calories and exercise calculator

fortyonetogo
fortyonetogo Posts: 18
in Health and Weight Loss
If my calorie tracker says I have 350 calories remaining for the day am I suppose to eat all the calories to keep my metabolism at the correct level? If I don't really feel hungry will it just help me lose faster if I don't feel like eating all the extra calories from exercising?
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Replies

  • OdeToEmma
    OdeToEmma Posts: 31 Member
    Thanks for asking this question. I've been wondering about this too!
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • scottberrydsm
    scottberrydsm Posts: 74 Member
    So I saw this and jumped right on it - I've wondered this all along, and there seems to be a diversity of opinion. Also there seems to be a lot of difference in what some of the excercise calorie counts are. I just ordered a "FitBit" today - we'll see if that keeps me more accurate!
  • vjrose
    vjrose Posts: 809 Member
    kind of depends, is your net like 900 without the 350, if so you do need a few more calories. On exercise days try front loading a bit, add a snack or something to a meal earlier in the day so you don't end up with a bunch left and no hunger.

    You should try to hit 1200 net, trust me it works if you can keep that net 1200 or above.
  • irisheyez718
    irisheyez718 Posts: 677 Member
    If you're sure of the number of calories burned, you can safely eat them back and lose the amount you told MFP that you wanted to lose. That's how this system is set up! :)
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    A metabolic slow down wont happen from just one day of under eating. I do believe it can happen with a large, long term, deficit though.

    There are some high calorie foods like nuts that can be great snacks to fill in extra calories if you are not that hungry though.
  • 1PoisonIvy
    1PoisonIvy Posts: 933 Member
    A metabolic slow down wont happen from just one day of under eating. I do believe it can happen with a large, long term, deficit though.

    There are some high calorie foods like nuts that can be great snacks to fill in extra calories if you are not that hungry though.
    Yes he is right, walnuts are great for you and have higher calories
  • mjnov
    mjnov Posts: 31 Member
    i asked a personal trainer at my gym this question and she said as long as you net at least 1200 (or whatever your minimum calorie intake is for the day) you should be okay. you never want to burn more than you eat (ie. have a negative net), its unhealthy and tricks your body into thinking your starving.
  • Christineab
    Christineab Posts: 28 Member
    I'm a registered dietitian who works in weight management. Please DO NOT eat the calories burned through exercise. It really negates the purpose of exercising for weight loss. With that said, I wouldn't go less than a net of 1000 calories per day for more than 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, you'll start losing muscle which will slow your metabolic rate. BTW- try to eat something with 15 grams of protein and 15 grams carbohydrates within 45 minutes after a workout. It helps with recovery and you'll achieve better long-term results.
  • ChrystalDutton
    ChrystalDutton Posts: 84 Member
    I'm a registered dietitian who works in weight management. Please DO NOT eat the calories burned through exercise. It really negates the purpose of exercising for weight loss. With that said, I wouldn't go less than a net of 1000 calories per day for more than 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, you'll start losing muscle which will slow your metabolic rate. BTW- try to eat something with 15 grams of protein and 15 grams carbohydrates within 45 minutes after a workout. It helps with recovery and you'll achieve better long-term results.

    LOVE this, thanks for the post!
  • shelbyriva
    shelbyriva Posts: 5
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  • shelbyriva
    shelbyriva Posts: 5
    Christineb thank you for your post. It makes sense to me. If my calories are set up for 1200 a day and I exercise it then says I have 1500 calories for that day.......but to lose weight isn't the idea to stay at 1200 but BURN off more......calories in versus calories out? If I keep exercising and adding back my "earned exercise calories" I will be huge......wouldn't I? I thought the idea was to burn off more than what you put in your mouth?
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    A metabolic slow down wont happen from just one day of under eating. I do believe it can happen with a large, long term, deficit though.

    There are some high calorie foods like nuts that can be great snacks to fill in extra calories if you are not that hungry though.
    Yes he is right, walnuts are great for you and have higher calories

    I agree - one day of under-eating isn't going to put you into starvation mode.
  • fortyonetogo
    fortyonetogo Posts: 18
    Thanks for all the great info. Now I feel I have a place to start without worrying too much. I can "tweek" it as I go along :).
  • Kelby008
    Kelby008 Posts: 11
    You exercise to get fit, not to lose weight. That's what your calorie deficit is for.
  • Christineab
    Christineab Posts: 28 Member
    Calories burned through exercise should be seen as a benefit towards quicker weight loss. We should not be rewarding ourselves with additional food because we've walked on a treadmill. When you reach your ideal weight, exercise is great because you can eat the additional calories burned...until then ...exercise is used to quicken weight loss efforts.
  • Christineab
    Christineab Posts: 28 Member
    I beg to differ...exercise not only helps improve our overall fitness, but also helps with weight loss when combined with a healthy diet.
  • Fit_Vixen
    Fit_Vixen Posts: 201
    The Fitbit is AMAZING!!! I just want to warn you about the "fitbit calorie adjustment" on MFP (if you sync fitbit to MFP). At least it confuses the hell out of me! The calorie adjustment shows up all of a sudden, lol. Then throughout the day the adjustment amount seems to minimize. Maybe someone who has the fitbit & is synced to MFP that happens to be here can explain the confusion.

