slightly confused still...

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spikeithard
spikeithard Posts: 89 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok so I have my eating down pretty good and weighing it, measuring it etc. Getting the right ratio of macro's in etc..

my only question to some of the more seasoned MFP users is...

My age is 30, I am 6 feet tall and I am roughly 180lbs give or take a tiny bit. about 12-13% BF now. My caloric needs for the day according to MFP is 2390 (set at losing .5 lbs a week and 6 times a week exercise goals.)

so let say I only sit on the couch and twiddle my fingers all day but eat clean and good and get all my ratios (40,40,20), if I reach exactly 2390 calories, will I lose .5 lbs a week in theory? What if I exercise that day for a hour on the elliptical and burn 700 calories.... if I eat still 2390 but lose 700 in that hour, do I have to make up those calories still to keep up with .5 lbs a week? (so I would need 2390+700 extra calories)

Hope you can understand this. I would assume then my BMR is 2390 according to this program?

thanks!

PS.. says I joined nov 2011 but I havent used it almost since then. just got back into it a few days ago..

Replies

  • spikeithard
    spikeithard Posts: 89 Member
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    everywhere I look it says my BMR is 1900. why is this program saying 2390??

    although most the online calculators have my TEE at about 3200 which is about a 1000 more than what this program tells me.. so confused?!
  • spikeithard
    spikeithard Posts: 89 Member
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    bump for help please
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
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    Because the 2390 includes the exercise you input into the system, so if you did just sit on the couch all day, and twiddled your thumbs, and ate 2390 than you probably wouldn't lose weight, and may gain it.
    If you are still using that 2390 as your number, and you burn 700 calories on the elliptical, unless this was above, and beyond the 6 times a week you already workout then no you do not eat those calories back, because it is already factored into the number you have.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    when you set up your calorie goal, did you put your activity level as sedentary?
  • spikeithard
    spikeithard Posts: 89 Member
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    when you set up your calorie goal, did you put your activity level as sedentary?

    no i think I put is as very active. and I put down 6 days a week exercising for 60 min each.

    so why then in your diary does it ask for your exercise amounts for the day if it is already pre-programmed in the app?
  • dimsumkitty
    dimsumkitty Posts: 120 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets This thread answered all my questions.

    Also, exercise uses calories in two ways: one is the energy taken to just do the exercise, and secondly doing more exercise more often will speed up your metabolism so you burn more energy doing everything else! If you go by the other thread, I think MFP assumes that your NEAT is higher if you are more active, and EAT is tracked separately.
  • squirrelzzrule22
    squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
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    when you set up your calorie goal, did you put your activity level as sedentary?

    no i think I put is as very active. and I put down 6 days a week exercising for 60 min each.

    so why then in your diary does it ask for your exercise amounts for the day if it is already pre-programmed in the app?

    There is a difference between what you put in as your exercise goals and what you put in as your activity level. The MFP activity level is meant to be the movement you do as a part of daily life, where as the exercise goals are just for you to keep track. With MFP numbers you are always meant to plug in and eat back exercise calories. HOWEVER, if you set your activity level as "very active" because of your workouts then you have included exercise into the number. Does that make sense?

    If you work a desk job but generally get up to walk around a little during the day, set up that you would like to lose .5 lbs a week, that your are "lightly active" and that your exercise GOALS are 6/week. Those GOALS are just there for you to keep track. When you plug in an exercise for 500 cals and it adds it to your calorie balance, feel free to eat it!
  • spikeithard
    spikeithard Posts: 89 Member
    Options
    when you set up your calorie goal, did you put your activity level as sedentary?

    no i think I put is as very active. and I put down 6 days a week exercising for 60 min each.

    so why then in your diary does it ask for your exercise amounts for the day if it is already pre-programmed in the app?

    There is a difference between what you put in as your exercise goals and what you put in as your activity level. The MFP activity level is meant to be the movement you do as a part of daily life, where as the exercise goals are just for you to keep track. With MFP numbers you are always meant to plug in and eat back exercise calories. HOWEVER, if you set your activity level as "very active" because of your workouts then you have included exercise into the number. Does that make sense?

    If you work a desk job but generally get up to walk around a little during the day, set up that you would like to lose .5 lbs a week, that your are "lightly active" and that your exercise GOALS are 6/week. Those GOALS are just there for you to keep track. When you plug in an exercise for 500 cals and it adds it to your calorie balance, feel free to eat it!

    ok thanks. SO lets say I play squash tonight and it says I burned 800 cals for an hour of squash (which is probably low because it would account for recreational to intermediate squash level of play and I am a intense A level player), thats means I will need about 3100 cal's today to keep my intended '1/2 pound a week' setting? so maybe I should put my everyday activity setting to light? and then add my exercises when i do them at night time???
  • squirrelzzrule22
    squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
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    when you set up your calorie goal, did you put your activity level as sedentary?

    no i think I put is as very active. and I put down 6 days a week exercising for 60 min each.

    so why then in your diary does it ask for your exercise amounts for the day if it is already pre-programmed in the app?

