Not sure I'm doing my goals right.

paperfiish
paperfiish Posts: 52 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi there! I'm new to this website and I'm a little concerned. I've been going for a week so far, but I'm worried about my exercise diary. I'm not sure I have either the right activity level selected or I'm just confused in general and everything's fine.

Some info on me: I'm a 228lb woman at 5'7" tall, and my current caloric intake is 1950 (though I'm almost always 150 to 200 under so far). My activity level is currently set to "light" because I'm a college student and spend most my time sitting down for classes or work.

On average, NOT counting the says I go specifically to the gym to run and do some light weight lifting, I burn 200 to 300 (occasionally 400 on a busy day) calories walking. Some of this is the brisk walking for exercise that I do on a daily basis (about 5mph for 20 to 30 minutes), and some of it is simply because I happen to go to a very large college and my trek across campus is about a mile of casual (3mph) walking.

I added it up and (again, NOT counting my gym calories) I'm burning an average of 1500 calories a week in exercise-specific walking.

On my fitness profile I only set it for 3 "workouts" because I'm not sure how it counts "workouts" to come to the total goal burned, and I put "light" activity because I do spend most of my day at my desk for class or work, aside from my daily walks.

I'm just wondering if I should change anything to reflect this caloric gap in my fitness profile, and if so, how? Because I'm worried that my calorie intake might not be right. I'm still trying to wrap my head around eating my exercise calories back (though I get WHY I should) and I'm not sure if any of this might be affecting the way my caloric intake is supposed to be. I'm worried I might be eating too few calories (even though I struggle to meet my daily goal as it is) or maybe too many and that this might cause me to have trouble actually losing weight (I don't know if it is yet, it's only been a week, but I'm still worried).

Sorry, hope some of this makes sense. I'm really new to tracking my exercise and food in such detail, so it's a little confusing for me.

Replies

  • dare2love81
    dare2love81 Posts: 928 Member
    Invest in a good HRM (I personally recommend the Polar FT4 or the FT7) so that you know the amount of calories you're burning. MFP estimates can be way off.

    Secondly...don't fret, it's only been a week. Keep logging and continue to weigh yourself. It can take awhile to see results. Be patient! :flowerforyou:
  • babyblake11
    babyblake11 Posts: 1,107 Member
    your exercise goal does not effect your calorie goal.
    if you set your activity level to 'active' that can include your regular walking.
    then add any intentional exercise at the gym etc. then eat all of them back.
    easy peasy :)
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    You're already calibrated better than most folks here, so congratulations! You're off to a good start.

    It sounds like you realize that the target caloric intake MFP has provided already includes a deficit, and that eating your exercise calories fuels your workouts and facilitates your recovery.

    So aim to eat all of those 1950 calories plus exercise calories. If you notice yourself feeling cold in a warm room, tired when you really shouldn't be, etc, you probably are not eating enough and should think about upping your calories a bit. If you feel perfectly fine and comfortable, let some time go and develop and track weight trends.

    Over time, you'll hone in on the best numbers for you and you will develop an intuitive sense for this.
  • paperfiish
    paperfiish Posts: 52 Member
    Thanks for all the quick replies! It sounds like I'm probably doing things right and was just confused on how it works out. I'll keep an eye on it as time goes on. Thanks again!

Categories