Question regarding calorie deficit
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OP - I believe that your doctor was telling you to calculate TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) and subtract 500 calories from that, which would give you one pound per week loss. you can go to a TDEE calculator and do that and subtract 500 from that number (keep in mind this is not an exact number and you will need to make adjustments). OR you can just use MFP method, set MFP to one pound per week loss and make sure that you net the number that MFP gives to you. If you find you are not losing one pound per week, you may need to adjust your exercise burned number.
Do you use a food scale to weigh foods?
Yes I use a food scale when needed.
So when I use a TDEE calculator it asks about my activity level. I'm mainly sedentary but I workout 7 days a week for at least an hour. Typically around 75 min with warm up and cool down. So do I still put sedentary no exercise/desk job or do i put in exercise 7 days a week?
if you work out seven days a week you are not sedentary ...I would suggest using "active" ...are your workouts primarily walking, or do you also incorporate strength training?
Right now just walking until my heart doctor clears me for more.
This is what my numbers looked like yesterday (hopefully the image attaches). Lol
just glancing at that day you should really not be using "quick add" calories as that is not going to be accurate and I can't see how you logged dinner...
I would suggest making sure that you are using correct MFP entries and logging everything as accurately as possible. Inaccurate logging can result in your calorie count being 30-50% HIGHER than expected.
Based on what you posted, you really should of eaten at least half of your exercise calories.
Have you been losing weight?
Quick add was because every time I tried to select what I needed yesterday to log for lunch the app would close out. So I just used the quick add to input it since the app wouldn't let me choose what I needed lol.
I haven't been eating the calories burned back. I was going to starting today. But now I don't want to because everyone is saying my calorie burn is incorrect. My Polar chest strap that's connected to my Apple Watch says I typically burn little over 400 calories in a 75 min workout which consists of a warm up period of walking at 2mph for a little bit and then 60 min of walking at 3mph at a incline of 6 then a cool down of walking at 2mph. During the 60 min my heart rate is between 70 & 75% of my maximum heart rate. I know I need to atleast get to what the app says I need to a day (heart doc says 1350) But I set MyFitnessPal to sedentary and losing 1 pound a week today and it put me at 1390 a day. So I'm just going to aim for that.
Just give yourself an allowance...it says 400, so deduct maybe 20% and try that...or don't and just go for it. Either way you go about it is going to be some trial and error and you make adjustments as per your real world results.3 -
Ok so I've posted on here before and got mixed opinions. I need to know if I'm looking at this correctly.
I live a pretty sedentary lifestyle as I'm a stay at home mom and business owner. I do spend a good amount of the day at the computer doing invoices, keeping up bookkeeping etc. I do walk on the treadmill for a hour a day (30 min in the morning and 30 min in the evening) as that's all I'm allowed to do until my heart doc clears me for more.
MyFitnessPal wanted to set me at 1200 calories a day but my heart doc said that is to low and he said no lower than 1350 a day for most women. He said I needed to figure out my how much my body needs and then subtract 500 from that and I would be at a 500 calorie deficit a day which would equal 1 pound a week weight loss.
So if I then add 60 min of walking and say burn 400 calories I would need to eat most of those back. I use a HRM that syncs to my Apple Watch and I walk at 3mph on a incline. My heart rate easily gets up to 135 to 140. So I believe my calorie burn is correct.
For instance yesterday after logging all my meals and with my exercise I only netted 857 calories. That's way to low right?
I've always been told that the 500 calorie a day deficit is either done through diet or exercise alone or a mixture of both, but not to exceed the 500 a day. If you do both diet and exercise and exceed the 500 calorie a day deficit then you need to replace most (50 to 75%).
Personally I would count maybe 200 calories total for 1 hour on the treadmill.0 -
Ok so I've posted on here before and got mixed opinions. I need to know if I'm looking at this correctly.
I live a pretty sedentary lifestyle as I'm a stay at home mom and business owner. I do spend a good amount of the day at the computer doing invoices, keeping up bookkeeping etc. I do walk on the treadmill for a hour a day (30 min in the morning and 30 min in the evening) as that's all I'm allowed to do until my heart doc clears me for more.
MyFitnessPal wanted to set me at 1200 calories a day but my heart doc said that is to low and he said no lower than 1350 a day for most women. He said I needed to figure out my how much my body needs and then subtract 500 from that and I would be at a 500 calorie deficit a day which would equal 1 pound a week weight loss.
