow is the goal.
Thank you... I think you're right
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mrsnazario1219 wrote: »20yearsyounger wrote: »What does your fitbit weekly progress report say that your daily average calorie burn is?
Last weeks report says 2,246/day
I don't use the TDEE method but maybe someone that does can help you with this information. It does look to me like you have room to raise your calorie goal if you are hungry (as long as you are eating the right things).
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Yeah, let's say you are in fact averaging 2,250/day in calorie burn. That would mean that, to lose 1lb/week, you could eat an average of 1,750 calories per day.
You can choose to distribute those calories over the course of the week however you want. You can eat more of them on workout days and less on non-workout days. You could eat the same amount of calories each day regardless of workouts. You could eat a bit less on weekdays and save up more on weekends. They're your calories. You can spend them any way you like, just so long as you don't spend more than you have.
One thing: Get a few more weeks of Fitbit data under your belt before you assume this is your "true" average TDEE. Figure out your range. Correlate it with real-world data, e.g. if you're targeting 1lb/week and you are actually losing at a faster or slower pace, adjust accordingly. Remember Fitbit is only guessing; it should be more or less accurate but it will never be exact.
And remember that, all else being equal, your TDEE will decrease along with your weight, so adjust your calorie goal after every 10lbs of weight loss or so.0 -
Yeah, let's say you are in fact averaging 2,250/day in calorie burn. That would mean that, to lose 1lb/week, you could eat an average of 1,750 calories per day.
You can choose to distribute those calories over the course of the week however you want. You can eat more of them on workout days and less on non-workout days. You could eat the same amount of calories each day regardless of workouts. You could eat a bit less on weekdays and save up more on weekends. They're your calories. You can spend them any way you like, just so long as you don't spend more than you have.
One thing: Get a few more weeks of Fitbit data under your belt before you assume this is your "true" average TDEE. Figure out your range. Correlate it with real-world data, e.g. if you're targeting 1lb/week and you are actually losing at a faster or slower pace, adjust accordingly. Remember Fitbit is only guessing; it should be more or less accurate but it will never be exact.
And remember that, all else being equal, your TDEE will decrease along with your weight, so adjust your calorie goal after every 10lbs of weight loss or so.
Thank you for the info! I'm going to set my activity level to lightly active and set loss goal to 1lb a week and see how that works for me.0 -
Btw.. I went to adjust my goals and I was set to lose 1/wk already. I changed my activity level to lightly active.0
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what calorie goal does it give you now?0
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20yearsyounger wrote: »what calorie goal does it give you now?
15900 -
mrsnazario1219 wrote: »20yearsyounger wrote: »what calorie goal does it give you now?
1590
That's a reasonable goal and you should definitely lose weight. Just remember the advice provided above and stay the course.
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20yearsyounger wrote: »mrsnazario1219 wrote: »20yearsyounger wrote: »what calorie goal does it give you now?
1590
That's a reasonable goal and you should definitely lose weight. Just remember the advice provided above and stay the course.
Ok.. Thank you all!0 -
My MFP base calories before exercise is 1200. But I usually eat around 1500, which is 500 - 1000 calories under my TDEE for any given day when I exercise. If I take one total rest day a week, I am almost always in the red on calories on that rest day. If you average it out over the week I am still eating at a deficit and continue to lose weight. The above suggestions keep the numbers on the app from turning red. MFP is a tool, make it work for you, don't contort yourself around the tool.0
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mrsnazario1219 wrote: »I'm 36yo, 5'2, 187lbs. I've been tracking with MFP for a little over a month (37 days to be exact) I'm a SAHM but both children are in school so I put sedentary to lose 1.5/wk. I walk on the treadmill for a little over an hour 4-5 days a week. I also wear a Fitbit flex. I do great keeping within my calories on exercise days but I go at least 50 cals over on days I don't. I do weigh everything.
I tried not to eat back my exercise cals because I know I can't exercise everyday so I wouldn't get use to eating so much. That didn't work so I stuck with eating back my exercise cals.
Sedentary is NOT a reference to your workday time only - but rather the whole day outside of exercise.
You have 2 kids - you are NOT sedentary. You are lightly active.0 -
Just caught references to fact you are syncing with Fitbit.
You can ignore my advice that you need to change to Lightly Active - because MFP corrects itself to whatever Fitbit says you burn, so the fact you are more active than sedentary is taken care of automatically.
Both will result in the same eating goal if deficit is reasonable.
But - there'll be less room for error in the evenings as you finally get to sit down and become very much less active than Lightly Active. But MFP would calculate rest of your 3-4 hrs till midnight would be at that higher calorie burn rate.
So if you keep Lightly active, be aware that if you meet your eating goal before becoming inactive for the evening - by the first sync next day it will show you went over.
But the amount will always be about the same, so just plan on leaving that much in the green night before (below goal), and by next morning an adjustment you'll have met goal.
So your issue is totally the weight loss goal you've selected, and meeting your eating goal.
Though, depending on workouts, Fitbit could be underestimating the burn for it, meaning you burn more daily than it reports to MFP.
What are the workouts - and what Fitbit device do you have?0 -
Just caught references to fact you are syncing with Fitbit.
