"Eating back calories"
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At the end of the day, whether you are doing MFP's NEAT method with eating back exercise calories, or using the TDEE method where exercise is figured into your baseline goal and you don't eat them back, ultimately both should end up with similar numbers if you are accurate in setting them up.
I used MFP initially to set my goals and ate back my exercise cals. For maintenance MFP has me at about 1900 cals/day. When I got a FitBit I check the total daily burn which is an approximation of my TDEE. That number is about 2100-2200 which is perfect because I usually burn about 200-300 cals in exercise.0 -
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WinoGelato wrote: »At the end of the day, whether you are doing MFP's NEAT method with eating back exercise calories, or using the TDEE method where exercise is figured into your baseline goal and you don't eat them back, ultimately both should end up with similar numbers if you are accurate in setting them up.
I used MFP initially to set my goals and ate back my exercise cals. For maintenance MFP has me at about 1900 cals/day. When I got a FitBit I check the total daily burn which is an approximation of my TDEE. That number is about 2100-2200 which is perfect because I usually burn about 200-300 cals in exercise.
I happily found the same thing....that both equations equaled out to saying to saying the same thing. MFP's NEAT calculation gives me about 2000 calories for maintenance and I usually end up showing a 500 to 800 calorie exercise adjustment. My Fitbit shows my TDEE on average to be about 2500....and often more on really active days.
Isn't it great when technology and systems work the way they are supposed to!?
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I set myself at sedentary and add in my steps from MFP. I've done that for four years. I eat back all the calories I'm hungry for. My appetite changes with my activity level and that adjusts for it.
I follow this as well. I do like logging my activity and comparing how active I am across time.
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The TDEE method you put in about how much exercise you do in a week, and it gives you a set calorie target that divides all the exercise calories over the week. Therefore you don't need to log exercise separately anymore.
So presumably only really works if you consistently do about the same amount of exercise each week? My exercise is quite variable - some weeks I do more than others...
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Same here.pinkteapot3 wrote: »The TDEE method you put in about how much exercise you do in a week, and it gives you a set calorie target that divides all the exercise calories over the week. Therefore you don't need to log exercise separately anymore.
So presumably only really works if you consistently do about the same amount of exercise each week? My exercise is quite variable - some weeks I do more than others...
I need to see those exercise calories building up which is my ticket to eat well.
Also, if I blow my daily goals, I can get out and make some of it up and see the difference.
Whatever works for you, but I prefer the MFP way.
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NEAT - No Exercise Activity Thermogenesis0
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TimothyFish wrote: »Basically, what people mean by MFP vs TDEE is that with MFP you track both what you eat and what you burn with the goal of those two numbers being equal. With TDEE, you track what you eat, but you estimate how many calories you think you will burn. MFP gives you more flexibility, but TDEE requires less effort.
Too true. I also think people who have very regular lives do great with TDEE. My life is too variable. If you can afford one of those gizmos that measures your exercise, you get the best of both worlds.
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WinoGelato wrote: »At the end of the day, whether you are doing MFP's NEAT method with eating back exercise calories, or using the TDEE method where exercise is figured into your baseline goal and you don't eat them back, ultimately both should end up with similar numbers if you are accurate in setting them up.
I used MFP initially to set my goals and ate back my exercise cals. For maintenance MFP has me at about 1900 cals/day. When I got a FitBit I check the total daily burn which is an approximation of my TDEE. That number is about 2100-2200 which is perfect because I usually burn about 200-300 cals in exercise.
I happily found the same thing....that both equations equaled out to saying to saying the same thing. MFP's NEAT calculation gives me about 2000 calories for maintenance and I usually end up showing a 500 to 800 calorie exercise adjustment. My Fitbit shows my TDEE on average to be about 2500....and often more on really active days.
This is good to look forward to. I'm still a bit confuzzled by the numbers. Then again, I'm not tracking walking anymore to know what I would have burned from it and I'm doing a lot more walking than I used to. I'm still trying to settle into a new normal.
I got a Fitbit way early in my path here looking down the line towards maintenance, and I pretty much do TDEE in that I ignore the noise of adjustments, take what it says my average burn is, and work out a deficit from there since I'm still trying to lose.
When I'm in maintenance, I'll see what MFP gives me and eat back my exercise adjustments, probably eating more on lifting days.
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I prefer TDEE because I like eating the same amount of food every day whether I exercise or not. My exercise schedule is pretty stable and I never burn so many calories on exercise days that I am left starving. I can see how MFP would work better for someone with inconsistent exercise or very long endurance exercise a few days a week.0
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I'm just wondering if any of you eat back the calories you burn when working out? I'm currently on sedentary level and Pacer syncs my steps and calories to MFP (wondering if Ishould eat that back too). Or do you use TDEE method?
well, if you put your activity to sedentary...but you're not really sedentary...wouldn't it make sense to account for additional activity? that's what MFP is designed to do...
when I was losing weight and using MFP I ate my exercise calories back in order to properly account for and feed that activity (you should have some kind of an allowance for estimation error).
you just have to look at the math...when i was losing, if i didn't workout i could eat around 1900 calories to lose about 1 Lb per week....this was because my maintenance calories without any exercise was around 2400 calories. when I exercised regularly I could eat 2200 - 2300 calories per day and still lose that same Lb because with exercise my maintenance number also increases...
it's 5th grade math...that's all.
and yes...TDEE vs MFP is six of one, half dozen of the other...the difference is where in the equation you account for exercise activity.0 -
pinkteapot3 wrote: »The TDEE method you put in about how much exercise you do in a week, and it gives you a set calorie target that divides all the exercise calories over the week. Therefore you don't need to log exercise separately anymore.
So presumably only really works if you consistently do about the same amount of exercise each week? My exercise is quite variable - some weeks I do more than others...
