Are MFP recommendations working for you?
Allup2Me78
Posts: 589 Member
So I do have a sit down desk job but am told that since I do workout lightly 3-4 times a week burning maybe 150-250 calories that I am supposed to select lightly active if using Mfp's recommendations. That puts me at 1520 a day to lose 1 lb a week. I am told by some to eat back exercise calories and by some not to. I am only 4 ft 10 and weighing about 192 so I don't know that I should eat them back since I already selected lightly active instead of sedentary.
Thoughts or advice from those who use MFP recommendations....
Thoughts or advice from those who use MFP recommendations....
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Replies
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worked great for me while I used them...as soon as I started weighing my food it was bang on 1lb a week.0
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If you factored your work outs into your TDEE, then don't. If you did, then do eat them back. But only half back.
So, if you have a desk job, sedentary would be a reasonable activity level to use in calculating your TDEE. From there, if you exercise and burn 500 calories, then eat back around 250 ish.
MFP has worked like a charm for me up to a point. When I get to the last 5 to 10 pounds I want gone, things seem to stop for me. But, that's me, and those are always the stubborn ones anyway.0 -
It has worked incredibly well for me, total success.0
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But....did you all eat back exercise calories when or while using MFP's goals?0
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I calculated my TDEE and added in my exercise, although I exercise pretty much six days a week I plugged in 3 to 5 times to be on the safe side. I am pretty much in maintenance and chose a normal plan, It gave me a doable number much higher than I am used to eating to lose. With that it indicated I would lose a half a pound per week which is cool.... I am done losing at this point and working toward tone and more muscle so the number gives me some wiggle room with five pounds give or take.
Long story short, I use TDEE with exercise calories in, either over or under estimate depending upon the goal. I then plugged the results into MFP and watch my macro's, which I think is key to healthy and sustainable weight loss.
Hmmmm, I kind of rambled here and not sure if it helped you or not.0 -
I have a desk job and I walk three times a week and maybe burn 150 a workout. I never ate back my calories. I always figured that there are inaccuracies in the database and probably a little inaccuracy in my food weighing so the exercise calories gave me room for error.0
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If you're using MFP's recommendations you don't include your exercise, just your daily activities. Then you add your exercise and eat back at least half the calories.
If you want to include your exercise in your TDEE then you would not eat back the extra calories MFP gives you for exercise. Just eat the same amount every day.0 -
But....did you all eat back exercise calories when or while using MFP's goals?
Depends...........
Calorie burn estimates in MFP & many machines are generous. Heart rate monitors are designed only for steady state cardio. Many MFP users eat a portion back.....50-75%. I may take some time to find the % that works for you.
Look up your TDEE & BMR. These are high/low for your height, weight, age, gender, etc. Unlike MFP TDEE includes exercise up front. You would take a percentage off of TDEE. If all the settings are the same....this is close to MFP.0 -
Works great for me. I eat back 3/4 to all of my exercise calories most days...0
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I would list yourself as sedentary and then log your exercises (and eat back a portion of your calories). Since you don't work out every day, you have days where you are definitely sedentary (and what happens when you take days off due to injury, sickness, or holidays). Plus when you see what you gain back from exercise it can encourage you to exercise harder/more. I wouldn't eat back 100% of exercise calories, just in case of over-estimating. (I do about half.)0
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I use a FitBit and that adjusts my calories for me. I only have to enter exercises where I'm not getting steps (Pilates, exercise bike, etc).0
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I think it is different for everyone but that being said i would eat about half of the calories. Really depends how much it was though0
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I have a desk job, profile is set to Sedentary and I log all my cardio. I set to 1lb/week, and in the past 7.5 weeks since using MFP I have lost 18 lbs. I dont usually eat back calories unless I feel my blood sugar dropping and being drained. I am doing about 180mins/week of cardio plus doing stronglifts.0
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The part in bold is incorrect and a common mistake. Your activity level on MFP is nothing to do with your planned exercise - it is solely your job and lifestyle. People confuse it with TDEE calculators which would include it.So I do have a sit down desk job but am told that since I do workout lightly 3-4 times a week burning maybe 150-250 calories that I am supposed to select lightly active if using Mfp's recommendations. That puts me at 1520 a day to lose 1 lb a week. I am told by some to eat back exercise calories and by some not to. I am only 4 ft 10 and weighing about 192 so I don't know that I should eat them back since I already selected lightly active instead of sedentary.
Thoughts or advice from those who use MFP recommendations....
By upping your activity setting because of exercise and then also eating back exercise calories you are double dipping.
I'm burning 6000 cals in exercise most weeks but my MFP activity setting would still be sedentary as I'm a desk worker.
To answer your question - yes I ate back all my exercise calories but my base setting turned out to be wrong by about 300 cals.0 -
I have looked into TDEE..BMR and all that..Just wanting to try it the MFP way for a while.0
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So, I should have it at sedentary is what you are saying?
