Question on getting started.

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bigmike80
bigmike80 Posts: 2
in Introduce Yourself
I am new to MFP, and wanted to know if I am supposed to eat 2450 calories a day to burn 2 lbs a week, should I eat back some of my activity calories I will burn to fuel my body? If I earn 400 calories in activity each day, should i eat at least 200 of them back? Also, why does my BMR calculator say I eat 2300 calories a day, but my weight loss calculator says I need to eat 2450 a day to lose 2 lbs a week? Whats the difference?

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  • stella77
    stella77 Posts: 282
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    There must be a mistake in your calculation, better re-check that. There is no way you can eat that many calories and still lose weight! (maybe you clicked "gain 2 pounds per week" rather than lose - happened to me before) esp that your BMR is 2300 kcal!

    And yes, you should probably eat most of your exercise calories. It does help weigh loss.
  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
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    Your Goals page will explain how MFP calculated your calorie goals.

    BMR is the number of calories you'd need to survive if you never got out of bed all day. Your total calorie burn for the day is higher than that.

    Essentially, MFP calculates goals for a 2lb per week weight loss this way:

    (BMR calories + Activity Level calories) - 1000 calories = Your Daily Calorie Goal.

    If you exercise, it looks like this on those days:

    (BMR calories + Activity Level calories + Exercise Calories) - 1000 calories = Your Daily Calorie Goal.

    MFP wants you to maintain a consistent calorie deficit whether you exercise or not. So it is recommended that you eat those exercise calories, yes.
  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
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    There must be a mistake in your calculation, better re-check that. There is no way you can eat that many calories and still lose weight! (maybe you clicked "gain 2 pounds per week" rather than lose - happened to me before) esp that your BMR is 2300 kcal!

    And yes, you should probably eat most of your exercise calories. It does help weigh loss.

    Never a bad idea to check your settings, but people with a great deal of weight to lose or with very active jobs may well be able to eat that much and still lose!
  • fiat
    fiat Posts: 17
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    i'm kind of new also, but my thought on the first question is that if we don't eat back the calories we burned off, we'll lose at a faster than is optimal rate. nice to lose faster, but maybe not sustainable.
    i don't know about the 2nd question.
    good luck to you and to all of us!
  • Meg2012
    Meg2012 Posts: 106 Member
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    Hey big mike!

    Your BMR is the number of calories your body would need just to lay around all day. Since you're trying to get healthy, you probably don't wanna lay around all day, right? So focus on making those calorie targets your minimum and your maximum daily. ('Cuz some days you really will lay around.)

    The best way I've heard it explained is we need to feed the body the right kind of calories to get it to release the calories it has stored as fat in our bodies. The body is an efficient machine and it will take energy (calories) from the easiest sort.

    So, say you're out walking the dog, but you just drank a beer or a soda, it'll burn those calories, but not the stored calories. But if you drank a water, it'll convert energy stored in the body to power the walk.

    Make sense? Or did I just confuse you more?

    Meg

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