Half Marathon Training and Calorie Intake

vikkirose21
vikkirose21 Posts: 7 Member
edited November 27 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello! I am training for a Half in October and on top of that I walk 2 miles a day. I work in an office and sit at a desk 75% of my day. When I put desk job for my activity it comes up with 1200 calories a day and i have about 40 lbs to lose. 1200 calories does not suffice with my amount of activity, should I be using active?

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    It's 1200 cals plus exercise
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    MFP is designed for you to choose an activity level based on your regular daily non-exercise activity and then log your exercise and eat back the calories burnt. So if your initial goal is 1,200 calories and you then burn 250 calories on a run, your new goal would be 1,450 calories.

    That said, 1,200 calories is a very aggressive goal. Did you set up your account with a high goal for weekly loss like 2 pounds a week?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Set MFP to lose 1lb per week, unless you're very short I would have thought that would give you more than 1200 cals?
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Set MFP to lose 1lb per week, unless you're very short I would have thought that would give you more than 1200 cals?

    Sadly, not necessarily. I am 5’4”, weigh ~160lbs., and work a desk job at home. My NEAT is about 1700 (just under that actually). I have 30 lbs to lose. Without purposeful exercise, I get about 3k steps a day. 1 pound a week puts me at 1200 net.

    But I eat every last exercise calorie. I’m currently training for a marathon and am eating an average of about 1900 cal/day (netting 1200). When not training for a marathon (and I don’t have all the extra calories from the extra miles), I eat an average of about 1600 to lose a pound a week (netting 1200).



  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    OP - keep your setting at sedentary, then add your training runs under exercise and eat back a portion or all of those calories (depending on appetite).
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    nowine4me wrote: »
    OP - keep your setting at sedentary, then add your training runs under exercise and eat back a portion or all of those calories (depending on appetite).

    This is what I did. I'm very short, have a sedentary job, but run about 20 miles per week plus walking, hiking, and strength training. I have MFP set to sedentary and calculate my exercise calories separately. It's worked for me through 2.5 years of weight loss, nearly a year of maintenance, and training for several HMs.

    However, I'd second the recommendation to set your rate of loss at 1 pound per week, which is more reasonable given the total amount of weight you want to lose. Depending on your height, you may or may not get to eat more calories by doing this.
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