Why does MFP change calorie # after exercise?

cocopies
cocopies Posts: 12
in Health and Weight Loss
Can someone explain eating exercise calories back and what the point is?

Replies

  • Dori_Gaga
    Dori_Gaga Posts: 50 Member
    Eating them back is your choice. If you are using exercise to create your calorie deficit, then don't. If you are already eating a deficit and exercising, you could be creating too big of a deficit, which may or may not be safe, depending on how much weight you have to lose. If you have more than 50lbs to lose, you can create large deficits without causing harm, because you have your fat stores as back up. If you have, say 10lbs to lose, you need a smaller deficit of a couple hundred calories.

    In short, you don't have to eat back exercise calories just because MFP tells you to. You need to evaluate your goals, starting weight, calorie intake, etc etc, and decide how big of a deficit you should be aiming for, and then decide if you need to eat them back or not. I don't know if I explained this well....
  • kiwitechgirl
    kiwitechgirl Posts: 145 Member
    The calories MFP tells you to eat is already a deficit on what you need to maintain weight. If you exercise and burn more calories, you're creating a bigger deficit which is not always a good thing - if you lose weight too fast (particularly if you don't have a lot to lose) you can lose muscle rather than fat which you don't want. Having said that, if you're calculating calories burned by using the MFP database, be wary as it often inflates burns - a heart rate monitor (with chest strap) is the best way to calculate burns from cardio exercise. You might want to start out eating 75% back for a couple of week and see how you go! then adjust accordingly.

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