Exercise calories
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NYTripletMommy
Posts: 4 Member
Should I eat the calories that I earn from exercising? Thanks 😊
0
Replies
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Yes.
Just like you would be doing if you used a TDEE calculator which calculates them in advance.
Just like you would be doing if you used a 24hr wearable tracker.
Just like you will need to when you get to goal weight and want to maintain.1 -
Yes.
Just like you would be doing if you used a TDEE calculator which calculates them in advance.
Just like you would be doing if you used a 24hr wearable tracker.
Just like you will need to when you get to goal weight and want to maintain.
I disagree, fitness trackers are notoriously inaccurate. Your exercise calories should definitely be factored into your TDEE already
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Yes.
Just like you would be doing if you used a TDEE calculator which calculates them in advance.
Just like you would be doing if you used a 24hr wearable tracker.
Just like you will need to when you get to goal weight and want to maintain.
I disagree, fitness trackers are notoriously inaccurate. Your exercise calories should definitely be factored into your TDEE already
Fitness trackers can be just as inaccurate as TDEE calculators. Both rely on statistical averages, which means people can be outliers. Furthermore, people can be un-average in both directions, burning less or more calories.
The best way to determine that is to follow a method (whether that is MFP's method of using NEAT plus exercise calories, or a TDEE method or the estimate from a fitness tracker) and track your weight over a few months (monthly cycles for women) and adjust accordingly. That's how I found out my fitness tracker underestimates my TDEE by 100-200kcal.3 -
Definitely eat back calories, but make sure your calorie expenditures are as accurate as they can be. Like Lietchi says they are all based on statistical averages, but using monitors gives you a better estimate than the MFP numbers alone. For me, MFP often wants to credit me with almost double what my tracker records especially for biking. I find my tracker is pretty accurate according to my weight loss.
If you are using MFP, logging and recording for a couple of months will give you a good idea of what your body is capable of. Maybe it's eating all of the calories, maybe its 80% or 50%, but it should never be 0%.
Good luck.0 -
Yes.
Just like you would be doing if you used a TDEE calculator which calculates them in advance.
Just like you would be doing if you used a 24hr wearable tracker.
Just like you will need to when you get to goal weight and want to maintain.
I disagree, fitness trackers are notoriously inaccurate. Your exercise calories should definitely be factored into your TDEE already
You really think estimating in advance is more accurate than estimating after you have actually done the exercise when at least you know the duration of your exercise and the intensity of that exercise rather than just a vague number of exercise sessions?
e.g Last week the range of my exercise sessions varied from one hour of weights (small burn) to almost four hours of cycling (huge burn).
And that vague average estimate in advance from a TDEE calculator doesn't even define the type of exercise which makes a huge difference.
And "fitness trackers" are just one way to get exercise estimates.
If you think TDEE calulators are adequate for purpose then you should agree that better estimates taking into account type, duration and intensity will tend to be better than that.3 -
Yes.
Just like you would be doing if you used a TDEE calculator which calculates them in advance.
Just like you would be doing if you used a 24hr wearable tracker.
Just like you will need to when you get to goal weight and want to maintain.
I disagree, fitness trackers are notoriously inaccurate. Your exercise calories should definitely be factored into your TDEE already
"Notoriously inaccurate"?
Surprising, then, isn't it, that quite a few people around here seem to lose weight close to expectations when following their guidance?
Yes, they can be wrong - @Lietchi's rundown was correct, including the part where they can be underestimating needs, not just overestimating them. That's how statistical estimates work. It's more about the non-averageness of the person (not always for obvious reasons) than about the theoretical accuracy of the tracker, IMO.
Any method of estimating calorie needs is just that, an estimate.
Any estimate, from any such source (or from 🙄 one of those ridiculous 'X times your goal weight' rules of thumb, etc.) is just a starting point. It should be treated as a hypothesis to be tested.
Routinely, here, we tell new folks to follow the estimate for 4-6 weeks, and adjust based on results. (Adult women not in menopause should go for at least one full menstrual cycle, compare body weight at the same relative point in at least two different cycles.)
