Check my understanding

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angeldn52
angeldn52 Posts: 8
in Health and Weight Loss
I have read quite a lot on the boards. This is my understanding. If MFP calculated that I need to consume 1500 calories a day and I work out to burn an additional 500 to 800 calories a day then I should consume 2000 to 2300 calories. I will still be in a deficit and over time lose the weight. It is my understanding that people have achieved their weight loss goals this way. Thanks for your feedback.

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  • sandradev1
    sandradev1 Posts: 786 Member
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    If you have correctly identified your activity level and log everything that passes your lips then YES you will lose weight. MFP does have a tendency to 'over estimate' calories burned on exercise, so you could just eat 50 to 75% of them back and still be OK.

    I, like many others have been using the Road Map instead of MFP calculators. A fellow MFP'er Helloitsdan, put together information and calculators which give you a more personal assessment of your calorie goal. Another MFP'er Heybales also created a spreadsheet where you just pump your stats in and it does the work for you based on the same calculators. The spreadsheet in particular gives you a clearer definition of your activity level and with this method you tend to use a final calorie goal that includes your activity & exercise which will be higher than MFP, but you do not eat back your exercise calories.

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

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGVTbGswLUUzUHNVVUlNSW9wZWloeUE
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
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    If you have correctly identified your activity level and log everything that passes your lips then YES you will lose weight. MFP does have a tendency to 'over estimate' calories burned on exercise, so you could just eat 50 to 75% of them back and still be OK.

    I, like many others have been using the Road Map instead of MFP calculators. A fellow MFP'er Helloitsdan, put together information and calculators which give you a more personal assessment of your calorie goal. Another MFP'er Heybales also created a spreadsheet where you just pump your stats in and it does the work for you based on the same calculators. The spreadsheet in particular gives you a clearer definition of your activity level and with this method you tend to use a final calorie goal that includes your activity & exercise which will be higher than MFP, but you do not eat back your exercise calories.

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

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGVTbGswLUUzUHNVVUlNSW9wZWloeUE

    2 excellent resources. I have been using them and they are easy to understand and make losing fat a lot simpler. Good luck!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    I have read quite a lot on the boards. This is my understanding. If MFP calculated that I need to consume 1500 calories a day and I work out to burn an additional 500 to 800 calories a day then I should consume 2000 to 2300 calories. I will still be in a deficit and over time lose the weight. It is my understanding that people have achieved their weight loss goals this way. Thanks for your feedback.

    yep!
  • angeldn52
    angeldn52 Posts: 8
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    Thanks I will check it out.
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
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    You are correct. The reason is that MFP calculates your optimal calorie level for weight loss (your deficit) with no exercise factored in. So if you exercise and burn more, in order to keep the same deficit, you need to eat more. The problems come with overestimating calories burned, and mis-estimating your overall calorie requirement and intake. Also, people attempt to lose weight too fast, which gives them too big a deficit and makes it harder to lose. Since everything is really just an estimate, it's best to be flexible -- try something for awhile, see how it goes, and tweak as needed. The MFP method and road map method will both work if you use them this way -- the road map method just gives you a slightly smaller deficit.

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