Think I've been doing MFP all wrong...oops! Anyone else?
Replies
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I rarely eat the calories back that I burn off. I think it's counterintuitive. But the closer you get to your goal weight you have to lower expectations. I've lost 27 and would like to lose at least 5 more but the scale has been pretty stuck for a while no matter what I do. I've just resigned myself to the fact that the last 5-10 pounds may take a very long time to lose unless I starve -- and I simply don't want to do that. I like food too much!0
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Ugh, I have been reading and working at this for months and the only way to lose weight is simply eating less cal than you burn. I try not to complicate it w-omg!-what if I lose muscle this way??? Not the way my body works. I donno about others but, it's simple to figure out. I still have muscle and less fat eating at a deficit. The less I weigh, the less cal i will need to lose. That's why it slows down as I get closer to goal, 5 pounds more to go. Exercise more or eat less, ultimately.0
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I don’t methodically eat back calories lost through exercise, but this little bit of slack is in the back of my mind when planning my caloric intake the remainder of the day.0
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I wear a pulse rate monitor that tracks heart rate and calories burned. The MFP estimated burned calories for exercise is WAY higher than what I'm actually burning. Once I realized that, it made a huge difference.
I so agree! All the estimates on MFP are grossly over estimated. Once I got my heart rate monitor, and saw how much I was really burning it was like an "ah ha" momment.0 -
gosh there's so much misinformation on this thread among the right information that it's hard for someone who hasn't been successful to pick out whats right and wrong lol
ok first of all, you haven't stated what your goals are. if you dont care about retaining muscle because you're really just want to lose weight, then it doesn't matter how many lbs you lose. only people who want to look aesthetic should really care about losing a .lb a week.
dont listen to anyone to tell you to eat your calories back - ever. whats the point? of course you wont be losing any weight! take a glass of water, remove 2oz of water (calories burned) and MFP tells you, you can eat those 2oz back?
you're hungry because well, you're on a deficit! lol
anyway - figure out what your TDEE is and go with that - not MFP numbers as they are not entirely correct - and almost never correct when it comes to calories burned.
Speaking of misinformation.
From Scott, MFP staff member
"April 15, 2013 2:32 pm
Hello,
The net calorie system cannot be disabled and we caution our users to not use work arounds. If you are accurately recording food entries and caloric expenditure when exercising then the deficit built into your goal will allow you to lose up to two pounds a week which is what is considered a safe rate of weight loss. Additionally users are more likely to build better habits and not stray from their plan if the program is not overly severe(such as having an additional thousand calorie a day deficit in some instances).
We set your nutritional target in Net Calories which we define as:
Calories Consumed (Food) - Calories Burned (Exercise) = Net Calories
What that means is that if you exercise, you will be able to eat more for that day. For example, if your Net Calorie goal is 2000 calories, one way to meet that goal is to eat 2,500 calories of food, but then burn 500 calories through exercise.
Think of your Net Calories like a daily budget of calories to spend. You spend them by eating, and you earn more calories to eat by exercising.
Through repetition you will get an idea for how many calories you will probably burn at the gym and most likely start planning your day and meals around those extra calories that your workout will garner.
This system promotes slow and steady and is very successful when used.
Regards,
Scott
MyFitnessPal Staff"
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/959693-disable-calorie-adjustments-from-exercise
I have also found that TDEE and MFP are pretty much the same. I don't find MFP off.
thank you for that thread. the post informing people that this site is BMR based and not TDEE based is a giant nugget of information as i'm sure a majority of the folks on here think it's TDEE based.
with that said, my statement still stands in that TDEE is the Total Daily Energy Expenditure vs. Basal Metabolic Rate that MFP uses and when one calculates TDEE vs. BMR - the numbers are completely way off.
when you calculate your TDEE, it includes your BMR and your activity. but... with MFP, as it's evident with the number of people here agreeing to this, i doubt anyone really finds the calories burned during workouts on MFP as accurate.
