Am I doing this right?

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I'm new to the numbers part of weight loss. with deficits and maintenance levels.

Say my maintenance level is about 2160, my deficit is 433, and my daily calorie goal is 1470. If I have calories left over from workouts and I'm below 1470, should I eat back those calories or do I need to still be below it?


Thank you so much.

Replies

  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    2160-433=1727, not 1470. Where have you got these numbers from? How much did you tell MFP you want to lose a week and what goal did it give you?

    If you are following MFP as it was designed to work (ie you haven't customised your own goal) then yes, you should be eating back those calories from your workouts so that you get back to your original goal. As calorie burn estimations can be inaccurate, a lot of people will only eat say 2/3 of those calories back to allow for error.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • sbbarber91
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    2160-433=1727, not 1470. Where have you got these numbers from? How much did you tell MFP you want to lose a week and what goal did it give you?

    If you are following MFP as it was designed to work (ie you haven't customised your own goal) then yes, you should be eating back those calories from your workouts so that you get back to your original goal. As calorie burn estimations can be inaccurate, a lot of people will only eat say 2/3 of those calories back to allow for error.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf


    I got the 1400 number from what I entered in MFP. Obviously I know the numbers don't add up which was why I am asking
  • SharonNehring
    SharonNehring Posts: 535 Member
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    "Say my maintenance level is about 2160, my deficit is 433, and my daily calorie goal is 1470. If I have calories left over from workouts and I'm below 1470, should I eat back those calories or do I need to still be below it?"


    If 1470 is your goal and you ate 433 cals less than that, then you ate 1037 cals for the day? Then you work out and say burn 400 cals. Now you have a net of 637 cals for the day but your cal goal goes up to 1870. Is this what you are trying to describe? When you exercise, mfp automatically adds those cals back into your cal goal for the day.

    When you entered your goals initially, mfp automatically reduces your cal total by how much you want to lose, 1 lb a week= 500 less cals a day, 2 lbs a week= 1000 less cals a day. So if you already entered your weight goals, the calorie goal mfp gives you is the amount you eat and lose whatever you entered.

    You don't want your net cals to consistently be below 1200. Sometimes it's ok but if you do that every day your body goes into starvation mode and tries to hold on to every lb,
  • sbbarber91
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    "Say my maintenance level is about 2160, my deficit is 433, and my daily calorie goal is 1470. If I have calories left over from workouts and I'm below 1470, should I eat back those calories or do I need to still be below it?"


    If 1470 is your goal and you ate 433 cals less than that, then you ate 1037 cals for the day? Then you work out and say burn 400 cals. Now you have a net of 637 cals for the day but your cal goal goes up to 1870. Is this what you are trying to describe? When you exercise, mfp automatically adds those cals back into your cal goal for the day.

    When you entered your goals initially, mfp automatically reduces your cal total by how much you want to lose, 1 lb a week= 500 less cals a day, 2 lbs a week= 1000 less cals a day. So if you already entered your weight goals, the calorie goal mfp gives you is the amount you eat and lose whatever you entered.

    You don't want your net cals to consistently be below 1200. Sometimes it's ok but if you do that every day your body goes into starvation mode and tries to hold on to every lb,


    Okay thank you!