Please help me understand this!

papyapa

Hey! I am new to FP. I am 196lbs, wanting to get to closer to 140lbs. I am an at home mom, so have put myself at "sedentary" The daily lot of calories i have been given is 1260.
Now when i work out and add the extra 300-400 cal. why am I to eat those? Doesn't that help you lose the weight? To work out and shed the extra lbs? I have read a few articles and posts on here and I just am not understanding this.
I even went to the fat2fat site and app. I don't have too much body fat and should only get to 177lbs? AND I should be eating just over 2100 cals???This doesn't sound right!! Every Dr. and site that takes your height and age into account always says 130-150lbs is ideal for me. I am soooo confused on what I should be doing.
Can anyone help me?
here is some info
195 lbs
5,5'
34 years old
hips-45'
naval-44'
wrist -6.5
forearm-11'
thank you so much!

Retiredmom72

Read the forum at the top that says "Newbie read this." it will answer your questions. Relax. You will get the hanhpg of it.

jeremyw1977

I think of MFP like online banking.
I start with my daily allotment of money (calories).

Everything I eat takes away from my bank account, but when I workout, I am basically making a deposit.

In order to lose weight, you should in essence be saving money (your number at the end of the day should be green, not red).

Just because you workout does not mean that you have to eat those calories, nor should you think that way either.
If you are looking to gain, make your number RED. If you are looking to lose, make your number GREEN, and if you are looking to maintain.......get that number as close to 0 as possible.

geekyjock76

MFP does not take into account exercise calories right off the bat, meaning the entire deficit is already calculated as you eating X calories less. By exercising, you would be increasing the deficit. Although exercise calorie expenditure is sometimes overestimated, it is a good idea to at least eat some of those exercise calories so the deficit remains within the goal you programmed for yourself.

billsica

EAT them..

ok lets say I put 10 gallons in my gas tank of my car.
I drive 150 miles. should I put gas back in my car?

basically if you have a green number and your accurate. eat more.

bethvandenberg

so MFP takes all your stats into consideration and puts you at a deficit in calories to lose weight if you don't exercise. That's why you need to eat back your exercise calories. Hope that helps

Sirenism

You put sedentary, so that means no working out. So that is the number your body needs to work at 100%
You exercise and burn 20%, so if you don't eat them back because you burned them, your body only runs at 80%.
So then by not running on 100% it becomes sluggish and retains weight.

Unknown

I dont think u should be doing anything u good !

rduhlir

I will make this easy for you.

MFP calculates the deficit you need to lose what you want to lose (.5, 1, or 2 lbs a week).

Yes your goal is 1200...but say you burn 300...your ACTUAL calorie intake is going to be 900 because you used that 300 as fuel when you worked out. Pay attention to your NET calories, you want it to match what your goal is. That is the basic calorie intake needed for day to day functions. You do not want to drop too far below that or else you endanger yourself at losing muscle.

It seems like the other website didn't do the math automatically for you. This is how MFP is set up. And like Retiredmom said, read that forum. It explains it well.

rduhlir

You put sedentary, so that means no working out. So that is the number your body needs to work at 100%
You exercise and burn 20%, so if you don't eat them back because you burned them, your body only runs at 80%.
So then by not running on 100% it becomes sluggish and retains weight.

Actually that is referring to every day to day functions...i.e. what you do at work, at home, etc... It doesn't include exercises. For example, I have mine set at sedentary because my job is a desk job. For 4 days a week I sit at a desk for 12 hours and do nothing.

Rayman79

I dont think u should be doing anything u good !

... and the most pointless post of the day goes to.....

OP, listen to the posters above. As far as what your goal will be, don't focus on that too much now. Just eat the calories MFP advises for now, and adjust up or down depending on how slowly or quickly you lose the weight (ie if you aren't losing anything in the first few weeks, drop by 100-200 cals per day and try that for a few weeks).

Don't worry about what your goal weight should be, as you slowly reveal your body and lose the fat you will have an idea of what weight and body shape you wish to maintain. It is a slow process and one that is best done as an evolution rather than a sprint to the finish line.