    There is a difference between what you put in as your exercise goals and what you put in as your activity level. The MFP activity level is meant to be the movement you do as a part of daily life, where as the exercise goals are just for you to keep track. With MFP numbers you are always meant to plug in and eat back exercise calories. HOWEVER, if you set your activity level as "very active" because of your workouts then you have included exercise into the number. Does that make sense?

    If you work a desk job but generally get up to walk around a little during the day, set up that you would like to lose .5 lbs a week, that your are "lightly active" and that your exercise GOALS are 6/week. Those GOALS are just there for you to keep track. When you plug in an exercise for 500 cals and it adds it to your calorie balance, feel free to eat it!

    ok thanks. SO lets say I play squash tonight and it says I burned 800 cals for an hour of squash (which is probably low because it would account for recreational to intermediate squash level of play and I am a intense A level player), thats means I will need about 3100 cal's today to keep my intended '1/2 pound a week' setting? so maybe I should put my everyday activity setting to light? and then add my exercises when i do them at night time???

    If your life ABSENT times when you are intentionally working out is not very active (ie your job isn't physical labor) then set MFP to lightly active or sedentary, log your 800 cals of squash, in addition to logging all your food and stuff, and then the number it gives you is what you can eat for that day and still lose .5 lbs per week. If you PREFER to not log exercise at all, but you exercise hard most days, then set it to very active and just eat the number it gives you without recording any exercise.
  • spikeithard
    spikeithard Posts: 89 Member
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    Sorry one last thing, I see it has a section for lifestyle (sedentary, active, very active etc) and then right under that it asks how many times a week are you going to work out and for how long.

    Keep it on active (not very active) and keep 6/week for 60 min if I dont want to add exercise amounts in each day?

    thx
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,454 Member
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    It doesn't matter what you enter as planned exercise, it won't alter your calorie goals. You only put it in so you can see if you've met your exercise goals. It doesn't make any difference to what MFP tells you to eat. You have to enter that exercise day by day to see it on your calorie goal :smile: .
  • dlcarroll13
    dlcarroll13 Posts: 65 Member
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    everywhere I look it says my BMR is 1900. why is this program saying 2390??

    although most the online calculators have my TEE at about 3200 which is about a 1000 more than what this program tells me.. so confused?!

    The 2390 is probably where your TDEE would fall at a sedentary level...your still doing things like going to the bathroom, brushing teeth, showering, etc...all expending calories above what your BMR is (essentially if comatose and never moved). Hope this makes sense...I've done alot of research and reading on this..took a while to completely wrap my head around it.
  • Mads1997
    Mads1997 Posts: 1,494 Member
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    Ok so I have my eating down pretty good and weighing it, measuring it etc. Getting the right ratio of macro's in etc..

    my only question to some of the more seasoned MFP users is...

    My age is 30, I am 6 feet tall and I am roughly 180lbs give or take a tiny bit. about 12-13% BF now. My caloric needs for the day according to MFP is 2390 (set at losing .5 lbs a week and 6 times a week exercise goals.)

    so let say I only sit on the couch and twiddle my fingers all day but eat clean and good and get all my ratios (40,40,20), if I reach exactly 2390 calories, will I lose .5 lbs a week in theory? What if I exercise that day for a hour on the elliptical and burn 700 calories.... if I eat still 2390 but lose 700 in that hour, do I have to make up those calories still to keep up with .5 lbs a week? (so I would need 2390+700 extra calories)

    Hope you can understand this. I would assume then my BMR is 2390 according to this program?

    thanks!

    PS.. says I joined nov 2011 but I havent used it almost since then. just got back into it a few days ago..

    The 2390 would be your BMR + normal daily activities eg walking to the shops, going to work etc. MFP then sets a deficit of (500 cals per lb) you want to lose. Now if you exercise you are suppose to eat those exercise cals back because if you don't your deficit will be too large. 2390-700=1690

    If you sit on the couch and do nothing you will still lose at whatever calories MFP has set for you.
  • spikeithard
    spikeithard Posts: 89 Member
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    So i got home from 45 min of squash and 15 min of weights tonight...

    i was in the red by about -100 after 6 egg whites put on half a pita bread with hummus spread on it. but then I added in my exercises and I got put back into the green to 520 calories.. so I went and had a cup of low fat cottage cheese lol.. now to 318 in the green still. Still have to have a scoop of casein protein before bed and that will get me to around 175 in the green.

    so today was food +2789 ... exercise -717 for a net of 2072 (goal is 2390)

    Carbs 336 46%
    Protein 226 31%
    Fat 73 23%

    not a bad day except I need to bring my carbo`s down a bit and up my protein a hair. But right now I am trying to build a bit of muscle while staying fairly lean so a little more carbs aint too bad.

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