MyFitnessPal builds in your deficit for you!

therobinator
therobinator Posts: 832 Member
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
This is something I posted as a response in another thread, but I thought it deserved it's own thread. A quick overview of how MFP builds in your calorie deficit so that you will lose weight, whether you are exercising or not....

When you go to this page: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided -- MFP asks you about your current weight and lifestyle status (sedentary, light, active, etc). The answer that you give to the "How many times a week do you plan on exercising?" question doesn't matter. If you say you are "sedentary" and want to lose 1 pound per week and plan on -0- exercise, it might give you (for example) a daily calorie limit of 1,500. If you say you are "sedentary" and want to lose 1 pound per week and plan on 60 minutes of exercise 7 days a week, it will still give you a daily calorie limit of 1,500. Try it, you'll see.

That is how MFP builds in your calorie defecit, and why *IF* you do the exercise that you planned/promised to do (MFP knows that just because you say you will exercise on your goals page doesn't mean you actually will), you need to eat back the calories "earned" so that you don't have *too big* of a defecit.

I hope this is helpful to newbies and non-newbies alike.

Cheers, all! :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • dfborders
    dfborders Posts: 474 Member
    Yes, very helpful - Thank you:smile:
  • amyrc12
    amyrc12 Posts: 183 Member
    Every day someone will ask "Should I eat my exercise calories"...
    It's the never-ending question...
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
    Every day someone will ask "Should I eat my exercise calories"...
    It's the never-ending question...
    I know - lol - that's why I Googled and found this smilie today: smiley-bangheadonwall-yellow.gif

    :glasses:
  • sashalarue
    sashalarue Posts: 40 Member
    Very helpful and i am one of the ppl that ask that question...i do eat some of them just not all of them, my calories are set at 1590 a day and i told MFP i wanted to lose 1-1.5 lbs a week so most days i'm right there at my 1590 if i excercise then i will eat some of the extra just not ALL of them...now am i doing it right?
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
    Very helpful and i am one of the ppl that ask that question...i do eat some of them just not all of them, my calories are set at 1590 a day and i told MFP i wanted to lose 1-1.5 lbs a week so most days i'm right there at my 1590 if i excercise then i will eat some of the extra just not ALL of them...now am i doing it right?
    In my opinion, you should eat ALL your exercise calories back....because MFP, like I've said, builds in your deficit for you.

    The first thing to know is that in order to lose 1 pound you must have a weekly deficit of -3500 calories.

    MFP says to eat 1590 per day (this includes a daily deficit of -750 calories so that you can lose your 1.5 pounds per week). In other words, if you were set to "maintain" your weight, MFP would have you eat 1590 + 750 per day = 2340.

    Now, if you exercise, and earn for example 400 calories, but don't eat any of them.....your daily deficit is now at 750 + 400 = 1140 per DAY....which comes out to 8050 per week....or a weight loss of 2.3 pounds per week. Anything over 2 pounds per week lost is not considered healthy or good. So, if you don't eat back your exercise calories, your deficit is too large.

    Make sense?
  • dcgonz
    dcgonz Posts: 174 Member
    sashalarue-Another reason you want to eat your excercise calories back is because if you are not eating enough, your body goes into starvation mode and you don't lose any weight. It holds on to the fat because you are not feeding it. If you are excercising never be afraid to give your body what it needs. While in starvation mode, you body burns muscle instead of fat, not good. Just follow what MFP advises you eat and go with that.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    Robinator...what you say makes sense...if human bodies were predictable robots. And if we are sure we are measuring everything we eat and every single spot of exercise accurately.

    None of those are feasible.

    It really isn't possible to eat back the exact amount of calories you've burned. We don't have the capacity to be that precise.
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
    Robinator...what you say makes sense...if human bodies were predictable robots. And if we are sure we are measuring everything we eat and every single spot of exercise accurately.

    None of those are feasible.

    It really isn't possible to eat back the exact amount of calories you've burned. We don't have the capacity to be that precise.
    I never said anything was an exact science. My original post and any follow-ups that I added were meant to explain how and why MFP gives you a deficit and why one should eat back their exercise calories rather than ignoring them like some people do or only eating back small amounts of them like some people do. I gave exact numbers for illustrative purposes only. I don't disagree with you that we can never be exactly on in our calculations.....but we *can* strive to be as close as possible using the tools that are available to us....such as HRM's, food scales, etc. The more precise we can be, the better we can lose the weight we want at the pace we want, and the better we can prevent weight gains after that.
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