Calorie Intake - Confused

SarahSmiles2004
SarahSmiles2004 Posts: 66 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, so I'm terrified of actually eating the amound of calories MFP is telling me to eat in my "calories left." I have always been under the impression burn more than you put in, so this concept of eating my calories burned is new and terrifying. I don't want to gain weight by eating 2000 calories because I burned 600. I feel it's counter intuitive. Am I the only one? How can this work? Am I just paranoid? Maybe I should change my activity level? How do I determine my activity level?

I work a desk job M-F for 8 hours. I make a point of getting up every hour to get water and use the stairs (4th floor to 1st and back again) instead of the elevator. But how do I determine my activity level outside of that. I've got a base of 1400 calories for myself and that's what MFP wants me to eat without any exercise, ok....so how does that help me lose weight if I don't burn? I'm soooo confused. Please help.

Replies

  • _stephanie0
    _stephanie0 Posts: 708 Member
    i dont want to write a huge explanation because nothing can say it better than this post

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8017-in-place-of-a-road-map

    :flowerforyou:
  • terais2blessed
    terais2blessed Posts: 2
    Sarah I truly agree that the counter is truly off! I too need help. Welcome to MFP I am new here as well
  • AtlantaWriter
    AtlantaWriter Posts: 91 Member
    I agree with you, and I think you do lose more weight if you don't count the exercise. However, exercise can make you hungry. It's a Catch-22. But considering before this I was getting very little exercise and eating way more calories, at least I know I'm headed in the right direction, no matter whether I use all of my calories or not.
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    MFP sets your cloric intake at a 300 ca;lorue deficit from what it thinks you should eat to MAINTAIN your weight (based ont he questions you answer in the goal setting section). So, if you eat up to the calories it says, then you should theoretically lose a pound (3500 calories) in 12 days.

    the better way to do it is to set your own goals based on your BMR and TDEE (you can calculate those at fat2fitradio.com - do the BMR first because you need that for your TDEE). If you do it this way, DO NOT eat back your exercise calories because it already factors that in.
  • Chunky_As_Charged
    Chunky_As_Charged Posts: 64
    MFP calculates a calorie deficit for you before exercise. That's why they say you can eat 1400 calories per day and still lose weight. If you burn 600 calories, all you're really eating is 800 calories per day.

    So try thinking about it like this... If you eat 1400 calories minus the 600 you burned... you're at 800. Add another 600 that you eat back and you have a net of 1400 calories eaten total for the day. I hope this helps and makes sense.
  • Lrdoflamancha
    Lrdoflamancha Posts: 1,280 Member
    Bump
  • Peep_chic
    Peep_chic Posts: 369 Member
    Mfp calculated numbers wrong for me. Find your bmr(minimum calories) and then calculate your tdee(maintanance calories) and eat in between those two. You can google those calculators. By eating in between you already have a deficit to lose. If you burn calories you'll have a bigger deficit and end up eating too little. Your body needs the fuel.
  • shaunaruiz
    shaunaruiz Posts: 19 Member
    I would say if you spend more than 1/2 your day sitting you should have it on the lowest activity level. Also, remember that they already created a calorie deficit of 500 per day so really your body would burn 1900 w/o any extra exercise. You don't have to eat back all of your calories but you should make sure that your 'net calories' are at least 1200. That's my advice, hope it helps:wink:
  • gpstrucker
    gpstrucker Posts: 930 Member
    I've been losing weight following the MFP numbers. That's all I can say.
  • marsellient
    marsellient Posts: 591 Member
    I've been losing weight following the MFP numbers. That's all I can say.

    Yes, me too. I've been unable to get the exercise I was getting earlier and am still losing when I stay within my allotted calories. When I can exercise I eat the calories sometimes and don't sometimes.
  • SarahSmiles2004
    SarahSmiles2004 Posts: 66 Member
    Thanks everyone. It does help. I've been reading nutrition for dummies and I talked to my doctor but she was more concerned about me an my obsessive exercise habits. Was working outfit 3 hrs a day. Sonive cut that Val and work smarter my harder. So I can burn more in a shorter time than I was before. So I haven't gotten a full explanation from my doc other than your diet seems fine. I've also been discouraged this past three days because I've eaten a total of 1800 but more of a net of 1300. My bf uses MFP as well and is following it to a T ad has lost 14 lbs so I feel like MFP really does work as thy have it set up. So u guess ican try it and just stay within the 1400-1700 range and be ok and may e still lose some weight (only want to lose 5lbs)