Trackers start with basic scientific research as their foundation, the same research used by MFP and TDEE calculators, to estimate BMR/RMR. After that, they use other research to measure various values (GPS locations, heart rates, arm movements, altitude, etc.) and produce a personalized calorie estimate for activity based on research involving those measurements. It's still an estimate.
MFP (without a tracker synched) and TDEE calculators use rules of thumb multipliers of the BMR/RMR estimates, based on very limited self-selected activity descriptions, to estimate calories. How are the latter going to be more accurate? (On top of that, some trackers "learn" their user, and use the information gathered to improve their estimates over time.)
In general, a tracker is likely to produce at least as good an exercise calorie estimate as the MFP METS-based exercise logging. Either of those can have some limitations for specific exercise types. For many average people's half an hour or hour of exercise here and there, either can be close enough, because some estimates are high and others low, so it tends to average out. If someone wants to be more precise, one can identify exercise estimating methods that are more accurate for certain activities. (I'd note that a zero estimate for exercise calories is inherently and always incorrect, perhaps alarmingly so.)
OP, when using a particular method of getting a starting calorie estimate, it would be a good idea to use that estimate in the way it was designed to be used. In MFP's case, that means setting "activity level" in one's profile based on one's life habits not including intentional exercise, then estimating exercise calories separately, and eating those back in addition to the basic calorie estimate. That keeps the calorie deficit (weight loss rate) the same.
Using round and made-up numbers, let's say MFP thinks I should eat 1500 calories to lose a pound a week. (That implies that MFP thinks I'd need 2000 calories to maintain my current weight, because a 500 calorie daily deficit will theoretically add up to losing around a pound a week.) On Tuesday I exercise for 500 calories, on Wednesday I don't exercise. Here's a simplistic run-down of each day:
Tuesday: Burn 2000 calories being alive and living daily life, add 500 calories of exercise, so total estimated calorie burn is 2000 calories. MFP's given me an eating goal of 1500 calories, to which it adds the 500 exercise calories. I burn 2500 calories, eat 2000 calories, and have my 500 calorie deficit for that estimated pound a week weight loss.
Wednesday: Burn 2000 calories being alive and living daily life, no exercise, so total estimated calorie burn is 2000 calories. MFP's given me an eating goal of 1500 calories, no add-on. I burn 2000 calories, eat 1500 calories, and have my 500 calorie deficit for that estimated pound a week weight loss.
That's how MFP's designed to work. If you prefer to eat the same number of calories each day, use a decent external TDEE calculator** to get your starting estimate, and set activity level including exercise plans, manually input the calorie goal into MFP, then follow that estimate daily. (Be sure to complete the planned exercise!)
** Such as this one:
https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
In either scenario, if you decide to synch a tracker to MFP, you should enable negative adjustments, and follow the adjusted total (based on full-day reconciliations, on average - you needn't worry if you get or lose a few calories unexpectedly by midnight - your body doesn't reset at midnight, so you can level out those calories later, or ignore them if the difference is small).
Personally, I appreciate the MFP method. I'm normally very active. However, there have been times when I've been injured, recovering from surgery, etc., and not able to do my normal round of active things. Because of using MFP (for nearly 7 years now, loss and maintenance), I know how much I need to eat to maintain my weight when I can't exercise, or to maintain my weight with varying amounts of exercise. For me, that's useful for those reasons, and also because my main exercises are seasonably variable, and in Summer weather dependent.
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Yes.
Just like you would be doing if you used a TDEE calculator which calculates them in advance.
Just like you would be doing if you used a 24hr wearable tracker.
Just like you will need to when you get to goal weight and want to maintain.
I disagree, fitness trackers are notoriously inaccurate. Your exercise calories should definitely be factored into your TDEE already
gpanda103...You're new here.
This site (Myfitnesspal) does not use the "TDEE" method to calculate your calorie needs. As was mentioned above, MFP uses a "NEAT" method as delineated in the Mifflin St Jeor calculation.
Here is the explanation from MFP, so you don't get into these kinds of confusing conversations again (on this site...)
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-
So - yes, eat the calories "earned" by purposeful exercise if you are using this site to calculate your Goals. Like mentioned above, try it for 4-6 weeks by doing accurate logging and then you'll have a good dataset from which to work if you're going to continue to log food here using the Goals this site suggests. In my case, this site underestimates my calorie needs by nearly 500 calories per day and I found that out by using it over time and making adjustments.
