I need a man's opinion....

c2sky
c2sky Posts: 487 Member
edited September 27 in Health and Weight Loss
o.k. so my husband has been doing MFP for one week. Because of all his bycyling, his calorie allotment was up to 4500 calories a day. He was always under, and he's eating more than he used to. Today he said, "YEAH, YOUR MY FITNESS PAL WORKS REAL WELL. I JUST GAINED 4 POUNDS!

Men, how many calories does MFP say you can eat. I am only allowed 1270 net. My husband is allowed 2800 net.


What say you?
«1

Replies

  • megz4987
    megz4987 Posts: 1,008 Member
    I know I'm not a man but I think if your daily calorie intake (before starting MFP) is lower than what MFP tells you to eat and you're not losing on that...and you aim to eat what MFP tells you to, I think you'll inevitably gain. I lowered mine to what I want it to be, not what it tells me to eat b/c I wasn't losing anything.
  • Purplebunnysarah
    Purplebunnysarah Posts: 3,252 Member
    Not a man either but is it possible your husband is double-counting his calories? Depending on what his bicycling is for, if he's claiming an Active lifestyle and then claiming the activities he used to justify "Active" as exercise, he could be eating double his exercise calories!
  • kristenanna
    kristenanna Posts: 33 Member
    I know a friend who's boyfriend is aiming to lose weight and he has been put on a 2000cal/day diet.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    Again, not a man ... but, if he 4 pounds in a week, he either ate a LOT of extra calories, or there is something else going on (water retention, maybe) - one of those normal random fluctuations.

    My husband is 6'1", currently 245 lbs, and not very active. His baseline calorie allowance is about 1700 a day (with the goal to loose 2 lbs a week, I think). 2800 net seems high unless he is incredibly active, and even then a bit high. I wouldn't eat back the calories from exercising if it's giving him nearly 2000 a day ... something is off ...
  • tross0924
    tross0924 Posts: 909 Member
    well my activity level is set at sedentary and I'm allotted 1870. If he's set to active, but his activity is riding the bike then there's a problem there. oh and that's with a 1 lbs per week deficit.
  • zacherybinx
    zacherybinx Posts: 215 Member
    Tell him to make sure he's imputing all of his info to the best of his ability in the goals area because a few mistakes there could definitely have an effect. Also, depending on his sodium intake and how much water he's drinking while cycling which I'm sure is a ton he could just be retaining a lot of it if he took a day off.
  • TMLPatrick
    TMLPatrick Posts: 558 Member
    I definitely gained 5 or so lbs when I started working out and eating better.... its mostly just water weight.... I started losing pretty rapidly after that. He should stick with it and not be so cynical. Working out and eating better is not going to make you *less* fit.... so he should quit whining and start taking care of himself, really!
  • kmcincy
    kmcincy Posts: 3
    My goal is 1990 and my net is usually around 1600 if I'm doing cardio and 1300 if I'm doing cardio + strength training. It sounds like something is off, maybe in the profile?
  • mikegohl
    mikegohl Posts: 68 Member
    I'm in maintenance mode now. I get about 2300 a day, but since I normally workout, I eat about 3000. When I was losing weight, I was getting about 1800 a day net.
  • Bob_Sugar
    Bob_Sugar Posts: 61
    Just b/c he get's 4,500 cal doesn't mean he supposed to eat them....unless he's a professional athlete (literally). I have a buddy who plays pro football has to eat 4,500 call per day.
    I bike, run and weight train. I'm 6-3 and keep my cal intake b/w 2,000 and 2,500 and I'm down 15 lbs since March 1st 2011 when I started suing the site.
  • lloydmurphy
    lloydmurphy Posts: 3
    I am allotted 2140 calories, before exercise. I stay under the original allotment, choosing not to use the extra calories earned through exercise. In four weeks, I've lost more than two pounds per week.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    my hubby is tall and muscular. (6'2" and a 54 inch chest) He works out a lot, too. We chose to aim at 2200/day net calories for him, and he has been losing very well. He doesn't always eat his exercise calories because he burns up a lot at the gym, but I try to make sure he eats back at least some of them.

    4500 in one day sounds like a LOT, and a HRM will help make sure the calorie burn is accurate.

    Just don't let him give up, because MFP DOES WORK!!!
  • smbakke77
    smbakke77 Posts: 273 Member
    It depends on his goals. Mine is to lose two lbs a week and exercising 6 days a week for 30 min. I weighed 289 when I started. With my weight loss mmy current calorie goal is to net 1630 per day. Its important to eat the exercise calories back or the body goes into starvation mode. Sounds like he is eating too many calories still...even with the exercise.
  • brian2911
    brian2911 Posts: 48
    i am aloud 1970 but i have been staying under that .
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    when I started suing the site.

    haha funny typo! I read it and had to do a double take...:laugh:
  • c2sky
    c2sky Posts: 487 Member
    he's set on moderately active. He is a welder and on his feet all day. He rides as a racer trains. I'm thinking , "yeah, he's probably regaining some water or something." I will have him do some girth measurements and we'll see how that goes. Just because he supposedly can eat 4500 calories on some days, he never does. On those days he is always lower than 3500, and that's after riding maybe 30-40 miles at 16 miles per hour.

    It just seems so wierd. We are only 35 pounds different, and my goal calories is 1270, and his is 2800? I am set at moderately active too.

    hmmmm....