Yes, the more consistent you are, the more accurate TDEE is.
It is very helpful for people who have very active days and non active days. Instead of eating 1500 calories three days then eating 2500 four days, you would eat 2071 seven days a week (1500 x 3) + (2500 x 4) / 7 Some prefer that. Others prefer the NEAT method (or even a hybrid of the two) because they find themselves hungrier on workout days.
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Thank you all for the information and explanations! Some of this was very new to me.0
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pinkteapot3 wrote: »The TDEE method you put in about how much exercise you do in a week, and it gives you a set calorie target that divides all the exercise calories over the week. Therefore you don't need to log exercise separately anymore.
So presumably only really works if you consistently do about the same amount of exercise each week? My exercise is quite variable - some weeks I do more than others...
yes and no...it's really not about the day to day minutia, it's about what's going on over a period of time. my workouts aren't the same day to day and I have weeks where this happens or that happens...but If I relatively consistent in my nutrition and relatively consistent in my exercise (over weeks and months) my trend is to maintain.
you don't miss a workout or something and put yourself in a surplus and put on fat just like that...that's not how the body works.
sometimes i'm in a surplus and sometimes I'm in a deficit...the net effect over time is maintenance (which is my goal)
keep in mind also that your TDEE isn't some specific number...TDEE is really a range. yes, you're going to get a specific number from a calculator...but in reality, you have a range of calories for which you will maintain and it's always variable.0 -
What about when your exercise calories up your protein intake? I eat mine back and would anyway because I'm hungry all the time, but my protein macro will go from 90 to 120 just based on my Fitbit readings. What do those of you not eating back do about your increased macros? Ignore them? Or maybe I need to change my settings to active...0
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christineja wrote: »What about when your exercise calories up your protein intake? I eat mine back and would anyway because I'm hungry all the time, but my protein macro will go from 90 to 120 just based on my Fitbit readings. What do those of you not eating back do about your increased macros? Ignore them? Or maybe I need to change my settings to active...
I think many people who focus on hitting certain macros like protein aim for a specific amount, the percentages are just a way to balance things. I believe the calculation for protein is 1g/lb of lean body mass, or 0.7-0.8g per total weight. That doesn't change then if you have a more active day.
Personally I'm not super hard core about it but if I get 80-100g of protein/day I feel pretty good. If I have a day where I'm doing more strength training I do try to focus on getting closer to that 100g number.
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christineja wrote: »What about when your exercise calories up your protein intake? I eat mine back and would anyway because I'm hungry all the time, but my protein macro will go from 90 to 120 just based on my Fitbit readings. What do those of you not eating back do about your increased macros? Ignore them? Or maybe I need to change my settings to active...
I generally follow percentages (35 protein, 35 carb, 30 fat). The only exception to this is days when I earn a lot of extra calories. Because of T2Dm, I have to stop at a max of 180 g of carbs so my protein and fat macros go much higher.
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Thank you for all the comments! Really learned a lot. I might just go with TDEE if I'm to start having a normal routine (workout wise) again. But the activity levels on TDEE really confuse me, because I have no idea whether my workouts are light or moderate haha. What's the closest to accurate TDEE calculator?0
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Thank you for all the comments! Really learned a lot. I might just go with TDEE if I'm to start having a normal routine (workout wise) again. But the activity levels on TDEE really confuse me, because I have no idea whether my workouts are light or moderate haha. What's the closest to accurate TDEE calculator?
I've found scooby to be the closest, but still guesstimating.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
I have the same concerns with the light moderate activity levels. I don't seem to fit into any of them. I try and walk 20kms 7 days a week, I wouldn't call that lightly active,but not moderately or highly active either. I'm stuck somewhere in the middle.
I prefer to stick with the MFP way, so I can see those exact numbers, plus it makes me happy and spurs me on watching my calories go UP throughout the day per my fitbit.
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christinev297 wrote: »Thank you for all the comments! Really learned a lot. I might just go with TDEE if I'm to start having a normal routine (workout wise) again. But the activity levels on TDEE really confuse me, because I have no idea whether my workouts are light or moderate haha. What's the closest to accurate TDEE calculator?
I've found scooby to be the closest, but still guesstimating.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
I have the same concerns with the light moderate activity levels. I don't seem to fit into any of them. I try and walk 20kms 7 days a week, I wouldn't call that lightly active,but not moderately or highly active either. I'm stuck somewhere in the middle.
I prefer to stick with the MFP way, so I can see those exact numbers, plus it makes me happy and spurs me on watching my calories go UP throughout the day per my fitbit.
Thank you! Been hearing great feedback with fitbit and jawbone, this might just be included in my Christmas wish list haha :-)
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christinev297 wrote: »Thank you for all the comments! Really learned a lot. I might just go with TDEE if I'm to start having a normal routine (workout wise) again. But the activity levels on TDEE really confuse me, because I have no idea whether my workouts are light or moderate haha. What's the closest to accurate TDEE calculator?
I've found scooby to be the closest, but still guesstimating.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
I have the same concerns with the light moderate activity levels. I don't seem to fit into any of them. I try and walk 20kms 7 days a week, I wouldn't call that lightly active,but not moderately or highly active either. I'm stuck somewhere in the middle.
I prefer to stick with the MFP way, so I can see those exact numbers, plus it makes me happy and spurs me on watching my calories go UP throughout the day per my fitbit.
Thank you! Been hearing great feedback with fitbit and jawbone, this might just be included in my Christmas wish list haha :-)
I can highly recommend getting an activity tracker. It's the best thing I've done since starting this weight loss "journey" (I hate that word lol).
I went from very sedentary, to pretty active since getting my fitbit. It's helped/motivated me a lot!
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