JO4IT

I'm similarly confused by the different numbers. I did read a lot of the "newbie posts" and I do understand about why you should eat back your exercise calories.

What I don't understand is why there is such a difference in calories required calculations from the MFP site and the Fat2Fit site. I really want to get that correct. I used to do Weight Watchers and so I know that it isn't good to eat too little either. I'm especially worried about the number for my dh a because I am encouraging him to join me in keeping track.

For the two calculators I used "no exercise" for MFP and Sedentary for the F2F, so that I could more easily compare. That's pretty accurate for how we are now, both have desk jobs, full-time. I plan on starting to exercise and will then eat back those calories

Here's our numbers:
Me
Age:48
Height: 5'6
CW: 168
GW: 135
MFP says only 1200 calories a day
Fat2Fit calculators say 1592 a day

For DH even bigger of a difference
Age 48
Height: 6' 1
CW: 252
GW: 205
MFP says only 1580 cals per day
Fat2Fit calculators say 2296

Why is there such a difference between the two calculators? I just don't want to get my dh started keeping track of his calorie intake and then have him cranky and hungry, when really his target calorie intake should be much higher! (oh, and I don't want to be cranky either!)

Any insight would be most helpful.

Thanks,
Jo

CherokeeTopaz

Hey! I am new to FP. I am 196lbs, wanting to get to closer to 140lbs. I am an at home mom, so have put myself at "sedentary" The daily lot of calories i have been given is 1260.
Now when i work out and add the extra 300-400 cal. why am I to eat those? Doesn't that help you lose the weight? To work out and shed the extra lbs? I have read a few articles and posts on here and I just am not understanding this.
I even went to the fat2fat site and app. I don't have too much body fat and should only get to 177lbs? AND I should be eating just over 2100 cals???This doesn't sound right!! Every Dr. and site that takes your height and age into account always says 130-150lbs is ideal for me. I am soooo confused on what I should be doing.
Can anyone help me?
here is some info
195 lbs
5,5'
34 years old
hips-45'
naval-44'
wrist -6.5
forearm-11'
thank you so much!

Your kid/kids must be a lot more chill than mine.. I put myself as active... then again.. I do have 3 that are 4 and under. They keep me moving... til they're asleep.

CherokeeTopaz

Oh.. and as a PS... I don't eat my exercise cals. lol

AnvilHead

I dont think u should be doing anything u good !

Strong first post. 10/10.

OP - try reading this thread, Sarauk2sf does a good job of explaining it in its simplest form:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it

CherokeeTopaz

Oh and now that I've read all the way through your post to your stats. You sound very similar to me... I decided to hell with the sites and their confusing numbers... My first goal is 170lbs... will be THRILLED when I reach it. BUT... my main goal is 150lbs.. cause that's what I weighed in school. Then letting the mirror and measurements be what I go by I'll re-evaluate from there... I don't see myself lower than 145 though. lol But maybe...

dovesgate

I dont think u should be doing anything u good !

Strong first post. 10/10.

OP - try reading this thread, Sarauk2sf does a good job of explaining it in its simplest form:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it

What do you expect from a 13 year old kid?

Justkritter

Doctors take into account your height, weight, age and gender on how much you are expected to weigh for a healthy figure. I say go with what your doctor tells you since he is more knowledgeable with these stuffs.

MFP takes into account your activity level (how much work/activity you do) + your goal ( how much to lose or gain) + the basic stuff (height,age,gender) in calculating the calories you need in a day.

With regards to the calories you burn in a workout, its really up to you whether you want to eat it up or to make it as an added deficit to what MFP has already made in your calorie plan. Remember that the calculated calorie info given by MFP is estimated to what will keep your body up with all those work that you've been doing.

RiitaBugg

I need friends. Im a newbie to this. Im 18yrs old && 5'8 and 222lbs. I need some motivation to lose this weight. I literally just joined. So if anyone can find me on here @ ronielle784@gmail.com. I think friends will help me better. I need to know what ecercises to do to get to my goal. Which is 154lbs. someone please help. or add me im new