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calorie goal vs exercise

mlengkeek
mlengkeek Posts: 2 Member
edited February 23 in Getting Started
i am not getting something. lol. It says my calorie goal is 1200. do we not exercise to burn calories and then want to NOT eat those calories we burned? if i eat 1200 calls and burn 375 then it says i have 1575 calls avail. why would i eat 1575 wouldn't i aim for the 1200 too lose weight? forgive me if this is something i am just missing....michelle thanks

Replies

  • Fit_Fox88
    Fit_Fox88 Posts: 410 Member
    MFP does not assume your exercise calories in calculating your daily calorie goal. Whatever calories you burn from exercise are meant to be eaten back. You want to NET 1200.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Hi. You'll notice that this is a question that comes up quite a lot on these message boards. So a few helpful posters have tried to explain it over the years. I really like this post to help explain why the site wants you to eat back the calories you burn through exercise: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • laney4818
    laney4818 Posts: 73 Member
    to put it very simply, when you set a goal, say to lose 1 pound a week, it will try to keep you close to a negative -500 calories a day. So, if you burn 2500 calories one day, you could eat 2000. If you burn 1800 calories in a day, you would only eat 1300 calories. I believe it tries to Net you the 1200 goal.

    I finally bought a FitBit and use it to track by daily calorie burn. It links to MyFitnessPal, which is where I track all of my food and any exercise I do that FitBIT doesn't measure. I love it! Most days I burn about 2000 calories and I strive to eat between 1200 and 1600 a day for weight loss.

    You can also google a TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) calculator and it can give you an estimate of what you burn each day based on your activity level.

    Just burn more calories then you eat. I hope this helps, I'm sure others will provide advice too! Best wishes with your new lifestyle!
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