Keeps adding calories after I type in my exercises

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Awesomeness145
Awesomeness145 Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm trying to lose weight and my daily cal goal is 1600 calories a day. After I put in my exercise I do, it increase those calories by about 200 calories, making it seem I can eat another 200 cal worth of god. But doing that wouldn't it make me gain weight instead of lose it? Or would I lose the same amount of weight? I'm really confused by this.

I'm talking about the fitness pal iPhone app btw

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    that's how it works - the 1600 is based on your routine daily activity and your stats combined with your target weight loss rate.

    If all that were true and you ate 1600 you would lose weight at a certain rate.

    The logging of extra exercise gives you extra food calories which cancel out the exercise and leave you with the same weight loss rate as if you hadn't bothered. It's a hamster wheel reward approach. The weight loss is in the basic allowance.
  • divinenanny
    divinenanny Posts: 90 Member
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    1600 is based on doing nothing extra.
    If you exercise, you burn calories. To make sure you are not starving yourself, you eat those calories too.

    You'll still lose weight just as quickly as without exercise, and you'll stay healthy by eating enough.
  • RaineyLaney
    RaineyLaney Posts: 605 Member
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    I set my food calorie goal between 1200 to 1300 most days, but put 1500 for my MFP value. I stick with the 1200 to 1300 goal and never eat back my exercise calories. I ignore what it "Says" of amt to eat after exercising . If I am hungry after working out, I eat and those times I can go over the 1300, but will not go over 1500 (and those times are rare to go over the 1300)

    Do what works for you. If your not losing 1 to 2 lbs a week, then change something. You should not lose more than 2lbs a week though.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,391 MFP Moderator
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    OP, considering you are a 18 year old man, you definitely want to eat them back. 1600 calories isn't much for a guy. Understanding you want to lose weight fast, since you have 70 ish pounds to lose, but what you want to realize, huge deficits over a long period of time will lead to muscle loss. If you want to be lean or ripped, you need muscle, this is why you want to eat back some exercise calories, especially protein based calories and weight train. Realistically, you want to set up your goals to match the bottom. Now, if you are like many of us who do not eat exercise calories, you include exercise as part of your activity level. If you exercise 3-4 hours a week make it lightly active, and if you exercise 5-6 hours a week make it moderate. Then when you exercise, change the calories to equal 1. This way you are eating the same goal daily, which is easier to manage.

    On a side note, I am a 31 year old male, with a desk job, eating 2300-2600 calories a week (macro's around 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fats), exercising 5-6 hours a week and I lose 1 lb per week.



    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    I can eat another 200 cal worth of god.

    thats quite a skill...
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf

    Since you're a young guy I'd recommend starting out eating them. If you're not progressing after a month reevaluate.
  • LishieFruit89
    LishieFruit89 Posts: 1,956 Member
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    I set my food calorie goal between 1200 to 1300 most days, but put 1500 for my MFP value. I stick with the 1200 to 1300 goal and never eat back my exercise calories. I ignore what it "Says" of amt to eat after exercising . If I am hungry after working out, I eat and those times I can go over the 1300, but will not go over 1500 (and those times are rare to go over the 1300)

    Do what works for you. If your not losing 1 to 2 lbs a week, then change something. You should not lose more than 2lbs a week though.

    That doesn't seem healthy.
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
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    I can eat another 200 cal worth of god.

    thats quite a skill...

    He went back for seconds at mass.
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
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    MFP is supposed to do that. That's how this system works. Didn't you read about what you're doing?
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    MFP is supposed to do that. That's how this system works. Didn't you read about what you're doing?

    Do you know this place at all? Nobody reads about how MFP works or reads the Newbie threads on the forums.
  • WhisperingCloud
    WhisperingCloud Posts: 28 Member
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    I had serious reservations about eating back my exercise calories at first. I was losing 2 lbs a week, was pleased with the results, and didn't want that to let up. But after talking to a lot of people on here, I was able to see that I was experiencing side effects, like dry skin, irritability, constipation..... And the way it was explained to me was that I was putting my body in starvation mode by not eating back those calories. A lot of people say that MFP overestimates calories burned, so it's best to eat a portion of them. For the past month, I've been eating back half of my exercise calories, and my weight loss did not slow at all, and I felt a lot better. On hungry days, I will eat all of them back. Still losing 1-2 lbs a week. Good luck on your journey!
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    So I'm trying to lose weight and my daily cal goal is 1600 calories a day. After I put in my exercise I do, it increase those calories by about 200 calories, making it seem I can eat another 200 cal worth of god. But doing that wouldn't it make me gain weight instead of lose it? Or would I lose the same amount of weight? I'm really confused by this.

