Exercise and Calories

msmonique95

If the goal is to burn off more calories than you take in, why are people telling me that it's okay to consume the extra calories that I earn from working out. Doesn't that just make the workout a waste of time?

sharonuk10

Nope because the way MFP works is it doesn't count that you do any extra exercise. It gives you a calorie deficit already. So when you exercise you get those back.

Edited to add.. I do not eat ALL my exercise calories back just some. Depends on what I am eating and how hungry I am.

sammys1girly

This concept is very confusing to me as well...still not sure I get it...

meggonkgonk

MFP is designed around a NET calorie goal. This is different than most other calorie counting programs that operate on a TOTAL calorie goal and use exercise to create your calorie deficit. Other programs will recommend you eat about 1500 or more cals, and work out 3 or 4 times a week not eating any extra calories, creating a deficit of about 3500 (1lb). MFP sets your goal at 1300 or so-- so if you don't workout, you can still make the 3500 calorie deficit. The flip side to this is that MFP intends for you to eat cals earned from exercise.

The equation on your homepage:

GOAL FOOD-EXERCISE = NET

You should aim to keep that NET number between 1200 and your GOAL number.

meggonkgonk

This concept is very confusing to me as well...still not sure I get it...

OK- you put in all your profile info- age weight height activity level, this brings MFP to an estimate of how much you burn everyday without additional exercise. It's on your "goals" page listed as "Calories Burned From Daily Activity" Mine is 1710. If I selected to lose 1 lb a week, my calorie goal would be 1210 cals per day (a 500 cal deficit each day for 7 days).

This means you can lose without exercising. BUT you have to fuel your workouts by eating at least enough exercise calories to keep your NET number at 1200 (see my above post)