Bodymedia eating calories question

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sweetmelissaphoto
sweetmelissaphoto Posts: 15 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So yesterday with my BMR and my workout, I had a 1371 calorie deficit. Am I supposed to eat all the calories? I am a bit confused. MFP always had me eating 1200 calories and after plugging my goals and stats into Bodymedia, they also suggested 1200 (ish). When I log into MFP I am like 800+ calories in the green. There is no way I could eat that much. I am currently set up to hit a 500 calories deficit each day. Is this what I should aim for (ie eat more so that my deficit is 500 and not 1371)?

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  • sweetmelissaphoto
    sweetmelissaphoto Posts: 15 Member
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    Bodymedia also suggests I eat 1200 based on my goals and stats, however I had a huge (over 500) calorie deficit yesterday. Bodymedia suggests i maintaina 500 calorie deficit to lose 1 pound a week. Yesterday was my first full day wearing the device. Will it start to read me and adjust my daily calorie goal on its own? Or should I adjust my calorie goal manually or just eat more on my own? I hope this makes sense.
  • RoseTears143
    RoseTears143 Posts: 1,121 Member
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    I use BodyMedia as well. I have the LINK armband :). I generally eat between 1700-2200 cals a day based on how many cals I burn but I have my deficit level set to 1000 cals a day for 2lbs a week loss. So I try to eat up to my level required for that deficit. As an example, if I burn 3000 cals in a day from normal body functions (living) and exercise, I'll eat 2,000 calories.

    I've been wearing it for 2 1/2 weeks or so now so it's doing great at estimating how many calories I'll burn during the day so I know I generally have about 1800 calories to plan eating for the day and try to eat the majority earlier in the day so if I need to bump up my dinner calories I have time to get them in. :)

    But I don't "eat back" exercise calories at all. I just pay attention to my calories burned and my calories eaten according to my armband data.

    Edited to add: I don't pay any attention to MFP when it says anything about how many calories i have left to eat btw. Ihave MFP and BodyMedia linked so it imports my food data to BodyMedia to account for what I've eaten during the day.
  • sweetmelissaphoto
    sweetmelissaphoto Posts: 15 Member
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    Ok that makes sense and thanks for replying! So I wonder if I am doing damage by not eating enough?
  • DesireeAshley90
    DesireeAshley90 Posts: 137 Member
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    If you do a 500 calorie deficit daily it'll be about a pound a week. I have the BMF as well and I aim for a 1200 calorie deficit roughly. I NEVER eat my exercise calories back but it's really up to you. They are there to eat back if you'd like.
  • DesireeAshley90
    DesireeAshley90 Posts: 137 Member
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    I use BodyMedia as well. I have the LINK armband :). I generally eat between 1700-2200 cals a day based on how many cals I burn but I have my deficit level set to 1000 cals a day for 2lbs a week loss. So I try to eat up to my level required for that deficit. As an example, if I burn 3000 cals in a day from normal body functions (living) and exercise, I'll eat 2,000 calories.

    I've been wearing it for 2 1/2 weeks or so now so it's doing great at estimating how many calories I'll burn during the day so I know I generally have about 1800 calories to plan eating for the day and try to eat the majority earlier in the day so if I need to bump up my dinner calories I have time to get them in. :)

    But I don't "eat back" exercise calories at all. I just pay attention to my calories burned and my calories eaten according to my armband data.

    Edited to add: I don't pay any attention to MFP when it says anything about how many calories i have left to eat btw. Ihave MFP and BodyMedia linked so it imports my food data to BodyMedia to account for what I've eaten during the day.


    ^^^This too for me. I usually burn around 2500 daily and I'll eat to where I have a 1200 calorie deficit. So it'll vary between 1200 and 1500 calorie consumption.
  • mdcoug
    mdcoug Posts: 397 Member
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    I've had mine for a week now and I'm struggling with it too.

