can someone please dumb this down

ashbee03

ok so i'm reading some stuff on here, and the net.
trying to figure out about the BMR.
now, i'm reading about this, and something about eating exersize calories ?
i thought the point of working out was to create a deficit ?
i eat about 1800 cals according to MFP, and then i workout, and burn like 1000 cals, i'm suppose to eat them back ?
how am i suppose to lose weight ?!
i don't get all the "science" of this.
BMI, BMR, ... you hear so many different thing, i just wanna lose weight, why is it so technical.
lol
help ?

tmauck4472

I don't eat mine back unless I exercise all of mine away...but my calories are way way low so it's easy to exercise them away. I wouldn't eat back calories if I were you. But they way they figure it is your body needs about 2000 just to do your normal daily things like waking up getting up walking to the bathroom brushing your teeth well you get the picture , so at 1800 your already at a loss for your body.

maricash

BMR is your Basal Metabolic Rate. It's the calories you would burn if you just stayed in bed all day.

The other number you hear about around here quite a bit is your TDEE, or Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This is the number of calories that you burn in a typical day, not including exercise. When you selected an activity level (when you set up your goals), MFP calculated a number based on this. MFP then subtracts a set amount of calories from this number to create a daily calorie deficit for you. The number subtracted varies based on how much weight you said you wanted to lose in a week.

The important thing is, MFP already created a deficit for you when they gave you the number of calories to eat. If you exercise, you are creating a bigger deficit, so you eat those calories back.

I find that the calories that MFP lists for exercise are kind of high, so I usually only eat back about half of what I exercise off according to their numbers.

I hope this helps!

ashbee03

ok so basically they already calculate it out ?

so i'm suppose to eat 1850 cals a day.
my BMR is apparently 2106.25

mfp says i should burn 477 cals a day.

is this already included in my "deficit" ?

or am i suppose to be burning 477 cals and then eating them back ?

DarcieC2389

ok so i'm reading some stuff on here, and the net.
trying to figure out about the BMR.
now, i'm reading about this, and something about eating exersize calories ?
i thought the point of working out was to create a deficit ?
i eat about 1800 cals according to MFP, and then i workout, and burn like 1000 cals, i'm suppose to eat them back ?
how am i suppose to lose weight ?!
i don't get all the "science" of this.
BMI, BMR, ... you hear so many different thing, i just wanna lose weight, why is it so technical.
lol
help ?

Your body needs a adequate amount of calories to function properly. If you eat 1800 and burn off 1000, your net calories are only 800. We do want a calorie deficit, but not too extreme. You need to net at least 1200. So either eat more or cut back on your exercise. If you cut calories too much, you will not lose weight and it negatively effects the metabolism. I did not start having strong weight loss until I started eating more. Good luck!

ashbee03

also, what if i burn more than 477 cals ?

HMVOL7409

To clarify TDEE does include exercise. However some still set their activity level low bc they are not consistent with exercise.

MFP creates a large deficit for you based on diet only. Some don't exercise. If you exercise, you are needing fuel for your body. So yes they recommend you eat back your exercise cals, but you're still at a deficit. I don't follow MFP recommendations anymore bc they are too low for as much as I workout.

maricash

I don't think they include your exercise goals in the calculation when they create the deficit, it only includes the calories they think you will burn through general daily activities.

The idea is that you eat 1800 calories on non-exercise days and 1800+exercise on days that you exercise.

Many people on this site believe that you shouldn't eat below your BMR in any case, since these are the calories your body needs just to exist. I don't want to get into that debate (though you can find hundreds of threads discussing it if you are interested), but I changed the goal MFP gave me to make my daily calorie goal right around my BMR. You can set goals manually if you want and change the calorie goal to whatever you want it to be.

hopeandlove91

Basically, eat the number of calories MFP tells you to. The program has already accounted for the deficit for you to lose weight. For example, I have my goal set to lose 2lbs per week so the program figured my deficit for the day. Your BMR is the calories you would burn laying on the sofa all day...so you will lose weight as long as you eat the calories that MFP suggests. I do have to mention that I don't eat back all of my exercise calories, but I usually eat back some of them. Do what feels right for you, but don't go over board with cutting calories.

MamaWannaRun

This thread helped me a lot..

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/512956-tdee-what-is-it-and-why-you-should-not-eat-below-your-bmr

the bottom line for me... this is not an exact science and everyone will react differently. Do what works best for you.
I only eat my exercise calories back when I am hungry or do some sort of a mega workout. I almost NEVER eat all my exercise calories back..

nasents

To make it simple, don't worry about the math. If you set up your profile with correct age, weight, ect... just keep your calories remaining in the green and you should be heading toward your goal (provided you enter all of your calories in as close as possible).

But the bottom line is, the more calories you burn exercising in a day, the more you can eat and still maintain the same deficit.