Daily Calorie Goal

kcran723

My daily calorie goal is 1370. I usually walk in the morning and am able to add exercise to my diary. As I do this I notice that my calories go up. I record what I eat throughout the day and also walk again in the evening before dinner which I add to my diary and then my calories go up. Should I be sticking to my goal of 1370 or should I be eating all of the calories I have? I sometimes eat 1370 but do not meet my calorie goal. When adding exercise I assume that it changes my calorie goal. I am confused as to what I should be eating. Could someone please explain this to me? And also what is the net calorie number's meaning? Thanks for you help.:noway:

ladyhawk00

In short, yes, you are intended to eat those added cals. Ideally you want your NET to be the same as your initial daily goal.
Here are a couple of threads that explain how MFP works and how it gets the numbers it gives you.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/188509-my-take-on-exercise-calories-please-read-if-you-are-new

Abells

You should be eating 1370 to be the nutrional need for you body according to MFP. But, it's different for everyone. I eat 1200 calories and am doing great. As long as you eat the right things, it's what works for you. Your net calories should always be negative to lose weight. It means you're burning more than you eat. When you put exercise into MFP it adds those calories back into your daily calories. I would wait until the end of the day to input that data so you can view how many calories you eat.

hyde1977

Some say you are suppose to eat all your exercise calories back and some say you are not....always a hot topic....I don't eat all my exercise calories back....Try to always hit the suggested intake per day. If you exercise you should try to have another snack to help replace but overall if you are hitting your daily suggested goal you should be fine. The Net I think is what you need to still eat to have a break even at the end of the day.

I could never eat back all my exercise calories.....but I usually have some snacks before and after for energy!!!!

Gennawest

i know i am going to get mfp jumped for this, but I will say it anyways. I NEVER eat my excer. calories back. Okay, so on an occasional saturday when I go out to eat with the Fam, I may endulge a lil bit, but that is rare. 6 out of the 7 days a week I stay under my calorie goal- even if I burn 800 calories from my workout. People on here say you have to eat your calories back, blah blah blah, and perhaps it works for them, but for me- nahhh. Im sticking to what I think works best. It is not logical to burn calories, only to consume them back. Take it easy on me MFP'ers, I know that is not a popular response, but it is what I think.

AdamATGATT

Here: www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

missbeezy

I am not a docotor or expert but each person is different. I have gotten some really good and really bad advice on here. Talk to your physician and follow your body. not everyone is the same. I was exercising and using a heart rate monitor and i was eating back all of my exercise calories as indicated on here. I began to gain weight. Once I only ate back half I began to lose at a slow yet steady rate. If I don't eat my exercise calories back I lose at a faster rate. I was told by ppl on here I was going to go into starvation mode which was not correct b/c I weigh too much for that. My body has plenty to feed off off. I spoke to a nutritionist who did advise me that eating back all that I burned off was pointless. It works for some but not for others. I would speak to someone who is a professional and listen to your body just make sure you are not letting yourself get hungry and you are eating more than 1200 calories per day. Hope it helps and good luck.

JujiBean

I find when I use MFP to calculate my calorie expenditure, it OVERESTIMATES, big time. If you go by what MFP is telling you that you burned, then you eat those calories, you could be overeating on a daily basis.
I exercise at our local smelly, male infested Gold's Gym. I plug my weight into the machines and their estimate is always about half of what MFP tells me. I almost never eat those calories, and that works very well for me.

Good Luck!

SheilaSisco

MFP starts you out at a calorie deficit, so when you exercise, it will add those calories back into your goal. You ARE intended to eat those calories. The closer your NET is to the goal you start out with every day (in your case 1370), the better you are doing. If you choose not to eat those back and your NET falls below 1200 calories, you are putting yourself in starvation mode and really doing your body more harm than good... so at the very LEAST make sure you are hitting 1200 net every day. You can easily see your net calories from your 'home' page.

ladyhawk00

You should be eating 1370 to be the nutrional need for you body according to MFP. But, it's different for everyone. I eat 1200 calories and am doing great. As long as you eat the right things, it's what works for you. Your net calories should always be negative to lose weight. It means you're burning more than you eat. When you put exercise into MFP it adds those calories back into your daily calories. I would wait until the end of the day to input that data so you can view how many calories you eat.