    But the. Again my mom is losing weight the old fashioned way. She eats only 1200-1300 calories even with exercise. Of course she's in her mid-fifties. Can't compare to that. I just know I have put my body in starvation mode before and I'm afraid that eating just 1400 with how hard I worjout is doing the same thing. I guess I'm just paranoid a trying to find that happy medium where I don't go back to being anorexic but not be overweight either.
  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
    Posted this on another thread but it applies here too!

    MFP is set up to give a calorie deficit so you can lose safely. This allows those who can not exercise to lose weight. If you are able to exercise to improve your physical condition you generate a larger calories deficit. When it gets too large your body responds by producing hormones that make syour body hoard energy. This slows/stops your loss. To keep losing you need to net your calorie goal since your planned safe deficit is already built in.

    the problem in eating back your exercise calories is that the MFP exercise calculator can be overly generous. So use a HRM to measure your burn or check other online sites for a comparison or you can use the roadmap and base your calorie goal on a % cut from your TDEE - total daily energy expenditure - this factors both your cut and your exercise into your target so you can pre-plan daily menus without a big hit ant the end of the day if you are a workout fiend.


    calories.http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • sweetieee
    sweetieee Posts: 2
    But what if you are so small you only need 1300 cal/day to survive? how do you lose weight w/o net calories falling below 12OO?
  • SarahSmiles2004
    SarahSmiles2004 Posts: 66 Member
    2Hobbit1 - that is probably the best explanation I've received. That makes sense, I have been using my HR rather than the MFP information to determine burn. I haven't purchased a HRM yet but plan to. So I do it the old fashioned way and check my heart rate for 10 seconds and then multiply by 6. Old school, yes, but it gives me a general idea of where I really am. I have also borrowed my BF's HRM to just see my HR during a standard run and during certain exercises so I could put those into MFP manually and use my own calorie counts. So I know my calorie counts are more accurate than MFP's. MFP is WWWAYYYY generous in how much you burn per exercise.
  • kareinlib
    kareinlib Posts: 98
    You can lose weight without exercising and just eating the calories MFP tells you to because they have a calorie deficit or 300-500 calories or something like that built into the system already. This DOES NOT include exercise, hence why you can lose weight without it.

    Everyone on this site seems about half and half on this, so I started eating back my exercise calories just to see what would happen and I've lost just as much weight if not more than I was without eating them back. As long as you're eating fairly healthy, you may as well eat back those calories.

    I can't find it, but MFP actually posted a thread a while back practically begging people to see their science behind eating exercise calories back. Again, even if you do eat all of your exercise calories back, there is still a BUILT IN DEFICIT and you will continue to lose weight. Cannot stress this enough!
  • SarahSmiles2004
    SarahSmiles2004 Posts: 66 Member
    kareninlib - thanks for that. I'm glad to know someone has tested it themselves and seen the same results if not better. I've finished reading "Nutrition for Dummies" (yes I read it, not cover to cover but still went through about 80%). It does make sense. They do account for a deficit. They are talking 1400 as your REE (resting energy expenditure), basically if you don't do anything, just sit around and your body just functions (heart beat, breathing, brain function, organs working etc). Then you add in activity level and that will just be to maintain. So even if I just eat 1400 and stopped exercising I would still lose weight. Granted I can't say that I've lost weight eating just the 1400, I am thinking my body has gone into a starvation mode with the intensity of my exercise, I'm pretty sendentary M-F due to work but workout hardcore for about an hour a day and moderately for about 30-40 min a day. I can't say I care for the "activity level" calculator. It's not completely accurate, at least I don't think so.

