Calorie intake and calories burned

I am trying to understand this whole calorie intake and calories burned thing, this is my 1st time. For example: if my daily calorie intake is 1,700 but I only intake 1,500 and burned 699. Do I subtract that to get my net calories?

Replies

  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    Sort of.

    If MFP says your goal is to eat 1700 calories, and you exercise and burn 699 cals, then your goal becomes 2399 for the day. Your 1500 eaten remains 1500 eaten. MFP gives you a calorie goal for weight loss assuming you do zero exercise. That's why the numbers changes if/when you workout.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    I am trying to understand this whole calorie intake and calories burned thing, this is my 1st time. For example: if my daily calorie intake is 1,700 but I only intake 1,500 and burned 699. Do I subtract that to get my net calories?

    Yes, if you eat 1500 but burn 700 with exercise, your net calorie intake is 800 (which is far too low). Having said that, exercise burns can be inflated, so many folks start off eating half, and after a couple of months tweak that based on how fast/slow they are losing weight.

    If MFP gave you a calorie goal to lose weight of 1700 cals, eat at least 1700, plus some of your exercise calories. Eating too little just sets you up for being hangry and hitting the wall :drinker:
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    My Fitness Pal uses N.E.A.T. (non-exercise activity thermogenisis).....it includes basic activity before exercise.

    When you say you burned 699, is that a separate exercise activity? If yes, then MFP expects you to log it and eat 699 calories plus your original goal.
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1

    The issue many people have with that is exercise calorie burns are estimates. Before eating back 100%, start by eat 50-75%. Then see how your weekly weight loss goes. Too fast means you aren't eating enough. Tweak that % as time goes on.

    If you ate 1500 and burned additional exercise calories for 699, then you netted 801 calories. This is far too low for your body to fuel basic necessities.
  • naturalbeautii
    naturalbeautii Posts: 72 Member
    Do I need to increase my calorie intake?
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    Do I need to increase my calorie intake?

    How many lbs total do you want to lose? And how many lbs per week did you choose as your goal? Is 1700 the goal MFP gave you?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    Do I need to increase my calorie intake?

    What did you do to burn 699 calories?
  • naturalbeautii
    naturalbeautii Posts: 72 Member
    I want lose 62 and 2 pounds per week. I think it was 1,860 MFP gave me. But how can I find out so I am doing this correctly. I am new to all this, I see its slot to learn.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited November 2018
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    I want lose 62 and 2 pounds per week. I think it was 1,860 MFP gave me. But how can I find out so I am doing this correctly. I am new to all this, I see its slot to learn.

    OK, so 2 lbs per week is the most you would want to be losing. If MFP gave you 1860, that means you will average a loss of 2 lbs per week if you eat 1860+exercise cals. You don't need to eat less than that, assuming you are logging accurately (which is a skill that can take some practice!).

    These posts might help:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

    Hang in there, keep learning as you go, and good luck!
  • naturalbeautii
    naturalbeautii Posts: 72 Member
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    Do I need to increase my calorie intake?

    What did you do to burn 699 calories?

    Cardio
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    Do I need to increase my calorie intake?

    What did you do to burn 699 calories?

    Cardio

    Can you be a little more specific?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    Do I need to increase my calorie intake?

    What did you do to burn 699 calories?

    Cardio

    My cardio exercise duration has varied between 3 minutes and 9 hours.

    The more detail you give the more people can help.....
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    While I get where this conversation is going, and it's probably worth having... is this the time? OP is trying to get her head around the basics of MFP math/numbers. Maybe we table this tangent for later?
  • naturalbeautii
    naturalbeautii Posts: 72 Member
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    Do I need to increase my calorie intake?

    What did you do to burn 699 calories?

    Cardio

    Can you be a little more specific?

    Walking 45 to 50 minutes per day
  • naturalbeautii
    naturalbeautii Posts: 72 Member
    Like I said I am new to this and just trying to get understanding of it that all
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    Do I need to increase my calorie intake?

    What did you do to burn 699 calories?

    Cardio

    Can you be a little more specific?

    Walking 45 to 50 minutes per day

    Walking for an hour isn't going to burn 700 calories. Once you get your head around the basics, remember that calorie burn estimates are very unreliable, almost regardless of where they come from. For many this can make it seem like the process doesn't work or their numbers aren't right. The reality is that most of this comes down to some trial and error until you find your sweet spot.

    But don't get too hung up on that right now. Worry about understanding the numbers, where they come from, and what they mean/suggest. These are some good reads to get you started...
    kimny72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    I want lose 62 and 2 pounds per week. I think it was 1,860 MFP gave me. But how can I find out so I am doing this correctly. I am new to all this, I see its slot to learn.

    OK, so 2 lbs per week is the most you would want to be losing. If MFP gave you 1860, that means you will average a loss of 2 lbs per week if you eat 1860+exercise cals. You don't need to eat less than that, assuming you are logging accurately (which is a skill that can take some practice!).

    These posts might help:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10503681/exercise-calories-do-i-eat-these-a-video-explanation/p1

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

    Hang in there, keep learning as you go, and good luck!

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    Do I need to increase my calorie intake?

    What did you do to burn 699 calories?

    Cardio

    Can you be a little more specific?

    Walking 45 to 50 minutes per day

    Walking is easy to calculate calories for:

    Bodyweight in lbs x 0.3 x distance in miles
  • naturalbeautii
    naturalbeautii Posts: 72 Member
    Ok
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    edited November 2018
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    Do I need to increase my calorie intake?

    What did you do to burn 699 calories?

    Cardio

    Can you be a little more specific?

    Walking 45 to 50 minutes per day

    That's more likely somewhere in the neighborhood of 170-200 calories burned.

    Figure it from the formula TavistockToad quoted above.
  • Jackie9003
    Jackie9003 Posts: 1,116 Member
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    Do I need to increase my calorie intake?

    What did you do to burn 699 calories?

    Cardio

    Can you be a little more specific?

    Walking 45 to 50 minutes per day

    Walking is easy to calculate calories for:

    Bodyweight in lbs x 0.3 x distance in miles

    My walk to work on that basis is about 120 cals, mapmywalk tells me it is 314 and MFP would give me 185. I've always thought mapmywalk was a bit on the generous side!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Jackie9003 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    miqveel72 wrote: »
    Do I need to increase my calorie intake?

    What did you do to burn 699 calories?

    Cardio

    Can you be a little more specific?

    Walking 45 to 50 minutes per day

    Walking is easy to calculate calories for:

    Bodyweight in lbs x 0.3 x distance in miles

    My walk to work on that basis is about 120 cals, mapmywalk tells me it is 314 and MFP would give me 185. I've always thought mapmywalk was a bit on the generous side!

    Map my walk is very generous from what I've seen!
  • Jackie9003
    Jackie9003 Posts: 1,116 Member
    Will take it with a pinch of salt in future I think, thanks for info!
  • naturalbeautii
    naturalbeautii Posts: 72 Member
    I been using samsung health and I compared MFP with it and it's not big difference
  • ljrlose
    ljrlose Posts: 7 Member
    Are you changing elevation in any significant way? I use map my run for hiking that involves a lot of elevation change but, I don’t believe the number it gives me. The MFP number is lower but still very high.

    Just pointing out that walking can be very strenuous depending on where you’re walking, how fast you’re moving, what you’re carrying, etc.

    I don't necessarily eat the calories I burn in a day. It depends on how strenuous the exercise was. If it was something my body is adjusted to, I just consider it a bonus deficit. If I have a workout that was above and beyond, I eat a little more but I never eat all of the calories back. Definitely no more than half.