MFP says I need to eat 1290 to lose 1lb a week, but.....

Cherilgrl
Cherilgrl Posts: 11
in Health and Weight Loss
.....after reading so many posts about "eating more to lose weight" and "1200 calorie diets are the devil and will set you up for failure later." I'm wondering if it would be so bad to eat 1290 when I fully intend to eat ALL my exercise calories back (which is usually 400-600 calories on weekdays). Eating back my exercise calories will have me eating roughly around 1690-1890 calories per day. Is that still bad or should I say unhealthy?

Replies

  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    If you're eating back your exercise cals and netting 1200 or above then you're using mfp the way it is intended and you'll be fine.

    Most posts slating the '1200' people is because they are usually not eating back exercise cals.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    1290 + exercise calories is fine.

    Try it out and see how it goes. Be aware that some people say that the amounts MFP calculates for exercise burns are inflated so if you are sure you are logging / measuring your food accurately, and if you do not have a heart rate monitor to measure your burn yourself, if you do not begin to lose weight, you might want to experiment with eating back 75% or 50% of your exercise calories.

    The other way to calculate your target calories is to get an estimate TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) and then take a % cut off of that number (20% cut for most people, unless you do not have a lot of weight to lose).

    A properly set MFP + Exercise calories should be about the same as a properly set TDEE -% calorie goal.
  • Cherilgrl
    Cherilgrl Posts: 11
    1290 + exercise calories is fine.

    Try it out and see how it goes. Be aware that some people say that the amounts MFP calculates for exercise burns are inflated so if you are sure you are logging / measuring your food accurately, and if you do not have a heart rate monitor to measure your burn yourself, if you do not begin to lose weight, you might want to experiment with eating back 75% or 50% of your exercise calories.

    The other way to calculate your target calories is to get an estimate TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) and then take a % cut off of that number (20% cut for most people, unless you do not have a lot of weight to lose).

    A properly set MFP + Exercise calories should be about the same as a properly set TDEE -% calorie goal.

    Yes MFP exercise is inflated. Good thing I use my heart rate monitor so my numbers are pretty accurate.

    Thanks :)
  • frenchfancy123
    frenchfancy123 Posts: 23 Member
    try this out. if you're eating back exercise cals then you're fine but if you find you're very hungry then move your calorie target up. A 1200 diet is fine for some people who aren't hungry when they eat that amount but the biggest mistake you can make and something that will set you up for failure is starving yourself. I've made this mistake plenty of times by following mfp religiously. You end up binging loads because you're hungry. Best wishes :) x
  • kstoll2013
    kstoll2013 Posts: 1 Member
    I've noticed that the MFP goal of 1200 calories per day is really low. I checked out web MD and it puts me at 1500 for a similar weight loss (1 lb per week instead of 1.5 lb). Also, when I register my calories for part of the day and it is below 1200 MFP gives a disclaimer stating that I am not consuming enough calories to obtain the important nutrients. This seems a little scary that it may not be noticed by MFP consumers.
  • Sjenny5891
    Sjenny5891 Posts: 717 Member
    I did the 1200 eating back my exercise calories.
    In fact in the begining I logged EVERYTHING- If the cleaning took more than 30 minutes, walking the crying baby, 600 calories for breastfeeding, 300 or so a day walking at work, EVERYTHING....

    After eating everything back I was eating 2,000-2,200 calories a day total.

    1200 calories a day becomes bad when you don't eat back your exercise calories.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    I've noticed that the MFP goal of 1200 calories per day is really low. I checked out web MD and it puts me at 1500 for a similar weight loss (1 lb per week instead of 1.5 lb). Also, when I register my calories for part of the day and it is below 1200 MFP gives a disclaimer stating that I am not consuming enough calories to obtain the important nutrients. This seems a little scary that it may not be noticed by MFP consumers.

    MFP is a tool, and you have to know how to use the tool to set it up and use it properly. MFP figures out your estimated daily needs NOT INCLUDING EXERCISE. Then when you tell it how many pounds you want to lose per week, it subtracts a flat amount of calories based on that. (but it will not go below 1200) Then when you exercise, you eat more calories for fuel, but you are still maintaining the same amount of calorie deficit to lose that amount of weight per week.
  • Cherilgrl
    Cherilgrl Posts: 11
    I did the 1200 eating back my exercise calories.
    In fact in the begining I logged EVERYTHING- If the cleaning took more than 30 minutes, walking the crying baby, 600 calories for breastfeeding, 300 or so a day walking at work, EVERYTHING....

    After eating everything back I was eating 2,000-2,200 calories a day total.

    1200 calories a day becomes bad when you don't eat back your exercise calories.

    Love it!! :laugh:
  • Cherilgrl
    Cherilgrl Posts: 11
    try this out. if you're eating back exercise cals then you're fine but if you find you're very hungry then move your calorie target up. A 1200 diet is fine for some people who aren't hungry when they eat that amount but the biggest mistake you can make and something that will set you up for failure is starving yourself. I've made this mistake plenty of times by following mfp religiously. You end up binging loads because you're hungry. Best wishes :) x

    I feel pretty good with eating back the calories. However I seriously doubt if I can do 1200 calories without doing eating back calories. I may even up my calories to 1500 on the weekend. BTW Since MFP had me as 1290 I just customized it to 1300. Fingers crossed...Let's see how it goes :smile:

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