Calories burned added to ur daily allowance

chrismahbouby

Wot I don't get is if calories u've burned while exercising is added onto ur daily allowance, how can u loose weight if u are aloud to eat more up to the new allowance. Surely the whole point is to keep to the same level of calories then the rest is wot makes u loose weight??

ladyraven68

No, MFP sets your calorie goal as if you are doing zero exercise, so you get your deficit from calorie restriction.

If you exercise you make that deficit bigger, which is not always a good thing.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf

JesterMFP

It works because MFP gives you a calorie goal with a calorie deficit built in. Even if you never exercise, you should lose weight with that goal. If MFP had taken your planned exercise into account, it would have given you a higher calorie goal.

For example: I burn 1700 calories a day through normal daily activities (not including exercise). I tell MFP I want to lose 1 lb a week, so I need a calorie deficit of 500 calories a day. (1 lb = 3,500 calories. 500 * 7 days = 3,500 calories). So, MFP gives me a goal of 1200 calories a day, but any exercise that I plan to do is not factored into that goal. So, the expectation is that when I exercise and burn 200 calories, I log that, and eat 1400 calories that day. I still have my 500 calorie deficit and should still lose 1 lb a week. If I don't do this, the deficit may be too large. If MFP took into account that I burn 200 calories a day through exercise, then it would have determined that I need 1900 calories a day to maintain, and told me to eat 1400 calories a day to lose 1 lb a week.

That is just an example; everyone needs a different amount of calories to maintain, and different people choose to lose at different rates. A lot of people assume that the faster you lose the better, but this is often not true. Having too large of a calorie deficit can lead to problems later on with your metabolism. You can end up losing more lean mass (such as muscle) than is really necessary. People who are obese and have large fat stores can generally get away with having a larger calorie deficit. The closer you get to a healthy weight, the smaller your deficit should be.

victoriannsays

MFP already adds in your caloric deficit for weight loss. Whatever you burn off exercising is "extra" you can eat them back if you want.