Calories added for calories burned exercising

beverlylogan
beverlylogan Posts: 3
in Fitness and Exercise
Why do I get credit for calories burned while exercising? Wouldn't I lose weight faster if I didn't log my exercise even though I do it? For example, I want to eat 1200 calories a day but if I go for a power walk I end up getting credit and eating 1500 calories a day. This doesn't make sense to me. Would live to hear from others.

Replies

  • suffokscouse
    suffokscouse Posts: 5
    Personally I would write to myfitness pal in an email - they answer fairly promptly. I had a query about sugar and the red figures.
  • carlom18
    carlom18 Posts: 174 Member
    MFP creates a deficit for you and therefore when you do exercise it credits calories back otherwise the deficit will be greater and not sustainable in the long run
    my advice, find a TDEE calculator online and figure that out and then create a 10 - 20% deficit based off that number while still crediting back exercise calories. Alternatively you could eat at maintenance and create a deficit entirely by exercising, up to you. Just keep track of your weight loss each week until you are losing steadily and remember, don't do extremely low calorie deficits because they never work.
  • Thomasm198
    Thomasm198 Posts: 3,189 Member
    http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/12031-what-are-net-calories-

    http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1026720-how-does-myfitnesspal-work-
  • Stage14
    Stage14 Posts: 1,046 Member
    Since MFP already creates a deficit for you based on how much you said you wanted to lose when you signed up, it credits back exercise calories so that you don't end up undereating and stalling out your metabolism.
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    Because it's about deficit management. You pick a deficit to achieve safe, steady weight loss. If you then fail to eat back your exercise calories, you are inflating that deficit - possibly to a less healthy level. Higher deficits mean more lean mass loss. In extreme cases there can be serious side effects to eating at too large a deficit. That's why VLCDs should only be attempted under doctor supervision.

    If you want a higher deficit, then set it as such (keeping in mind that it's generally recommended to lose no more than 1% of body mass per week), and then eat back your exercise to keep the deficit consistent.

    You'd lose weight even faster if you didn't eat at all, but hopefully you aren't contemplating that.
  • beverlylogan
    beverlylogan Posts: 3
    What's deficit management?
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    What's deficit management?

    Keeping your calorie deficit constant.

    i.e. I aim for 1 pound lost per week, so I look to maintain a constant deficit of 500 Calories.

    If I didn't eat back my exercise calories, my deficit would be more like 1,100 on running days, and 800 on lifting days. That would give me a weight loss of closer to 2 pounds a week, which is too high given that I am now only 160 pounds and trying to lose the last 5 pounds. At 2 pounds per week I would almost certainly be losing muscle mass, which I don't want.

    Besides that, I'd also be miserable. Not eating back exercise would give me a miserly 1,610 calories per day, which is completely inadequate to support my activity levels.

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