How do you handle the diary discrepancies?

mkculs

My diary would look really off to anyone else, b/c the exercise estimates are simply too high, and I mentally subtract cals burned. Yesterday, I "logged wrong," so one exercise entry was a lot closer to the cals I would eat back--I did some walking, but the estimate MFP gave me was about 200 cals higher than most other calculators, so I entered fewer minutes to get a more accurate number of exercise cals to eat back. Then I went canoeing, and again it was a ridiculous number, but I logged it, knowing I would only eat back about 1/3.

What is your strategy--logging "wrong," so the number of exercise cals is closer to what you think you should eat, or logging correctly, mentally cutting out those exercise cals you won't eat back--and ending up with a "net" eaten of meaningless numbers?

I'm pretty confused and wonder how other people handle this. I am logging food with a food scale, so that side of it seems pretty accurate--but how can I really know? I'm just thinking ahead about when I might need a more accurate exercise log -- what can I do to make that match my reality so I have good data when I need it?

FWIW, whatever I'm doing, it is working right now--I'm losing about 1-1.25 lbs/week, aiming for 500 cal/day deficit, and am rarely more than comfortably hungry. Energy levels feel good, too.

cwolfman13

I rarely if ever used anything from the database...I manually entered my exercise and calories burned from various formulas or other calculations or my HRM depending on the activity.

Panini911

This probably isn't helpful but I never track exercise calories and never "ate back" any exercise calories. If I am working out a ton more and starting to get weird hunger signals from my body (that i didn't before) I will play with my daily calories more, allowing some extra calories (maybe starting with a few days a week, or tweak it while tracking my weight to ensure things are still "ok").

I do track exercise, i use my fitbit to ensure I maintain steps and have a flexible schedule for running/other workouts.

AliceDark

It doesn't really matter which method you try -- logging "wrong" or only eating back a portion of your exercise calories -- as long as you're consistent with it. You're really only playing with estimates anyway, so you'll have to rely on your observed results to tell you whether your method works. I took a peek at your profile and saw that you're a teacher. Treat this like a science experiment.

My personal preference would be to log "accurately" and only eat back a set percentage of calories, because if you're purposefully doing things "wrong" it's more difficult later to make adjustments. If you're always eating back 50% of your calories and you start losing too quickly, it's easy to see the inaccuracy and start eating back 75%, for example. If you're purposefully entering wrong information, that adjustment might not be as obvious.

lorib642

I think either entering the exercise to get a more accurate calorie burn or only eating back part of the calories burned are good. Awesome weight loss!

kami3006

I log what I burned based on my real life data. I eat them all sometime during the week. Since I follow a weekly average, it would not be helpful to me to have inaccurate data.

Your diary is yours to do with as you please. Like Alice said, as long as you're consistent and are getting results, it really doesn't matter.

mkculs

AliceDark wrote: »

It doesn't really matter which method you try -- logging "wrong" or only eating back a portion of your exercise calories -- as long as you're consistent with it. You're really only playing with estimates anyway, so you'll have to rely on your observed results to tell you whether your method works. I took a peek at your profile and saw that you're a teacher. Treat this like a science experiment.

My personal preference would be to log "accurately" and only eat back a set percentage of calories, because if you're purposefully doing things "wrong" it's more difficult later to make adjustments. If you're always eating back 50% of your calories and you start losing too quickly, it's easy to see the inaccuracy and start eating back 75%, for example. If you're purposefully entering wrong information, that adjustment might not be as obvious.

Thanks to everyone, and I am trying to treat it like a science experiment, so that's why I was a bit confused, I think--I know the data isn't accurate. But making a commitment to eat back a consistent % of the exercise cals sound like an approach that will work for me--I'm really haphazard about it right now.

Thanks again!

Duck_Puddle

I make an attempt to log accurate (as close as possible) numbers for what I consume and what I burn. The purpose of logging is to manage the calories in/out balance. Logging an inaccurate calorie burn is no different than choosing an incorrect database entry for food (eg some random 112 calorie entry for “tuna sandwich”). When I logged exercise individually, I entered the calorie burn number that seemed reasonable (based on whatever monitors I was using).

I’d prefer to have whatever is in my diary be as close to accurate as possible rather than doing math beyond that to guess which calories I can and can’t eat.