but again, we're both comparing apples and oranges in the sense that this site only calculates BMR and not TDEE. so we're both right :bigsmile:0 -
gosh there's so much misinformation on this thread among the right information that it's hard for someone who hasn't been successful to pick out whats right and wrong lol
ok first of all, you haven't stated what your goals are. if you dont care about retaining muscle because you're really just want to lose weight, then it doesn't matter how many lbs you lose. only people who want to look aesthetic should really care about losing a .lb a week.
dont listen to anyone to tell you to eat your calories back - ever. whats the point? of course you wont be losing any weight! take a glass of water, remove 2oz of water (calories burned) and MFP tells you, you can eat those 2oz back?
you're hungry because well, you're on a deficit! lol
anyway - figure out what your TDEE is and go with that - not MFP numbers as they are not entirely correct - and almost never correct when it comes to calories burned.
Speaking of misinformation.
From Scott, MFP staff member
"April 15, 2013 2:32 pm
Hello,
The net calorie system cannot be disabled and we caution our users to not use work arounds. If you are accurately recording food entries and caloric expenditure when exercising then the deficit built into your goal will allow you to lose up to two pounds a week which is what is considered a safe rate of weight loss. Additionally users are more likely to build better habits and not stray from their plan if the program is not overly severe(such as having an additional thousand calorie a day deficit in some instances).
We set your nutritional target in Net Calories which we define as:
Calories Consumed (Food) - Calories Burned (Exercise) = Net Calories
What that means is that if you exercise, you will be able to eat more for that day. For example, if your Net Calorie goal is 2000 calories, one way to meet that goal is to eat 2,500 calories of food, but then burn 500 calories through exercise.
Think of your Net Calories like a daily budget of calories to spend. You spend them by eating, and you earn more calories to eat by exercising.
Through repetition you will get an idea for how many calories you will probably burn at the gym and most likely start planning your day and meals around those extra calories that your workout will garner.
This system promotes slow and steady and is very successful when used.
Regards,
Scott
MyFitnessPal Staff"
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/959693-disable-calorie-adjustments-from-exercise
I have also found that TDEE and MFP are pretty much the same. I don't find MFP off.
thank you for that thread. the post informing people that this site is BMR based and not TDEE based is a giant nugget of information as i'm sure a majority of the folks on here think it's TDEE based.
with that said, my statement still stands in that TDEE is the Total Daily Energy Expenditure vs. Basal Metabolic Rate that MFP uses and when one calculates TDEE vs. BMR - the numbers are completely way off.
when you calculate your TDEE, it includes your BMR and your activity. but... with MFP, as it's evident with the number of people here agreeing to this, i doubt anyone really finds the calories burned during workouts on MFP as accurate.
but again, we're both comparing apples and oranges in the sense that this site only calculates BMR and not TDEE. so we're both right :bigsmile:
actually i take that back lol you're incorrect when you say that when you calculate TDEE and MFP are pretty much the same.
if you had said you calculated your BMR prior to figuring out your TDEE and MFP are pretty much the same, then yes you would be right.
but because you're comparing apples and oranges as if they are both apples, you can't have your cake and eat it at the same time :laugh:0 -
gosh there's so much misinformation on this thread among the right information that it's hard for someone who hasn't been successful to pick out whats right and wrong lol
ok first of all, you haven't stated what your goals are. if you dont care about retaining muscle because you're really just want to lose weight, then it doesn't matter how many lbs you lose. only people who want to look aesthetic should really care about losing a .lb a week.
dont listen to anyone to tell you to eat your calories back - ever. whats the point? of course you wont be losing any weight! take a glass of water, remove 2oz of water (calories burned) and MFP tells you, you can eat those 2oz back?
you're hungry because well, you're on a deficit! lol
anyway - figure out what your TDEE is and go with that - not MFP numbers as they are not entirely correct - and almost never correct when it comes to calories burned.
Speaking of misinformation.