You can ignore my advice that you need to change to Lightly Active - because MFP corrects itself to whatever Fitbit says you burn, so the fact you are more active than sedentary is taken care of automatically.
Both will result in the same eating goal if deficit is reasonable.
But - there'll be less room for error in the evenings as you finally get to sit down and become very much less active than Lightly Active. But MFP would calculate rest of your 3-4 hrs till midnight would be at that higher calorie burn rate.
So if you keep Lightly active, be aware that if you meet your eating goal before becoming inactive for the evening - by the first sync next day it will show you went over.
But the amount will always be about the same, so just plan on leaving that much in the green night before (below goal), and by next morning an adjustment you'll have met goal.
So your issue is totally the weight loss goal you've selected, and meeting your eating goal.
Though, depending on workouts, Fitbit could be underestimating the burn for it, meaning you burn more daily than it reports to MFP.
What are the workouts - and what Fitbit device do you have?
I'm on the treadmill for 64min 4-5/week. I have the flex. I have it set to negative0 -
Yep. A good deal of this is mental. 1850 calories without exercise is a good bit of food. You have to think of the extra food on exercise days a fuel and not as a reward for exercising. You don't need to feel punished for not exercising. Just realize that on more sedentary days you need to eat less. Focus on needs more than wants.vivmom2014 wrote: »mrsnazario1219 wrote: »I've been eating back my exercise calories for a few weeks now. I had only tried not to for a week. I AM eating my exercise cals lol. I'm only having issues when I don't exercise
Oh my, I get it. I SO get it. I can almost *never* stay under calorie goal on non-exercise days (and I have 1850 calories w/o exercise!!) I think a lot of it is mental. When I exercise and see the extra calories earned, I'm at peace. I have plenty left over at the end of the day. I'm not THAT much hungrier when I exercise.
So, I don't have much help for you, but, hey you're not alone. There's lots of good advice above.0 -
Yep. A good deal of this is mental. 1850 calories without exercise is a good bit of food. You have to think of the extra food on exercise days a fuel and not as a reward for exercising. You don't need to feel punished for not exercising. Just realize that on more sedentary days you need to eat less. Focus on needs more than wants.[/quote]
And therein lies the eternal battle.
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mrsnazario1219 wrote: »Just caught references to fact you are syncing with Fitbit.
You can ignore my advice that you need to change to Lightly Active - because MFP corrects itself to whatever Fitbit says you burn, so the fact you are more active than sedentary is taken care of automatically.
Both will result in the same eating goal if deficit is reasonable.
But - there'll be less room for error in the evenings as you finally get to sit down and become very much less active than Lightly Active. But MFP would calculate rest of your 3-4 hrs till midnight would be at that higher calorie burn rate.
So if you keep Lightly active, be aware that if you meet your eating goal before becoming inactive for the evening - by the first sync next day it will show you went over.
But the amount will always be about the same, so just plan on leaving that much in the green night before (below goal), and by next morning an adjustment you'll have met goal.
So your issue is totally the weight loss goal you've selected, and meeting your eating goal.
Though, depending on workouts, Fitbit could be underestimating the burn for it, meaning you burn more daily than it reports to MFP.
What are the workouts - and what Fitbit device do you have?
I'm on the treadmill for 64min 4-5/week. I have the flex. I have it set to negative
Then you don't even have to log workouts - Fitbit's estimate is good enough.
You could confirm distance sometime just to increase accuracy, which will become more important as margin for error goes down as you have less weight to lose.
But you can wait, because stride length and pace will probably pick up as you weigh less.0 -
ive essentially switched to a version of TDEE - i log and eat back a very small percentage of my exercise calories now, but always have plenty of food to eat.
i was sick and had car problems over the past couple of weeks, so this week is really the first I've gotten back into it, but i can tell you i stayed steady while i wasn't working out. Back at the gym this week and will know within the next 2 weeks if i need to make adjustments.0 -
mrsnazario1219 wrote: »Just caught references to fact you are syncing with Fitbit.
You can ignore my advice that you need to change to Lightly Active - because MFP corrects itself to whatever Fitbit says you burn, so the fact you are more active than sedentary is taken care of automatically.
Both will result in the same eating goal if deficit is reasonable.
But - there'll be less room for error in the evenings as you finally get to sit down and become very much less active than Lightly Active. But MFP would calculate rest of your 3-4 hrs till midnight would be at that higher calorie burn rate.
So if you keep Lightly active, be aware that if you meet your eating goal before becoming inactive for the evening - by the first sync next day it will show you went over.
But the amount will always be about the same, so just plan on leaving that much in the green night before (below goal), and by next morning an adjustment you'll have met goal.
So your issue is totally the weight loss goal you've selected, and meeting your eating goal.
Though, depending on workouts, Fitbit could be underestimating the burn for it, meaning you burn more daily than it reports to MFP.
What are the workouts - and what Fitbit device do you have?
I'm on the treadmill for 64min 4-5/week. I have the flex. I have it set to negative
Then you don't even have to log workouts - Fitbit's estimate is good enough.
You could confirm distance sometime just to increase accuracy, which will become more important as margin for error goes down as you have less weight to lose.
But you can wait, because stride length and pace will probably pick up as you weigh less.
Yes.. I don't log my exercise because Fitbit tracks my steps. I just go by that.0
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