This is incorrect. A negative net cal is like eating nothing (ie your body has NO food to run basic functions, let alone exercise) and is quite dangerous over the long term. You want to burn more than you eat, but you have to consider ALL of the cals you burn in a day (BMR + daily activity + exercise) - NOT just exercise.

ladyhawk00

I'll point out a couple of things here.

Whether you eat the exercise cals or not, you still have a built in deficit that allows for your chosen loss per week goal. But if you don't eat them, that deficit is larger than you signed up for. That is usually unhealthy and unsustainable. Yes, for most people who are obese or morbidly obese, starvation mode is not an immediate danger. Someone with a lot to lose has much more leeway in their deficit than someone near a healthy BMI. So from that standpoint it is not as critical that they replace the exercise cals.

However, there are still two other issues to think about. First is that if you don't replace any of those cals, you risk encountering the problems that most people on crash diets do - deprivation, bingeing, quitting, and weight regain. Cutting cals to the bare minimum is not good for you psychologically. If it was, we could all just eat as little as possible and lose as much weight as we wanted and never gain it back. But that's not how most people work - and is why all of the diet gimmicks don't work. Fuel yourself (and your workouts) properly. If you can eat more, enjoy yourself and not feel deprived.... why wouldn't you? There's no medal for martyrdom here.

Lastly, there is a reason experts recommend that people (especially if not under the care of a doctor) do not lose more than 2-3 lbs per week. Even if you have a lot to lose, lose quickly and aren't risking starvation mode - you're risking a lot of other things.

Rapid weight loss carries many risks, including but not limited to: gallstones, arrhythmias, hair/skin issues, menstruation issues, excess loose skin, liver/kidney issues, fatigue, and weight regain. People who lose the weight slowly and learn healthy eating habits (which includes eating enough) are MUCH more likely to keep the weight off.

Yes, we'd all love to wake up tomorrow in the bodies we want. But trying to beat your body into submission will backfire at some point. Slow and steady wins the race. Be the tortoise, not the hare. :flowerforyou:

haylayne81

Yes, we'd all love to wake up tomorrow in the bodies we want. But trying to beat your body into submission will backfire at some point. Slow and steady wins the race. Be the tortoise, not the hare. :flowerforyou:
[/quote]

Love this!

missbeezy

Another thing that I learned is that you should not eat ALL of them back

---

if you usually are walking home from work each day at 3 pm to 4 pm and you burn 50 calories each day doing that on the regular and you decided to jog home instead to burn calories and you burn 100 you eat back only 50. the reason being is b/c your body already burns that other 50 each day walking home. Its confusing but I did just learn that we are not supposed to eat back the calories from activities that are already in our normal day burning eating and burning budget then it causes us to overeat. I will find the post on here about it and add it on here

missbeezy

I'll point out a couple of things here.

Whether you eat the exercise cals or not, you still have a built in deficit that allows for your chosen loss per week goal. But if you don't eat them, that deficit is larger than you signed up for. That is usually unhealthy and unsustainable. Yes, for most people who are obese or morbidly obese, starvation mode is not an immediate danger. Someone with a lot to lose has much more leeway in their deficit than someone near a healthy BMI. So from that standpoint it is not as critical that they replace the exercise cals.

However, there are still two other issues to think about. First is that if you don't replace any of those cals, you risk encountering the problems that most people on crash diets do - deprivation, bingeing, quitting, and weight regain. Cutting cals to the bare minimum is not good for you psychologically. If it was, we could all just eat as little as possible and lose as much weight as we wanted and never gain it back. But that's not how most people work - and is why all of the diet gimmicks don't work. Fuel yourself (and your workouts) properly. If you can eat more, enjoy yourself and not feel deprived.... why wouldn't you? There's no medal for martyrdom here.

Lastly, there is a reason experts recommend that people (especially if not under the care of a doctor) do not lose more than 2-3 lbs per week. Even if you have a lot to lose, lose quickly and aren't risking starvation mode - you're risking a lot of other things.

Rapid weight loss carries many risks, including but not limited to: gallstones, arrhythmias, hair/skin issues, menstruation issues, excess loose skin, liver/kidney issues, fatigue, and weight regain. People who lose the weight slowly and learn healthy eating habits (which includes eating enough) are MUCH more likely to keep the weight off.

Yes, we'd all love to wake up tomorrow in the bodies we want. But trying to beat your body into submission will backfire at some point. Slow and steady wins the race. Be the tortoise, not the hare. :flowerforyou:

This right here is well said!