From Scott, MFP staff member
"April 15, 2013 2:32 pm
Hello,
The net calorie system cannot be disabled and we caution our users to not use work arounds. If you are accurately recording food entries and caloric expenditure when exercising then the deficit built into your goal will allow you to lose up to two pounds a week which is what is considered a safe rate of weight loss. Additionally users are more likely to build better habits and not stray from their plan if the program is not overly severe(such as having an additional thousand calorie a day deficit in some instances).
We set your nutritional target in Net Calories which we define as:
Calories Consumed (Food) - Calories Burned (Exercise) = Net Calories
What that means is that if you exercise, you will be able to eat more for that day. For example, if your Net Calorie goal is 2000 calories, one way to meet that goal is to eat 2,500 calories of food, but then burn 500 calories through exercise.
Think of your Net Calories like a daily budget of calories to spend. You spend them by eating, and you earn more calories to eat by exercising.
Through repetition you will get an idea for how many calories you will probably burn at the gym and most likely start planning your day and meals around those extra calories that your workout will garner.
This system promotes slow and steady and is very successful when used.
Regards,
Scott
MyFitnessPal Staff"
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/959693-disable-calorie-adjustments-from-exercise
I have also found that TDEE and MFP are pretty much the same. I don't find MFP off.
thank you for that thread. the post informing people that this site is BMR based and not TDEE based is a giant nugget of information as i'm sure a majority of the folks on here think it's TDEE based.
with that said, my statement still stands in that TDEE is the Total Daily Energy Expenditure vs. Basal Metabolic Rate that MFP uses and when one calculates TDEE vs. BMR - the numbers are completely way off.
when you calculate your TDEE, it includes your BMR and your activity. but... with MFP, as it's evident with the number of people here agreeing to this, i doubt anyone really finds the calories burned during workouts on MFP as accurate.
but again, we're both comparing apples and oranges in the sense that this site only calculates BMR and not TDEE. so we're both right :bigsmile:
MFP uses a NEAT method calculator. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise.
It asks you what your daily life activity level is (not exercise), that gives you more than BMR. The problem is that most people choose the wrong amount of pounds per week to lose, creating to large of a deficit (who doesn't want to lose 2 pounds per week)? And the confusion about eating back exercise calories.0 -
gosh there's so much misinformation on this thread among the right information that it's hard for someone who hasn't been successful to pick out whats right and wrong lol
ok first of all, you haven't stated what your goals are. if you dont care about retaining muscle because you're really just want to lose weight, then it doesn't matter how many lbs you lose. only people who want to look aesthetic should really care about losing a .lb a week.
dont listen to anyone to tell you to eat your calories back - ever. whats the point? of course you wont be losing any weight! take a glass of water, remove 2oz of water (calories burned) and MFP tells you, you can eat those 2oz back?
you're hungry because well, you're on a deficit! lol
anyway - figure out what your TDEE is and go with that - not MFP numbers as they are not entirely correct - and almost never correct when it comes to calories burned.
Speaking of misinformation.
From Scott, MFP staff member
"April 15, 2013 2:32 pm
Hello,
The net calorie system cannot be disabled and we caution our users to not use work arounds. If you are accurately recording food entries and caloric expenditure when exercising then the deficit built into your goal will allow you to lose up to two pounds a week which is what is considered a safe rate of weight loss. Additionally users are more likely to build better habits and not stray from their plan if the program is not overly severe(such as having an additional thousand calorie a day deficit in some instances).
We set your nutritional target in Net Calories which we define as:
Calories Consumed (Food) - Calories Burned (Exercise) = Net Calories
What that means is that if you exercise, you will be able to eat more for that day. For example, if your Net Calorie goal is 2000 calories, one way to meet that goal is to eat 2,500 calories of food, but then burn 500 calories through exercise.
Think of your Net Calories like a daily budget of calories to spend. You spend them by eating, and you earn more calories to eat by exercising.
