I'm confused

plumpgirl

I have always had the understanding that in order to lose weight, you need to cut calories and exercise more. If that is the case, why then, are the calories we burn given back to us to consume in the calorie counter? :ohwell:
Please, could someone explain this to me? I have tried to research this on my own and have found nothing.

plumpgirl

I have always had the understanding that in order to lose weight, you need to cut calories and exercise more. If that is the case, why then, are the calories we burn given back to us to consume in the calorie counter? :ohwell:
Please, could someone explain this to me? I have tried to research this on my own and have found nothing.

jvandertuin

Because you need to eat a minimum amount of food to survive. Check you BMR on tools. That is how many calories you need just to live if you don't do anything. It is up to use whether you want to use the calories or not. My understanding of how this site works is that you "plug" in how many lbs (kgs) you want to lose this week and take it from there. As long as you are eating your required amount per day (@1200 kcal), anything extra that you work off is bonus.

The more calories you burn, the more weight you lose...but you still need to eat your minimum amount of calories per day or you will impact your vitamin/mineral content and you will be sacrificing your health.

firewalking

This was just posted a couple of days ago...hope it helps:

So I have seen lately a lot of people saying that they tried their goal set on MFP, and ate their exercise calories and they either maintained or gained weight. I wanted to offer up some real, hard to face reasons for why people will temporarilly gain weight while following a goal AND eating their exercise calories. Make no mistake, it takes longer to lose weight when you do it this way, but it is easier to maintain in the long run, and raises your chance of success in the long term.

1) You set the wrong goal for youself. Not everyone has the same percentage of body fat, the higher the body fat, the greater the deficit can be and still work for you. And forget the idea that you can accurately calculate body fat by plugging in numbers on a site. Without a trained professional or a machine that does it (hydrostatic, DEXA), you will only be able to calculate a very rough estimate of it. Everyone thinks they set the goal they want. But the only real way to know is to do research. Take a few hours, go online, and research what you really want to do. Look for reputable sources, look for multiple answers from nutritionally trained professionals (most MD's receive VERY little nutritional training in college, make sure they have taken additional training classes in nutrition before turning to them).

2) Your body chemistry was out of whack. It can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months for the body's metabolism to return to an efficient state, during that process, it goes through changes in make up, when those changes happen, many times, you can gain up to 15 or 20 lbs. DON'T LET THIS DISCOURAGE YOU. Even though you are now exercising and eating more nutritious foods, it takes a while for your metabolism to ramp back up, while the metabolism is still working slowly, you can be packing on weight, But remember, your metabolism is "learning" that you are going to consistently treat your body better, and eventually, if you keep feeding it right, it will speed up enough to burn what you are consuming. If you DON'T eat enough, your body will assume that you are just increasing activity without giving it more fuel, which means many functions in your body will still be diminished, which, while causing you to lose short term pounds, does not lead to overall health and eventually will lead to gaining back the weight in most cases.

3) You really do have some kind of medical condition. There are actual conditions that slow down the metabolism, lots of them in fact, most are relatively rare. In many cases, lack of proper nutrition can slow the endocrin system's hormone release and slow down the metabolism. Fortunately your endocrin system is very robust and will usually return to normal function relatively quickly if given proper nutrition, exercise, and sleep. If you are doing these things, and have seen a nutritionist and/or a certified trainer with no sucess for a period of 3 months or more, it might be a good idea to see an endocrinologist to confirm normal glandular function.

I'm not preaching here guys, I know that every person is different. I just hope that everyone is open-minded enough to analyze themself and see if they are actually doing right by their body. I know that I have done 180's while on this site, and have had my eyes opened on more then one occation. And of course there are always the exceptions that prove the rule. I hope this helps you guys. I'm not always right, and often wrong to my own embarrassment, but such is life, I live with it, learn from it, and move on.

-Banks



Yes, I AM the Banksinator!
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition

neknight

As I understand it the base calorie amount allowed in food is an amount that allows you to lose weight at a safe rate. If you work out on top of this it gives you more calories allowed to eat so that you do not lose weight at an unsafe rate. A lot of reports say that if you lose weight too quickly it becomes more likely for you to put that weight back on later.

I am not certain if this is right, maybe someone else could shed some further light on this subject.

crystal_sapphire

because MFP has already created that calorie deficit you need through your calorie intake when you signed up and made your goals. So if you decided you wanted to lose one pound a week, it created a deficit for you to lose one pound a week through calories eaten. When you exercise, you're creating even more of a deficit that's unneeded towards that original goal....

someone else will probably come along and post the really good link that explains all this as this question is almost asked daily.

skinnybliss

Because the calculations are already done for you. For example, I can only consume 1200 calories a day if I want to lose 2 pounds a week. If, however, I exercise on the treadmill and burn 300 calories today, I can consume 1500 calories today and STILL lose 2 pounds a week. If I don't exercise, I have to stay at 1200 calories today.

jvandertuin

Because the calculations are already done for you. For example, I can only consume 1200 calories a day if I want to lose 2 pounds a week. If, however, I exercise on the treadmill and burn 300 calories today, I can consume 1500 calories today and STILL lose 2 pounds a week. If I don't exercise, I have to stay at 1200 calories today.

Thanks, you did a much better job of explaining it! Good for you. Hope this helps!

kerrilucko

because MFP has already created that calorie deficit you need through your calorie intake when you signed up and made your goals. So if you decided you wanted to lose one pound a week, it created a deficit for you to lose one pound a week through calories eaten. When you exercise, you're creating even more of a deficit that's unneeded towards that original goal....

someone else will probably come along and post the really good link that explains all this as this question is almost asked daily.

This is exactly right.