New to Calorie Counting....question....

EvilMonkey2

Ok, I got the app for my android phone and started tracking today. I set a "realistic" goal of losing 1 lb / week for now.

It kicked out that I should aim for 1880 calories per day.

So I put in my breakfast this morning (284 calories) and my gym workout (599 calories), and then looked at my app and it says I have 2195 calories remaining (1880 - 284 + 599).

Is that how this works? I thought the 1880 calories was a total, not net. By the time I add in my walk and exercises stuff this evening, it'll want me to eat like 2700-3000 calories today.

I have kindof (loosely) kept track of calories before, and I'm not even sure I can eat the much in a given day. Well, I can obviously, but I think I'd actually be eating more than I was before. Or drink more beer, which I won't complain about.

Am I reading this wrong?

tmcowan

No, you're reading it right. Enjoy your beer.:happy:

erickirb

You are correct on how it works. When signing up, what did you put as your activity level? If you put light active try changing it to sedentary and your calories will be reduced. If you are light active I would not add in walking as exercise as the activity level already accounts for quite a bit of activity.

EvilMonkey2

I put in Sedentary, since my day is wake up, go to the gym for about an hour (on workdays...usually 4 but sometimes 5 days), then I sit at a desk all day, go home, maybe go for a slow walk with the wife for 20 minutes,, then watch TV.

Is that "sedentary" or "light active" for my level?

Glad I am reading it right. I will try to eat my calories for the day....and pay close attention to my nutrient intake (I have a feeling I have an iron deficiency....)

Thanks for the quick replies.

MarieS1967

If I am on vacation or going out to dinner and want "something extra" ok, but generally I do not eat my exercise calories.

You can play around with your calorie count and see what works for you! Good luck!

astridfeline

Do you use a heart rate monitor to calculate your cals burned? The gym machines can give less accurate numbers. Also, I would suggest eating more for breakfast...or having another small breakfast after working out. protein/carb combo is best.

marciml

There are a lot of opinions regarding eating your exercise calories. The general consensus is, yes eat them, but maybe not quite all of them. I wanted to remind you that there are more things to take into account than just calories. Also, look at your protein, fat and carbs. If you are within limits of all of those things, then you are doing exactly what you need to be doing.

Best of luck!

Oh, also take a look at some of the newbie posts in the Home area. There are some excellent posts that talk about eating right and how long it takes your body to react to eating right. Some times we have been so deprived of good-for-us foods that we may have been not eating enough calories and really damaging our metabolism. It may take time to repair your metabolism, if this has been the case.

Be patient and follow the process and you will see results.

Mellie13

I don't always eat all of my exercise calories, but do make sure to at least eat the minimum set by mfp.

EvilMonkey2

Do you use a heart rate monitor to calculate your cals burned? The gym machines can give less accurate numbers. Also, I would suggest eating more for breakfast...or having another small breakfast after working out. protein/carb combo is best.

No I don't use a monitor. I am going off of the exercises in the app, which seem to be pretty flexible since it even lets me put in the type of weight exercise, the amount, the reps, and the sets, as well as my cardio routines. I have been trusting the machines for heart-rate to make sure I am in my zone.

As for the breakfast thing, yeah, I usually eat a light breakfast (cereal/milk/fruit), go to the gym, eat a mid-morning snack, a light lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner, and then a smaller "meal" at night. Trying to get 5 or 6 small meals/day rather than 3 bigger ones.

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone. I am curious to see how my nutrients and stuff add up at the end of today. As well as how hard it's going to be to eat 2500+ calories.

MzBug

As long as you eat at least your BMR calories every day you don't HAVE to eat ALL your exercise calories. Attempt to eat at least some of them. Keep a watch on the nutritional aspects that pertain to you (sugar for diabetics, fats for the cholesterol problem etc). If you are working out daily make sure you watch the sodium and potassium from getting too low.

Listen to your body, when you are hungry eat. If you have left over calories near the end of the day and are not hungry, don't eat. A small snack a couple hours before bed (calories allowing) won't hurt you though. Water, water, water.

astridfeline

A HRM is more accurate b/c you can enter your gender, weight, age; maybe body fat depending on the model; and continuously monitors your heart rate during the workout...I know when I'm on the machines I am not always holding onto the machine to measure HR. just be aware that you could be overestimating your cals burned.

canstey

If your gym workout is mostly strength training and not an intense aerobic workout for the full hour, it sounds like the calorie estimate is high. Since your weight loss is set to 1lb a week and it looks like you could handle 2lbs a week with no problems and strength training exercises are notoriously hard to estimate and tend to burn less than people think, I recommend not eating your exercise calories for now and seeing how you respond over the next few weeks. If you feel like you are starving all the time and feeling fatigued then you need to eat some back. If on the other hand you feel great and workouts are as good or better than ever, keep up the good work.