I put my exercise into MFP tonight for the first time... DO you all do this?

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Brocksterdanza
Brocksterdanza Posts: 208 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
It already calculates your daily needs based on exercise during the week which is of course estimated.... however, do you even worry about logging what your heart rate monitor says for cardio, etc? Is their a benefit? I do not eat back my workout calories, at least i havent. Is their a benefit for that? Thanks as always

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  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I don't use an HRM but if I'm following the mfp goal yes, I log exercise and I eat those calories. I exercise to be fit, not lose weight, so I fuel it (eat the calories. )
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
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    No, your exercise isn't already calculated into your calorie goal. Your activity level is (desk job vs active job). You need to input your exercise and eat back at least some of the calories.
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
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    I need a little clarification. Are you asking if or how we log exercise? Are you asking if there is a benefit to logging or eating back calories. The answer as to eating back would also depend on what your workout includes. Before syncing my fitbit with MFP I did log cardio, now the fit bit does it for me. I do log strength training to track progress but not for additional calories. I could not be satisfied if I did not eat a good portion of my cardio exercise calories back. My fitbit does an excellent job of estimating my TDEE as most of my cardio work out is step based. Machines can grossly over estimate burns and a heart rate monitor is not effective in measuring non-cardio based burns.
  • irishdancer214
    irishdancer214 Posts: 108 Member
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    Brocksterdanza wrote: »
    It already calculates your daily needs based on exercise during the week which is of course estimated.... however, do you even worry about logging what your heart rate monitor says for cardio, etc? Is their a benefit? I do not eat back my workout calories, at least i havent. Is their a benefit for that? Thanks as always

    I don't eat back ALL of my exercise calories, but I do log them and eat back some of them. It allows me some extra wiggle room and this way I have a better picture of my day.
  • Brocksterdanza
    Brocksterdanza Posts: 208 Member
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    Gotya... thanks. I lift 4 days a well and do cardio at least 5 days a week. My goal of course is to lose weight and to tone as i go.
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    edited November 2015
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    I log exercise that isn't covered by my Fitbit automatically, like kick boxing, can't wear my Fitbit.

    But other than kick boxing most of my exercise is step based like treadmill so I don't log those in mfp, my Fitbit is linked to mfp.

    So to answer your question, yes I do log my exercise and the benefit of logging and eating back some of the calories burned is not having a larger than intended weight loss.

    Say my goal is one pound, if I exercise over the week and burn 500 calories and don't log or eat these, I am likely to lose 2 pounds not one.

    I think the issue might be that you included your exercise in when choosing your activity level. Is this correct?
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,197 Member
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    I set my activity level at sedentary

    +

    I enter my exercise. But I estimate low. I put in that I walk at a moderate pace and cycle slowly.

    And then ... I usually aim to eat back approx. half my exercise calories. However, there are days when I'll eat closer to all my exercise calories, such as the day after a really big effort. I'm usually starving that day and figure I could use a few extra calories to aid recovery.



    I have no Fitbit or anything like that, so I'm not syncing up with anything.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Brocksterdanza wrote: »
    It already calculates your daily needs based on exercise during the week which is of course estimated.... however, do you even worry about logging what your heart rate monitor says for cardio, etc? Is their a benefit? I do not eat back my workout calories, at least i havent. Is their a benefit for that? Thanks as always

    If you are using a HRM for steady state cardio only, yes log it and yes eat it

    MFP gives a calorie allowance excluding purposeful exercise

    The only reason not to eat it would be if you were cutting from TDEE


    Log lifting as 1 calorie though ...the burn is minimal
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    I'm also a fitbit person ...I eat back all adjustments

    And a HRM for steady state cardio ...eat them all

    And lift (when not suffering from tendonitis) ..eat minimal back

    And do calisthenics ...eat back roughly half of HRM

    And do other things like Pilates, yoga or the occasional exercise class...eat back half of MFP allowance

    What I do is watch weight over a rolling 6-8 weeks and adjust based on what my body is telling me ..I use trendweight.com
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited November 2015
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    Brocksterdanza wrote: »
    Gotya... thanks. I lift 4 days a well and do cardio at least 5 days a week. My goal of course is to lose weight and to tone as i go.

    Is this what you do or are planning to do...cos that sounds like a burn out plan to me

    What lifting programme are you following? Are you new to lifting? When is your rest day?

    What's your diet like, what's your calorie intake excluding exercise, what's your protein and fat set to?

    The aim of lifting whilst in defecit is to preserve as much muscle as possible as you lose...toning is a misnomer..muscles just get bigger or smaller...but lose body fat and they will be more visible
  • ZeroDelta
    ZeroDelta Posts: 242 Member
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    I log my food in MFP and my exercise in Fitbit. Fitbit seems to give better caloric burn estimates. Fitbit syncs to MFP.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    I eat back about 75% of my exercise calories earned through Fitbit.

    Your MFP calorie limit already puts you at a calorie deficit for losing weight, so if you don't eat back exercise calories, you're risking undereating and serious health problems.
  • Brocksterdanza
    Brocksterdanza Posts: 208 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Brocksterdanza wrote: »
    Gotya... thanks. I lift 4 days a well and do cardio at least 5 days a week. My goal of course is to lose weight and to tone as i go.

    Is this what you do or are planning to do...cos that sounds like a burn out plan to me

    What lifting programme are you following? Are you new to lifting? When is your rest day?

    What's your diet like, what's your calorie intake excluding exercise, what's your protein and fat set to?

    The aim of lifting whilst in defecit is to preserve as much muscle as possible as you lose...toning is a misnomer..muscles just get bigger or
    smaller...but lose body fat and they will be more visible

    Completely understand. ... i have been lifting the last 15 years of my life. ..i am in a hybrid program that mixes strong lifts and a workout put together by a trainer that i know. ... as for diet, things are better than they were, could still be better. I do a 45/35/20 split with c/p/f
  • katrn05
    katrn05 Posts: 20 Member
    edited November 2015
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    I haven't been logging my exercise lately. I've really only done it as an experiment because I wear the Fitbit HR when I workout so it will pick up calories burned regardless of whether or not I log my workout. Depending on how many calories I burn, I will eat some back but not too many as I want to stay at a deficit.
  • MarcyKirkton
    MarcyKirkton Posts: 507 Member
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    While in losing mode, I've not eaten back my calories but I do log them. It's a good reality check for me. There was a month where I couldn't do my exercise class due to work, and that month, I had to be vigilant about the calorie count if I wanted to lose. The exercise calories are really for my benefit so that I don't mess with weighing and all that stuff. If I'm off a bit, it's fine.

    So yes, I enter it. But not so that I can actually eat them back. I'm within 4 lbs now of my goal and must be having a whoosh, because it's coming off fast. I am not sure what I'll do when I hit my goal. I suppose then I'll eat back half, at least.

    I'm very sure that the number of calories I'm logging as exercise aren't really spot on. It's a guesstimate.

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