A little help understanding Calorie counting

fieryred0424

Okay, so I'm new to this, and may sound stupid but I want to do this right and the healthy way. MFP has me set to 1310 calories. But I do workout 5-6 days a week for 20-30 minutes each time. Some strength some cardio. Should 1310 be my net at the end of the day or should I actually be eating all 1310 and then the calories from working out so I would be techincally netting more? Someone please explain this to me!!!!

fiveohmike

The way MFP has you do it, you eat your exercise calories (there by your NET will be 1310 a day).

roth72

The intent is to have a "do not exceed" calorie count for the day, but getting close to it with healthy food as you can. By working out you are offsetting the calories eaten. So if you have a 1310 limit, burn 300 calories doing cardio, you now have a target to consume 1610.

Captain_Tightpants

1310 should be your net. MFP has already built the deficit in for you when you told it how much weight you wanted to lose per week.

In other words, you should eat most of the cals you earn through exercise back. I stress 'most' not 'all' because it is very eay to overestimate the calories burned and cancel out your deficit. Better to err on the side of slightly too low.

fieryred0424

Thank you so much! I believe I am going to have to modify my workout times if I want to do this right. Currently I work out late in the evening after my 2 year old goes to bed. I believe I am going to have to get up early now so I know exactly what I have for the day. It will make it easier to plan meals and such! I'm a planner what can I say? lol

Captain_Tightpants

Once you've accurately logged a few workout (preferably with a good HRM), you'll be able to plug them into your database in advance and still workout in the evenings.