Through repetition you will get an idea for how many calories you will probably burn at the gym and most likely start planning your day and meals around those extra calories that your workout will garner.
This system promotes slow and steady and is very successful when used.
Regards,
Scott
MyFitnessPal Staff"
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/959693-disable-calorie-adjustments-from-exercise
I have also found that TDEE and MFP are pretty much the same. I don't find MFP off.
thank you for that thread. the post informing people that this site is BMR based and not TDEE based is a giant nugget of information as i'm sure a majority of the folks on here think it's TDEE based.
with that said, my statement still stands in that TDEE is the Total Daily Energy Expenditure vs. Basal Metabolic Rate that MFP uses and when one calculates TDEE vs. BMR - the numbers are completely way off.
when you calculate your TDEE, it includes your BMR and your activity. but... with MFP, as it's evident with the number of people here agreeing to this, i doubt anyone really finds the calories burned during workouts on MFP as accurate.
but again, we're both comparing apples and oranges in the sense that this site only calculates BMR and not TDEE. so we're both right :bigsmile:
I just didn't agree with telling people never to listen to anyone who says eat their exercise calories back when that is exactly how the site is designed. I understand TDEE as well, and would agree not to eat back those calories, however, the OP wasn't asking about TDEE, she specifically asked about using MFP.
Some people find MFP numbers off, some find them similar. Many place all their faith in HRMs without understanding the limitations. TDEE is still an estimate. At the end of the day, they are all just estimates. Like I said, logging with MFP and figuring TDEE put me in the same place. I know I'm not the only one.
A pretty good blog on data tables. Things like walking are fairly accurate estimates.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/estimating-calories-activity-databases-1980410 -
gosh there's so much misinformation on this thread among the right information that it's hard for someone who hasn't been successful to pick out whats right and wrong lol
ok first of all, you haven't stated what your goals are. if you dont care about retaining muscle because you're really just want to lose weight, then it doesn't matter how many lbs you lose. only people who want to look aesthetic should really care about losing a .lb a week.
dont listen to anyone to tell you to eat your calories back - ever. whats the point? of course you wont be losing any weight! take a glass of water, remove 2oz of water (calories burned) and MFP tells you, you can eat those 2oz back?
you're hungry because well, you're on a deficit! lol
anyway - figure out what your TDEE is and go with that - not MFP numbers as they are not entirely correct - and almost never correct when it comes to calories burned.
Speaking of misinformation.
From Scott, MFP staff member
"April 15, 2013 2:32 pm
Hello,
The net calorie system cannot be disabled and we caution our users to not use work arounds. If you are accurately recording food entries and caloric expenditure when exercising then the deficit built into your goal will allow you to lose up to two pounds a week which is what is considered a safe rate of weight loss. Additionally users are more likely to build better habits and not stray from their plan if the program is not overly severe(such as having an additional thousand calorie a day deficit in some instances).
We set your nutritional target in Net Calories which we define as:
Calories Consumed (Food) - Calories Burned (Exercise) = Net Calories
What that means is that if you exercise, you will be able to eat more for that day. For example, if your Net Calorie goal is 2000 calories, one way to meet that goal is to eat 2,500 calories of food, but then burn 500 calories through exercise.
Think of your Net Calories like a daily budget of calories to spend. You spend them by eating, and you earn more calories to eat by exercising.
Through repetition you will get an idea for how many calories you will probably burn at the gym and most likely start planning your day and meals around those extra calories that your workout will garner.
This system promotes slow and steady and is very successful when used.
