Counting calories

FitnessFreak1821

My fitness pal is set to 1697 calories. I ate 1651calories. burned 263 with exercise. Leaving me with 309 calories left.

So in today's case to get my total deficiency for the day would I do the following:
1697-309=1388 calories for the day

My maintenance calories according to current weight is 2139

2139-1388= 751 deficiency for the day?

Am I calculating the calories correctly? Just curious if I'm doing it right

Thank you

goal06082021

Yep, you've got it. MFP also wants you to eat back those exercise calories, to keep your deficit at whatever level you chose for the rate of loss that you want.

FitnessFreak1821

goal06082021 wrote: »

Yep, you've got it. MFP also wants you to eat back those exercise calories, to keep your deficit at whatever level you chose for the rate of loss that you want.

Great thank you 😊

gpanda103

FitnessFreak1821 wrote: »

goal06082021 wrote: »

Yep, you've got it. MFP also wants you to eat back those exercise calories, to keep your deficit at whatever level you chose for the rate of loss that you want.

Great thank you 😊

While from a mathematical standpoint this is correct, I wouldn’t advise eating back whatever you burned, since you can’t really track that nearly as accurately as tracking what you eat

Lietchi

I'm not sure the math is actually correct, not without knowing where that maintenance number is coming from.
If it includes exercise (=maintenance TDEE) , then the exercise shouldn't have been subtracted from the food intake. If 'maintenance calories' is what MFP gives you as your calorie goal when you select weight maintenance, then yes, it's correct.

gpanda103 wrote: »

FitnessFreak1821 wrote: »

goal06082021 wrote: »

Yep, you've got it. MFP also wants you to eat back those exercise calories, to keep your deficit at whatever level you chose for the rate of loss that you want.

Great thank you 😊

While from a mathematical standpoint this is correct, I wouldn’t advise eating back whatever you burned, since you can’t really track that nearly as accurately as tracking what you eat

I disagree. I would advise eating it back for a period (say 4 to 6 weeks for men, 1 or two menstrual cycles for women) and then comparing the theoretical deficit to actual losses and adjusting if necessary.

It's not because exercise calories are hard to track, that they will necessarily be 'too high' (it depends on where the number is coming from and what type of exercise). Even the base calorie goal is an estimate, which could be high as well as low, low the person deviates from the statistical averages.
I'm more of a fan of a cautious approach, avoiding the risk of a too high deficit. That being said, the risk also depends on the individuals situation (already lean or not, etc)

If eating all of them isn't wishful, it's also possible to eat back half (or any other proportion) for that same period and then reevaluate.

AnnPT77

gpanda103 wrote: »

FitnessFreak1821 wrote: »

goal06082021 wrote: »

Yep, you've got it. MFP also wants you to eat back those exercise calories, to keep your deficit at whatever level you chose for the rate of loss that you want.

Great thank you 😊

While from a mathematical standpoint this is correct, I wouldn’t advise eating back whatever you burned, since you can’t really track that nearly as accurately as tracking what you eat

That's a perfect way to arrive at goal weight with no idea how to maintain weight at varied levels of exercise . . . with exercise changes a situation that's very probable at some point in our lives. Not knowing how to adjust with varied exercise is one (of dozens or hundreds) of ways people succeed at weight loss, then fail at staying at a healthy weight.

I vote for what @lietchi said, above. Eat back a consistent percentage of choice for 4-6 weeks (whole menstrual cycles if one has those), then adjust.

Base calorie goal, or TDEE estimate from one of the so-called calculators, even the personalized calorie estimate from a fitness tracker: All SWAG (Scientific Wild A** Guesses). Exercise estimates need not be lots worse, with a little attention to how best to estimate which activities.

I've always eaten all my (carefully estimated) exercise calories, through a year of loss from obese to healthy weight, and 6+ years at a healthy weight since, under conditions from zero exercise (post surgery and whatnot) to many hundreds of calories of exercise daily. After the first 4-6 week trial period and adjustment, weight has been very predictable from my logging. A person's estimates can be plenty close enough to work.

TDEE method can also work fine . . . as long as the person adjust when there's a material change in activity level, either daily life activity or exercise.

sollyn23l2

mtaratoot wrote: »

FitnessFreak1821 wrote: »

My fitness pal is set to 1697 calories. I ate 1651calories. burned 263 with exercise. Leaving me with 309 calories left.

So in today's case to get my total deficiency for the day would I do the following:
1697-309=1388 calories for the day

My maintenance calories according to current weight is 2139

2139-1388= 751 deficiency for the day?

Am I calculating the calories correctly? Just curious if I'm doing it right

Thank you

I think you have it backwards.

MFP base goal = 1697
Exercise calories added = +309
Total calorie goal for the day = 1697+263=1960

Food eaten = 1651

Calories remaining to meet goal = 1960-1651=309.

If your MFP goal is set for MAINTENANCE, then you have a 309 calorie deficit, and that deficit should mean you lose a little more than a half pound per week.

If your MFP goal already has a deficit built in, like if you told MFP you wanted to lose a half pound a week to get to your base goal of 1697, then your deficit would be 250+309=559. A 500 calorie per day deficit is expected to lead to a pound per week loss.

