Need help

Sasha1417
Sasha1417 Posts: 59 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I think using my fitness pal has hurt me more than helped lol. Just kidding... But I do have a question. I am eating 1200 calories, sometimes more but I'm exercising by walking my son to school which is a total of four miles for me to walk. According to this I burn over 900 calories. This may be a stupid duh question, but being that I'm walking so much and in the blaring florida sun, am I supposed to consume more calories. For example if I earned the extra 900 calories am I supposed to eat them too? No right that would defeat the purpose of losing weight wouldn't it?

Help!?!

Replies

  • dlbredesen
    dlbredesen Posts: 122 Member
    Walking four miles does not burn 900 calories. Generally every mile is about 100 calories burned.
  • missmegan831
    missmegan831 Posts: 824 Member
    Yes you should eat more... if you are using the MFP calorie goal you should be eating back your exercise calories. I would guess that you probably set your activity level to sedentary? If you walk 4 miles per day then I would def eat back at least 1/2 those calories. Your deficit is already figured in to your daily goal so anything above and beyond that is considered extra, you dont want to have such a large deficit that it hinders your weight loss or harbors your health.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    MFP is designed so that you log extra activity and eat those calorie back.

    That said - two points - I agree with above poster that 4 mile sis not 900 calories. The second is the sun/heat/humidity will affect the readings that HRMs give but it does not affect burn.

    So yes, you should be eating more but not 900 calories.

    Another tip - how much weight do you have to lose? 2 lbs a week is only appropriate for those with more than 100 lbs to lose. Choosing too high of a goal will put your calorie goal too low.

    ETA - I checked and your goal is about 40 lbs to lose. Your weight loss per week goal should be no higher than 1 lb a week.
  • ScarletShopaholic
    ScarletShopaholic Posts: 169 Member
    Hi I would say firstly 900 seems like a lot for 4 miles, have you got a heart rate monitor?

    And secondly a lot of people on here say to eat about half of your exercise calories back, and not to go under 1200 - so if you had burned 900 calories and only eaten 1200 in total - you would only actually have eaten 300 - I think that's how it goes.

    You need to find what works for you, but a heart rate monitor will calculate calories burned better than guessing, and MFP tends to overestimate a bit.

    Good luck :smile:
  • WendyGr8
    WendyGr8 Posts: 20 Member
    100 calories per mile is a general rule of thumb for a person weighing 180 (65/mile if you weigh 120)

    See this calculator for an idea of your calories burned for walking per mile
    http://walking.about.com/library/cal/uccalc1.htm
  • Sasha1417
    Sasha1417 Posts: 59 Member
    I'm walking up hill, with a stroller, a 30 lb baby, a pedometer, and at 4.0 mph each way. Each trip following my child on his bike while running/walking. Kinda interval training because of having to run behind my son as he bikes faster. Anyways when I logged it into my fitness pal it gives me 485 calories burned and when I've done this on my treadmill I get a number of about 450. Remember the heavier you are the more you burn. I'm also in the hot sun and walk to school and back to drop him off and then another trip back and forth to pick him up. It is a daily total of two hours of fast walking. On mapquest the mileage to school is 1.95 miles one way but My pedometer gives me a reading of 2.15 miles back and forth. Not sure which one to believe.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    The outdoor temperature doesn't affect the amount of calories you burn. It increases perceived exertion, but you're not burning more because it's hot outside.
  • Sasha1417
    Sasha1417 Posts: 59 Member
    When I was purchasing my pedometer, I tried looking for one that had a calorie burner, this one has one but it doesn't check my hr to give me an accurate number. The ones I have found are too expensive and the other ones did not have great reviews. I'm open to suggestions and when I get some money ill buy a hr monitor to take an accurate measure of my calories. But thus far it what my treadmill has given me when I do my walking on it. I do interval training on it and after one hour it logs me in at 450. Thanks for thee replies! Keep me coming. Need all the advice I can get....

    Oh yeah about my goals, I want to lose 60 lbs to get down to 120. I have a big frame, my bones are pretty thick so I will look sick if I get any thinner than that. We shall see when I get there hehehe. But on my fitness pal I put my goal at 130 cuz that is what I weighed when I met my hubby. Wanted to get back to per baby weight hehehe. So it's a total of 50 lbs I need to loose and I put my goal at 2 lbs per week. I get a calorie intake of 1200 and then it adds my workout calories which as you all stated seemed like way too much for walking. So I'm safe just eating h ow I'm eating which is either 1200 or about 200 over that goal right?
  • Sasha1417
    Sasha1417 Posts: 59 Member
    100 calories per mile is a general rule of thumb for a person weighing 180 (65/mile if you weigh 120)

    See this calculator for an idea of your calories burned for walking per mile
    http://walking.about.com/library/cal/uccalc1.htm

    Checked with your recommended calculator and it gives me 417 calories for 4.30 miles and to be on the generous side I put in at 3.0 mph. So many different numbers geeeez...all this walking, and I'm feeling sad its not more burnt up... Why r the treadmill and my fitness pal so off? The treadmill has a weight tracker but no hr monitor and based on my weight speed and time I burn 450. Hmmmm.....
  • Sasha1417
    Sasha1417 Posts: 59 Member
    Okay went on google earth and measured my path. It is a daily total of 5.68 miles. Mapquest and my pedometer were wrong. Okay so I'm walking 5.68 miles daily and my pedometer is off by .69 miles. That's over half a mile. Could I have my stride off? I don't now please help. I'm motivated and sticking to this but I don't want to expect more than I should and then feel unmotivated again when I don't meet my own expectations. Thanks.

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