    I log everything , everything here & it updates on Fitbit website. I've stopped logging my workouts because like I said the calorie adjustment is weird & I don't want to accidentally double calories.
  • Fit_Vixen
    Fit_Vixen Posts: 201
    The Fitbit is AMAZING!!! I just want to warn you about the "fitbit calorie adjustment" on MFP (if you sync fitbit to MFP). At least it confuses the hell out of me! The calorie adjustment shows up all of a sudden, lol. Then throughout the day the adjustment amount seems to minimize. Maybe someone who has the fitbit & is synced to MFP that happens to be here can explain the confusion.

    I log everything , everything here & it updates on Fitbit website. I've stopped logging my workouts because like I said the calorie adjustment is weird & I don't want to accidentally double calories.


    My apologies, I was supposed to quote barry, lol
  • aallison0507
    aallison0507 Posts: 17
    You exercise to get fit, not to lose weight. That's what your calorie deficit is for.

    Agreed - the deficit is already built in on this site. I have always eaten back most of my exercise calories and have lost just fine. I do not eat back calories for everyday stuff I do - like "walk the dog" or "house cleaning". If its something I would do no matter what then I do not eat those back. They would have been figured in when your said what you daily activity level was.


    13842054.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    Calories burned through exercise should be seen as a benefit towards quicker weight loss. We should not be rewarding ourselves with additional food because we've walked on a treadmill. When you reach your ideal weight, exercise is great because you can eat the additional calories burned...until then ...exercise is used to quicken weight loss efforts.

    Quick weight loss is not always good weight loss. The goal should be a healthy rate of FAT loss. Too large a deficit is not compatible with that goal in mind.
  • Brodieno
    Brodieno Posts: 11
    Look at how many calories you need to just maintain your current weight. To lose weight either have to consume less calories (eat less) or burn them off through activity, but you can only go so low for any length of time without creating health issues for yourself.

    Nutritionists I've talked to recommend that weight loss of a pound or two per week is a safe target which translates into 3,500 - 7,000 calories or on average losing 500 - 1,000 per day. So if your BMR is 2200 and you want to lose weight you need to decide how fast and how you want to do it i.e.. diet or exercise or hopefully a combination of the two for the best results.

    Those calories your burning by doing exercises all go into the weight loss equation. Nothing gained if you replace them and secondly it means you'll have to diet harder and longer to achieve your goals.
  • lynz4589
    lynz4589 Posts: 389 Member
    its a big topic on here whether or not to eat exercise cals - Im in the mindset that I dont eat them back, for one the diet I have on 1350 cals a day is enough and I dont stick to meal times anymore I just prepare food and eat when Im hungry not because the clock says its 6pm! To eat an extra 500 cals back on top would just make me sick! Also I dont see the point in exercising only to lose the cals Ive worked off - but its a topic thats all down to personal opinion and a topic that will remain on here forever I think!
  • evil_charmer
    evil_charmer Posts: 8
    I dont ever eat back my.exercise calories and ive.never heard of doing that bedore i came on here. My calories.expended by exercise.are.part.of.my.deficit. My.bmr adjusted for.my.lifestyle is roughly 2250 so only allow myself 1500cals a day plus i burn almist 500calls thru exercise 3 tyms a week. That mean my.deficit per week is roughky 7000 cals which translate to 2lbs a week weight loss for the week as a lb of fat translate to about 3500cals on average
  • fortyonetogo
    fortyonetogo Posts: 18
    I do know that if
    i eat too few calories then your metabolism will slow. I was concerned that with my daily calorie goal being 1440 and I exercised to earn 600 calories extra that if I didn't eat those then my body would start holding onto the calories because I wasn't getting enough. If I have 1440 calories to use for the day and exercise away 600 of those then I've technically only consumed 840 calories for the day, and I've always heard that I should never expect my body to run on less than 1,000 calories per day if I don't want it to go into starvation mode.
  • kmyrs
    kmyrs Posts: 27 Member
    I have a couple of opinions on it. I "bank" under eaten calories for a day when I can use them later for extra. I think Weight Watchers teaches you that you can bank now and spend later. At the end of the week, you still average out the calorie limit per day.

    Secondly, I wondered the same thing, which was, shouldn't I deduct exercise burn from the 1200 limit instead of add calories to the limit? I thought about it and figured out that when I set my goal with MyFitnessPal as to how many calories I should net a day, the calorie goal was based on on daily work lifestyle; i.e. desk job versus a physical labor job. So according to them, I should meet my goal at 1200 a day with a desk job and no exercise, that's why you get bonus calories for exercise. Conversely, if you use a standard calorie calculator such as the Harris-Benedict formula, you calculate in your average weekly exercise activity and the intensity and it adds that calorie burn to your BMR (base metabolic rate) which gives you more calories per day. In essence, same difference.
  • kmyrs
    kmyrs Posts: 27 Member
    Sorry, trying to figure out how to post to the main page.
  • kmyrs
    kmyrs Posts: 27 Member
    Sorry!
  • kmyrs
    kmyrs Posts: 27 Member
    I give up. I'm trying to "reply" to the whole page and not just your post. :tongue:
  • vjrose
    vjrose Posts: 809 Member
    I'm a registered dietitian who works in weight management. Please DO NOT eat the calories burned through exercise. It really negates the purpose of exercising for weight loss. With that said, I wouldn't go less than a net of 1000 calories per day for more than 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, you'll start losing muscle which will slow your metabolic rate. BTW- try to eat something with 15 grams of protein and 15 grams carbohydrates within 45 minutes after a workout. It helps with recovery and you'll achieve better long-term results.

    To the poster of this, you do realize the eat 1,000 burn a 1000 crowd is going to take that as gospel and only read the first sentence, :)

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