Recommend calories
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jasondjulian wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »jasondjulian wrote: »MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »Ideally you want to eat a portion of them back.
Yes, however (there's always a "however", isn't there?), that also depends on how much one has to lose... if you're trying to drop 80lbs... you can get away with not eating them back for quite a while- I know, I did. In that situation where you eat X, burn Y, and X-Y=Less than daily energy target, yeah, eat some back, roughly half if you want to or can..
But if you're not hungry and you feel fine, I wouldn't sweat it or lose sleep over having not forced myself to have a 700 calorie meal. I really don't need a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese at 8 at night just so that I net my 1900 calories.
You don't have to force yourself to eat a 700 calorie meal at night to eat back your activity adjustments. Over time, people can get a sense for how many calories they have to "play with" on a typical day. This allows us to add calories to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Very few people eating back activity calories are adding them all after dinner in one final meal.
Yeah, I get that... but generally speaking, and I think this is true in the OP's case, you eat and exercise, and then at the end of the day when you're going to save and log the diary.. you're like "oh... it deducts my exercise cals from my food intake and says I still have 1000 calories "remaining""... especially true for someone who hasn't been using the app for a while. Then the question comes up, as it has, do I eat those back or not? If the OP is not thinking ahead about this in order to add calories to breakfast, lunch, and dinner (assuming the person even eats three meals, some only eat two), then it becomes a last-minute thing at the end of the day, doesn't it?
And if at the end of the day the MFP math says you have eaten 1500 calories, exercised for another 400, and your daily goal is 2000, you're going to be told you are 900 calories short.. and if you are then determined that you should have eaten those back at some point, you're looking for a rather substantial meal at the end of the day. Your comment that very few people are eating back activity calories at the end of the day, after dinner, is as much speculation as me stating that people aren't doing that.
That's what I was getting at. Sorry if I did not explain myself well.
Now, where you are absolutely correct and I agree, is that if you know all of this head of time, you can plan your meal portions and calories such that you are indeed eating additionally to make up for some or all of your exercise calories. I don't think about eating back activity cals.. I don't sync my fitbit to MFP anymore, mostly because I think it is grossly inaccurate for calories burned, but I eat my meals.. I log my meals after weighing and measuring etc.. I don't always log activity/exercise.. but if I'm hungry in the evening or so, I'll have a nutritious or sensible snack; and in the back of my head, even if I've logged my entire 2150 calories allotted for the day, I know I burned enough calories with activity that the snack, even once logged, is still keeping me within my targets.
But that's me. Others are certainly going to address this differently in a way that works for them. Finding that way takes time, adjusting, just like how our calorie goals in the app are estimates, and 3500 calories per week may or may not equal a pound lost.. if it doesn't, you learn and adjust. As with everything.
It's not speculative, it's based on conversations with other people who eat their calories back.
Deciding to fuel your activity and eat more throughout the day is a choice that anyone can make. I don't think anyone is doomed to cramming in calories at the end of the day. If OP decides to use MFP as designed, I am confident he has the intelligence and foresight to understand how to add calories throughout the day and not consistently fall back on eating a cheeseburger at 8 PM, as you suggested.
For OP not to consider his activity in setting his calorie goals would be foolhardy. In addition to having an active job, he's also exercising.6 -
janejellyroll wrote: »It's not speculative, it's based on conversations with other people who eat their calories back.
Deciding to fuel your activity and eat more throughout the day is a choice that anyone can make. I don't think anyone is doomed to cramming in calories at the end of the day. If OP decides to use MFP as designed, I am confident he has the intelligence and foresight to understand how to add calories throughout the day and not consistently fall back on eating a cheeseburger at 8 PM, as you suggested.
For OP not to consider his activity in setting his calorie goals would be foolhardy. In addition to having an active job, he's also exercising.
Conversations with other people are anecdotal at best; it's scientifically insignificant and not empirical data to state it as such. Even if it may be true. Neither one of us has conducted a survey with a large enough sample size to say anything conclusive. I don't know what very few people or the majority of people are doing. In fact, I'm sure "very few" people are eating properly at all. I was just laying out a hypothetical situation that i know I found myself in, and therefore it could be presumed that others did too.
But now I'm just being argumentative for arguments sake (in a friendly discussion sort of way, I promise!
). I agree with what your saying as well though... I think people can figure it out once they get into the app and starting logging things. It may take time, but adjustments can be made pretty much day to day.
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jasondjulian wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »It's not speculative, it's based on conversations with other people who eat their calories back.
Deciding to fuel your activity and eat more throughout the day is a choice that anyone can make. I don't think anyone is doomed to cramming in calories at the end of the day. If OP decides to use MFP as designed, I am confident he has the intelligence and foresight to understand how to add calories throughout the day and not consistently fall back on eating a cheeseburger at 8 PM, as you suggested.
For OP not to consider his activity in setting his calorie goals would be foolhardy. In addition to having an active job, he's also exercising.
Conversations with other people are anecdotal at best; it's scientifically insignificant and not empirical data to state it as such. Even if it may be true. Neither one of us has conducted a survey with a large enough sample size to say anything conclusive. I don't know what very few people or the majority of people are doing. In fact, I'm sure "very few" people are eating properly at all. I was just laying out a hypothetical situation that i know I found myself in, and therefore it could be presumed that others did too.