    I'm talking about the fitness pal iPhone app btw
    Yep, this is how MFP works. Your daily calorie goal has a deficit built into already - meaning you can eat TO GOAL every single day, do zero exercise, and you'll lose weight. Burning more cals through exercise leaves you with too large a deficit, which is why the cals are added back into you daily goal. Your daily NET cals should be at ror very close to goal at the end of the day. Food is fuel!
  • Awesomeness145
    Awesomeness145 Posts: 3
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    So basically. If I eat those extra calories it says I can eat from exercise, I'll lose just as much weight as I would not exercising and not eating those extra calories? I'm actually not that much overweight, in fact, my doctors are happy with my weight. But I asked them if it's be safe to Lose weight and they said no more than 10-15 lb. I have Cystic Fibrosis. I'm doing this to reach my aesthetic goal.
  • RaineyLaney
    RaineyLaney Posts: 605 Member
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    I set my food calorie goal between 1200 to 1300 most days, but put 1500 for my MFP value. I stick with the 1200 to 1300 goal and never eat back my exercise calories. I ignore what it "Says" of amt to eat after exercising . If I am hungry after working out, I eat and those times I can go over the 1300, but will not go over 1500 (and those times are rare to go over the 1300)

    Do what works for you. If your not losing 1 to 2 lbs a week, then change something. You should not lose more than 2lbs a week though.

    That doesn't seem healthy.

    I am under a doctors care and my blood work etc are all really good and healthy. I see my doctor every 3 months. My blood sugars also are down to between 70 -85 compared to 265 - 370 when I started. I am no longer on Blood pressure medicine, No cholesterol medicine and I have even gotten off the Blood sugar medicine. Seems to be working for me.
  • focuseddiva
    focuseddiva Posts: 174 Member
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    RaineyLaney-- your post actually makes TONS of sense to me,. I like how you're listening to your body and, if hungry, rating back some of th eexercise cals. Too often, I'll "see" on my phone that I could eat an extra 400 cals, so I start thinking about that instead of listening to my hunger level. And then I use it to rationalize a pack of crackers or whatever that I probably could have lived without.

    Anyway -- I really like your approach to this, and obviously your numbers prove it's working. How many pound(s) per week are you losing on this?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,391 MFP Moderator
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    So basically. If I eat those extra calories it says I can eat from exercise, I'll lose just as much weight as I would not exercising and not eating those extra calories? I'm actually not that much overweight, in fact, my doctors are happy with my weight. But I asked them if it's be safe to Lose weight and they said no more than 10-15 lb. I have Cystic Fibrosis. I'm doing this to reach my aesthetic goal.

    It's especially important to have smaller deficits if you want to lose for aesthetic purposes. Large deficits can increase the amount of muscle you lose, which make it harder to get a ripped or lean body. This is why there is tons of threads with underweight or nearly underweight people struggling to get a flat stomach or abs.


    What is your current height and weight? Also, what is your workout routine? We can help set up a calorie goal for you that will support your goals.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,391 MFP Moderator
    Options
    I set my food calorie goal between 1200 to 1300 most days, but put 1500 for my MFP value. I stick with the 1200 to 1300 goal and never eat back my exercise calories. I ignore what it "Says" of amt to eat after exercising . If I am hungry after working out, I eat and those times I can go over the 1300, but will not go over 1500 (and those times are rare to go over the 1300)

    Do what works for you. If your not losing 1 to 2 lbs a week, then change something. You should not lose more than 2lbs a week though.

    That doesn't seem healthy.

    I am under a doctors care and my blood work etc are all really good and healthy. I see my doctor every 3 months. My blood sugars also are down to between 70 -85 compared to 265 - 370 when I started. I am no longer on Blood pressure medicine, No cholesterol medicine and I have even gotten off the Blood sugar medicine. Seems to be working for me.

    That is great news that you are off the meds. The reason people make comments like they did is fairly simple. You had several medical issues. And many/most doctors will take the risk of muscle loss, etc.. for increase weight loss. Because most issues are tied to an unhealthy weight more so, than composition. But since you made the improvements and not too far out from a very healthy weight, now you have to ask if this current plan will enable you to hit your fitness goals. Generally, as you approach a healthier weight, you want to add more calories to fuel your workouts and maintain the remaining lean body mass. This is something low calorie diets do not do. Also, very long term use of low calorie diets generally lead to a reducing in metabolic rate. A lower metabolic rate would generally lead to a lower TDEE. So when you eat normal, you gain much quicker; not to say this will happen to you.

    Personally, i think it would be beneficial to evaluate your goals and develop a plan to support those goals. I understand short terms goals can put a roadblock in many peoples minds. But it's something to think about and talk to with your doctors.

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