Calorie Confusion

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NerdyNix
NerdyNix Posts: 111 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Bare with me as I know this has probably been asked a trillion times but I'm fairly new to calorie counting.

I have burned a lot more than I've eaten today and MFP is telling me I still have over 2000 calories left to eat. Is it recommended that I eat the calories it tells me or is it ok to have th left over like that?
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Replies

  • andreamulhall
    andreamulhall Posts: 81 Member
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    Once your over 1200 calories it should let you complete your entry for the day , if your not eating 1200cals your not eating enough
  • aDivingBelle
    aDivingBelle Posts: 49 Member
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    That depends on how much you ate. Unless you are really big and worked out really hard or didn't touch a lot of your calories I don't even see how you can have 2000 calories. Thats the most most people would have in a day. It would take an average sized person hours to burn that at the gym and that would be while working hard. Either you aren't eating enough or you are over estimating your burn.
  • NerdyNix
    NerdyNix Posts: 111 Member
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    Well I've eaten 1,139 and that's with cereal breakfast, stir fry lunch and chicken salad dinner plus mixed dried fruit snacks and a meringue (sp) and fruit pudding.

    I've burned 1,820. I didn't personally estimate any of it. My wii tells me what I burn during the workouts, my exercise bike also shows the calorie burn on its display. And then MFP estimated the amount burned during 30 minutes swimming. So I'm not sure if any of it could be wrong.
  • NerdyNix
    NerdyNix Posts: 111 Member
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    Oh and I'm about 3 stone over weight.
  • Azurite27
    Azurite27 Posts: 554 Member
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    I would suggest to eat eat some of your exercise calories back if you're sure your food logging is accurate (weighing food, measuring liquids, logging every bite). If that's true and you're using MFP estimates, try eating 25-50% of the calories earned. Increase this percentage if you're losing faster than you should after a few weeks. If you're doing 1 or more hours of exercise a day and not eating back some calories you may end up starving your body.
  • lindsayk324
    lindsayk324 Posts: 54 Member
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    Just to add perspective, 1,820 calories burned is a little MORE than the equivalent of running a half marathon! I'd be cautious of the Wii and exercise bike burn estimations, unless you really did spend ~2 hours with your heart rate consistently between 140-160bpm...
  • suruda
    suruda Posts: 1,233 Member
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    I also stick with the thought that most calories we consume are underestimated (we probably eat more calories than we think we do) and most calories we burn are overestimated (we don't burn as many calories as we think we do). If you're hungry eat some of them back...
  • lindsayk324
    lindsayk324 Posts: 54 Member
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    shell1005 wrote: »
    [...] The estimated calorie burn was somewhere in the range of 2200 calories. 20 miles.

    Sounds about right! When I first started calorie counting (LiveStrong's Daily Plate before I switched to MFP), I was horrified to learn that just a small (12oz) mocha frappuccino with whip was the caloric antithesis of a running a 5k race...

    unfair.gif
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    NerdyNix wrote: »
    Well I've eaten 1,139 and that's with cereal breakfast, stir fry lunch and chicken salad dinner plus mixed dried fruit snacks and a meringue (sp) and fruit pudding.


    You need to eat more than that, period.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    NerdyNix wrote: »
    Well I've eaten 1,139 and that's with cereal breakfast, stir fry lunch and chicken salad dinner plus mixed dried fruit snacks and a meringue (sp) and fruit pudding.

    I've burned 1,820. I didn't personally estimate any of it. My wii tells me what I burn during the workouts, my exercise bike also shows the calorie burn on its display. And then MFP estimated the amount burned during 30 minutes swimming. So I'm not sure if any of it could be wrong.

    Did you weigh all of that food and calculate the calories using verified or authoritative entries in MFP?
  • NerdyNix
    NerdyNix Posts: 111 Member
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    lindsayk324 wrote: »
    Just to add perspective, 1,820 calories burned is a little MORE than the equivalent of running a half marathon! I'd be cautious of the Wii and exercise bike burn estimations, unless you really did spend ~2 hours with your heart rate consistently between 140-160bpm...


    I did 3 and a half hours worth of workouts, including 30k of the bike. But I will definitely be more cautious of the possibility that the wii and the bike are over estimating :) thanks
  • NerdyNix
    NerdyNix Posts: 111 Member
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    Ninkyou wrote: »
    NerdyNix wrote: »
    Well I've eaten 1,139 and that's with cereal breakfast, stir fry lunch and chicken salad dinner plus mixed dried fruit snacks and a meringue (sp) and fruit pudding.


    You need to eat more than that, period.

    Even if I'm full? Seems a little counter productive to me!
  • NerdyNix
    NerdyNix Posts: 111 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    NerdyNix wrote: »
    Well I've eaten 1,139 and that's with cereal breakfast, stir fry lunch and chicken salad dinner plus mixed dried fruit snacks and a meringue (sp) and fruit pudding.

    I've burned 1,820. I didn't personally estimate any of it. My wii tells me what I burn during the workouts, my exercise bike also shows the calorie burn on its display. And then MFP estimated the amount burned during 30 minutes swimming. So I'm not sure if any of it could be wrong.

    Did you weigh all of that food and calculate the calories using verified or authoritative entries in MFP?

    Yes I weigh all of my food. Don't always use the authoritative MFP things though. I tend to pick the ones that are from the shop I got them from. Like Tesco thin cut steaks. Rather than just picking another thin cut steak entry.
  • wannabeskinnycat
    wannabeskinnycat Posts: 205 Member
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    Fantastic replies. OP - you say you are new to calorie counting but don't seem keen on the correct answers/information you've been given. It's up to you how you process this info but it wouldn't do you any harm whatsoever to have a good mooch round the forum, especially the sticky posts, to get yourself a bit more clued up about it all. Your choice.

    You're not eating near enough by the way. Unless you're 3ft 11.

    Good luck
  • NerdyNix
    NerdyNix Posts: 111 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Thanks, I didn't mean to appear like I don't want the answers so apologies if I come across like that. Was just trying to answer questions I was asked. How do I get the correct burn amounts if my wii and bike are overestimating?

    Most days I eat more than I did yesterday. That was the first day I went under 1,200 (although MFP did let me complete the entry with under that amount) I usually eat between 1,300 and 1,500. I'm not quite hobbit short but I'm only 5ft 2! MFP says I should have 1,350 a day.
  • wannabeskinnycat
    wannabeskinnycat Posts: 205 Member
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    Ooooo 1 last thing. People who ask about calorie counting generally have their food diary open for a little while, so it might be an idea to open it so people can review your calorie intake.

    You'll get answers about your calorie counting based on your calorie counting
  • wannabeskinnycat
    wannabeskinnycat Posts: 205 Member
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    I'm 5ft 3 and 14 stone - I need at least 1700. Check a tdee calculator and change mfp
  • NerdyNix
    NerdyNix Posts: 111 Member
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    I was 13 stone when I started, an down to 12st 5 now. I think my diary is open? I thought I was eating enough as I am never hungry. And I'm eating more than I did when I was on weight watchers! I tend to fill up on fruits and veg. But I will try to get more calories down me :)

    Ok what is a tdee?

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