Doubt on calorie counting

rickdaugusta
rickdaugusta Posts: 1 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey guys. So im pretty new on this app and im trying to build muscle while on a slight calorie deficit. So I reach my calories based on what the app says, but since I do a lot of exercise throuhgout the day, am I supposted to eat more, since Im burning many calories? Thanks.

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    Yes: From "Help"
    https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-

    From "Most Helpful Posts"
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    You won't be in a slight deficit if you ignore significnt exercise expenditure.
    The base calorie goal you got is only for a day you do no exercise.

    What is this "lot of exercise throughout the day"?

    Remember that day to day regular activity and purposeful exercise are two different things when using MyFitnessPal.
    e.g. I spent some of the morning gardening but that is accounted for in my "Active" activity seting. But when I go to the gym this evening that exercise expenditure will get logged and added to my daily goal.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,753 Member
    As Sijomial said, it depends on your activity setting and whether doing exercise all day is because you are doing deliberate exercise or if you just do a lot of steps as part of your job and thus is included in your activity setting. You don't want to be counting the same activity twice, but neither do you want to ignore it entirely.

    i.e. I spend much of the day sitting, either at the computer, or reading, or watching TV. However, I also go for 2-3 walks with the dog every day and spend another hour or more doing deliberate exercise (running, bike, yoga, etc.) My activity setting is set to sedentary but I log my walks (2-3 miles) and my runs in the exercise log. That gives me extra calories, which I eat back. If I had a job where I was on my feet all day I would count that in my activity level and then add in deliberate exercise as well.
  • ciaoder
    ciaoder Posts: 119 Member
    Measure what your food log says against what your scale says against what your mirror tells you. The app is a good tool but what you want to do is no easy trick. It's not impossible but unless you have really high body fat and are new to lifting it'll take some trial and error to get your diet dialed in.

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