Calorie Confusion

mszallar
mszallar Posts: 34 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Need some input from mfp vets (Jr anyone else) regarding the tracking of calories.

I just started tracking but realize that I'm burning more calories than consuming. My diary says I'll be losing weight, but I know this won't happen. (I frequently eat the same foods consistently, and same activity level from day to day and I don't lose.)

Instead of losing weight, I previously gained weight and i plateaued. Now I'm maintaining my weight. I'm worried that I will actually start gaining weight again when though I'm burning more calories than taking in.

Could all of this be because of the type of carbs im eating? I'm above all my macronutrient recommendations...

Looking for thoughts and suggestions? I'm not looking to gain weight or lose weight.

Thanks

Replies

  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    It is not always easy to trust someone else's calculations. I have the same problem: "But if..." Well, we have to trust something / someone in life once in a while. As long as we record all food / drinks we consume, as long as we don't over - evaluate the exercises we have done and as long as we stay within the MFP calculated daily calorie goal for weight loss... What could go wrong? 349 days on MFP, so far lost 30 kg (67 pounds) and lots more to go.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,246 Member
    I admit to being slightly confused by your post... but I'll give it a go :smiley:

    I admit to a bit of curiosity though... if your goal is to neither gain weight nor lose weight... what led you to the idea of both tracking and recording what you eat?

    in any case... if I were you I would input my daily weigh ins into a weight trend application and i would observe my weight trend.

    Assuming you want to keep a steady weight I would adjust my food downward 250 Cal or so if I saw my weight trend go up and I would adjust it up 250 Cal or so if I saw my trend go down.

    Using a weight TREND app, I would peg my "take action" levels at about 2lbs of change if you want to be tight, more if you're willing to be looser (note that 2 lbs of weight trend could translate into several lbs between lowest lows and highest highs)

    For the above to work it really doesn't matter what the recordings indicate SHOULD be happening. What matters is what is actually taking place with your weight and adjusting your RELATIVE behaviour on the basis of your results.

    As mentioned already further up, if all your macros exceed your targets but your calories don't (and the difference is appreciable) you more than likely have one or more erroneous database entries that you're using.

    Macros multiplied are supposed to add up to the total calories. Because of rounding, total calories will be, say, up to 100 Cal in total less than the macros indicate.
  • mszallar
    mszallar Posts: 34 Member
    Thank you for all the responses.

    1) I made my diary public for viewing.

    2) I started tracking so I have a better understanding of what I'm putting in my body. (I don't usually get 2k calories per day, and my activity level burns away most (if not all) those calories I get. I tend to eat bad foods more than healthy foods.

    3) I use the MFP to count calories. I look up the food, which I can normally find thanks to bar codes, and plug it in with the number of servings. I feel that it is... Mostly accurate.

    4) After adjusting my serving sizes, which wasn't accurate, my macros seem to be a lot closer. My carbs still show high and over target, but the rest is under.

    I think the issue, as pointed out, has to do with tracking. I won't buy a food scale for this, but I'd like it to be close. I have no issue being honest about the crappy food I eat. With my diary now open to the public, feel free to take a look and provide further feedback or recommendations.

    Thank you!
  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,205 Member
    What I hear you saying is you think you are doing it right, but your five week projection suggested you'd gain a little. I think maintenance is kind of a learning process... you try a certain # calories and keep an eye on things, then adjust. Those projections are estimates and not always accurate.

    I ended my day just over 1700 calories and it told me I'd gain in 5 weeks if I kept it up... I ignored it. I think I get so few steps from my desk job that I probably do need closer to 1600 per day, but I didn't let it stop me from having the dessert I wanted from a restaurant tonight. I'll be fine.
  • endermako
    endermako Posts: 785 Member
    Panini911 wrote: »
    never mind you've already said you won't buy a food scale. so I have nothing to add :)

    same, maybe if he continues to maintain or gain he will rethink this.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,741 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    BZAH10 wrote: »
    mszallar wrote: »
    Thank you for all the responses.

    1) I made my diary public for viewing.

    2) I started tracking so I have a better understanding of what I'm putting in my body. (I don't usually get 2k calories per day, and my activity level burns away most (if not all) those calories I get. I tend to eat bad foods more than healthy foods.

    3) I use the MFP to count calories. I look up the food, which I can normally find thanks to bar codes, and plug it in with the number of servings. I feel that it is... Mostly accurate.

    4) After adjusting my serving sizes, which wasn't accurate, my macros seem to be a lot closer. My carbs still show high and over target, but the rest is under.

    I think the issue, as pointed out, has to do with tracking. I won't buy a food scale for this, but I'd like it to be close. I have no issue being honest about the crappy food I eat. With my diary now open to the public, feel free to take a look and provide further feedback or recommendations.

    Thank you!

    How are you calculating your calorie burn? I'm thinking along with not measuring your food intake with a scale and relying on inaccurate bar codes, you could also be miscalculating your daily burn.

    @BZAH10

    Judging by the exercise entry for Sunday (4,000 steps in an hour = 1,700+ calories) I would say badly!

    Don't think Bradley Wiggins managed that in an hour when he pushed himself to the limit to set a new one hour world record.

    Oh, yikes. Yep, you're right. Thanks for pointing that out. Hopefully the OP will read this as well.
  • DanSanthomes
    DanSanthomes Posts: 135 Member
    Hi. Looking at your exercise dairy for the last week - you're attributing far too many calories to your steps. I've just done a 55min walk at a fair pace and it was around 230 cals and approx 3.5 KMs. You have a 7KM walk down as 1,931 calories....

