How does the calorie thing work!!!!

If you are just using the site as it is without any personal adjustments then it goes as follows:

You tell the site your height your weight your gender and what your goal weight is.

You also tell the site if you are sedentary or active.

You tell the site how much you plan to workout each week.

Based on this information the site will calculate what your caloric intake should be each day so that your calorie deficit will be appropriate to reach your goal.

As a rule you want to land exactly on that number no more and no less but I have only managed to land on zero a couple times so there is an obvious margin of error.

You log the food that you eat and it subtracts the calories from the numbers you see.

You log exercise and it will add to the number you see.

As long as you are honest you will end up with a deficit and you will lose weight.

This has been my experience so I see no reason why it can't work for you.

You want to make sure that you eat your 1210 daily. If you are trying to lose weight, then don't eat back the calories that you burn. If you are just trying to maintain, then eat back your calories that you burn. What you are today in the 1100 is ok, but try and get closer to that 1210 daily goal. Good luck!

Thanks everyone!!! So My goal calories is 1210 but today I only ate 1105 minus my 401 exercise calories leaves me with 704 net so is that good or bad?

If 1210 is your goal, you must net 1210 calories. Since you burned 401 calories you must eat 1210 + 401 to net 1210 calories, that means you have to eat a total of 1611 calories for today to meet your goal.

Thanks everyone!!! So My goal calories is 1210 but today I only ate 1105 minus my 401 exercise calories leaves me with 704 net so is that good or bad?

<hears distinctive sound of a can of worms being opened>

Me, I eat my 1200, maybe a little more if I exercise,a lot more if that exercise is some sort of death march hike for 10 miles up and down mountains.

Starvation mode is a myth...

<ducking the inevitable sh!tstorm>

Actually, it is very valid. Often times, a person eating too few calories often will not lose weight. However, once the person starts eating enough calories, then they will lose at a healthy rate.

Of course, I think you are just joking.

i have a question - when i put in my cardio it gives me a calorie expenditure but when i put in my weight training , it doesnt - dont i burn calories when i lift weights also?

I'm still having a bit trouble following. Say my BMR is like 1900. If I eat 200 less than that then the deficit is 1700. Then I workout 300 so the deficit is 1400. Are you saying I have to eat my BMR? Or more if I exercise? The way I'm interpreting the thread is that I'm supposed to eat more calories instead of less, especially after working out?? Also, since we're on this topic. How does the calorie thing work. Does it reset every 24 hours? Say I eat 2000 calories Monday, does it reset so I can eat 2000 calories Tuesday? Or does it carry over? So confused @_@ Aware me please.

You should eat all of your BMR as that's the amount of calories that you use just keeping alive. Even a sedentary person will burn up to 200 calories more just getting up and sitting in a chair all day. MFP estimates your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) from the lifestyle that you put in and then subtracts the deficit you need to lose weight at the rate you want to. All you have to do is eat that number of calories and you'll lose weight. If you exercise, you can eat back the calories because the deficit is already taken from your calorie goal. However, if you've put that you have a highly active lifestyle, then MFP will calculate a high TDEE based on that activity you would have to exercise above and beyond that 'normal for you' activity to log the exercise and eat back those calories.

On MFP every day is taken independently so there's no carry over. That said, you could I guess 'save' calories for another day if you know you're going to need them but MFP doesn't do the maths for you. I don't recommend that approach either as I find that it screws my appetite up (but that may be just me).

You want to make sure that you eat your 1210 daily. If you are trying to lose weight, then don't eat back the calories that you burn. If you are just trying to maintain, then eat back your calories that you burn. What you are today in the 1100 is ok, but try and get closer to that 1210 daily goal. Good luck!

sorry but wrong, OP should eat at least 1/2 to 2/3 of exercise cals back on top of daily allowance.

ETA: Read links I provided in previous reply.

Yes your calorie in take restarts daily. Mine is 1200 calories a day. But dont forget losts of water ! :-)

Yes on mfp your intake resets daily, but is a good idea to monitor your total intake over the week and monitor real world results, eg losses, how you look and feel. etc

Its good to keep a close eye on things but must remember the big picture.

bump because of misconceptions

You want to make sure that you eat your 1210 daily. If you are trying to lose weight, then don't eat back the calories that you burn. If you are just trying to maintain, then eat back your calories that you burn. What you are today in the 1100 is ok, but try and get closer to that 1210 daily goal. Good luck!

Very bad information here.

If you go to the cardio exercise, and search for strength training, you can log the amount of time you did strength training for there also and it will tell you how many calories were burned.