But it’s your diary, and your preferences so obviously you’re free to do whatever works for you.

nutmegoreo

I used a TDEE calculator and set my own daily target based off that and disregard exercise calories altogether. This works well for me. I know what my target is every single day. I also don't sweat the odd day over calories.

JeromeBarry1

mkculs wrote: »

AliceDark wrote: »

It doesn't really matter which method you try -- logging "wrong" or only eating back a portion of your exercise calories -- as long as you're consistent with it. You're really only playing with estimates anyway, so you'll have to rely on your observed results to tell you whether your method works. I took a peek at your profile and saw that you're a teacher. Treat this like a science experiment.

My personal preference would be to log "accurately" and only eat back a set percentage of calories, because if you're purposefully doing things "wrong" it's more difficult later to make adjustments. If you're always eating back 50% of your calories and you start losing too quickly, it's easy to see the inaccuracy and start eating back 75%, for example. If you're purposefully entering wrong information, that adjustment might not be as obvious.

Thanks to everyone, and I am trying to treat it like a science experiment, so that's why I was a bit confused, I think--I know the data isn't accurate. But making a commitment to eat back a consistent % of the exercise cals sound like an approach that will work for me--I'm really haphazard about it right now.

Thanks again!

Several of us are data nerds who track, chart, log and know every measurable detail about our health. I'm not. I just have an Excel spreadsheet. Last year I used my spreadsheet to record my daily weight, along with my daily calories consumed, daily exercise calories burned, and cumulative calorie deficit. I also used the cumulative calorie deficit to predict my daily weight. While daily weight fluctuates for often mysterious reasons, over time the trend of your weight will reflect your long term surplus or deficit of calories. My spreadsheet showed that after about 30 days of tracking, the actual daily weight and the predicted daily weight became very similar, often less than 3% different. This also served as a check on my exercise logging. I was logging many different kinds of activities as exercise, and eating back most of my exercise calories. My actual and predicted weight were similar, so this gave me confidence that both my calories eaten were logged correctly, and my calories burned were correct also.

Deviette

I log less time than I've done. Although I don't make an effort to eat back the calories. I'm normally less hungry after my session rather than more (mostly because I train over mealtimes and I'm too distracted to be hungry)

yirara

Years of tracking and logging exercises. I have a pretty good idea how much calories my interval bodyweight exercises need, and I always use the same database entry for that; one of the walking entries and then make a note for it This way I get the right exercise length and a good approximation of the calories.

AnnPT77

mkculs wrote: »

AliceDark wrote: »

It doesn't really matter which method you try -- logging "wrong" or only eating back a portion of your exercise calories -- as long as you're consistent with it. You're really only playing with estimates anyway, so you'll have to rely on your observed results to tell you whether your method works. I took a peek at your profile and saw that you're a teacher. Treat this like a science experiment.

My personal preference would be to log "accurately" and only eat back a set percentage of calories, because if you're purposefully doing things "wrong" it's more difficult later to make adjustments. If you're always eating back 50% of your calories and you start losing too quickly, it's easy to see the inaccuracy and start eating back 75%, for example. If you're purposefully entering wrong information, that adjustment might not be as obvious.

Thanks to everyone, and I am trying to treat it like a science experiment, so that's why I was a bit confused, I think--I know the data isn't accurate. But making a commitment to eat back a consistent % of the exercise cals sound like an approach that will work for me--I'm really haphazard about it right now.

Thanks again!

This may sound crazy, but for this particular science experiment, you need consistency more than you need accuracy.

You log your food as meticulously as you can (and in the same way over time); you log your exercise the same way over time; you log your body weight (measured under the same conditions as much as feasible); you eat back a consistent fraction of your exercise calories.

If those are consistent, you can make the right adjustments experimentally, whether the numbers are accurate or not. Let's say, oversimplifying, you over-estimate your exercise by 200 calories every day, and eat it all back. Eventually, you'll conclude from your weight loss rate that your TDEE is 200 calories lower than your initial guess, and cut calorie intake by 200. You'll dial in the sensible weight loss rate you need.