The part in bold is incorrect and a common mistake. Your activity level on MFP is nothing to do with your planned exercise - it is solely your job and lifestyle. People confuse it with TDEE calculators which would include it.So I do have a sit down desk job but am told that since I do workout lightly 3-4 times a week burning maybe 150-250 calories that I am supposed to select lightly active if using Mfp's recommendations. That puts me at 1520 a day to lose 1 lb a week. I am told by some to eat back exercise calories and by some not to. I am only 4 ft 10 and weighing about 192 so I don't know that I should eat them back since I already selected lightly active instead of sedentary.
Thoughts or advice from those who use MFP recommendations....
By upping your activity setting because of exercise and then also eating back exercise calories you are double dipping.
I'm burning 6000 cals in exercise most weeks but my MFP activity setting would still be sedentary as I'm a desk worker.
To answer your question - yes I ate back all my exercise calories but my base setting turned out to be wrong by about 300 cals.0 -
I have looked into TDEE..BMR and all that..Just wanting to try it the MFP way for a while.
Okay in that case set your activity level lower and then add your exercise and eat back most of the calories. That's what I did for my first 30 lbs. Worked fine.0 -
But....did you all eat back exercise calories when or while using MFP's goals?
Yes I did all of them.
I was on 1380 when I started and would do 28mins of circut training 6x a week which according to MFP it was about 280 calories based on my weight at that time. That worked out to 1700 which funny enough is my TDEE-20%
I was set to sedentary...0 -
I followed only MFP's guidelines my first 2 months, before getting a Fitbit, & it worked for me. I didn't do much extra exercise then, so I can't vouch for eating back exercise calories - I just stayed under my calorie goal & all was well. I also had mine set to sedentary even though I walk to class everyday, because when I'm not doing that tiny bit of exercise, I'm sitting on my butt the rest of the day, either in class, reading for class, or doing homework.
Then I got a Fitbit & linked it up to MFP and now I automatically get or lose calories based on how active I am that day. Some days I get 150 calories taken away from my goal, some days I have 300 calories added. At first I was really skeptical because originally I was just eating 1650 flat everyday & losing fine, but I continued using the Fitbit & eating back all the exercise calories it gave me, & I've ultimately lost weight doing it that way as well.
I think as long as you're tracking your food accurately [preferably weighing it, but measuring has worked fine for me] and log your exercise as accurately as possible, you should be able to follow MFP guidelines of eating back your exercise calories & staying under your total goal and lose weight consistently. I know my biggest concern was accuracy of calories burned during exercise, because MFP's database is very skewed, and that's why I got a Fitbit. Consider getting some sort of activity tracker or HRM if you do higher intensity exercise, so you can more accurately keep track of how much you burn and trust the number enough that you feel comfortable eating back some or most of your exercise calories.0 -
As far as when I exercise, I have an HRM.I followed only MFP's guidelines my first 2 months, before getting a Fitbit, & it worked for me. I didn't do much extra exercise then, so I can't vouch for eating back exercise calories - I just stayed under my calorie goal & all was well. I also had mine set to sedentary even though I walk to class everyday, because when I'm not doing that tiny bit of exercise, I'm sitting on my butt the rest of the day, either in class, reading for class, or doing homework.
Then I got a Fitbit & linked it up to MFP and now I automatically get or lose calories based on how active I am that day. Some days I get 150 calories taken away from my goal, some days I have 300 calories added. At first I was really skeptical because originally I was just eating 1650 flat everyday & losing fine, but I continued using the Fitbit & eating back all the exercise calories it gave me, & I've ultimately lost weight doing it that way as well.
I think as long as you're tracking your food accurately [preferably weighing it, but measuring has worked fine for me] and log your exercise as accurately as possible, you should be able to follow MFP guidelines of eating back your exercise calories & staying under your total goal and lose weight consistently. I know my biggest concern was accuracy of calories burned during exercise, because MFP's database is very skewed, and that's why I got a Fitbit. Consider getting some sort of activity tracker or HRM if you do higher intensity exercise, so you can more accurately keep track of how much you burn and trust the number enough that you feel comfortable eating back some or most of your exercise calories.0 -
But....did you all eat back exercise calories when or while using MFP's goals?
Yes, I exercise to eat more or eat back calories. One day I decided to really go for it and was under about 1400 calories and felt so bad it took me a day to recover. I seem to do best when I am just barely under my goal by 300 or less. I put everything in as honestly as I can. When I started I listed my activity level as mildly active, and I was. After hitting near my target weight (.8 pounds away this morning) I did a recheck. I had started exercising 5 to six days a week by running, weight lifting and ab workouts. I also had just run a half marathon so I upped by activity level and lowered my weight loss goal to .5 pounds a week. As I move to maintain I will keep doing what has worked so far and tweak calories to hit a balance. Other than honestly logging calories I do the following.
Weigh only once after waking with Aria WiFi scale, auto logs to both FitBit and MFP, no cheating possible.
Wear FitBit to get the non exercise or just active calories to be counted, Syncs to MFP
Use Runtastic App to log my running, walking calories, syncs to MFP.
Use Runtastic Six Pack to work abs, syncs to MFP.(you must disconnect and reconnect each time to sync, what a pain)
Manually add my Nautilus workout to MFP, once again just to get the calories to eat back0
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