So confused by food and net calories!

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kiajas9
kiajas9 Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, so I started MFP on Monday, everything's been going great, I've been (supposedly) coming just under my goals every day so far, but now i'm just reallyyyyyy confused!

I know this probably gets asked a lot, but I just wanted to get direct answers instead of looking around. I just wanted to know why is it when you exercise, your Net calories increase? I thought the whole idea of weight loss is to burn off more calories then you consume? I feel like i'm doing something completely wrong now, because although my Net calories at the end of the day are under my goal, my food calories is way over (obviously i've been exercising, hence why i'm under my daily goal). So, do I stick to the 'calories remaining' that it gives me, or should I only been consuming some of these extra calories that I gain from exercise? At this rate, I don't feel like i'll lose any weight whatsoever!

Please help, it's driving me insane!

Replies

  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    Eat the exercise calories. MFP's recommended calorie goals already have a caloric deficit *built in*; you create an overly-large deficit by not eating back calories you burn through exercise. Even if you did NO exercise at all, and ate exactly your goal amount, you'd lose weight. When you exercise, your goal goes up, so you should eat to that.

    Exercise makes you healthy, improves your fitness, helps you retain lean body mass (muscle etc.) AND lets you eat more :D
  • bizco
    bizco Posts: 1,949 Member
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    MFP includes a daily calorie deficit whether you exercise or not. So on days you DO exercise you need to eat the extra earned calories to maintain the same daily calorie deficit.
  • Goldie2u2
    Goldie2u2 Posts: 40 Member
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    You've unleashed a monster topic! Search the forums using the search feature and you'll see this topic debated a million times over heatedly..all with no true answer..yes the calories available increase due to exercise..whether you should eat them back or not-well that is a hot topic here. You'll have to figure out what works best for you..and understand-MFP is REALLY, REALLY generous with calories earned by exercise...be cautious eating every calorie earned.

    I personally eat very few of mine at this time..as I get closer to my goal, I may need to eat more and will adjust accordingly then. Weight loss isn't a one size fit all-we all have to tweak the system to figure out what works best for each of us.
  • kiajas9
    kiajas9 Posts: 4
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    Thank you so much! I've been worrying all day that i've been consuming way too many calories and would render the whole thing pointless! :-)
  • LisforLee
    LisforLee Posts: 38 Member
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    Eat the exercise calories. MFP's recommended calorie goals already have a caloric deficit *built in*; you create an overly-large deficit by not eating back calories you burn through exercise. Even if you did NO exercise at all, and ate exactly your goal amount, you'd lose weight. When you exercise, your goal goes up, so you should eat to that.

    Exercise makes you healthy, improves your fitness, helps you retain lean body mass (muscle etc.) AND lets you eat more :D

    this ^^^
  • funkylemur
    funkylemur Posts: 55 Member
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    I usually eat about half my exercise calories back, I think MFP over estimates some calories burnt through exercise, Im lucky enough to have a heart rate monitor so I know EXACTLY how much Ive burnt off.
  • twinketta
    twinketta Posts: 2,130 Member
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    It has been debated many times as others have mentioned.

    the short version of the long version is.

    If MFP gives you a goal of say 1500 cals net of the weight and exercise that you have put in. Then you do not go below that 1500 after eating/after exercise.

    But you can find a lot more information in the search bar

    If you are ever unsure it is always better to ask the questions, there are a lot of helpful people that will give you answers because they have most likely had the same questions at some point.
  • kiajas9
    kiajas9 Posts: 4
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    Oh goodness, I thought that would be the case!

    I just find it hard to believe that you burn of say... 450 calories, then you get the majority of that back to consume again and you're STILL suppose to lose weight!

    I've been staying around 100 calories under everyday, so I think i'll just continue doing that and see what happens. :-)
  • smittieaj
    smittieaj Posts: 151 Member
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    Eat back your exercise calories.

    Control your diet to lose weight. Exercise to get fit.
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    I just find it hard to believe that you burn of say... 450 calories, then you get the majority of that back to consume again and you're STILL suppose to lose weight!

    Believe it (*points at ticker*)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    Remember that MFP gives you a calorie goal. A goal is something to be achieved...so when you log exercise and neglect to eat back your exercise calories, you are underachieving and not meeting your goals. Become an achiever...eat back a good portion of your exercise calories...70-80% to account for estimation error.