So if I then add 60 min of walking and say burn 400 calories I would need to eat most of those back. I use a HRM that syncs to my Apple Watch and I walk at 3mph on a incline. My heart rate easily gets up to 135 to 140. So I believe my calorie burn is correct.
For instance yesterday after logging all my meals and with my exercise I only netted 857 calories. That's way to low right?
I've always been told that the 500 calorie a day deficit is either done through diet or exercise alone or a mixture of both, but not to exceed the 500 a day. If you do both diet and exercise and exceed the 500 calorie a day deficit then you need to replace most (50 to 75%).
Personally I would count maybe 200 calories total for 1 hour on the treadmill.
Well if that's the case then I'm not going to bother even working out anymore and taking the chance of having a cardiac event for 200 calories.
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Working out and elevating your heart rate will reduce your long term risk of a heart attack, by making your heart stronger. Also, you can do gentler walks (at a slower pace) and keep your heart rate from going so high.4
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I totally understand people wanting to help save someone from possibly overestimating their burn.. but I swear this whole "400 calories is a lot for an hour walk" or "I don't even burn that much just waking an hour"
It's not just a walk. There's incline involved. That pushes your heart rate up quite significantly. There have been times I've burned 600 (yes i accounted for a possible over estimation just to be safe) in one hour on a treadmill, 3 to 3.5mph, with a 5 incline. I weigh more than OP yes, BUT it's not JUST a walk.. and I swear that's all I feel people are seeing and commenting on. I mean if you aren't then my bad but I feel bad for this girl repeating herself over and over4 -
Ok so I've posted on here before and got mixed opinions. I need to know if I'm looking at this correctly.
I live a pretty sedentary lifestyle as I'm a stay at home mom and business owner. I do spend a good amount of the day at the computer doing invoices, keeping up bookkeeping etc. I do walk on the treadmill for a hour a day (30 min in the morning and 30 min in the evening) as that's all I'm allowed to do until my heart doc clears me for more.
MyFitnessPal wanted to set me at 1200 calories a day but my heart doc said that is to low and he said no lower than 1350 a day for most women. He said I needed to figure out my how much my body needs and then subtract 500 from that and I would be at a 500 calorie deficit a day which would equal 1 pound a week weight loss.
So if I then add 60 min of walking and say burn 400 calories I would need to eat most of those back. I use a HRM that syncs to my Apple Watch and I walk at 3mph on a incline. My heart rate easily gets up to 135 to 140. So I believe my calorie burn is correct.
For instance yesterday after logging all my meals and with my exercise I only netted 857 calories. That's way to low right?
I've always been told that the 500 calorie a day deficit is either done through diet or exercise alone or a mixture of both, but not to exceed the 500 a day. If you do both diet and exercise and exceed the 500 calorie a day deficit then you need to replace most (50 to 75%).
Personally I would count maybe 200 calories total for 1 hour on the treadmill.
Well if that's the case then I'm not going to bother even working out anymore and taking the chance of having a cardiac event for 200 calories.
This particular individual is doing what many people do here and just cut it in half...it's rather arbitrary and I never did that...I always just trimmed off about 20% as that lined up well with the calories I would have burned anyways. Through some trial and error, you'll be able to more accurately lock it down. People have many ways of going about this...some are better than others. I know that I burn more than 200 calories on a 3 mile walk
I would think your cardiologist would want you to continue doing some light exercise activity like walking regardless of the calorie burn...calorie burn is just a nice bi-product...regular exercise is protective of the heart.4 -
OP - I believe that your doctor was telling you to calculate TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) and subtract 500 calories from that, which would give you one pound per week loss. you can go to a TDEE calculator and do that and subtract 500 from that number (keep in mind this is not an exact number and you will need to make adjustments). OR you can just use MFP method, set MFP to one pound per week loss and make sure that you net the number that MFP gives to you. If you find you are not losing one pound per week, you may need to adjust your exercise burned number.
Do you use a food scale to weigh foods?
Yes I use a food scale when needed.
So when I use a TDEE calculator it asks about my activity level. I'm mainly sedentary but I workout 7 days a week for at least an hour. Typically around 75 min with warm up and cool down. So do I still put sedentary no exercise/desk job or do i put in exercise 7 days a week?
if you work out seven days a week you are not sedentary ...I would suggest using "active" ...are your workouts primarily walking, or do you also incorporate strength training?
Right now just walking until my heart doctor clears me for more.
This is what my numbers looked like yesterday (hopefully the image attaches). Lol
just glancing at that day you should really not be using "quick add" calories as that is not going to be accurate and I can't see how you logged dinner...
