Eating back calories vs not reporting exercise calories?

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Yogamat316
Yogamat316 Posts: 19 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've read alllllll the guidelines, know allllll the advice about CICO. I've bounced back and forth on my weight loss journey between setting my calories at a certain limit and eating at that limit no matter what kind of exercise I've done, and letting MFP take me down to 1200 and reporting my exercise calories (under-reporting by 100-200 calories each time to leave room for descrepancies). My findings are inconclusive so far. Anyone prefer one way over the other, or found more stable results?

5ft5in F, sw 209, cw 176, gw 150. Jogging c25k with repeat days on week 4, currently, and using nike run app, averaging 45 mins of jogging with walking intervals, 5 days/week, with yoga 2x week. No strength training right now.

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  • Yogamat316
    Yogamat316 Posts: 19 Member
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    Should add I eat back my under-reported exercise calories when I'm at 1200.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
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    Do you know what your BMR is? Do you know what calories MFP provides for you at maintenance?
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    edited September 2015
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    At least half of the high figure for your exercise calories, yes. Jogging takes fuel.

    Figure out your BMR and don't go below it, including subtracting exercise from what you eat. Very large people can, but you don't have enough to lose for that to be a good idea.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calories-burned/
  • CrazyMermaid1
    CrazyMermaid1 Posts: 347 Member
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    Various people will have various ideas. I'm eating back half of my exercise calories.
  • Faithful_Chosen
    Faithful_Chosen Posts: 401 Member
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    Hanging this here as usual... http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Faithful_Chosen/view/why-you-should-eat-to-your-mfp-goal-including-true-exercise-calories-763982
  • Yogamat316
    Yogamat316 Posts: 19 Member
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    _Terrapin_ wrote: »
    Do you know what your BMR is? Do you know what calories MFP provides for you at maintenance?

    I'm listed at 1554 BMR, and MFP has me at 1900 for maintenance.
  • Yogamat316
    Yogamat316 Posts: 19 Member
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    Faithful_Chosen wrote: »
    Hanging this here as usual... http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Faithful_Chosen/view/why-you-should-eat-to-your-mfp-goal-including-true-exercise-calories-763982

    I think this raises important points for people who exercise themselves to death, but I'm burning 500 calories TOPS when I exercise. I listen to my body, too- I wouldn't let myself get to the point of headaches or even grouchiness before I grabbed a banana or some toast!
  • Yogamat316
    Yogamat316 Posts: 19 Member
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    cafeaulait7 wrote: »
    At least half of the high figure for your exercise calories, yes. Jogging takes fuel.

    Figure out your BMR and don't go below it, including subtracting exercise from what you eat. Very large people can, but you don't have enough to lose for that to be a good idea.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calories-burned/

    So, stupid question time-- how often should I adjust my BMR? If it's currently at 1550 but I want to lose 25 more pounds, should I be eating the BMR for the weight I want to be? I agree that I don't have a huge amount to lose before I hit my first goal, and I'm not in a hurry to get there, but I'm just hoping to see some consistency. I probably want something that doesn't exist- the magical formula! ;)
  • random5483
    random5483 Posts: 63 Member
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    Yogamat316 wrote: »
    cafeaulait7 wrote: »
    At least half of the high figure for your exercise calories, yes. Jogging takes fuel.

    Figure out your BMR and don't go below it, including subtracting exercise from what you eat. Very large people can, but you don't have enough to lose for that to be a good idea.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calories-burned/

    So, stupid question time-- how often should I adjust my BMR? If it's currently at 1550 but I want to lose 25 more pounds, should I be eating the BMR for the weight I want to be? I agree that I don't have a huge amount to lose before I hit my first goal, and I'm not in a hurry to get there, but I'm just hoping to see some consistency. I probably want something that doesn't exist- the magical formula! ;)


    Base your calorie intake based on your current weight. Every so often (5 lbs or so), you should change your intake based on your updated weight. Both CICO and TDEE methods are effected by weight changes. You don't have to change your consumption based on minor weight changes, but after 5-10 lbs, it is usually important to recalculate your intake.

    Don't eat as if you are your goal weight. Eat based on your current weight and current activity level.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
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    TDEE -20 or MFP. Pick one and stick with it. I've tried both and like MFP's, in case of LAZY (I like lazy days).
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
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    Yogamat316 wrote: »
    cafeaulait7 wrote: »
    At least half of the high figure for your exercise calories, yes. Jogging takes fuel.

    Figure out your BMR and don't go below it, including subtracting exercise from what you eat. Very large people can, but you don't have enough to lose for that to be a good idea.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calories-burned/

    So, stupid question time-- how often should I adjust my BMR? If it's currently at 1550 but I want to lose 25 more pounds, should I be eating the BMR for the weight I want to be? I agree that I don't have a huge amount to lose before I hit my first goal, and I'm not in a hurry to get there, but I'm just hoping to see some consistency. I probably want something that doesn't exist- the magical formula! ;)

    You can find a calculator and just change the weight. For me, a drop of 20 pounds only changes my BMR by 5%(lower). So, does it make much sense to change my view of BMR? No, not for me. In terms of consistency you will find greater satisfaction of viewing weight loss monthly and not daily. Expect plateaus, continue learning, and allow time to be your ally. I'll post a BMR and maintenance post shortly.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
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    Yogamat316 wrote: »
    _Terrapin_ wrote: »
    Do you know what your BMR is? Do you know what calories MFP provides for you at maintenance?

    I'm listed at 1554 BMR, and MFP has me at 1900 for maintenance.


    Okay, so the 1200 and under reporting calories from exercise versus MFP and a deficit versus maintenance less 20%. For now, I'd say maintenance less 20% (1900-380) provides 1,520 for calories. Given your current exercise choices this would be the process I'd use to avoid mini indulges, miscalculating calories, and little forgiveness on days you pop above the calorie number, and given your goal of 31 pounds to lose provide a more consistent number to adhere to.

    Now, if you change your workouts(either by greater length and or intensity) I'd then go back and look at reducing calories less and resting a little more. Last, as you dump weight, you will want to re-visit the maintenance number for yourself and make reduce this number by 10% of total maintenance calories.

    So, I'd move away from 1200 calories and let time, and your preferences dictate your decisions. Best of luck.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Depends on how accurate you are with your logging.

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