    What I really want to know is what has MFP told you guys, that are around 190 pounds to set as your calorie goal for the day before exercise?
  • MzBug
    MzBug Posts: 2,173 Member
    I may be a little off base, but just because he is on his feet all day doesn't mean that he is moderatly active. Yes you do burn a few more calories because you are on your feet rather than sitting at a desk, but if he has been doing this for a while his body is used to it and may not be burning that much. He might want to drop his activity level to lightly active and see what happens. With all the bike riding he does I would suggest he get a HRM to see exactly what he is burning while riding. Again if he has been doing this for a while his body may be used to it and not be burning as much as the MFP calculator is indicating. He may need to get some other sort of activity in there (strength training or another type of cardio) to shake up his metabolism.
  • hellokatee
    hellokatee Posts: 211 Member
    I may be a little off base, but just because he is on his feet all day doesn't mean that he is moderatly active. Yes you do burn a few more calories because you are on your feet rather than sitting at a desk, but if he has been doing this for a while his body is used to it and may not be burning that much. He might want to drop his activity level to lightly active and see what happens. With all the bike riding he does I would suggest he get a HRM to see exactly what he is burning while riding. Again if he has been doing this for a while his body may be used to it and not be burning as much as the MFP calculator is indicating. He may need to get some other sort of activity in there (strength training or another type of cardio) to shake up his metabolism.

    I agree with this. MFP is a great tool, but not all of it's calorie estimates are correct, especially those concerning exercise. Although someone else may burn 1,700 calories from cycling, your husband may not because of his fitness level, endurance, resting heart rate, etc. When he enters in "60 minutes of cycling" it is probably giving him some outrageous readout that isn't realistic for his body.
  • rraallpphhccuurrtt
    rraallpphhccuurrtt Posts: 133
    MFP tells me I can consume 2,150 calories per day. I usually workout and earn another 900 calories each day, I always stay under my combined total and I have been losing weight. If he is exercising to the tune of 2,500 calories a day he is way out of my competency league.
  • seankellyaus
    seankellyaus Posts: 1 Member
    What I really want to know is what has MFP told you guys, that are around 190 pounds to set as your calorie goal for the day before exercise?

    I started at 198 and put in my profile Sedentary, 4 workouts of 30mins per week, and 1 lb per week loss. My target calories for the day is 1620 (before exercise). I am around 8 weeks in, and have lost 20 lbs. I have been doing more exercise than my original goal.
  • kdjemr
    kdjemr Posts: 7
    how much does he cycle ???? I do about an hour and half a day on avg. and ride btwn 26-31 km/h depending on what day. Saturdays I ride 121 km (around 65 miles) My max is around 1900 calories but depending on how much I cycle it gives you credit .... I choose not to use it all .... I have just started though, so may give better insight in a few weeks
  • kdjemr
    kdjemr Posts: 7
    sorry I mean 75 mile not 65 mile
  • johnwhitent
    johnwhitent Posts: 648 Member
    I agree with those who say he should probably reduce his profile activity level to lightly active. I know that you know that the human body is marvelously efficient and quickly learns to conserve calories while doing regular daily activities. I am sedentary (desk job,) 5'10" and 180 lbs and my daily net calorie goal is 1530 to lose one pound a week. If I started his job today no doubt moderately active would be accurate for me - for a while. But in time my body would adapt and learn to use fewer calories doing the same work so I would need to adjust accordingly. So while moderately active may seem right I'm thinking that it is too high.
    Additionally, I do not eat all of my exercise calories back on big burn days. If my only exercise is a walk, a short run, or maybe 30 minutes of strength training or such I will eat my exercise calories, or most of them. I tend to bump my eating up more for strength training than for aerobic exercise. When I aerobically burn 1,000 calories or more I only increase my calorie eating by 30 to 50 percent or so of what I burn. That is contrary to the standard MFP advice and I am no expert, but I do what works for me. Good luck!
  • korgscrew
    korgscrew Posts: 99 Member
    Maybe he isnt putting his cycling in right. Is he going on whatever MFP says for x amount of cycling?

    I dont log all my workouts anymore as i dont see why I should to be honest, unless im getting really close to my goal weight, or i become and athlete!

    Im on 1800 cals a day and am normally about 300 or so under that without logging workouts and ive been losing about 2 pounds a week!

    Hope this Helps!

    A man.
  • korgscrew
    korgscrew Posts: 99 Member
    sorry I mean 75 mile not 65 mile

    Glad you said that! Was just about to call you a lazy light weight rider!
  • Somnifac
    Somnifac Posts: 30 Member
    I'm a guy, as far as I can tell, and have a desk job, so during the day I'm sedentary. Outside of work I cycle 5-6 days a week, with 25-30 mile rides during the weekday rides, 60+ on Saturdays and 40+ on Sundays. Mix in a 100+ mile ride one Saturday a month.

    I started @ 210 lbs, and I'm down to under 190 so far, with a 1500 calorie allotment. 60+ mile days I exceed my allotment, obviously, but only enough to keep from bonking on the bike. Been working like a champ so far.
  • c2sky
    c2sky Posts: 487 Member
    Oh my gosh!

    We checked his profile settings. He set his goal to GAIN 1 pound per week! Gah!
  • phinners
    phinners Posts: 524 Member
    Whats all this about 'double exercise calories'? I saw posted on page 1. If we claim an active lifestyle then add in the activity we/he could be eating twice the calories?

    Does this mean we shouldnt be adding in our activity if we claim to have an active lifestyle? Now I'm really confused.
  • Laika3
    Laika3 Posts: 37 Member
    Oh my gosh!

    We checked his profile settings. He set his goal to GAIN 1 pound per week! Gah!

    :laugh: sorry for laughing but that's too funny! Hope he sees a loss now that it's corrected :smile:
  • cmmull67
    cmmull67 Posts: 170 Member
    I'm around 190, and my lifestyle is set to sedentary. Maintenance calories for me are 2200, so it shouldn't be much more for "lightly active". Even at current weight, 2 hrs of moderate biking is only about 1500 cals. So, I can't see him needing more than 4000 a day, if in maintenance mode.
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