Regards,
Scott
MyFitnessPal Staff"
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/959693-disable-calorie-adjustments-from-exercise
I have also found that TDEE and MFP are pretty much the same. I don't find MFP off.
thank you for that thread. the post informing people that this site is BMR based and not TDEE based is a giant nugget of information as i'm sure a majority of the folks on here think it's TDEE based.
with that said, my statement still stands in that TDEE is the Total Daily Energy Expenditure vs. Basal Metabolic Rate that MFP uses and when one calculates TDEE vs. BMR - the numbers are completely way off.
when you calculate your TDEE, it includes your BMR and your activity. but... with MFP, as it's evident with the number of people here agreeing to this, i doubt anyone really finds the calories burned during workouts on MFP as accurate.
but again, we're both comparing apples and oranges in the sense that this site only calculates BMR and not TDEE. so we're both right :bigsmile:
MFP uses a NEAT method calculator. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise.
It asks you what your daily life activity level is (not exercise), that gives you more than BMR. The problem is that most people choose the wrong amount of pounds per week to lose, creating to large of a deficit (who doesn't want to lose 2 pounds per week)? And the confusion about eating back exercise calories.
Personally, I would love it if MFP did away with the automatic feature of the goal settings. Instead, they should have a TDEE calculator there and advise people how to deduct an appropriate percentage for manually setting goals. Then, the whole exercise calorie thing becomes a non-issue. MFP operates on the premise that people will not exercise consistently, but instead it should be encouraging consistency in both the aspects of diet and exercise.0 -
TRUST ME WHEN I SAY MFP CAN OVER ESTIMATE CALORIE BURN!!!!
I used a heart monitor with a personal trainer at the gym and she helped calculate my calorie burn. When I entered in the same activity and time for the elliptical trainer MFP way over estimated. The walk run was right on target but some other activities are way over estimated including cleaning the house, roller blading, eliptical. So I eat 1200 and do my cardio. I believe we need to train ourselves to accept the feel of a calorie deficit and after 30 days it will feel normal.
In most cases our cardio deficit isn't significant enough to have to eat back cal.s
I also breast feed and my milk supply has thrived on 1200 intake cal.s plus about 300 worth of cardio daily.0 -
Personally, I would love it if MFP did away with the automatic feature of the goal settings. Instead, they should have a TDEE calculator there and advise people how to deduct an appropriate percentage for manually setting goals. Then, the whole exercise calorie thing becomes a non-issue. MFP operates on the premise that people will not exercise consistently, but instead it should be encouraging consistency in both the aspects of diet and exercise.
Nothing stopping you from using TDEE yourself, but I much prefer this way. Because of what I do, my activity level varies enough from week to week that any TDEE-based method would be hopelessly inconsistent.0 -
Personally, I would love it if MFP did away with the automatic feature of the goal settings. Instead, they should have a TDEE calculator there and advise people how to deduct an appropriate percentage for manually setting goals. Then, the whole exercise calorie thing becomes a non-issue. MFP operates on the premise that people will not exercise consistently, but instead it should be encouraging consistency in both the aspects of diet and exercise.
Nothing stopping you from using TDEE yourself, but I much prefer this way. Because of what I do, my activity level varies enough from week to week that any TDEE-based method would be hopelessly inconsistent.
I actually do enter it myself. And I have as much of a problem with inconsistency as the next person... but in spite of that, do you know what I found... even when I wasn't exercising, just logging with TDEE in mind was enough to keep me at maintenance and avoid gaining. I just think that the current set up for MFP creates a lot of confusion for people that would be much more easily simplified by changing how the calorie goals are set up. I'm not suggesting that MFP stop accounting for exercise or that individuals should stop inputting exercise. What I am suggesting is a change to how the calorie goals are set up because presently everyone starts out here on the 'automatic' goal setting function and end up eating below BMR which can eventually cause a stall.0 -
Seriously. Do your kid a favor and eat... especially if you're breastfeeding.TRUST ME WHEN I SAY MFP CAN OVER ESTIMATE CALORIE BURN!!!!
I used a heart monitor with a personal trainer at the gym and she helped calculate my calorie burn. When I entered in the same activity and time for the elliptical trainer MFP way over estimated. The walk run was right on target but some other activities are way over estimated including cleaning the house, roller blading, eliptical. So I eat 1200 and do my cardio. I believe we need to train ourselves to accept the feel of a calorie deficit and after 30 days it will feel normal.
