do you consider exercise on my fitness pal?

bigbrownkid

this is what i have been doing, let me know if its right or wrong, im pretty sure its right but i wanted to make sure

example... the my fitnesspal says eat 1450 calories a day to lose on average 2 pounds a week. but then usually i exercise(gym cardio lift) an hour to 2 hours a day. so i burn about 800 calories from the gym everyday. now would u still only eat 1450? or eat more the 1450+800?. and it usually says to eat 1450, but i only end up eating 1200. is this what im suppose to do??

misscfe

You are supposed to eat all of what MFP recommends plus the exercise calories. Now do you have to eat all the exercise calories back? I personally don't, most of the time. I probably eat closer to half of them back.

aippolito1

You could be overestimating your exercise calories. How are you estimating your calories burned? You should really get a heart rate monitor if you don't have one already, just to be sure. Also, yes, you should eat most of your exercise calories. Take into account how many calories you plan to burn for the day and spread them out as you eat during the day so you're not stuck with 800 calories right before bed.

Also, just wanted to say if you make some changes, it can be very easy to eat back all those calories. The key is protein, protein, protein! Put protein powder in oatmeal for breakfast, have a protein shake after you work out (within an hour and a half of your workout to repair muscles strained during exercise), lots of fish, chicken, ground turkey, etc.

And no, if it says to eat 1450, eat at LEAST that. If you're exercising a lot, your net at the end of the day should be your base. At the top of your homepage, where it says net, you want that to say 1450.

AdrienneKaren

I'm not exactly sure, but the minimum intake of calories is 1200 so your body can function properly. I would eat at least the 1450 otherwise your body will go into starvation mode and your metabolism will slow. That will make losing weight much more difficult. If you log your exercise and all your food, it should tell you at the bottom of the screen after you've completed the day's entries if you're eating too few calories. I get that message a lot.

barbiex3

no. if you make the decision to work out that hard, you should be prepared to eat them back. I'm not sure what your weight is, but if you are already in the healthy weight for your BMI, then you need to eat more, but if you are obese or overweight, then I'm sure you can get away with this more easily, so maybe you don't need to change your eating habits

bigbrownkid

You could be overestimating your exercise calories. How are you estimating your calories burned? You should really get a heart rate monitor if you don't have one already, just to be sure. Also, yes, you should eat most of your exercise calories. Take into account how many calories you plan to burn for the day and spread them out as you eat during the day so you're not stuck with 800 calories right before bed.

Also, just wanted to say if you make some changes, it can be very easy to eat back all those calories. The key is protein, protein, protein! Put protein powder in oatmeal for breakfast, have a protein shake after you work out (within an hour and a half of your workout to repair muscles strained during exercise), lots of fish, chicken, ground turkey, etc.

And no, if it says to eat 1450, eat at LEAST that. If you're exercising a lot, your net at the end of the day should be your base. At the top of your homepage, where it says net, you want that to say 1450.

the machines at the gym i do 2.5miles on the treadmill (which is hell) then i do 5miles on the elliptical and i also lift with my friend whenever he goes and sometimes i do this + play basketball with friends for couple of hours.


im in summer school and its really easy and dont really have much to do thats why i have so much time, but i cant see myself eating that much. right now i eat 1200-1400 most days and sometimes 1700 at most, and i dont do this cause im paranoid, but i never really ate that much and it seems that healthier foods dont have as much as the fast food i ate.

also if i eat protein wont i put on muscle/ weight?

bigbrownkid

no. if you make the decision to work out that hard, you should be prepared to eat them back. I'm not sure what your weight is, but if you are already in the healthy weight for your BMI, then you need to eat more, but if you are obese or overweight, then I'm sure you can get away with this more easily, so maybe you don't need to change your eating habits

im 5-8 right now 210 pounds so i am overweight,
3 weeks on just eating healthier i lost 6pounds, but last week i havnt lost anything but probably due to extra lifting