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Exercise calories burned added back into your Calories??

awhoneybee
awhoneybee Posts: 1
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I don't understand why the calories burned from exercise are added back to my Calories allowed. When I registered on the site it said I should eat 1200 calories a day. Everytime I log exercise activity those calories that I burned are added back in to the daily total that I am allowed that day. Has this worked for anyone? I have been on other weight loss sites and they have always said to eat 1200 calories but any exercise I logged did not effect how much I was allowed to consume that day. Can somebody explain how this works?

Replies

  • SelkieDiver
    SelkieDiver Posts: 260 Member
    You don't have to eat those exercise calories back, but you are welcome to. the way it works is MFP had already figured in the calorie deficit based on the info you gave it. So if it's saying you can eat 1200 calories per day you are already in a deficit of approximately 500-600 (average calories you need to eat to maintain your weight is 1800-2000 on average for a woman (dependent on current weight, age, metabolism, etc.).

    If you exercise and burn, say 200 calories, that expand the deficit. you would now be at 700-800 calories below maintenance. If you eat those 200 calories back, you are STILL at the original 500-600 deficit (you will have eaten a NET of 1200). Make sense?

    also, its hard to stick with 1200 very long term. You'll start to feel deprived, have cravings, etc. Many people find it works better to set their weekly loss at 1 to 1/2 lb a week, instead of 2lbs. You get to eat slightly more and stay on a more even keel.

    Personally, I'm at 1lbs a week desired loss, and I eat back most, but not all, of my exercise calories.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    Simple. To lose weight you must provide less energy to fuel your body compared to the amount needed to maintain. Thus, you have to create a deficit in the form of eating less, upping exercise or a combination of both.

    When you set a weight loss goal with MFP, the deficit only takes into account less calories eaten. In other words, if you subscribe to 1 lb of weight loss per week (which is a 500 calorie deficit), then your deficit is derived exclusively from eating less energy. Exercise is not included in that. This is why you get messages stating you have earned X calories from exercise. If you burn 500 calories from exercise, MFP adds that to your goal. If you do not eat the exercise calories, you turn that 500 calorie deficit into a 1000 calorie deficit. Thus, you are providing your body with 1000 less calories of energy rather than the planned 500 deduction.
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    you need a certain number of calories JUST for your organs to function. 1200 calories is the accepted low...if you were in a coma, they would put 1200+ calories in your IV to prevent organ shut down.

    MFP takes your stats and figures out how many calories you need on daily basis, then subtracts some for your daily deficit so you have the weight loss you are looking for. I'm going to guess that your body requires about 1700 calories a day for a sedentary person, so MFP takes off 500 calories so you can lose 1lb a week. If you exercise away another 500 calories, your body only has 700 calories to function on. You wouldn't put 1 gallon of gas in your car and try to drive 100 miles, would you?
  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
    The calorie target that MFP sets for you is a NET target. The healthy calorie deficit is already built in to that number. This lets people who are unable to exercise to loose weight. The size of your calorie deficit is set by MFP based on you current weight and how much you say you want to loose a week. This deficit can be produced 3 ways - by restricting you daily intake, by burning extra calories or by combining both together.
    Many like to do the combination since it lets you have more to eat each day. It is important to eat to your net calorie target so you can get in enough nutrition, but also because if your calorie deficit is too large it will slow/stop your loss and will cause you to regain all you lost once you go back to eating at maintenance levels. If you are severely calorie restricted too long your body adjusts your hormone levels and slows you metabolism so you burn less. If your deficit gets too large you start to burn you muscles rather than your fat for energy. The closer you get to your goal the smaller your deficit needs to be. If you are within 10lb of your goal you should be set to loose 0.5 lb a week or if you use a percentage cut then 5-10% of your TDEE.

    Less in does not mean faster weight loss. Check out this link and see how much you can eat and still loose safely.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
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