Calorie Goal & Exercise

tsanmiguel43

If my calorie goal is 1200 calories. I have eaten 726 calories so far today and I burned 577 calories in the gym. According to my fitness pal I have 1051 calories remaining..

Should I eat this many more calories? Or just the 474 left over for the day... I am confused as to how this works...

Can someone please answer this for me?

bcattoes

Eat healthy food until your full and then call it a day. If you are full, you will not go into starvation mode.

beverlyl64

Personally I never eat the exercise calories, I try to get close to goal, but always seem to be under but I'm never hungry

tsanmiguel43

Thanks... I try not to go over my 1200 calorie goal and I watch what I eat.. Just wanted to make sure I was not depriving myself! )

KaironAndTaviansMommy

Okay... So if you dont know it takes 3500 Calories burned to lose a pound. If you divide that between 7 days, you should have a 500 calorie deficit everyday. If you are supposed to eat 1200 calories and dont work out you should really only be eating 700 Calories... If you managed to burn 500 calories which you did you should make sure to get as close to 1200 as you possibly can and if you burn over 500 then add whatever you burned over 500 and add that to your 1200. The website adds the calories you burn into your amount and it shouldnt... when you are done for the day you should always have 500 or as close to 500 (dont recommend under) left in the remaining area.

Hope that helped.
This is just how I see it and I have also discussed this with my trainer and I have had some success doing it this way.

Bree

tsanmiguel43

Thank You Bree....

KaironAndTaviansMommy

Your Very welcome!

ladyhawk00

Your calorie goal is a goal to MEET, not see how far you can stay under. An occasional day far under is not the end of the world, but if done frequently, it can hinder your progress. May help to read these threads:

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

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/231636-the-eating-when-you-re-not-hungry-dilemma

golferd

Okay... So if you dont know it takes 3500 Calories burned to lose a pound. If you divide that between 7 days, you should have a 500 calorie deficit everyday. If you are supposed to eat 1200 calories and dont work out you should really only be eating 700 Calories... If you managed to burn 500 calories which you did you should make sure to get as close to 1200 as you possibly can and if you burn over 500 then add whatever you burned over 500 and add that to your 1200. The website adds the calories you burn into your amount and it shouldnt... when you are done for the day you should always have 500 or as close to 500 (dont recommend under) left in the remaining area.

Hope that helped.
This is just how I see it and I have also discussed this with my trainer and I have had some success doing it this way.

Bree


This is not how the site is setup. The site already has built a deficit if your under the deficit as you say your closer to 800-1000 under your needs. Biggest loser contest on tv, they eat and eat to make sure they drop. If they don't eat they won't lose.

Bree, I am not attacking you but I learned this the hard way. Still trying to get body to start dropping again after slowing down due to low calorie intake and lots of exercise.

golferd

http://drcjfitness.wordpress.com/2008/01/07/biggest-loser-behind-the-scenes/

Read this for proof.

ladyhawk00

Okay... So if you dont know it takes 3500 Calories burned to lose a pound. If you divide that between 7 days, you should have a 500 calorie deficit everyday. If you are supposed to eat 1200 calories and dont work out you should really only be eating 700 Calories... If you managed to burn 500 calories which you did you should make sure to get as close to 1200 as you possibly can and if you burn over 500 then add whatever you burned over 500 and add that to your 1200. The website adds the calories you burn into your amount and it shouldnt... when you are done for the day you should always have 500 or as close to 500 (dont recommend under) left in the remaining area.

Hope that helped.
This is just how I see it and I have also discussed this with my trainer and I have had some success doing it this way.

Bree

As golfer said, this is incorrect. MFP is designed differently than other counters/plans. Other plans use your exercise to create the deficit, keeping your daily cal goal static. With them, you would not eat back exercise calories.

MFP is different. It was designed with the idea that many people can't exercise regularly, or at all, due to physical limitations or time. They also recognized that most people set up an exercise plan, but as we all know, that's not necessarily what actually happens every day. So they built the site to allow for weight loss with or without exercise.

MFP creates a BUILT IN CALORIE DEFICIT, based on your loss per week goal, regardless of exercise. So when you log exercise, cals are added back in to keep that deficit stable. If you don't replace those cals, you've made your deficit larger than you (presumably) intended. A larger deficit does not necessarily mean faster/more weight loss; it is usually unhealthy and unsustainable and most often backfires. It is important to fuel the body properly, or it may begin to slow metabolism and burn muscle as fuel.

People with a lot to lose (50+ lbs) can often get away with eating only some or none of their exercise cals. Those who have less to lose risk more by not eating them. It's up to the individual whether they are ok with those risks.

KaironAndTaviansMommy

Thank you very much for clearning that up. I had no clue that was what it already did. I will definitely be making some changes that might be why some days are better than others!

Bree

KaironAndTaviansMommy

I had no Idea... thank you very much for clearing that up. I really appreciate it. I was curious as to what I was doing wrong that kept me stuck. I really appreciate you helping me out. I didnt take any offense to it, nor did i feel attacked. but I will definitely be thinking about that when Im working out thinking oh great now I need to watch what I eat when in reality i should be going okay great more calories burned what else should I be eating.

Bree

ladyhawk00

I had no Idea... thank you very much for clearing that up. I really appreciate it. I was curious as to what I was doing wrong that kept me stuck. I really appreciate you helping me out. I didnt take any offense to it, nor did i feel attacked. but I will definitely be thinking about that when Im working out thinking oh great now I need to watch what I eat when in reality i should be going okay great more calories burned what else should I be eating.

Bree

Glad to help. It's a common misunderstanding, simply because MFP works so differently than almost any other counter/plan. But it's generally more accurate, because it accounts for exercise each day, rather than just an assumed average. And I think most of us have an ingrained tendency to equate weight loss with very low calorie levels. It's a little hard to adjust to the idea of eating more to lose weight. Good luck on reaching your goals! :flowerforyou:

luvmykid28

bump

tsanmiguel43

So which is correct as MFP says that I should eat no more than 1200 calories per day however another website says it should be 1600 per day after the 500 calorie deduction... As of right now I am working my but off 5 days a week however the scale keeps staying the same and I am not consuming more than 1200 calories..

lecia125

If you are going to use MFP consistently, then set your goals and follow them on here. If you want to lose 1 # or 2# a week etc. or if you are sedentary, very active, etc. MFP takes this in to account when giving you your calorie allowance. You should eat your calories and any exercise calories you earn. My opinion is if you aren't losing, you probably are not eating enough. P. S. Don't forget the water! Best Wishes!

tsanmiguel43

I think you are correct. I think I am burning more than I am consuming.. Thanks for your input... Good luck to you! :happy: