MFP Calorie Needs

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LemonTank
LemonTank Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi! So I have kind of a silly question, but how does MFP calculate calorie needs? Does it use a TDEE equation, or is it going off of BMR? I ask because when I workout, it always says I earned *this many* extra calories from exercise. But if MFP uses the TDEE equation, then I actually should not be eating these extra calories, no?
Thank you!

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    It is based on your NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). So your BMR plus your day to day kind of stuff in your activity level. Exercise is extra and you get those calories to eat when you've actually performed the work. That's why your activity level doesn't say anything about exercise...it just asks you what kind of work you do for a job and such. A TDEE calculator will ask you how many hours per week you spend exercising and to what degree of intensity.

    This is why you "eat back" exercise calories with MFP...you account for that activity after you have completed and logged it. A TDEE calculator accounts for it in your activity level. Your actual exercise goals that you put into MFP are just for you...they have no bearing on your calorie goal.

    I would also note that you should do some research on calorie burn...don't just assume this or any other database is correct...most numbers are highly inflated. Personally I recommend using a HRM if you're going to use the MFP method...it's still an estimate, but a much more accurate one. I always knocked off around 20% of my HRM burn for an aerobic event and ate those calorie back...seemed to be a conservative way to go about it and worked just fine. Note that HRMs are less and less accurate the further you get from a steady state aerobic event. Being that I lift a lot and do a lot of other non steady state stuff...and ultimately consistent in my routine, I just went with the TDEE method after several months of MFP.
  • LemonTank
    LemonTank Posts: 6 Member
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    Thank you for your answer! Do you mind if I clarify something about TDEE, then? If you do switch to TDEE, then you would NOT eat back calories from exercise, since these are already factored in to your daily calorie requirements?

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