Calories on rest days

Daydreamangel

Hi guys,
I am exercising 6 days a week (40-50 minutes, 5000 to 6000 steps) with Sunday as my off days. I eat around 1400 during the week and I am wondering how much I should eat on my rest day. Should I reduce my intake to 1200 or continue eating at 1400?
Thanks

malibu927

You should eat the amount MFP gives you

Daydreamangel

But MFP does not distinguish between exercise and rest days. So it doesn't matter what you are doing, just eating the same calories?

malibu927

The calories given to you don't include exercise. So on the days you do work out you should be eating 1400 plus at least a portion of your exercise calories.

musicfan68

Yes it does, as long as you track your exercise and eat back some of those calories. 1400 is your base that MFP sets without exercise. When you exercise you need to add usually around 50% of the exercise calories on top of that. So if you don't exercise, you still eat what MFP gives you.

kristerjohnson

If you put your calories burnt in MFP, it will give you a net result. On your off days, you won't have that offset. My advice is to not starve yourself so that you don't feel the urge to binge. 1400 or 1200 are close, and a very modest intake, so do what you can stay consistent, without being too uncomfortable. Best of luck!

Daydreamangel

I actually eat under what MFP gives me, because I gained weight from eating the amount they give me.

malibu927

Daydreamangel wrote: »

I actually eat under what MFP gives me, because I gained weight from eating the amount they give me.

If you were gaining on the goal given to you then you were eating more than you think.

What are your stats? How do you measure your calorie intake?

Daydreamangel

I weigh my food on a food scale.

5'6 137.6 pounds

Daydreamangel

I thought I had my setting on lightly active, which would include exercise in the calorie amount they give you, right?

kristerjohnson

All the these programs are general guidelines, I think. Thirty years ago, I could eat what I wanted. Presently, I am a pretty active runner and I struggle to stay around net 1500 calories. Also remember that muscle weighs more than fat, so weight is not as good as an indicator as body fat percentage, or how you look in the mirror. Do what you can to keep a slight and sustainable calorie deficiency; something you can live with and still be happy.

AnvilHead

Daydreamangel wrote: »

I thought I had my setting on lightly active, which would include exercise in the calorie amount they give you, right?

If you’re using MFP the way it’s intended to be used, your activity level is set based upon your daily activity without exercise. Exercise then gives you added calories and you eat a portion of those back.

1houndgal

Daydreamangel wrote: »

I weigh my food on a food scale.

5'6 137.6 pounds

Seems like what you are doing is working for you given your stats.

If your Dr sees you as healthy and fit, based on blood tests and other measurements then there may be no problem with your caloric intake.

But I would not be giving advice to others to eat fewer than what mfp gives you, because all bodies are different.

Some bodies are more muscular or excercise more, some bodies are older or younger, sone bodies are malnourished and some are immune compromised. What works for may not work for others. Jmo

TavistockToad

Daydreamangel wrote: »

I weigh my food on a food scale.

5'6 137.6 pounds

And you gain weight on 1400 cals? Very doubtful

DebLaBounty

I hope on exercising days you are eating back the calories you earned. You will lose weight doing so. Then just eat what MFP says to eat. Easy-prays.

Daydreamangel

I overindulged and ate 1750 calories on my rest day yesterday and I lost .4 pound. Is that odd?

janejellyroll

Daydreamangel wrote: »

I overindulged and ate 1750 calories on my rest day yesterday and I lost .4 pound. Is that odd?

It's not going to be accurate to judge a plan by day-to-day fluctuations. You should focus on the long-term trend.

1houndgal

TavistockToad wrote: »

Daydreamangel wrote: »

I weigh my food on a food scale.

5'6 137.6 pounds

And you gain weight on 1400 cals? Very doubtful

Unless it is water, or she is constipated. Or building muscle.

MegaMooseEsq

Daydreamangel wrote: »

I overindulged and ate 1750 calories on my rest day yesterday and I lost .4 pound. Is that odd?

Nah. The scale does weird things. Did you happen to have a drink or two yesterday? Sometimes people who don't drink regularly will notice a bit of a drop the day after a couple of drinks.

Daydreamangel

Nah. The scale does weird things. Did you happen to have a drink or two yesterday? Sometimes people who don't drink regularly will notice a bit of a drop the day after a couple of drinks.

