Not sure how to use data on MFP - please help

leanne4000

According to MFP my BMR is: 1,353 calories/day*

In my goal settings it states "Calories Burned From Normal Daily Activity - 1,690 calories/day" but my net calories goal to loose weight is 1200 cals.

Therefore which is figure should I be aiming for and whats the difference in these figures?

Also when I earn extra calories from exercise am I supposed to be eating these calories as well? I find that difficult as I run in the evenings and can burn a lot of calories and therefore feel like Im stuffing my face on my evening meal trying to reach my goal of net calories. Can I save these calories earned for a few drinks at the weekend instead of trying to eat them on the day?

EllieMo

BMR is the number of calories you basic body functions would use up if you did absolutely nothing, except lying still, for 24 hours.

Calories Burned From Normal Activity is the amount of calories you use on a typical day when you don't spend all day in bed

Net calories are what you should be aiming to consume to create a reasonable deficit between calories burned from normal activity and calories consumed.

As regards eating exercise calories, that depends on whether you factored them in on your activity level. I set mine as sedentary, and then log any exercise I do - if you put very active to take into account your running, then that would be included in your normal activity calories.

People's views seem to differ re "banking" calories - I look at my calories over a week, rather than a day, so that i can even up my food intake (otherwise i'd be eating masses on the days i go to the gym and very little on rest days!), so I'm all in favour of banking calories over the short term.

leanne4000

Thanks for clearing that up, good news about banking calories!