In most cases our cardio deficit isn't significant enough to have to eat back cal.s
I also breast feed and my milk supply has thrived on 1200 intake cal.s plus about 300 worth of cardio daily.0 -
I was getting a little frustrated because the weight wasn't coming off as fast as I would like. I feel really dumb admitting this but I think it's because I'm eating back most of the calories I burn. I'm only allowed 1200 calories a day to lose I think 2 lbs a week. Well that hasn't been happening. It just dawned on me the other day that in order to actually lose weight more aggressively I need to leave some calories "on the table" at the end of the day. Have you been in the same boat? Am I right or wrong? Looking for some thoughts on your experiences with this.
Thanks!
MFP took the info you entered and figured your TDEE. (BMR + activity level multiplier) You chose 2 lbs a week goal, so they deducted 1000 calories from that number... BUT... they will not give you a number below 1200, so unless your TDEE is at least 2200, they did NOT build in a 1000 calorie deficit.
Change your goal to 1 lb loss and see what number it gives you. If it gives you a number higher than 1200, then add 500 to that number, and THAT is the TDEE that they figured for you (this does not include extra exercise that you didn't include in your activity level when you entered your info)
If you entered Sedentary for your activity level, then you would need to eat some of your exercise calories. (SOME because as many have stated, the database overestimates calorie burn for most women)
If you entered your activity level to include your exercise, then you would NOT eat back your calories.
There are so many variables in the program, and with the individual's body, that there is no way for it to give you the EXACT number of calories to eat to get the EXACT amount of weight loss you desire.
A little trial and error and common sense is needed.0 -
I was getting a little frustrated because the weight wasn't coming off as fast as I would like. I feel really dumb admitting this but I think it's because I'm eating back most of the calories I burn. I'm only allowed 1200 calories a day to lose I think 2 lbs a week. Well that hasn't been happening. It just dawned on me the other day that in order to actually lose weight more aggressively I need to leave some calories "on the table" at the end of the day. Have you been in the same boat? Am I right or wrong? Looking for some thoughts on your experiences with this.
Thanks!
MFP took the info you entered and figured your TDEE. (BMR + activity level multiplier) You chose 2 lbs a week goal, so they deducted 1000 calories from that number... BUT... they will not give you a number below 1200, so unless your TDEE is at least 2200, they did NOT build in a 1000 calorie deficit.
Change your goal to 1 lb loss and see what number it gives you. If it gives you a number higher than 1200, then add 500 to that number, and THAT is the TDEE that they figured for you (this does not include extra exercise that you didn't include in your activity level when you entered your info)
If you entered Sedentary for your activity level, then you would need to eat some of your exercise calories. (SOME because as many have stated, the database overestimates calorie burn for most women)
If you entered your activity level to include your exercise, then you would NOT eat back your calories.
There are so many variables in the program, and with the individual's body, that there is no way for it to give you the EXACT number of calories to eat to get the EXACT amount of weight loss you desire.
A little trial and error and common sense is needed.
MFP does not figure TDEE. It does not account for exercise until you actually log it. It doesn't matter if she chose sedentary or highly active, for the purpose of MFP, that includes daily activity such as your job. It does not include exercise.
If you are worried about overestimating calories burned through exercise, eat only a portion of them back. I recommend starting out higher and cutting back. It is trial and error.0 -
Chiming in to fix this shoddy math:
dont listen to anyone to tell you to eat your calories back - ever. whats the point? of course you wont be losing any weight! take a glass of water, remove 2oz of water (calories burned) and MFP tells you, you can eat those 2oz back?
If you're going to use a water glass metaphor do it right. Fill a 20oz glass to represent maintenance with no exercise. MFP then removes 8oz for a diet level caloric deficit. Draw a line at that mark. You eat the MFP-assigned level of calories to get up to the mark but then also go running a couple miles. This removes 2oz (and now 10 oz are in deficit due to combined calorie restriction and extra exercise) and your level is below the mark. Eat back up to the mark to follow the MFP plan.