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NYTripletMommy wrote: »Should I eat the calories that I earn from exercising? Thanks 😊
They should be accounted for in some manner or another. Most calculators out there are TDEE calculators and an estimate of your exercise is included in your activity level and thus built into your calorie target. This is not the case with MFP. MFP as designed is a NEAT method calculator where your activity level is derived from your day to day hum drum to get your NEAT calories. Deliberate exercise is unaccounted for activity. You account for exercise with MFP by logging it after the fact and then MFP giving you additional calories...MFP wouldn't give them to you if you weren't supposed to eat them...MFP isn't trying to trick you or something.
There are pros and cons to each method...but both are estimates and require some trial and error. The TDEE method works well for people who are consistent in their exercise in terms of both regularity and type and duration of exercise. Everything is baked into the cake and accounted for, so it's pretty straight forward other than making adjustments as per your real world results. The downside to the TDEE method is best of intentions not being realized. That is to say, setting yourself up with well intentioned exercise in your activity level, but not consistently following through with that resulting in eating at a higher calorie target than is justified.
The MFP method works well for people who don't really exercise but still want to lose weight...or people who aren't consistent in their exercise regularity (often the case with novice exercisers), or people who are consistent in regularity but have a highly variable regimen day to day (ie days with very high loads of exercise and other days with very low to no exercise load). The biggest downside to the MFP method is estimating calories out. We simply don't burn the calories most people think we burn with deliberate exercise. Dialing that in can be difficult. Just as an example, my old bike computer and chest strap would typically give me 800 calories for an hour of road cycling...MFP's database for vigorous cycling gives me around 900...these are both grossly inaccurate. In reality, depending on the ride and my watt output it's more like 400-600.
At any rate, not taking your exercise into account overall has the very real potential to create a deficit that is overly large and unsafe long term. Fueling your exercise is also a very big component of recovery and recovery is where you make your fitness gains. A lack of recovery leads to fatigue and higher risk of injury and impedes fitness gains. That said, "exercise" is a pretty broad term. I personally wouldn't be too fussed about not feeding a 30 minute walk with my dog...it's not particularly strenuous and doesn't require any recovery and doesn't burn a lot of calories for which my deficit would become overly large. More vigorous and longer duration exercise is going to burn a lot more calories and needs to be accounted for.1 -
cmriverside wrote: »Yes.
Just like you would be doing if you used a TDEE calculator which calculates them in advance.
Just like you would be doing if you used a 24hr wearable tracker.
Just like you will need to when you get to goal weight and want to maintain.
I disagree, fitness trackers are notoriously inaccurate. Your exercise calories should definitely be factored into your TDEE already
gpanda103...You're new here.
This site (Myfitnesspal) does not use the "TDEE" method to calculate your calorie needs. As was mentioned above, MFP uses a "NEAT" method as delineated in the Mifflin St Jeor calculation.
Here is the explanation from MFP, so you don't get into these kinds of confusing conversations again (on this site...)
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-
So - yes, eat the calories "earned" by purposeful exercise if you are using this site to calculate your Goals. Like mentioned above, try it for 4-6 weeks by doing accurate logging and then you'll have a good dataset from which to work if you're going to continue to log food here using the Goals this site suggests. In my case, this site underestimates my calorie needs by nearly 500 calories per day and I found that out by using it over time and making adjustments.
This just is wrong. Unless you want to get hooked up to a vo2 max machine there’s no way you can know how many calories you burned accurately, furthermore, I’m not new. I have been on MFP since 2020.
What I said was your target calories should already account for what you do in a day. I know what NEAT is. It’s a part of your TDEE. I’m telling OP that their intake should already take into account their energy expenditure. Read better🤷♀️0 -
cmriverside wrote: »Yes.
Just like you would be doing if you used a TDEE calculator which calculates them in advance.
Just like you would be doing if you used a 24hr wearable tracker.
Just like you will need to when you get to goal weight and want to maintain.
I disagree, fitness trackers are notoriously inaccurate. Your exercise calories should definitely be factored into your TDEE already
gpanda103...You're new here.