I would suggest making sure that you are using correct MFP entries and logging everything as accurately as possible. Inaccurate logging can result in your calorie count being 30-50% HIGHER than expected.
Based on what you posted, you really should of eaten at least half of your exercise calories.
Have you been losing weight?
Quick add was because every time I tried to select what I needed yesterday to log for lunch the app would close out. So I just used the quick add to input it since the app wouldn't let me choose what I needed lol.
I haven't been eating the calories burned back. I was going to starting today. But now I don't want to because everyone is saying my calorie burn is incorrect. My Polar chest strap that's connected to my Apple Watch says I typically burn little over 400 calories in a 75 min workout which consists of a warm up period of walking at 2mph for a little bit and then 60 min of walking at 3mph at a incline of 6 then a cool down of walking at 2mph. During the 60 min my heart rate is between 70 & 75% of my maximum heart rate. I know I need to atleast get to what the app says I need to a day (heart doc says 1350) But I set MyFitnessPal to sedentary and losing 1 pound a week today and it put me at 1390 a day. So I'm just going to aim for that.
ok - I would do that and see how it goes for four weeks.
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OP, stop getting hung up on the exercise calories, it's just not that big a deal. People are just suggesting you under-estimate because calorie burn is pretty much a guessing game.
How long have you been eating how you currently are, and what has your weight been doing in that time?
950 calories net or otherwise is not enough. Double check your logging - make sure it's as accurate as possible and that you are using correct entries in the database. Eat your 1350 and then do what you want with the exercise calories. After 4-6 weeks, adjust what you're doing if your weight isn't responding the way you would expect.
Good luck!1 -
NorthCascades wrote: »Working out and elevating your heart rate will reduce your long term risk of a heart attack, by making your heart stronger. Also, you can do gentler walks (at a slower pace) and keep your heart rate from going so high.
I know but I need to get this weight off for my health. But if I'm taking a risk to only in the end burn what people are saying then there's no point. I just think it's crazy I can hop on my elliptical and keep my heart rate exactly how it is when I walk on the treadmill around 70 to 75% with an incline and I burn the same on either one. But yet if I was to have posted and said I burn 400
Calories a day doing 60 min on the elliptical no one would of said anything because that's a elliptical and I'm just walking so it's impossible.
So needless to say I'm feeling pretty discouraged at this point.
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I think the burn is reasonable. I used to burn that much while losing even when I was close to goal, and I always ate back every calorie and lost right on schedule.
But it really doesn't matter, OP. Do it one way for a month. If you've lost as much as expected then great! Keep going. If you haven't lost as much as expected, eat back less calories for awhile and see if that's better. Adjust as needed, but not too often. You have to give something a chance to work before you switch.4 -
NorthCascades wrote: »Working out and elevating your heart rate will reduce your long term risk of a heart attack, by making your heart stronger. Also, you can do gentler walks (at a slower pace) and keep your heart rate from going so high.
I know but I need to get this weight off for my health. But if I'm taking a risk to only in the end burn what people are saying then there's no point. I just think it's crazy I can hop on my elliptical and keep my heart rate exactly how it is when I walk on the treadmill around 70 to 75% with an incline and I burn the same on either one. But yet if I was to have posted and said I burn 400
Calories a day doing 60 min on the elliptical no one would of said anything because that's a elliptical and I'm just walking so it's impossible.
So needless to say I'm feeling pretty discouraged at this point.
Don't get discouraged. I too have a cardiac issue and I have to limit myself somewhat. I had heart surgery the fall of 2015, and before then I wasn't even allowed to work out at all. Just keep focusing on what you've been doing, and take the advice given about the deficits. No one has any idea if it's really 200 or 400.. just focus on eating healthy, follow your docs advice, and be happy with what you CAN do.
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NorthCascades wrote: »Working out and elevating your heart rate will reduce your long term risk of a heart attack, by making your heart stronger. Also, you can do gentler walks (at a slower pace) and keep your heart rate from going so high.
I know but I need to get this weight off for my health. But if I'm taking a risk to only in the end burn what people are saying then there's no point. I just think it's crazy I can hop on my elliptical and keep my heart rate exactly how it is when I walk on the treadmill around 70 to 75% with an incline and I burn the same on either one. But yet if I was to have posted and said I burn 400
Calories a day doing 60 min on the elliptical no one would of said anything because that's a elliptical and I'm just walking so it's impossible.
So needless to say I'm feeling pretty discouraged at this point.
