Confused..I'm new..calorie goal goes up as I excercise

FaithHopeBELIEVE

Okay to get to my goal the system computed that I can only have 1200 calories a day (I'm only 5'2") to get there. Well each time I add in an excercise I completed the calories go up. Then it says I've earned 460 calories from excecise to eat today! Well that's great but I don't want to maintain weight I want to lose it. So if it initially calulated 1200 calories a day then why wouldn't the excercise just be a deficit and I would lose more weight quicker then? So confused. In order to lose the weight I want, do I need to up my calories like the system is caluclating since I'm excercising?

CMmrsfloyd

MFP operates on the idea that going below 1200 net calories is not good for your daily bodily functions. 1200 is the lowes it will tell you to go. The 1200 goal assumes that you are not exercising, this is the amount MFP says you can eat and lose weight even if you don't go out of your way to exercise. If you *do* exercise, MFP wants you to eat back the calories you burned off b/c of the 'less than 1200 will freak out your body' theory. For me, it's actually a really good motivation to exercise b/c when I do exercise I get to add in additional snacks to my day. :-) Some people follow the MFP goal estimates very strictly, others find that they have great success going higher or lower, and still others swear by 'zigzagging' their calories (meaning they may go under the MFP goal several days per week and then over the other days, so that at the end of the week their calories average out to be close to the daily goal). Different people find that different strategies work well for them.

withchaco

Think of it this way... 1200 calories is the amount you consume to lose weight WITHOUT exercise.

When you're exercising, you need to eat more...

FaithHopeBELIEVE

Thankyou so much!!!! That is what I was assuming but wanted to clarify so I didn't sabotage myself. I'm trying to lose that last 10-15 lbs of stubborn fat mainly on my midsection.

psuLemon

Thankyou so much!!!! That is what I was assuming but wanted to clarify so I didn't sabotage myself. I'm trying to lose that last 10-15 lbs of stubborn fat mainly on my midsection.

If you only have 10-15 lbs to lose, you should set your goal to .5 lbs per week. This will also increase your calories. Also, my suggestion is pre planning. That means, plan all your calories and exercise before hand, then you can eat your calories throughout the day as opposed to playing caught up. That last 20 ish lbs is very difficult to lose, so the additional calories wil help ensure it's not muscle that you are losing.

darklord48

This also depends on your setup. If you set a target weight loss, the 1200 calories is what you need to lose that weight. If you set a target of 0, then 1200 would be what you need to maintain your weight, which I would highly doubt for anyone. Some people even use the site to gain weight, and their calorie goal for each day is adjusted for that.

1lb of fat is ~3500 calories. If you set your weight loss goal at -1lb/week, MFP will put you at a goal 500 calories under what you need to maintain your weight. The caveat is that it will not set you below 1200 calories because the creators of MFP view that as the minimum needed to be healthy.

FaithHopeBELIEVE

This also depends on your setup. If you set a target weight loss, the 1200 calories is what you need to lose that weight. If you set a target of 0, then 1200 would be what you need to maintain your weight, which I would highly doubt for anyone. Some people even use the site to gain weight, and their calorie goal for each day is adjusted for that.

1lb of fat is ~3500 calories. If you set your weight loss goal at -1lb/week, MFP will put you at a goal 500 calories under what you need to maintain your weight. The caveat is that it will not set you below 1200 calories because the creators of MFP view that as the minimum needed to be healthy.

Ok that makes so much sense now. The other day when I entered my stats on a BMR site, it caluclated that I should have almost 1900 calories a day to maintain! So now I see what MFP is doing. So glad to hear and I am so happy to hear how much I can actually eat. That must be my problem. I don't think I have been eating enough with the amount of excercising I do. I need to change my mindset.

psuLemon

This also depends on your setup. If you set a target weight loss, the 1200 calories is what you need to lose that weight. If you set a target of 0, then 1200 would be what you need to maintain your weight, which I would highly doubt for anyone. Some people even use the site to gain weight, and their calorie goal for each day is adjusted for that.

1lb of fat is ~3500 calories. If you set your weight loss goal at -1lb/week, MFP will put you at a goal 500 calories under what you need to maintain your weight. The caveat is that it will not set you below 1200 calories because the creators of MFP view that as the minimum needed to be healthy.

Ok that makes so much sense now. The other day when I entered my stats on a BMR site, it caluclated that I should have almost 1900 calories a day to maintain! So now I see what MFP is doing. So glad to hear and I am so happy to hear how much I can actually eat. That must be my problem. I don't think I have been eating enough with the amount of excercising I do. I need to change my mindset.

Just keep in your mind that food if fuel. If you dont have enough, your body wont have enough fuel to run your body.

Schwiggs

There is a handy search function at the top....just fyi.