This site (Myfitnesspal) does not use the "TDEE" method to calculate your calorie needs. As was mentioned above, MFP uses a "NEAT" method as delineated in the Mifflin St Jeor calculation.
Here is the explanation from MFP, so you don't get into these kinds of confusing conversations again (on this site...)
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-
So - yes, eat the calories "earned" by purposeful exercise if you are using this site to calculate your Goals. Like mentioned above, try it for 4-6 weeks by doing accurate logging and then you'll have a good dataset from which to work if you're going to continue to log food here using the Goals this site suggests. In my case, this site underestimates my calorie needs by nearly 500 calories per day and I found that out by using it over time and making adjustments.
This just is wrong. Unless you want to get hooked up to a vo2 max machine there’s no way you can know how many calories you burned accurately, furthermore, I’m not new. I have been on MFP since 2020.
What I said was your target calories should already account for what you do in a day. I know what NEAT is. It’s a part of your TDEE. I’m telling OP that their intake should already take into account their energy expenditure. Read better🤷♀️
But MFP used as designed does not do that because it's not a TDEE calculator.3 -
cmriverside wrote: »Yes.
Just like you would be doing if you used a TDEE calculator which calculates them in advance.
Just like you would be doing if you used a 24hr wearable tracker.
Just like you will need to when you get to goal weight and want to maintain.
I disagree, fitness trackers are notoriously inaccurate. Your exercise calories should definitely be factored into your TDEE already
gpanda103...You're new here.
This site (Myfitnesspal) does not use the "TDEE" method to calculate your calorie needs. As was mentioned above, MFP uses a "NEAT" method as delineated in the Mifflin St Jeor calculation.
Here is the explanation from MFP, so you don't get into these kinds of confusing conversations again (on this site...)
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-
So - yes, eat the calories "earned" by purposeful exercise if you are using this site to calculate your Goals. Like mentioned above, try it for 4-6 weeks by doing accurate logging and then you'll have a good dataset from which to work if you're going to continue to log food here using the Goals this site suggests. In my case, this site underestimates my calorie needs by nearly 500 calories per day and I found that out by using it over time and making adjustments.
This just is wrong. Unless you want to get hooked up to a vo2 max machine there’s no way you can know how many calories you burned accurately, furthermore, I’m not new. I have been on MFP since 2020.
What I said was your target calories should already account for what you do in a day. I know what NEAT is. It’s a part of your TDEE. I’m telling OP that their intake should already take into account their energy expenditure. Read better🤷♀️
Either way can work, RMR/BMR times activity factor (to estimated NEAT) plus exercise - the way MFP was designed to support - or TDEE (which can work with MFP if the user sets a custom calorie goal).
Both are estimates.
In neither case do you know exactly how many calories you burn, but either can work well enough to be useful for weight management, when sensibly applied, and results monitored.
Both methods include calorie estimates of exercise. In NEAT + exercise, the exercise calories are explicit. In TDEE, they're averaged in. Each method has both advantages and disadvantages.
If you like TDEE method, that's great. I like NEAT + exercise. (It's worked just fine for me, for almost 7 years now.)
P.S. Metabolic tests to determine calorie expenditure are not the same thing as VO2max tests. Both may use monitoring and analysis of inhaled/exhaled gases, but the testing protocols are very different. A metabolic chamber, IMU, is still making an estimate of calorie burn (indirect calorimetry), just a pretty accurate one. We don't need estimates to be that accurate in order to be useful, as a practical matter.1 -
If the OP is asking if she should eat her exercise calories, she's not ready for the tdee convo.
😁
Preview of that convo:
Eating your earned exercise calories on top of your mfp given calorie goal and taking exercise into account when you set your calorie goal is the same damned thing. It's just how your brain wants to process it.
And, either way, you won't know if you're over or undereating (or eating just right) until you're a month or two in and see how you're progressing. Then adjust as needed.2 -
cmriverside wrote: »Yes.
Just like you would be doing if you used a TDEE calculator which calculates them in advance.
Just like you would be doing if you used a 24hr wearable tracker.
Just like you will need to when you get to goal weight and want to maintain.
