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Confused about exercise calories.

pennylane986
pennylane986 Posts: 13 Member
edited September 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Will you still lose the weight you intend to lose, say, I am on a 1600 calorie diet, and I burn 400, can I really eat 2000 that day and lose a pound a week?

Exercise calories confuse me, is my daily goal my net?

Replies

  • Xandi
    Xandi Posts: 319
    Yes that is they way it works...
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    The idea is to take in 500 calories less than you burn. 500 calories x 7 days = 3500 calories = 1 pound of fat lost. So if your BMR is 2100, you eat 1600. If you exercise, you also eat those calories burned during the exercise so that you stay at a 500 calorie daily deficit.
  • jkestens63
    jkestens63 Posts: 1,164 Member
    You will lose the weight... go look at my diary. There's many many days I eat between 2000 and 2400 calories because I exercise hard - which is something I really love to do. If I don't eat most of my exercise calories back, within a couple days I find myself binging, as though my body is telling me I'm not feeding it enough so its gonna get it any way it can.

    As you can see in my signature, I've lost a lot of weight.

    Eat to lose!
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    The short answer is "yes". You can eat and lose weight.

    The long answer is really well described in Ladyhawk's post:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics
  • AndreaWyland
    AndreaWyland Posts: 142 Member
    Yes:) Focus on the net:) Eat your exercise cal back so your net should reflect and be the same as your daily cal goal. This was confusing for me too and now I get it and it DOES work! They really should put that on your diary page instead of on your home page, I dont know about you but I go back and forth from diary to home page to check my net... good luck!
  • Sherbog
    Sherbog Posts: 1,075 Member
    You are so right...your profile is great....my weekly group weigh-in is in two hours...reading your profile was great motivation for me. Thanks.
  • mayesjmc
    mayesjmc Posts: 1 Member
    I am confused as well. My BMR according to this website is 1,513 and my daily calories are 1,550. If i am supposed to subtract from my BMR, why is it telling me to eat more than I would burn naturally? I'm sorry, I'm brand new and confused!
  • Celo24
    Celo24 Posts: 566 Member
    I am confused as well. My BMR according to this website is 1,513 and my daily calories are 1,550. If i am supposed to subtract from my BMR, why is it telling me to eat more than I would burn naturally? I'm sorry, I'm brand new and confused!

    The confusion often comes from the fact that people forget that MFP already builds in a deficit. But what everyone is saying is right. Eat those calories!! Read the links in my signature for a more thorough explanation why.
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