Need help understanding please

shannp

Hi All

So I have joined MFP which is helping me to be honest with the what I am eating, how much of it I am eating and also the level of exercise I want to be doing.

However I am still confused by the daily calorie goals. Each day my Calorie goal for the day starts at 1220 and then with any exercise I do that target increases. So what I want to know, is do I still aim to eat the original goal of1220 calories per day to lose weight or do I aim to eat the adjusted amount?

Any and all help would be appreciated

emma7437

I would not pretend to be an expert, and there are loads and loads of posts on whether or not to eat exercise calories back. However, from what I have read and understand... 1220 calories is your daily limit on which you will lose weight. If you exercise, people say eat these calories as well because your body needs the additional energy because you exercised. If you do not eat them, you are not fuelling your body. So. for example, if you burned 250 calories, then you would eat 1220 + 250 for the day. And you would still net 1220 calories.

Now, lots of people argue for and against eating back calorie exercises. Personally, I eat them but usually have some deficit, like 100 - 150 calories, depending on how much I have exercised. I would never go under 1200 though. And I am losing weight, so it seems to work.

If you search eating exercise calories you will get loads of topics with lots of for and against arguments.

Char_marcus

i agree with the above person. i don't eat all my exercise calories back ,but about 80% as MFP can over estimate the amount of calories burnt doing exercise

ladyraven68

Hi All

So I have joined MFP which is helping me to be honest with the what I am eating, how much of it I am eating and also the level of exercise I want to be doing.

However I am still confused by the daily calorie goals. Each day my Calorie goal for the day starts at 1220 and then with any exercise I do that target increases. So what I want to know, is do I still aim to eat the original goal of1220 calories per day to lose weight or do I aim to eat the adjusted amount?

Any and all help would be appreciated

Depending on whether you set your goal at 1lb, or 2lb a week, MFP set you a calorie goal which includes a 500, or 1000 calorie defict.

BUT MFP does not take exercise into account until you actually do it, so it you burn 500 calories doing exercise, you have now made your defict 500 greater.

MFP assumes that when you set your loss goal of 1lb per week, you actually meant 1lb a week, so it tells you to eat back you exercise calories to get back to the deficit you selected.

i.e lets assume your daily calorie expenditure without exercise is 2000 calories

MFP deducts 500 for you to lose 1lb per week , so you eat 1500 calories.
If you exercise and burn 600 calories, your daily expenditure is now 2600, and if you eat 1500 you have made a defict of 1100.

If you eat the extra 600 calories you will bring your defict back to 500 and back to the 1lb target you set.

Your net calories are important to make sure you are receiving enough nutrition,

3dogsrunning

The way MFP is set up is that your goal already has a calorie deficit built in, whether you exercise or not. This is different from other ways, like of you go to a nutritionist for example as they account for exercise.
This causes a lot of confusion, many don't understand how it works.

MFP is designed that your net calories should be equal to your target. So for you, your net calories should be 1220 or close to that.
Net calories = calories eaten - calories burned. So on days you don't exercise, you eat the 1220. On days you do, you eat extra.

I am a believer in eating, especially when you are exercising. My only caution is that MFP numbers can be inflated. I always tend to underestimate a little or not eat them all, but still eat a large portion of them.

smill101

As Emma said there's no fixed rule & different views.
I personally don't set out to eat back what I've gained, but know that I can afford to eat an extra piece of fruit if I'm hungry or have a bigger main meal in the evening as a treat when I exercise (I'm always honest with my food diary).
I also use exercise as a tool if I've gone over my calorie intake for the day, for example I'll go for a walk in the evening (1 hour walk = 300 calories burned) if I've had a weak moment.
I often come in under my Net 1400 calorie goal & I've had no ill effects at all.
Again, it works for me.
Good luck