I disagree, fitness trackers are notoriously inaccurate. Your exercise calories should definitely be factored into your TDEE already
gpanda103...You're new here.
This site (Myfitnesspal) does not use the "TDEE" method to calculate your calorie needs. As was mentioned above, MFP uses a "NEAT" method as delineated in the Mifflin St Jeor calculation.
Here is the explanation from MFP, so you don't get into these kinds of confusing conversations again (on this site...)
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-
So - yes, eat the calories "earned" by purposeful exercise if you are using this site to calculate your Goals. Like mentioned above, try it for 4-6 weeks by doing accurate logging and then you'll have a good dataset from which to work if you're going to continue to log food here using the Goals this site suggests. In my case, this site underestimates my calorie needs by nearly 500 calories per day and I found that out by using it over time and making adjustments.
This just is wrong. Unless you want to get hooked up to a vo2 max machine there’s no way you can know how many calories you burned accurately, furthermore, I’m not new. I have been on MFP since 2020.
What I said was your target calories should already account for what you do in a day. I know what NEAT is. It’s a part of your TDEE. I’m telling OP that their intake should already take into account their energy expenditure. Read better🤷♀️
So you think that eating e.g. 1200 calories for a woman, and exercising for 400, thus netting 800 calories per day is better than eating a part of those calories back? Mate, you're giving extreme low calorie advice here, which is strictly against the rules.2 -
cmriverside wrote: »Yes.
Just like you would be doing if you used a TDEE calculator which calculates them in advance.
Just like you would be doing if you used a 24hr wearable tracker.
Just like you will need to when you get to goal weight and want to maintain.
I disagree, fitness trackers are notoriously inaccurate. Your exercise calories should definitely be factored into your TDEE already
gpanda103...You're new here.
This site (Myfitnesspal) does not use the "TDEE" method to calculate your calorie needs. As was mentioned above, MFP uses a "NEAT" method as delineated in the Mifflin St Jeor calculation.
Here is the explanation from MFP, so you don't get into these kinds of confusing conversations again (on this site...)
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals-
So - yes, eat the calories "earned" by purposeful exercise if you are using this site to calculate your Goals. Like mentioned above, try it for 4-6 weeks by doing accurate logging and then you'll have a good dataset from which to work if you're going to continue to log food here using the Goals this site suggests. In my case, this site underestimates my calorie needs by nearly 500 calories per day and I found that out by using it over time and making adjustments.
This just is wrong. Unless you want to get hooked up to a vo2 max machine there’s no way you can know how many calories you burned accurately, furthermore, I’m not new. I have been on MFP since 2020.
What I said was your target calories should already account for what you do in a day. I know what NEAT is. It’s a part of your TDEE. I’m telling OP that their intake should already take into account their energy expenditure. Read better🤷♀️
The bolded is just a silly exaggeration.
I get accurate calorie estimates for my average 8 hours a week cycling with the overwhelming probability those estimates if they significantly diverge from reality would be on the low side.
Not that perfect accuracy is required for the purpose of weight control anyway, just like it's not required on the intake side.
Without knowing anything about the OP's exercise choices and patterns it's impossible to say if the intrinsically less accurate method of factoring in exercise that average TDEE calculators use is better or worse for her.
If you think the average TDEE method is universally better for everyone you are badly misinformed.
2 -
Yes.
Just like you would be doing if you used a TDEE calculator which calculates them in advance.
Just like you would be doing if you used a 24hr wearable tracker.
Just like you will need to when you get to goal weight and want to maintain.
I disagree, fitness trackers are notoriously inaccurate. Your exercise calories should definitely be factored into your TDEE already
Fitness trackers can be just as inaccurate as TDEE calculators. Both rely on statistical averages, which means people can be outliers. Furthermore, people can be un-average in both directions, burning less or more calories.
The best way to determine that is to follow a method (whether that is MFP's method of using NEAT plus exercise calories, or a TDEE method or the estimate from a fitness tracker) and track your weight over a few months (monthly cycles for women) and adjust accordingly. That's how I found out my fitness tracker underestimates my TDEE by 100-200kcal.
This is the correct answer. Trial your best guess with the information you have - and make adjustments as necessary with the data you gather over time. Data-based decisions.1
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