desperately confused

jefredo
jefredo Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys!! CW:370 GW:200. So my question. I'm suppose to eat 2000 cal a day...I've been eating around 1300-1500 ....now here is where I'm confused...the sections say goal food exercise and net. Someone told me I should eat as close to my goal as possible and exercise to burn at least 600 calories but don't eat them back ....if I were to do that then what would the tabs read under...food exercise net ..thanks in advance

Replies

  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    The way MFP is set up, is that you "earn" more calories by exercising. You are technically supposed to eat them back. After you log all of your food and exercise for the day, it's supposed to read that you have close to zero calories remaining. Just keep in mind that the calorie burns provided in MFP and what the ones that you read on machine, are almost always incorrect. If you are not using a heart rate monitor, I would change the calorie burn MFP gives you. Use about 60% of what they say you burned.
  • jefredo
    jefredo Posts: 10 Member
    Wow so I have been doing this totally wrong. :/
  • Of_Monsters_and_Meat
    Of_Monsters_and_Meat Posts: 1,022 Member
    On mfp. if your number is green. Eat. When its red, stop.
  • jefredo
    jefredo Posts: 10 Member
    During my whole time my number has always been green...I always have like 500-900 calories left...I thought the more calories you had left over the more weight you would lose..plus I've heard ppl say not to eat back exercise calories
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    During my whole time my number has always been green...I always have like 500-900 calories left...I thought the more calories you had left over the more weight you would lose..plus I've heard ppl say not to eat back exercise calories

    Shoot for +/- 50 calories left. Rinse and repeat for a few years. Succeed.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    ..plus I've heard ppl say not to eat back exercise calories

    you'll notice the majority of those people haven't made it to their goal.
  • JeffBrown3
    JeffBrown3 Posts: 161 Member
    Technically, you are correct, the less calories, the more you lose. However that doesn't mean you are losing fat. More than likely that low you are losing a lot of important muscle tissue as well.
  • jefredo
    jefredo Posts: 10 Member
    Scenario: 2000 calories a day.....I wake up first thing I do is walk for three miles and burn 500 calories so technical the green number will say 2500 calories.... there is No way I can eat that many calories without feeling over full
  • TurtleTape
    TurtleTape Posts: 254 Member
    Scenario: 2000 calories a day.....I wake up first thing I do is walk for three miles and burn 500 calories so technical the green number will say 2500 calories.... there is No way I can eat that many calories without feeling over full

    Yeah, you can. Add in some extra oil to your meals, eat a spoonful of peanut butter, a handful of nuts. These things add over a hundred calories and are not very filling, so it's easy to bump up your calories using them.
  • jefredo
    jefredo Posts: 10 Member
    So rule is eat all my green numbers and I should lose weight. With exercise of course
  • gemmaleigh1989
    gemmaleigh1989 Posts: 241 Member
    ^ Yes.
  • kellesee
    kellesee Posts: 53 Member
    On mfp. if your number is green. Eat. When its red, stop.
  • kellesee
    kellesee Posts: 53 Member
    Where is this "green and red" number?
  • GGDaddy
    GGDaddy Posts: 289 Member
    So rule is eat all my green numbers and I should lose weight. With exercise of course

    Yes, exactly. But only so long as:

    - You calculate your daily calorie goal correctly, i.e. enter correct weight, age, activity level, desired weight loss, etc.

    - You measure food carefully. A little error here and there will quickly overcome your daily 500 calorie deficit

    - You log everything! No "quick snacks" or "I don't need to log that mayo"

    - You quickly learn what exercise calorie expenditure should look like. The myfitnesspal database is notorious for overestimating calories burned per hour in the exercise database. Don't log exercise calories without crossreferencing against other websites. Some good ones to check against are:
    http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php
    http://exercise.about.com/cs/fitnesstools/l/blcalorieburn.htm
    http://www.nutristrategy.com/caloriesburnedwork.htm

    Also, many people here recommend some sort of resistance/weight training. I do too. It's good to use the muscles under the fat, so when you do lose the weight, you'll slim down to a nice physique rather than being "skinny-fat" or wasting away.

    But I've eaten back every single exercise calorie I've burned (after carefully logging to make sure I wasn't overestimating calories burned). It's worked for me... if I don't eat back exercise calories, I don't have enough fuel to get through the rest of the day (or tomorrow's workout).

    Good luck!
  • Woodster83
    Woodster83 Posts: 71 Member
    I wear a Polar FT7 to monitor my calories burned through exercise.

    Snowboarding - MFP estimate 728, Heart rate actual burn 615.
    Squash - MFP estimate 939, Heart rate actual burn 356.

    I'm set on sedentary, as I work at a desk all day, then I eat my exercise calories .

    Good luck! I started at 269lbs and trying to lose 100lbs in a year :)

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