Calorie Intake VS Calories Burned!

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RedHeadedBlueEyes
RedHeadedBlueEyes Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
how many calories should you burn out of what you eat? If i eat more calories than im supposed to, do i burn off the extra calorie i ate and THEN some?

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  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    That is going to depend on how your calorie goal is set up.

    If you're using MFP's set-up then you don't need to burn any additional calories in order to lose weight. Your body is already burning a ton of calories just keeping you alive, going to work, etc.

    If you eat above your goal, then yes, you can exercise to burn off those extra calories. Or you can choose to eat a little less the rest of the week to offset it.

    You should exercise for health and fitness, but how much and what you do should be more about what kind of fitness goals or body composition goals you have rather than just for weight loss.
  • RedHeadedBlueEyes
    RedHeadedBlueEyes Posts: 10 Member
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    That's exactly what I wanted to know. I've been trying to keep my diet to a set amount of calories, but we all have bad days. I try to use my exercise bike for 30-60 minutes a day 5 days a week. I really want to lose weight and need a better understanding of how many calories you should actually be burning. I also have a step counter which calculates the amount of calories I burn just from walking around, but sometimes I feel like that's cheating lol- but it IS physical activity so i guess its not lol

    I read that you should be burning more calories than you eat.... thats a lot of working out lol
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    That's exactly what I wanted to know. I've been trying to keep my diet to a set amount of calories, but we all have bad days. I try to use my exercise bike for 30-60 minutes a day 5 days a week. I really want to lose weight and need a better understanding of how many calories you should actually be burning. I also have a step counter which calculates the amount of calories I burn just from walking around, but sometimes I feel like that's cheating lol- but it IS physical activity so i guess its not lol

    I read that you should be burning more calories than you eat.... thats a lot of working out lol

    When people talk about burning more than they eat, that includes all of the calories you burn just being alive (your BMR) as well as the calories you burn just through normal every day life (your NEAT).

    If you want to get a feel for how many calories you burn in a day, you can get an estimate from any of the online TDEE calculators available. Your TDEE is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It's how many calories you burn every day and that makes it the number of calories you could eat to maintain your current weight. This is the number you need to eat below, not just the number of calories you burn through exercise.

    If you need more info, I think this thread lays out the two most common ways of setting your calorie goal really well: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

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