Personally I only eat back exercise calories when I am hungry at the end of the day.0 -
Chiming in to fix this shoddy math:
dont listen to anyone to tell you to eat your calories back - ever. whats the point? of course you wont be losing any weight! take a glass of water, remove 2oz of water (calories burned) and MFP tells you, you can eat those 2oz back?
If you're going to use a water glass metaphor do it right. Fill a 20oz glass to represent maintenance with no exercise. MFP then removes 8oz for a diet level caloric deficit. Draw a line at that mark. You eat the MFP-assigned level of calories to get up to the mark but then also go running a couple miles. This removes 2oz (and now 10 oz are in deficit due to combined calorie restriction and extra exercise) and your level is below the mark. Eat back up to the mark to follow the MFP plan.
Personally I only eat back exercise calories when I am hungry at the end of the day.
That is actually an excellent analogy. I may "borrow" it.0 -
you didn't gain it overnight you're not going to loose it overnight either. have patience, eat healthy, eat enough, exercise, live your life, relax it'll happen.0
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I was getting a little frustrated because the weight wasn't coming off as fast as I would like. I feel really dumb admitting this but I think it's because I'm eating back most of the calories I burn. I'm only allowed 1200 calories a day to lose I think 2 lbs a week. Well that hasn't been happening. It just dawned on me the other day that in order to actually lose weight more aggressively I need to leave some calories "on the table" at the end of the day. Have you been in the same boat? Am I right or wrong? Looking for some thoughts on your experiences with this.
Thanks!
NO! you've been doing it correctly. keep doing it this way. under-eating just makes it even harder to lose weight. And lower your expectations of losing 2 lb a week. Its unrealistic unless you're really heavy, and not terribly sustainable. You probably ought to be eating a couple of hundred calories MORE a day, not less.0 -
gosh there's so much misinformation on this thread among the right information that it's hard for someone who hasn't been successful to pick out whats right and wrong lol
ok first of all, you haven't stated what your goals are. if you dont care about retaining muscle because you're really just want to lose weight, then it doesn't matter how many lbs you lose. only people who want to look aesthetic should really care about losing a .lb a week.
dont listen to anyone to tell you to eat your calories back - ever. whats the point? of course you wont be losing any weight! take a glass of water, remove 2oz of water (calories burned) and MFP tells you, you can eat those 2oz back?
you're hungry because well, you're on a deficit! lol
anyway - figure out what your TDEE is and go with that - not MFP numbers as they are not entirely correct - and almost never correct when it comes to calories burned.
ignore most of this.0 -
I see everyone here say you can "eat the calories" back - I look at it a different way...First of all, by the amount of calories I'm allowed, if I'm sedentary, and want to lose about 1 1/2 pounds a week is very low. I'm guessing I must be fairly similar in age, body, etc. to you...because our figures aren't that far off.
To me, that means it's a very slow weight loss - the only way I have to lose faster is to a) drop the calories - then I'd hardly be eating! or b) up the exercise - which I choose to do.
Obviously, if I eat all the extra calories I lose from the additional exercise, I'm back to square ONE, right?
So, I try to leave as many calories on the "table" earned by exercise as possible. Some days are better than others, but I look at them as "bonus" calories which I may choose to use and not feel bad about (I earned them, right!) or choose to leave and feel even better about!
Unless you're very carefully measuring and monitoring, there will always be variances - I also try to leave a few calories on the table when I eat - an old weight watcher trick. Maybe save a bite or two of lunch for a later quick snack, or not eat that last bite of a sandwich, etc.0 -
I see everyone here say you can "eat the calories" back - I look at it a different way...First of all, by the amount of calories I'm allowed, if I'm sedentary, and want to lose about 1 1/2 pounds a week is very low. I'm guessing I must be fairly similar in age, body, etc. to you...because our figures aren't that far off.