    Either you're double counting via Fitbit/Step counter or there's something skewy with your step calculation. Have a look at that and see if it balances out your calculations.

    Best of luck
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,246 Member
    What gear are you using?

    Is it connecting automatically to mfp to exchange information, or are you entering figures for exercise and burns manually and/or transfering the counts yourself?

    Approximate current weight and height?
  • mszallar
    mszallar Posts: 34 Member
    Great s3. I only everything manually because s-health seems erroneous information to mfp.

    Height 5'6
    Weight 158
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,246 Member
    If you're putting info manually read your S3 manual to make sure whether you're dealing with all day Calories or exercise calories and where you can find your total calories for the day from all sources.

    I can tell you that I am 5ft 7", a couple of lbs lighter and older, and it takes me about 15,000 steps to hit a TDEE (calories from living and exercise) equal to ~3K.

    Do for you to do this manually and for the math to work you have to duplicate what integration does automatically.

    With the apps disconnected (so no automatic steps, no nothing happening automatically), see how much MFP thinks you have spent to midnight.

    See what your total is on your Samsung.

    Create an exercise equal to the difference.

    This should kick MFP up to the level of the Samsung.

    If the Samsung's numbers change after you do this, then you may still have MFP connected to it... see above re disconnecting.

    Or let the automation do its thing without manual interference.

    Apple users sometimes push their info to mfp via an intermediate app
  • mszallar
    mszallar Posts: 34 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    If you're putting info manually read your S3 manual to make sure whether you're dealing with all day Calories or exercise calories and where you can find your total calories for the day from all sources.

    I can tell you that I am 5ft 7", a couple of lbs lighter and older, and it takes me about 15,000 steps to hit a TDEE (calories from living and exercise) equal to ~3K.

    Do for you to do this manually and for the math to work you have to duplicate what integration does automatically.

    With the apps disconnected (so no automatic steps, no nothing happening automatically), see how much MFP thinks you have spent to midnight.

    See what your total is on your Samsung.

    Create an exercise equal to the difference.

    This should kick MFP up to the level of the Samsung.

    If the Samsung's numbers change after you do this, then you may still have MFP connected to it... see above re disconnecting.

    Or let the automation do its thing without manual interference.

    Apple users sometimes push their info to mfp via an intermediate app

    I have my apps disconnected from MFP. If I don't manually input anything, it won't show me how much it thinks I've burned. (Maybe I'm not looking in the right place?)

    If I can figure out that piece, then I think the rest will come into place as you've instructed. Thank you.
  • kmfeig87
    kmfeig87 Posts: 1,990 Member
    I think what's happening is you are counting your resting calories/basal metabolism rate twice. When you input your height/weight/activity level stats into MFP, it calculates caloric need for the day. If you do exercise above that, you can add that in as extra calories burned. It sounds like your Samsung watch tells you your steps and estimates your total caloric burn from the day. If you haven't "exercised" this number should be close to your MFP maintenance calorie estimate. If it isn't, you may want to change your activity level in MFP to see if you can get the numbers to be a closer match. You should NOT add all the calories your SAMSUNG says you ACTUALLY burned to what MFP THINKS you will burn, as this is definitely going to count your calories for living twice!!
  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,205 Member
    kmfeig87 wrote: »
    I think what's happening is you are counting your resting calories/basal metabolism rate twice. When you input your height/weight/activity level stats into MFP, it calculates caloric need for the day. If you do exercise above that, you can add that in as extra calories burned. It sounds like your Samsung watch tells you your steps and estimates your total caloric burn from the day. If you haven't "exercised" this number should be close to your MFP maintenance calorie estimate. If it isn't, you may want to change your activity level in MFP to see if you can get the numbers to be a closer match. You should NOT add all the calories your SAMSUNG says you ACTUALLY burned to what MFP THINKS you will burn, as this is definitely going to count your calories for living twice!!

    Yes this! You are adding back an estimated calorie burn for living, breathing, walking around. That stuff is already built into the calories given to you for the day based on the activity level you chose. You should only add CARDIO as exercise and consider wearing a HR monitor for accurate calories burned in an exercise session.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited April 2019
    If you have a very regular normal exercise routine and find that your weekly calorie burn is about the same, you can also just manually create an eating goal.

    Keep a 3 week running avg for your normal weeks (not spring cleaning week, not sick with flu week) daily burn according to S3, if it includes everything.
    Manually correct it for things that it doesn't do well - like lifting the trackers usually won't.

    Get your avg daily TDEE, set your eating goal the reasonable deficit on Sun, and go for it.
  • 33gail33
    33gail33 Posts: 1,155 Member
    edited April 2019
    Your calories burned in your exercise diary seem way, way too high. You are probably not burning as much as you think you are. It looks to me like you are adding your total calorie burn for the day from your tracker as additional calories for "steps". Is that possible?
  • eeanneli
    eeanneli Posts: 35 Member
    It isn't the same as tdee as tdee includes exercise. I think it is based on neat but someone with more knowledge can correct if wrong. Your mfp numbers are based on your daily activity not including purposeful exercise. General steps from just just moving in daily life shouldn't be counted as that is build into activity level but if you take a walk as exercise beyond daily life you would count that.

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