    So I figure if I bump up 200 calories for now and see how that goes I can see if it makes a difference with energy and weight loss. 5lbs is hard to lose it seems. That's all I want 5-7 lbs lost. Goodness.
  • naschulze
    naschulze Posts: 98
    I am in the same boat (desk job, take the stairs everyday etc) and I exercise everyday. Simply put, I eat what I need to eat, roughly 400 calories a meal and a snack. It usually evens out at the end of the day with exercise, but some days my workouts burn more calories than other days and some days I eat slightly more and exercise less. It all evens out and I am losing weight at a good pace. I wouldn't worry about it too much, as long as you aren't drastically over or under your calorie limit you should be fine.
  • SarahSmiles2004
    SarahSmiles2004 Posts: 66 Member
    Thanks, that's helpful. Just having been anorexic and now finding balance in my life it's nice to hear that this does work, even if I don't "SEE" results - as I don't weigh myself I judge by my clothes and how I feel. So far so good. I try not to worry, just makes me paranoid. Which of course makes my boyfriend CrAzY.

    Thank you again. Just a balance is what I need to remember. Eat and exercise and don't go crazy and all will buff out.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Your calorie goal is set without any exercise, even if you told MFP you would exercise. That's why you need to eat back what you burn through exercise: you already have the necessary deficit before your workout!
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    i dont want to write a huge explanation because nothing can say it better than this post

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/8017-in-place-of-a-road-map

    :flowerforyou:

    ^^^ Read this post as well! I totally changed my MFP settings once I read through this link!
  • SarahSmiles2004
    SarahSmiles2004 Posts: 66 Member
    I've been slowly getting through that post, I've already begun to change my eating. I also calculate exercise based on HR and not what MFP says to use, since MFP is entirely too generous with calories burned. I do the insanity workouts and I haven't gotten my HRM yet so I do it old school and use my neck and a stop watch and multiply by 6 LOL, i remember doing this in Jr. High during fitness videos. Then I have a calculator/formula that calculates calories from your HR. Pretty nifty.

    This and another thread have helped SOOOO much. Let's get to those size 6 jeans! :) I can probably get there now. Thank you all :)
  • kdub67
    kdub67 Posts: 181 Member
    Not sure if this will help, but last winter I did a strictly "count your calories" way of dieting. I'd eat about 1200 a day (which is what MFP tells me to eat) and exercised five days a week (400ish calories lost per workout). I did not factor in the calories burned during working out, so my net calorie intake was only around 800 a day. I did not lose any weight...maybe .2 pound a week. Once I began using MFP this month and eating back my calories, the weight started coming off. I truly think I was in starvation mode over the winter, hence not losing a single pound over the course of two months. Nothing changed between then and now, expect me upping my calories to take in what I was burning off so I still net 1200. Like you, I don't have much I want to lose, so that, compared with my age (44), makes it harder to lose. I'm going for a pound a week and I've got about 8 to go. Good luck, and try eating a bit more and see if that helps!
  • SarahSmiles2004
    SarahSmiles2004 Posts: 66 Member
    Not sure if this will help, but last winter I did a strictly "count your calories" way of dieting. I'd eat about 1200 a day (which is what MFP tells me to eat) and exercised five days a week (400ish calories lost per workout). I did not factor in the calories burned during working out, so my net calorie intake was only around 800 a day. I did not lose any weight...maybe .2 pound a week. Once I began using MFP this month and eating back my calories, the weight started coming off. I truly think I was in starvation mode over the winter, hence not losing a single pound over the course of two months. Nothing changed between then and now, expect me upping my calories to take in what I was burning off so I still net 1200. Like you, I don't have much I want to lose, so that, compared with my age (44), makes it harder to lose. I'm going for a pound a week and I've got about 8 to go. Good luck, and try eating a bit more and see if that helps!


    Quite helpful actually. It's good to see someone that has done it the way I have done it, strictly calories in only and ignoring the calories I have burned. I have started eating them back and at least trying to net 1200 minimum since you are never to eat fewer than 1200 calories even if you just eat and not exercise. Took a huge leap yesterday since I started Month 2 of Insanity. Hoping this kicks my body into gear. I'm more focused on my jeans and clothes than a specific weight. I haven't weighed myself and looked at the number in probably 2 years. It's safer that way. The only people who know what I weigh are my doctor and boyfriend. As long as my pants fit and start to loosen up a little every week I"m cool with that. I'm looking more toward inches and body fat % but will get a loss count from doc and bf as I need it, but no number. I just guesstimate that I'm roughly 140lbs currently, that's what I've been for a while evidently.

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