Question regarding exercise calories burnt

DaveyNH · February 2015

I'm on day three and have stuck to my daily limit of about 1700 calories a day. A few hunger pains here and there but so far so good. While this is my first time with MFP, I have long been trying to diet. My sweet tooth has pretty much killed it each time for me, but this time around I'm going to count the calories. It seems to have helped keep me on track. Lets see if I can get a week under my belt.

I had a question regarding calories burnt during exercise. Should I always try to eat enough food to make up for calories burn? Or if I get my 1700 eaten, should I not be overly concerned if I don't eat them back? Is it recommended to eat them back?

For example, today I jogged just about 2 miles and walked about .5-.75 miles warming up and cooling down. I burn about 325 calories doing this. So MFP is showing 1720-784+325=1261 remaining. Now, today I am going to eat them back. My nephew is here and we are having some homemade pizza. I ate light most of the day so I could indulge on some pizza. My question is, do I really need to eat those 1261 calories remaining? Or am I good once I pass 1720?

Thanks!

leggup · February 2015

The MFP idea is that you eat back all of your exercise calories (that's why it put +325 calories). There is already a deficit built in with the 1,700 number. You earn more calories to eat when you add exercise.

The one problem with eating back all of your calories is that calorie burns are often inflated/inaccurate. For example, if I jog 1 mile on my treadmill at 5 mph and 1% incline, it says I burn 100 calories. My heart rate monitor says that I burned 125 calories. Runkeeper says that I burned 80 calories. Online calculators say that I burned 150 calories. If I ate back 150 calories and my body only burned 80 calories, I'd be in trouble, over time. It's more significant the longer the workout.

I recommend eating back 50-75% of your exercise calories and seeing what happens. If you lose too rapidly, eat more back. If your weight loss slows down, eat few calories back.

merv243 · February 2015

I slightly disagree. The TDEE (daily calories you burn) calculated by MFP already incorporates the general activity level that you specify (e.g. moderately active). Unless you chose "not active", then that activity level already includes your calories burn during your weekly exercise.

If you log a workout, you are essentially counting them twice. If you DID choose "not active", I would recommend going back and selecting an activity level close to what you actually do and not even bother with logging workouts (or at least, ignore the extra calorie budget). It's really difficult to guess how many calories you burn in a workout, no matter what types of trackers you use.

However, the last paragraph is spot on. The only way to truly gauge what you need to eat is to monitor your weight over time (not just daily, since even just going to the bathroom can cause a 1-2 lb swing) and adjust as needed.

DaveyNH · February 2015

When I signed up, moderately active was described as someone who doesn't have a desk job and move around a good amount throughout the day. The next level up described someone like a postal worker or ups driver. But I disagree that the workouts are factored in. I think what's factored in is me.walking around a lot all day for my job, which is true.

joepratt503 · February 2015

Uh Merv...actually the activity level should be determined based on what you do OUTSIDE the gym. You are right that if you count your gym efforts in your activity level you would be counting twice.

My personal preference is that you are working toward deficit based on your "Net Calories" so if your goal is 1700 (which is 400 less than the "working" calories the system assigns you) then you want to eat to that number which will auto-adjust with your exercise. The alternative is for you to set your calorie goal on your own in conjunction with your planned exercise regiment and then your actual calories goal should be the goal and then ignore the Net Calories.

Bottom line Davey, gotta burn more than you take in...one way or another. Also gotta be careful that you are getting your calories from the right mix of Fat/Carb/Protein that fits your goals and your planned exercise.

As always, just my opinion.

leggup · February 2015

merv243 wrote: »

I slightly disagree. The TDEE (daily calories you burn) calculated by MFP already incorporates the general activity level that you specify (e.g. moderately active). Unless you chose "not active", then that activity level already includes your calories burn during your weekly exercise.

If you log a workout, you are essentially counting them twice. If you DID choose "not active", I would recommend going back and selecting an activity level close to what you actually do and not even bother with logging workouts (or at least, ignore the extra calorie budget). It's really difficult to guess how many calories you burn in a workout, no matter what types of trackers you use.

No. MFP uses net calories counting exercise separately from daily activity. The TDEE method is different. The TDEE method includes assumed regular exercise, therefore you would not count exercise separately. It is great if you have regular exercise.

Here is MFP's Help section explaining how it uses net calories: http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/12031-what-are-net-calories-

RBXChas · February 2015

There are several ways to go about this, but britishbroccoli is right on about using the "MFP method."

This post below might be helpful. It's a bit of a long read, but it's chock full of good information. Honestly I didn't know any of this stuff until I had been on MFP for well over two years, and I wish I'd known it earlier! It's actually pinned to the top of this board, but here's a direct link:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

Unknown · February 2015

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Question regarding exercise calories burnt

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