Can someone explain daily calories burned?

I was confused with this too because I have a sit down job but im on 1300 cals a day!

Okay so to start with Calories burned are the total calories your body uses throughout the day which includes life (organ function, digestion etc...things that happen even while in coma), then you have regular movement calories...showering, walking around, sitting etc...then you have exercise calories...

Now for MFP what it does is takes the data you enter...age, height, current weight, activity level and weekly weight loss goal to give you the calories you get to eat to lose the desired weight.

So for example when I joined I entered my stats and it gave me 1380 calories to lose 1lb a week so that is 500 calories a day less than I need to maintain my weight...so I personally needed 1880 calories a day to not lose or gain weight.

The number MFP has nothing to do with what you burn...it's what you eat...

The trick here is to choose a good weight loss rate...

Over 100lbs lose 2lbs a week
Under 25lbs 1/2lb a week
50lbs ...1lb a week
and the rest falls in between...

And to chose the correct activity level...I personally do not believe that people are truely sedentary...I work in an office too but don't sit alllllllllllllllllllllll day long...I am up and about normally half the day in the office and if I sit down at home it's only for about an hour in the evening.

Now as to the OP..that 1200 is what you should be eating a day to lose the desired weight...but keep in mind that is the lowest MFP will give you...and I suspect you put in 2lbs a week to lose...so you could change that to something more reasonable like 1lb.

As for the other app...who knows...

As for exercise anything you do for exercise should be logged and you should eat back 50-75% of those calories....

TL;DR MFP helps you track calories eaten by logging your food. Eat your goal and you will lose weight.

there are several good websites, people swear by the scooby workshop - so 'google' that
You are fairly sedentary but you have also some activity.

1/2lb is a good loss to expect per week, slow and steady wins the race.

If you want to post your height/age/weight I can calculate your BMR/TDEE for you.

The junk food mostly has to go, should be reserved for treats, say once a week. Its full of salt which makes you hold onto lots of water weight.

and yes, you're getting the idea but I'm sure you could eat a bit more than 1200, thats what the above calulations would help you with.

The main reason to not lose is inaccurate logging of calories, its a pain til you get used to it but weigh everything so you know for sure the amount of calories you are consuming.

This is a learning curve, but stick at it and you will get there

you 'binge' eat on junk food ...cos you feel hungry? or emotional/boredom eating? fill up on protein if its actual hunger, that does the trick :

Generally the aim via WHO is to hit 10,000 steps for maintaining and losing weight. You can resolve your 3,000 steps with multiple activities during your desk life.
- There's stairs nearby to the cafeteria and snack bar versus the elevator
- If you have time to attend a cardio class in the evening time
- If you happen to have the dough to purchase a DVD workout at home set
- XBOX Fitness
- Gyms are only $19.99 a month to have access to a treadmill, elliptical and bicycle or even a stairmaster
- If you have one of those smartwatches out now that counts steps and elevation, you can link some of those to MFP.
- Withings Pulse and Withings Scale associate with MFP.

Since phones now have pedometer apps, one other solution I'd recommend is strapping your phone to an armband. There's cases by BOSE/Adidas if you buy the sports headphones and you're wearing gym outfits for walks and runs.

I am going to say MFP does not give everyone 1200 it's all based on what they enter...most enter sedentary with 2lb a week weight loss...

I also know 1.2 is not available...2, 1.5, 1 and 1/2lb is available...

To the OP you are not sedentary...if you live on a farm, regardless of work...you are not sedentary...I know that for a fact.

If you look at my diary you can see I have a serving of chocolate something every night and have been doing that for months..

If you want that "fix" put a serving in a bag/container and carry it with you...or save it for night...that's what I do..like a treat for being on goal..

I currently live with a 20 year old young man (son) and a 32 yo man (husband) so I get the oreo thing...

As to the scale it actually dirties less dishes than using measuring cups...you put your container on it..zero it out and weigh out your food...easy...no more dishes to wash except what you eat out of.

For TDEE/BMR google scooby TDEE calculator or go to IIFYM.com and sort it out..and 1600 isn't crazy...I eat on average 1750 a day since last June and lose on average 3/4lb a week...and I don't live on a farm...I have a desk job but I do lift weights etc.

I just recently installed an app on my phone that tracks how many steps I take in a day and links to MFP - according to this app - my "goal" is 10,000 steps a day. On a work day, I take about 3.000 steps only.

My questions is - is this 10,000 steps what a "normal" sedentary person takes, and that is what MFP is basing the 1200 calories a day off of?

No. MFP's definition of sedentary is super-duper sedentary, even if the way it explains it focuses on your job only. I have a desk job, but I also walk around a good amount and get my 10,000 steps usually, and so long as I do--since I have my step tracker (Fitbit) linked with MFP--MFP adjusts my goals to reflect that. In other words, if you are getting a decent amount of walking in, you aren't considered sedentary. I thought the amounts extra I was getting were crazy, but when I had a long enough time on MFP I calculated my calories and lost weight, and it was pretty accurate in its estimates.

So you should not worry about not getting enough steps for the calories purposes, although getting more steps is a good way to get a higher calorie goal.

So if I go for a walk - should I even log that as exercise, because is it already assuming I am doing 10,000 steps and the "walk" is added on top of that?

If you let the step counter adjust your goal, then you wouldn't add the walk. If you don't let it adjust, then you should add the walks so long as you are putting your activity level at sedentary.

Any insight really appreciated - I just don't understand what this app is tracking, because it feels like its saying a normal sedentary person walks 10,000 steps a day, and only anything over that is added calories burned, and if that's the case, I need to stop logging my "walks" because thats still only getting me to about 6000 steps on a good day!

It's NOT saying that sedentary people walk that much. It's saying that it's good for people to try and walk that much--it's intended to be motivational, on the idea that most healthy people can walk 10,000 steps in their daily life and be less sedentary.

Sounds like you may have decided to do a different method to get your calorie goals anyway, but I wanted to address these.

i am tied to my desk all day too... i try to walk around my building 3 times a day (takes 7 minutes to do one lap around my building which is 1/3 mile). Also I brought in some 2 pound dumbbells and i do little arm excersizes with them. Just being active in any way/shape/form is going to help, even if it's not walking. Even just standing up at your desk can help and I recommend that because sitting for too long is really bad for you (circulation and spine). There are a lot of simple things you can do to be more active but it is definitely more work when you're tied to a desk all day. But focus on calories you consume and you will lose the weight. That is why I am loving MFP. I'm on a 28 day challenge to get "back into it" - using MFP for 28 days straight

MFP does NOT set "everyone at 1200" calories. That's the default minimum. Its what everyone gets set to if they tell the program an overly ambitious loss goal. If you're more sensible and realistic...you set your goal lower, get more calories...AND STILL LOSE WEIGHT. I lost all this eating well over 1600, plus exercise calories. This "everyone" gets 1200 just means you aren't working the program to your best advantage, IMHO.

One of the local hospitals near me was able to test my RMR (Resting metabolic rate) and VO2 Max (Heart rate zones for understand lactic acid threshold). It determined based on my RMR that my caloric intake should be 1790 on a day I don't work out. If I did 60 minutes of cardio that burned 510 calories (Per my Heart rate monitor) then I should consume a total of 2300 calories for that day. When I have a low energy day or sedentary day, I keep it very low carb. I use MFP to track cals in and a fitbit force to track total cals out and daily steps... (A bit of a data nerd, but I feel it helps to check my daily #'s)