Get a calorie to eat for each one I burn? That seems off

JamesofShea

Started using MFP a week ago and enjoying it so far quite a lot.

I am wondering two things, and I hope you all can help me out:

1) Can you explain the reason/science behind why MyFitnessPal says that any calories I burn during my cardio workouts I get to eat that many additional calories. I am not understanding completely how that all figures out.

2) And related to that - What if I don't eat all my additional calories that I earned during the workouts? I know calorie-deficits can be a bad thing and stall actual weight loss, but what if I am not hungry enough to eat an additional 200-300 calories?

Thanks in advance.

edgedancer_

The amount of calories MFP gives you is already accounting for the weight loss you set up. When you exercise, you lose more calories per day than the website expects, so it lets you eat that many more calories in that day because you will still lose the expected weight even after eating those calories.

It's okay to decide not to eat the extra calories if your initial amount of calories is within reason (1200 - 1400 calories at least), if you don't feel hungry, but extra exercise should naturally make you want a bit more food than when you don't do that extra effort.

TeaBea

MFP gave you a calorie deficit with zero exercise factored in. That way people who can't/won't exercise, will still lose weight. When you add exercise you increase the deficit. Larger deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle mass.

Now for the tricky part. What is the calorie burn for your workouts? MFP guestimates are pretty generous. For steady state cardio a heart rate monitor is going to be closer. But these are not nearly as helpful for other types of workouts. This is why people eat back a % and then tweak up or down depending upon actual results.

As far as being hungry enough .....calorie dense foods. Small portion sizes, packed with nutrition. Nuts, nut butters, avocado, olive oil, full fat dairy.

TeaBea

edgedancer_ wrote: »

The amount of calories MFP gives you is already accounting for the weight loss you set up. When you exercise, you lose more calories per day than the website expects, so it lets you eat that many more calories in that day because you will still lose the expected weight even after eating those calories.

It's okay to decide not to eat the extra calories if your initial amount of calories is within reason (1200 - 1400 calories at least), if you don't feel hungry, but extra exercise should naturally make you want a bit more food than when you don't do that extra effort.

1200 is a default minimum for WOMEN. Men should definitely be eating more. Hunger is not really the best indicator. If you start to feel run down, eat more. Your workouts need fuel.

Edgedancer - because 1200 is a default. It may or may not be "within reason." Does your weekly goal fit here?

Pound per week goals
75+ lbs set to lose 2 lb range
Between 40 - 75 lbs set to lose 1.5 lb range
Between 25-40 lbs set to lose 1 lb range
Between 15-25 lbs set to lose 1 -.50 lb range
Less than 15 lbs set to lose 0.5 lbs range

JamesofShea

Thank you, edgedancer. I didn't think of it that way, about how MFP sets it up for me to reach my goal, etc.
For my weekly weight loss goal, I am currently allotted 1660 calories a day and on days I do cardio I am finding I just don't need all the extra calories I am "given back" by MFP.

Also found this article on here that confirms my thoughts on consuming these extra calories:

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-should-i-eat-back-my-exercise-calories/

diannethegeek

This is one of my favorite posts explaining the topic: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1

vikinglander

If you pay for the premium membership you can opt NOT to add your exercise calories to the daily total.

JamesofShea

Thanks, TeaBea. I feel the calories added back to my profile from MFP and UA Record are definitely inflated, especially when compared to what the elliptical and exercise bike say.

So I have been manually inputting my calorie burn totals from the machines I am using for these workouts and feeling better about my actual totals, etc. I have also turned off the The UA Record auto-updates of calorie burns to my MFP account. But still use Record for other things, like to get a general idea of how many steps I am taking a day, for example. I don't have a FitBit or any other fitness tracker yet.

cwolfman13

JamesofShea wrote: »

Started using MFP a week ago and enjoying it so far quite a lot.

I am wondering two things, and I hope you all can help me out:

1) Can you explain the reason/science behind why MyFitnessPal says that any calories I burn during my cardio workouts I get to eat that many additional calories. I am not understanding completely how that all figures out.

2) And related to that - What if I don't eat all my additional calories that I earned during the workouts? I know calorie-deficits can be a bad thing and stall actual weight loss, but what if I am not hungry enough to eat an additional 200-300 calories?

Thanks in advance.

For one thing, you have to understand that you "burn" calories 24/7...your "burn" isn't just from exercise. The average male for example will "burn" 1700 - 1900 calories per day just existing (this is called your BMR). Well, we're not all in a coma so we then burn additional calories doing all he other things we do day to day...getting up...brushing our teeth...driving to work...doing this, that, and the other (this is called your NEAT). And then finally, you have exercise activity (EAT.

MFP calculates your calorie targets based on the first two items....BMR and NEAT and estimates what would be required for you to maintain based on those two things and then takes a cut from that number as per your stated rate of loss goals to give you a calorie target. See...so far, no mention of exercise...basically, you can eat to your calorie target with zero exercise and you will lose weight.

So let's say that you told MFP you were sedentary because you had a desk job and that you wanted to lose 1 Lb per week...and let's say MFP gives you a calorie goal of 1800 calories. This means that MFP is estimating your maintenance calories to be about 2,300 calories WITHOUT any exercise...you have a 500 calorie deficit from your maintenance number built in.

But hey...exercise is really good for you so probably something you should do for your overall health and well being...and, well...being fit is pretty awesome too. So I go out and start kicking some *kitten* and taking some names and burning around...let's say 500 calories on average for my workout. Awesome! But guess what? That activity is not accounted for at all and is thus not fueled. So now, you've taken your 500 calorie deficit as per your stated goal to 1,000 calorie deficit (not your stated goal)...so MFP is going to say, "hey...eat some food and fuel that activity that is completely unaccounted for."

Why is this important? 1) energy deficits that are too aggressive result in a greater loss of lean mass than one generally would want; 2) exercise is good for you, but it's also a stress on the body...properly fueling your fitness aids in recovery which decreases the risk of injury and recovery is where you actually make fitness gains.

It actually all makes perfect sense when you start looking at fitness for the sake of fitness and diet for weight management needs.

JamesofShea

Oh just a week, amyrebeccah. So sure, I might be hungrier after the shine is gone, we will see.

I have been and will definitely continue eating some of my exercise calories back, but I don't see me eating all of them back each day.