    If you told MFP you wanted to lose 1 Lb per week, your calorie goal has a 500 calories per day deficit from maintenance built in...2 Lbs per week and you have about 800-1,000 calorie deficit per day built in. There is absolutely no need to make these deficits bigger by neglecting to eat back exercise calories. Remember that MFP does not include exercise in your daily activity...MFP treats it as extra activity...extra activity needs to be fueled. When you fuel that activity, you will find that your workouts become more productive...you have more energy, and you just generally feel better...all the while, continuing to lose weight.

    Very large individuals can neglect eating back exercise calories for longer because they have such massive fat stores to sustain that kind of deficit...but really, most people who have 50 Lbs or less to lose hit a plateau pretty quickly doing this and it's completely unnecessary in the first place once you understand how this tool works.
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    Here's an example. Let's say, based on what you told MFP when you set your stats and goals, that in an average day you expend 2000 calories, not including exercise (so, just normal living activities, work etc.). If you ate 2000 calories every day (a total of 14000 calories/week), your weight should stay exactly the same. If you want to lose a pound a week, you need to eat 3500 calories below the weekly 14000, which would mean 500 less per day, or 1500 calories per day. This is the math that goes on behind the scenes when MFP sets your daily goal. It assumes you're not doing exercise, just normal life stuff, and gives you the deficit you need to lose the pound per week in a reasonable way*.

    Now, let's say you burn 500 calories during your workout. MFP looks at that and goes, "well now she's only giving her body a total of 1000 calories per day (1500-500 =1000) to fuel all that normal life stuff - not enough! Eat more!" So it increases your daily goal to 2000 (2000-500 = 1500 = just right) :)

    Make sense?


    *usually reasonable. Often it sets things too low, especially if you've asked it to give you a loss of 2 lbs/week, which is only appropriate for folks who are really overweight. 1-0.5 lbs is good for people who are not very obese.


    ETA: lol wolfman types faster than me :P
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    Oh goodness, I thought that would be the case!

    I just find it hard to believe that you burn of say... 450 calories, then you get the majority of that back to consume again and you're STILL suppose to lose weight!

    I've been staying around 100 calories under everyday, so I think i'll just continue doing that and see what happens. :-)

    Let me explain it to you like this...using myself as an example...and I've lost 30 Lbs and have been losing consistently.

    My sedentary maintenance level of calories : 2,200 (this does not include exercise...just my daily getting up, going to work, etc
    My sedentary NET calorie goal to lose 1/2 Lb per week: 1,950

    If I eat 1,950 calories per day and don't lift a finger in exercise, I will lose 1/2 Lb per week. Now, lets see what happens when I exercise...on average, I burn about 300 calories per day doing exercise 6 days per week. If I don't eat them back...

    1,950-300 = 1,650 ...this is too aggressive for my current weight loss needs, as 1,650 puts me well below my basal metabolic rate which is dangerous and completely unacceptable for me (I only have 10 Lbs more to go)....so I eat them back and my gross becomes 2,250, but my net (2,250-300 = 1,950) remains constant. My new maintenance level with exercise becomes 2,200 + 300 = 2500. So, you see, I have the exact same deficit eating back my exercise calories as I would if I didn't exercise at all (2,500 - 2,250 = 250 & 2,200 - 1,950 = 250).
  • kiajas9
    kiajas9 Posts: 4
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    Thank you for explaining it to me! I'm very new to all of this and just didn't seem to add up at first, but I get it now. :-)
  • ficbot
    ficbot Posts: 3 Member
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    The first time I tried using MFP, it didn't work because I ate back my calories. BUT I finally figured out why---I put in an overly generous activity level. I used the middle setting because my job IS active (I am a teacher). But then there are days I am not at work, or days my routine varies, or I told it I work out about 3 times a week and I didn't, and so on.

    So what I did this time is, I put in the lowest possible activity level. Now, when I do exercise, I really do feel like I am earning back those calories. I eat them and have been averaging 1.5-2 pounds a week. On days I do no workout, I can't eat as many calories.

    I also have been tracking using last night's dinner as my first meal of the day. I find it is the less predictable meal for me (sometimes we go out, sometimes I eat more than I plan to) and it's easier to adjust breakfast and lunch for tomorrow based on what's left after tonight then to plan for a certain number of dinner calories before dinner happens and then exceed them. I do aim for about 400 calories per meal. But if I do go over at dinner, it's much easier to add in an extra walk and trim a few calories off breakfast and know I will end the day balanced :)

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