To me, that means it's a very slow weight loss - the only way I have to lose faster is to a) drop the calories - then I'd hardly be eating! or b) up the exercise - which I choose to do.
Obviously, if I eat all the extra calories I lose from the additional exercise, I'm back to square ONE, right?
So, I try to leave as many calories on the "table" earned by exercise as possible. Some days are better than others, but I look at them as "bonus" calories which I may choose to use and not feel bad about (I earned them, right!) or choose to leave and feel even better about!
Unless you're very carefully measuring and monitoring, there will always be variances - I also try to leave a few calories on the table when I eat - an old weight watcher trick. Maybe save a bite or two of lunch for a later quick snack, or not eat that last bite of a sandwich, etc.
no, because your calorie goal set by MFP is already at a deficit. you can sit on your butt all day and not move...and you're still at a deficit. exercising just gets your further into the deficit hole...possibly too far for health and for continued weight loss.0 -
Obviously, if I eat all the extra calories I lose from the additional exercise, I'm back to square ONE, right?
No, actually, you are likely creating too much of a calorie deficit, increasing the stress hormone cortisol, preventing weight loss.
MFP gives you a calorie goal that does not include any exercise at all, you would lose weight just by dieting alone.0 -
Could this be why I've started slowing down on losing? I actually wasn't paying attention to how much more I had to go, but it's around 25 lbs now.....You're not eating back too many, you should eat all you burn to stay on target... BUT all estimates for exercise are just that-- estimates, they do not know your vo2max or heart rate typically... and without both numbers, real calorie expenditure is hard to track. Also if you're using TDEE you should not be eating back ANY unless they are "far above and beyond the call of duty" for that energy level, that's double dipping.
I usually aim at 50% unless I feel absolutely starved. If you have less than 30 lbs to lose, 2lb/week might also just be too aggressive of a goal.0 -
Could this be why I've started slowing down on losing? I actually wasn't paying attention to how much more I had to go, but it's around 25 lbs now.....You're not eating back too many, you should eat all you burn to stay on target... BUT all estimates for exercise are just that-- estimates, they do not know your vo2max or heart rate typically... and without both numbers, real calorie expenditure is hard to track. Also if you're using TDEE you should not be eating back ANY unless they are "far above and beyond the call of duty" for that energy level, that's double dipping.
I usually aim at 50% unless I feel absolutely starved. If you have less than 30 lbs to lose, 2lb/week might also just be too aggressive of a goal.
*nodding* You should change it to 1 pound per week.0 -
I wear a pulse rate monitor that tracks heart rate and calories burned. The MFP estimated burned calories for exercise is WAY higher than what I'm actually burning. Once I realized that, it made a huge difference.
This for sure! My HRM shows a good 150-200 calories LESS than MFP shows. FYI, my BMR is 1460 calories just to run my internal "system". If I ate only 1200 I would starve. I eat at TDEE -20% (1,811 calories NOT eating exercise calories back) and slowly lose- with strength training I'm losing more fat than actual weight which I'd rather do.
You might not be eating enough IMHO.0 -
100% agree with trog and mokey.0
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That "sit on your butt all day" is a bit insulting - actually I, personally, as a disabled person, I find it HUGELY insulting. Some here DO have physical issues that make exercise very difficult.
At my calories set by MFP, for over three months last year with basically no additional exercise other than my "normal" moving about the house, errands, cooking, light cleaning, I suck to my calorie goal - I NEVER had a varience of over or under 25 calories. I lost NO weight. I was glad, actually, not to be slowly gaining...
No weight for over three months.
As I was able to do more and add in excercise, I found if I ate all tlhe calories from my exercise, I still didn't lose weight.
It's important to remember that these goals have so many variences.0 -
For me, that wasn't the case...0
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I eat my calories back and have steadily lost weight, slow but sure0
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