But now I'm just being argumentative for arguments sake (in a friendly discussion sort of way, I promise! ). I agree with what your saying as well though... I think people can figure it out once they get into the app and starting logging things. It may take time, but adjustments can be made pretty much day to day.
So it's no more or less valid than your example of someone eating a double cheeseburger every night to ensure they get sufficient calories.
Even if you don't believe anyone in the world besides me is implementing the strategy of fueling their activity without rushing in a double cheeseburger at 8 PM each night, I'm here telling you personally that it can be done.
There is equal statistical significance to your example about someone having no option but to jam in a double cheeseburger.
OP doesn't need to know what a scientifically validated portion of the population is doing, *he needs to know what options are possible for him*. One of those options is to fuel his activity by adding calories thoughout the day in a way that meets his preferences and lifestyle.6 -
janejellyroll wrote: »So it's no more or less valid than your example of someone eating a double cheeseburger every night to ensure they get sufficient calories.
Even if you don't believe anyone in the world besides me is implementing the strategy of fueling their activity without rushing in a double cheeseburger at 8 PM each night, I'm here telling you personally that it can be done.
There is equal statistical significance to your example about someone having no option but to jam in a double cheeseburger.
OP doesn't need to know what a scientifically validated portion of the population is doing, *he needs to know what options are possible for him*. One of those options is to fuel his activity by adding calories thoughout the day in a way that meets his preferences and lifestyle.
I never said that one could not add calories throughout the day to fuel activity... just pointed out that I know plenty of instances where I personally did activity that was logged that either occurred later in the day or was not planned. In that sort of situation, you would have no options except to either not eat back any percentage of those calories or cram in an extra meal at the end.
I simply postulated that plenty of others who don't schedule or plan their exercise/activities find them themselves in a similar situation. I also never said I didn't believe you that there was another way to do it... so.. there's that too.
What most people are doing is irrelevant, you're correct. But it also was not brought up as something OP needs to pay attention too either.
At this point, we're just talking in circles while still actually agreeing with the basic premise of what to do, which admittedly is just silly and doesn't help anyone.
Agree to agree that there are lots of ways to skin the cat (and fuel your extra activities!).0 -
jasondjulian wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »So it's no more or less valid than your example of someone eating a double cheeseburger every night to ensure they get sufficient calories.
Even if you don't believe anyone in the world besides me is implementing the strategy of fueling their activity without rushing in a double cheeseburger at 8 PM each night, I'm here telling you personally that it can be done.
There is equal statistical significance to your example about someone having no option but to jam in a double cheeseburger.
OP doesn't need to know what a scientifically validated portion of the population is doing, *he needs to know what options are possible for him*. One of those options is to fuel his activity by adding calories thoughout the day in a way that meets his preferences and lifestyle.
I never said that one could not add calories throughout the day to fuel activity... just pointed out that I know plenty of instances where I personally did activity that was logged that either occurred later in the day or was not planned. In that sort of situation, you would have no options except to either not eat back any percentage of those calories or cram in an extra meal at the end.
I simply postulated that plenty of others who don't schedule or plan their exercise/activities find them themselves in a similar situation. I also never said I didn't believe you that there was another way to do it... so.. there's that too.
What most people are doing is irrelevant, you're correct. But it also was not brought up as something OP needs to pay attention too either.
At this point, we're just talking in circles while still actually agreeing with the basic premise of what to do, which admittedly is just silly and doesn't help anyone.
Agree to agree that there are lots of ways to skin the cat (and fuel your extra activities!).
Or you could add them to breakfast and lunch the next day, add some extra calories on the weekend, etc.
There are more options than "don't fuel your activity" or "jam in a cheeseburger before bedtime." I'm pointing out that the choice you presented to OP isn't the only choice available.8 -
jasondjulian wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »So it's no more or less valid than your example of someone eating a double cheeseburger every night to ensure they get sufficient calories.
Even if you don't believe anyone in the world besides me is implementing the strategy of fueling their activity without rushing in a double cheeseburger at 8 PM each night, I'm here telling you personally that it can be done.
There is equal statistical significance to your example about someone having no option but to jam in a double cheeseburger.
OP doesn't need to know what a scientifically validated portion of the population is doing, *he needs to know what options are possible for him*. One of those options is to fuel his activity by adding calories thoughout the day in a way that meets his preferences and lifestyle.
I never said that one could not add calories throughout the day to fuel activity... just pointed out that I know plenty of instances where I personally did activity that was logged that either occurred later in the day or was not planned. In that sort of situation, you would have no options except to either not eat back any percentage of those calories or cram in an extra meal at the end.
I simply postulated that plenty of others who don't schedule or plan their exercise/activities find them themselves in a similar situation. I also never said I didn't believe you that there was another way to do it... so.. there's that too.
What most people are doing is irrelevant, you're correct. But it also was not brought up as something OP needs to pay attention too either.
At this point, we're just talking in circles while still actually agreeing with the basic premise of what to do, which admittedly is just silly and doesn't help anyone.
Agree to agree that there are lots of ways to skin the cat (and fuel your extra activities!).
I hate when I accidentally work out or someone forces me to do it against my will such that I had no prior knowledge that it was going to happen....7 -
I ate a lot more today guys and I’m working on fitting more in as the days go by. I’m so thankful for everyone’s opinion it’s been such a great help.
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