is the calories burned flawed?

iamlegion714

was just sitting here thinking that eating back calories from working out may not be the best thing. if i want an accurate measure of how many "bonus cals" i get, wouldn't i need to figure out the difference between calorie expenditure sitting on the couch and working out, and then subtract those calories?

for example, say i burn 100 calories sitting on the couch in an hour, or 400 working out in an hour. in order to get an accurate amount of what i "earned" wouldnt i need to subtract the former from the latter and award myself the net? whatcha think?

summertime_girl

Agreed. And I do not eat my calories back. (With the exception of partial calories if I've done an insane amount of exercise.)

JBennis1013

bump

Thomasm198

was just sitting here thinking that eating back calories from working out may not be the best thing. if i want an accurate measure of how many "bonus cals" i get, wouldn't i need to figure out the difference between calorie expenditure sitting on the couch and working out, and then subtract those calories?

for example, say i burn 100 calories sitting on the couch in an hour, or 400 working out in an hour. in order to get an accurate amount of what i "earned" wouldnt i need to subtract the former from the latter and award myself the net? whatcha think?

No.

There was a topic on this many months ago (probably 7 or 8 months). I can't find the link to that topic to post it here.

MFP already has the deficit calculated based on your BMR so the calories you burn would be essentially in addition to the deficit already calculated for you.

mrpurdy

I subtract 1 calorie for every minute of exercise. So, if I burn 460 calories doing Zumba for an hour (according to my Bodybugg), I only count 400, because it seems that my BMR of @ 1 calorie/minute is already accounted for in MFP.

tnmarie

I subtract 1 calorie for every minute of exercise. So, if I burn 460 calories doing Zumba for an hour (according to my Bodybugg), I only count 400, because it seems that my BMR of @ 1 calorie/minute is already accounted for in MFP.

That's interesting, I never thought of it that way. Do you eat your exercise calories back?

efriling

Seems to make sense to me..I would take your BMR and divide it by 24 since it tells you how many cals you burn within a 24 hour period just living. Then subtract that from your cals burned that hour if you're going to eat them...this is if you're a purist. Another school of thought is that once you work out for that hour, you've raised your metabolic rate which seems to last for a few hours, so you're actually burning a little more sitting on the couch AFTER working out, than you normally would be...which usually makes up for those extra calories...up to you really, but as long as you choose one thing and do it consistantly, you'll have a good measurement.

mrpurdy

I subtract 1 calorie for every minute of exercise. So, if I burn 460 calories doing Zumba for an hour (according to my Bodybugg), I only count 400, because it seems that my BMR of @ 1 calorie/minute is already accounted for in MFP.

That's interesting, I never thought of it that way. Do you eat your exercise calories back?

It depends on the day whether or not I eat back my exercise calories. If it has been a particularly sedentary day otherwise, I don't eat back the exercise calories (or only eat some of them). I'm a library media specialist in a junior/senior high school, so some days I'm up and moving a lot, and some days I'm stuck at the computer (unfortunately). On the days that I'm moving a lot, I will eat back my exercise cals.

iamlegion714

some good things to consider. thanks all for your input.