(Of course, under these circumstances, a very small number of people would be dismayed and angry that MFP calculated their NEAT as much higher than it really is. But if you know it's all just estimates, and don't get fussed about it, everything will be fine.)

kimny72

My Fitbit adjustments have served me well, but if I was using estimates I knew were over, I would just leave those extra calories uneaten in my log. That's the way I've usually seen it done in other's logs as well. They'll have like a 500 calorie exercise adjustment, and leave 200 calories on the table. Honestly though, it's whatever makes the most sense to you!

RunsWithBees

Trial and error! I will usually UNDERestimate exercise calories and OVERestimate food calories and that will usually account for some margin of error. Over years of maintaining I’ve learned what my exercise burns realistically are by how exerted I feel and if my weight starts going up or down accordingly.

andreascjonsson

I usually just eat back half of the calories i burn through the exercises and so far it seems to work just fine, both now that im gaining and when i was cutting

motivatedmartha

I log as accurately as I can using mfp database as I find an accurate record of my exercise useful - I aim to eat back around 50% of calories given. If I don't feel hungry some days I eat much less than 50% but I really do like to keep fully fuelled.

yirara

Why the *kitten* did I deserve a woo???

mkculs

yirara wrote: »

Why the *kitten* did I deserve a woo???

You didn't; maybe someone just missed the Like button. That's what I'd be telling myself, anyway

peaceout_aly

mkculs wrote: »

My diary would look really off to anyone else, b/c the exercise estimates are simply too high, and I mentally subtract cals burned. Yesterday, I "logged wrong," so one exercise entry was a lot closer to the cals I would eat back--I did some walking, but the estimate MFP gave me was about 200 cals higher than most other calculators, so I entered fewer minutes to get a more accurate number of exercise cals to eat back. Then I went canoeing, and again it was a ridiculous number, but I logged it, knowing I would only eat back about 1/3.

What is your strategy--logging "wrong," so the number of exercise cals is closer to what you think you should eat, or logging correctly, mentally cutting out those exercise cals you won't eat back--and ending up with a "net" eaten of meaningless numbers?

I'm pretty confused and wonder how other people handle this. I am logging food with a food scale, so that side of it seems pretty accurate--but how can I really know? I'm just thinking ahead about when I might need a more accurate exercise log -- what can I do to make that match my reality so I have good data when I need it?

FWIW, whatever I'm doing, it is working right now--I'm losing about 1-1.25 lbs/week, aiming for 500 cal/day deficit, and am rarely more than comfortably hungry. Energy levels feel good, too.

I log all of my exercise but right now, I don't eat any of it back. During bulk - I eat back 1/3. But I still log properly just for an idea of how much time I spent at the gym. Otherwise I would be there for five hours, literally LOL

sky_northern

I use the TDEE method now but when I logged exercise just adjusted the calories burnt to what I considered more reasonable and was planning on eating back (large green numbers make me want to eat more, lol). You can up the activity and duration to what you did and just manually change the calories burnt.

kshama2001

yirara wrote: »

Why the *kitten* did I deserve a woo???

When the Woo button was first launched it had two meanings. Since lots of people still think it means "Woo Hoo!", a positive, just ignore it.

GOT_Obsessed

If I can't find an accurate exercise calorie burn in the database I just create my own to use.

yirara

mkculs wrote: »

yirara wrote: »

Why the *kitten* did I deserve a woo???

You didn't; maybe someone just missed the Like button. That's what I'd be telling myself, anyway

yes, most likely

Lillymoo01

My diary for exercise is pretty strange too. I have two apps synced with MFP, Pacer and Map My Walk. However, MMW just re-adds what Pacer is already putting in so I just put 1 calorie or so alongside dedicated walks. I just like to include them here as a way of viewing what I have done. You just have to do what you have to do to make MFP work best for you which can be quite an individual thing.

CarvedTones

I edit the numbers posted for exercise, sometimes taking 1/2, sometimes more. It kind of depends on where I am in my maintenance range. I get enough exercise that having my daily goal roughly correct and using a little voodoo on the exercise numbers is usually enough to move the weight in the right direction, though right now I have my goal about 100 low to slowly move back to the lower half of my range.

eminater

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

Several of us are data nerds who track, chart, log and know every measurable detail about our health. I'm not.

Yes you are!