No, the op is right. You're calculating from the 1697 that's already at a deficit. To figure out your total calorie deficit for the day, you have to calculate from maintenence calories, like the op did.

sijomial

gpanda103 wrote: »

FitnessFreak1821 wrote: »

goal06082021 wrote: »

Yep, you've got it. MFP also wants you to eat back those exercise calories, to keep your deficit at whatever level you chose for the rate of loss that you want.

Great thank you 😊

While from a mathematical standpoint this is correct, I wouldn’t advise eating back whatever you burned, since you can’t really track that nearly as accurately as tracking what you eat

I did 418 hours of cycling last year.
Even at a conservative 500cals/hr that would be 209,000 cals not accounted for which doesn't make sense for anyone who is calorie counting.
Even on a monthly basis that a variation from 16 to 62 hours or 8,000 to 31,000 cals.

BTW - the method I use for estimating calories burned cycling is very accurate (from measured power) and will most likely only be a low estimate.

Calorie counting is full of estimates and the worst estimate is the one totally ignored!
Some exercise is harder to estimate but the one number that can't be correct is zero.

sollyn23l2

mtaratoot wrote: »

sollyn23l2 wrote: »

mtaratoot wrote: »

FitnessFreak1821 wrote: »

My fitness pal is set to 1697 calories. I ate 1651calories. burned 263 with exercise. Leaving me with 309 calories left.

So in today's case to get my total deficiency for the day would I do the following:
1697-309=1388 calories for the day

My maintenance calories according to current weight is 2139

2139-1388= 751 deficiency for the day?

Am I calculating the calories correctly? Just curious if I'm doing it right

Thank you

I think you have it backwards.

MFP base goal = 1697
Exercise calories added = +309
Total calorie goal for the day = 1697+263=1960

Food eaten = 1651

Calories remaining to meet goal = 1960-1651=309.

If your MFP goal is set for MAINTENANCE, then you have a 309 calorie deficit, and that deficit should mean you lose a little more than a half pound per week.

If your MFP goal already has a deficit built in, like if you told MFP you wanted to lose a half pound a week to get to your base goal of 1697, then your deficit would be 250+309=559. A 500 calorie per day deficit is expected to lead to a pound per week loss.

No, the op is right. You're calculating from the 1697 that's already at a deficit. To figure out your total calorie deficit for the day, you have to calculate from maintenence calories, like the op did.

The OP did not state that the 1697 was maintenance calories. They just said that they had MFP set for 1697. They did not disclose if that included a deficit, a surplus, or was a maintenance number. Unless I didn't understand what the OP was saying, which is a real possibility. All I can say is that the deficit BELOW THE MFP GOAL is 309 calories. If the MFP goal is set to maintenance, then the deficit is 309. If the MFP goal is set to include a deficit, the deficit is greater than 309. If the goal was set to lose one pound per week, the actual deficit is 309+500=809. Big deficit.

She does state what her maintenence calories are. They are 2139. She ate 1651 calories. 2139-1651=488. She exercised away 263 worth of calories. 488+263=751. I'm sorry, but you're just straight up wrong in this case. And that's a reasonable deficit, it would lead to 1.5 lbs of weight loss per week. Not to mention it's pretty common not to eat back exercise calories, but to use them as a buffer in case you're underestimating how much you're eating.

mtaratoot

sollyn23l2 wrote: »

mtaratoot wrote: »

sollyn23l2 wrote: »

mtaratoot wrote: »

FitnessFreak1821 wrote: »

My fitness pal is set to 1697 calories. I ate 1651calories. burned 263 with exercise. Leaving me with 309 calories left.

So in today's case to get my total deficiency for the day would I do the following:
1697-309=1388 calories for the day

My maintenance calories according to current weight is 2139

2139-1388= 751 deficiency for the day?

Am I calculating the calories correctly? Just curious if I'm doing it right

Thank you

I think you have it backwards.

MFP base goal = 1697
Exercise calories added = +309
Total calorie goal for the day = 1697+263=1960

Food eaten = 1651

Calories remaining to meet goal = 1960-1651=309.

If your MFP goal is set for MAINTENANCE, then you have a 309 calorie deficit, and that deficit should mean you lose a little more than a half pound per week.

If your MFP goal already has a deficit built in, like if you told MFP you wanted to lose a half pound a week to get to your base goal of 1697, then your deficit would be 250+309=559. A 500 calorie per day deficit is expected to lead to a pound per week loss.

No, the op is right. You're calculating from the 1697 that's already at a deficit. To figure out your total calorie deficit for the day, you have to calculate from maintenence calories, like the op did.

The OP did not state that the 1697 was maintenance calories. They just said that they had MFP set for 1697. They did not disclose if that included a deficit, a surplus, or was a maintenance number. Unless I didn't understand what the OP was saying, which is a real possibility. All I can say is that the deficit BELOW THE MFP GOAL is 309 calories. If the MFP goal is set to maintenance, then the deficit is 309. If the MFP goal is set to include a deficit, the deficit is greater than 309. If the goal was set to lose one pound per week, the actual deficit is 309+500=809. Big deficit.

She does state what her maintenence calories are. They are 2139. She ate 1651 calories. 2139-1651=488. She exercised away 263 worth of calories. 488+263=751. I'm sorry, but you're just straight up wrong in this case. And that's a reasonable deficit, it would lead to 1.5 lbs of weight loss per week. Not to mention it's pretty common not to eat back exercise calories, but to use them as a buffer in case you're underestimating how much you're eating.

Mea culpa; You are absolutely right.

I am not sure why I missed that.