No, I didn't drink yesterday. The scale is weird though.

TavistockToad

Daydreamangel wrote: »

I overindulged and ate 1750 calories on my rest day yesterday and I lost .4 pound. Is that odd?

1750 cals is hardly 'overindulging'... It's not even maintenance for the majority of people...

CopperGodess

What works for me:
At 63, 3 years ago, it took me the better part of a year to figure out how to lose 30 lbs. I started by cutting back, and scale watching. I upped my exercise, then bought a scale that gave me weight body fat, skeletal, calorie needs. Still no loss. Must be portion control - started mfp. I used their suggested calories and added in extras when I exercised. I weighed food to stay honest. Still nothing. I then cut added exercise calories in half and dropped basic intake by 200 to 300. During all this time I might have lost 10 lbs. Finally, I dropped mfp calories to 1,000, added in 1/2 exercise calories and 1/4 for gardening calories (I can garden for hours). Took me 6-9 more months, but I got there.

Once at weight, I watch what I eat and use my scale every AM before breakfast and exercise 4 times a week (which I need for significant osteoarthritis). Now, because of the holidays, I need to lose about 10 lbs before a 3 week cruise - I'm back on mfp.

By nature, I'm very analytical and can be extremely detail oriented. What I learned:
-My scale tells me I need 1350 to 1400 calories to maintain weight. Since I seem to maintain weight at about 1400 calories it appears relatively accurate. While absolute fat and skeletal are way off (dr told my my current fat is about 25% - scale says 34%) up or down trends are helpful.
-At my age what mfp thinks I need to lose weight is just way to high. I have always used a Polar watch (now an A370) to count exercise calories. Those are always too high as well. I send info from my Polar to mfp. The other day I had 2 aerobics classes for a total of 600 calories, mfp added another 700. I adjust to 1000 calories as my base. I now subtract the mfp added calories and cut the exercise calories by 50%.
- In 2 weeks I've lost 3lbs, fat% has gone down, skeletal up. It will take me another several weeks to get me where I need to go.
- I'm 5'6", headed toward 135lbs. Dr says while I'll be slightly underweight, I'm healthy. Resting heart rate is mid 50's.

MegaMooseEsq

Daydreamangel wrote: »

Nah. The scale does weird things. Did you happen to have a drink or two yesterday? Sometimes people who don't drink regularly will notice a bit of a drop the day after a couple of drinks.

No, I didn't drink yesterday. The scale is weird though.

Just a random thought given that yesterday was a big drinking day in the US. Sometimes it'll be clear to you why the scale is doing weird things (I always gain 1-2 lbs after eating pizza, no matter what kind), and sometimes it won't. My rate of loss was fairly predictable until a couple of months ago when I went from 1-2 hours of jogging a week to 3-4 hours of mixed cardio and strength training. Now it's all over the place, which can be a drag, but I just remind myself that it's the trend that matters.

FlyingMolly

Daydreamangel wrote: »

I thought I had my setting on lightly active, which would include exercise in the calorie amount they give you, right?

I get an adjustment to my calories from my FitBit, and in my experience lightly active really doesn’t include much activity at all. An hour-long walk on top of normal, around-the-house activity usually brings me up to the “active” level, so I’ve recently reset to that.

collectingblues

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

Daydreamangel wrote: »

Nah. The scale does weird things. Did you happen to have a drink or two yesterday? Sometimes people who don't drink regularly will notice a bit of a drop the day after a couple of drinks.

No, I didn't drink yesterday. The scale is weird though.

Just a random thought given that yesterday was a big drinking day in the US. Sometimes it'll be clear to you why the scale is doing weird things (I always gain 1-2 lbs after eating pizza, no matter what kind), and sometimes it won't. My rate of loss was fairly predictable until a couple of months ago when I went from 1-2 hours of jogging a week to 3-4 hours of mixed cardio and strength training. Now it's all over the place, which can be a drag, but I just remind myself that it's the trend that matters.

And the really funny thing that I've noticed is that for me, it's not always a next-day appearance. Sometimes it'll be two days, or sometimes it'll just ride until I have three back-to-back high sodium days, and BOOM. All things go to heck in a water retention handbasket.

SCoil123

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