How does exercise work in My Fitnesspal?

nycnicky

I don't quite understand how My Fitnesspal works? If you exercise, the program gives you more calories for the day. I don't understand how that measures your actual calories versus how many you are allowed. Then exercise should just be that many more calories burned in addition to your daily/weekly goal. I don't get it.

jaabee11

Yep, I don't get it either. Hopefully someone who's been around a while will explain it. I never know whether to use them or not. I tend to use them more times than not which is slowing me down I think.

ReginaB13

It always tells you at the bottom of your food page how many additional calories you have burned from exercise, so if you just eat to that number remaining, rather than eating til your out of calories available, then you are not eating into your earned exercise calories at all, hence you're eating your normal goal and no more. You will lose faster this way, probably. However, it's nice to know that they are there after a hard workout if you want to splurge a little and eat into some of them. Overall, I avoid eating these extra calories, except on weekends in which case I typically splurge a little more and eat into a portion of them. I lose more weight the weeks that I don't do this though But sometimes you need to indulge a bit.

skierxjes

Eat them back. Net at LEAST 1200 a day, every day. Hard work out? Net more.

Never less than 1200 a day.

Crystal817

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/390147-what-are-net-calories

LorinaLynn

MFP calculates your calories differently. Most calorie counting plans will ask for your age, weight, height, how active you are, and how much exercise you're going to do, and figures out how many calories you should eat from that.

MFP is more precise. It takes your age, weight, height, and activity level, then deducts the number of calories you'd need to lose (or gain) weight from that. The amount you SAY you're going to exercise doesn't play into it, so you'll lose if you exercise or not. The calories you burn through exercise isn't tallied into your total UNLESS and UNTIL you do the exercise.

If you don't eat those earned calories, you could create too large of a calorie deficit. It's not just a simple matter of calories in vs calories out... if your body doesn't have the right nutrients, it's much harder to lose weight. Food is fuel and if you exercise like a madman, you need more fuel.

If you don't want to bother with the whole exercise calorie thing, you should adjust your activity level to include your normal daily activity AND the amount you exercise.

rockerbabyy

Here is how it works, in a simplified manner:

You tell MFP: I want to lose 1lb per week.

MFP says: Okay, you need to eat X calories per day in order to lose 1lb/week, without exercise.

You do what MFP says, but then you decide to exercise and you burn an additional 400 calories. MFP then says "Hey, I told you to eat X per day to lose 1lb/week without exercise. You exercised, now you're going to lose it too fast and that's not ideal. Now I want you to eat X+400".

jaabee11

@rockerbaby. *like*. Best answer, lol
Thanks heaps.