    Right now I'm aiming for a 500 calorie deficit a day, but I'm finding that my deficit is usually bigger because of the calorie burn in the evening, after I've finished eating everything I've planned for the day. I'm going to just keep going for another week and then look at where I am.

    Also, I subtract my deficit from the total day's calorie burn, per BMF, which means I do eat back my exercise calories.

    I don't really pay much attention to what MFP says I have left for the day, although I do peek at the Exercise calories, just to get an idea of what it is estimating for my burn for the day, so I can try to get closer to the 500 calorie deficit.

    I did end up adjusting my MFP calorie goal, to accomodate for the ridiculous burn BMF was feeding it. I had it set to 1500/day but have lowered it to about 1350. I might raise it again, if I feel like I'm losing too fast, but considering that my total calorie intake hasn't changed (just the tools I'm using to measure have), I'm not anticipating needing to do that.
  • RoseTears143
    RoseTears143 Posts: 1,121 Member
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    I've had mine for a week now and I'm struggling with it too.

    Right now I'm aiming for a 500 calorie deficit a day, but I'm finding that my deficit is usually bigger because of the calorie burn in the evening, after I've finished eating everything I've planned for the day. I'm going to just keep going for another week and then look at where I am.

    Also, I subtract my deficit from the total day's calorie burn, per BMF, which means I do eat back my exercise calories.

    I don't really pay much attention to what MFP says I have left for the day, although I do peek at the Exercise calories, just to get an idea of what it is estimating for my burn for the day, so I can try to get closer to the 500 calorie deficit.

    I did end up adjusting my MFP calorie goal, to accomodate for the ridiculous burn BMF was feeding it. I had it set to 1500/day but have lowered it to about 1350. I might raise it again, if I feel like I'm losing too fast, but considering that my total calorie intake hasn't changed (just the tools I'm using to measure have), I'm not anticipating needing to do that.

    After having the armbadn for awhile you will be able to tell how many cals you burn at night..for example: I have had it long enough to know that from midnight to when I get up for work at about 4:30 I'll have already burned between 300-400 calories just sleeping. And I can almost always bet that by the time I am done with dinner and from around 8pm til midnight I'll burn an additional 300 cals or more just lounging around and going to bed.

    It of course will be different for you, but you will get the hang of it so you can adjust how much more you eat during the day. You will notice trends and the armband will learn more about how you burn calories as you continue to wear it. The activity manager has a great reports feature that you can export and look at and it can show youa verages over the last 7/14/28 days so you can see generally how many calories you burn a day, how much you eat, how much sleep you get, how much activity, and all that good stuff. It's really incredible.
  • RoseTears143
    RoseTears143 Posts: 1,121 Member
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    Ok that makes sense and thanks for replying! So I wonder if I am doing damage by not eating enough?

    Don't worry about the MFP cals in the green...or the "leftover" calories. I have had days where I have 700+ calories left to eat even though I had already eaten 1700-1800 calories. I kept to my 1000 calorie or so deficit I set in BodyMedia so MFP said I had a lot left to eat based calorie adjustment from the armband data.

    Just don't eat too few calories...for example don't go too far below 1200/day. That's too little to eat and exercise and support normal bodily functions. If you are eating that low and trying too hard to cut calories to get a deficit maybe you need to exercise more so you can eat more and still have your deficit.
  • Armyantzzz
    Armyantzzz Posts: 214 Member
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    Here's the plan..... End the day with a number even with or under (preferably) your calorie count. The trick is to have minus calories that add up to a pound to assist your weight loss goals (along with exercise). For example... they are 3500 calories in a pound.. so for seven days I am 500 calories under my preset calorie count goal.... (that equals one pound weight loss under ideal conditions). Or if I stay even with my preset calorie count.. The worst that should happen is I don't gain any weight (normally your preset calorie count is set so you will lose weight evenly at a slow keal, keeping your body out of "starvation" mode.. which in turn slows metabolism and leads to other complications.) :wink:

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