Since you posted this after my reply, I just wanted to add... Are you cleared to exercise? Your cardiologist should have told you whether you should exercise or not. You keep saying it's a "risk" so that just concerned me. You want to lose the weight in a healthy manner, or you are just going to exchange one health problem for another. Eat enough to fuel your body, and exercise in whatever way you can.
I can't imagine being discouraged by burning 200 cals an hour, I doubt I've ever burned more than that ever LOL. Please take care of yourself, best of luck.0 -
ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »I think the burn is reasonable. I used to burn that much while losing even when I was close to goal, and I always ate back every calorie and lost right on schedule.
But it really doesn't matter, OP. Do it one way for a month. If you've lost as much as expected then great! Keep going. If you haven't lost as much as expected, eat back less calories for awhile and see if that's better. Adjust as needed, but not too often. You have to give something a chance to work before you switch.
Yeah i never planned on eating back all my calories just maybe 50%. That way it does give room for error. I know their not 100%. I wore a Fitbit today as well and my Apple Watch that was connected to my polar chest strap said I burned 225 calories during my 38 min workout and the Fitbit said I burned 295. lol.
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You're getting way to hung up on the energy expenditure...your weight loss is going to come primarily from diet anyway. Exercise expenditure is just gravy, and really, regardless of whether you're doing a treadmill or elliptical or bike or whatever, it's fairly nominal to the energy you expend existing and going on about your day to day outside of training like an athlete.1
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NorthCascades wrote: »Working out and elevating your heart rate will reduce your long term risk of a heart attack, by making your heart stronger. Also, you can do gentler walks (at a slower pace) and keep your heart rate from going so high.
I know but I need to get this weight off for my health. But if I'm taking a risk to only in the end burn what people are saying then there's no point. I just think it's crazy I can hop on my elliptical and keep my heart rate exactly how it is when I walk on the treadmill around 70 to 75% with an incline and I burn the same on either one. But yet if I was to have posted and said I burn 400
Calories a day doing 60 min on the elliptical no one would of said anything because that's a elliptical and I'm just walking so it's impossible.
So needless to say I'm feeling pretty discouraged at this point.
Understand that nobody is attacking you in this thread. People are trying to help you and give you a realistic perspective of your calorie burn so you're not unintentionally destroying your deficit. From your responses it's obviously not what you want to hear, but take it in the spirit in which it's intended rather than regarding it as hostile.
If you want to believe that you're burning 400 calories on the treadmill, by all means eat those calories back and see what happens over the space of 4-6 weeks. If you're still losing weight at a rate you're satisfied with, then you're on the right track. If you're not losing weight, then you know that calorie level isn't appropriate and you're not really burning those 400 calories.
As to there being no point to it, I don't burn much more than 200 calories in my weight training sessions (usually just over an hour), but I've seen enormous improvements in my body composition and overall appearance from them. I'd never say there was no point just because I'm not burning a lot of calories. There are many benefits from exercise in addition to just the calorie burn.10 -
Please, do keep walking regardless of what you end up deciding regarding your calories. It isn't "just 200 calories" or 400 or even 800. You are maintaining muscle, you are strengthening your bones, heart and lungs. The benefits of exercise, even "just walking" are far more reaching than the calorie burn you obtain.5
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Thanks for all the advice.0
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I do a regular (every second day usually) walk of approx 46 minutes. I go 3.8km in that time, which I think is 2.36 miles. According to the system I have chosen to log activity, that gets me a burn of about 321 calories. I have been eating those back and still losing weight at a faster than expected rate. I can fully see how a walk can use a lot of energy. I am 192lbs. I used to have a fitbit HR which agrees with this approximate energy output and I lost a lot of weight in 2015 wearing it constantly.
My walk is around the suburbs and has ups, downs, and flat parts. I'm 4'11", female and 34.
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StealthHealth wrote: »As others point out, 400 for an hour sounds pretty high. But, if you're confident, eat them all back. If then you do not lose at the rate you want/expect, drop the cals a little.
The thing to remember is that all the figures are, at best, an estimation - BMR, TDEE, Calories in, exercise burns, all bring with them some errors.
So, set a target, implement it and tweak your outputs or inputs if you don;t get the planned results.
So walking at 3mph on a incline with a heart rate of 135 to 140 for a total of an hour isn't sufficient enough to burn 400 calories? I'm using a polar chest strap that's Blue toothed to my
Apple Watch. I'm not going by what the treadmill says or what MyFitnessPal estimates.
The way to tell whether the balance of your calories in and calories burned is working is by your results.
What is your weight doing?
Are you losing at your desired rate?1 -
I do interval training and burn about 900/hour. So 400/hour of walking sounds about right.1
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