Calories out vs calories in I'm lost

cynthiabaez
cynthiabaez Posts: 7 Member
edited November 26 in Health and Weight Loss
I don't understand how this app is going to help me loose weight cause my current calories/day is 1800 to loose weight. If I put in a work out I did it adds the calories so it makes me think I can eat more. This is tricky. I don't wanna be able to eat more just because it adds more calories as a reward (I'm lost) can someone explain this and how it's beneficial for weight loss

Replies

  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    MFP figures out how much of a deficit you need to lose weight. When you exercise you make that deficit larger - possibly larger than it needs to be depending on how much you exercise. So that you don't have too much of a deficit to adequately fuel your body it allows you to eat back those extra calories. Some people just eat back a percentage to account for any errors in calculation.
  • windime
    windime Posts: 27 Member
    I dont log my excersize because i have no desire to eat my excersize calories back. Other people choise to eat some back, and others choose to eat them all back. Its not mandatory
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    MFP is designed for you to eat back exercise calories.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10257474/starting-out-restarting-basics-inside/p1

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,096 Member
    The 1800 calorie goal already includes a deficit (before considering any calories burned from exercise) -- that's assuming you didn't consider your workouts when you told MFP what your activity level is. MFP does not expect you to include workouts when designating your activity level. It doesn't expect you to actually do the workouts you say you when you fill out your initial profile. When you do, it expects you to eat back the calories burned during a workout, so that your deficit will remain the same as MFP created in setting your calorie goal absent workouts. Most people eat only 50% to 75% of workout calories because they believe the estimates from MFP and cardio machines are too high.

    If your deficit gets too high, you will lose an unnecessary amount of muscle, rather than fat, which is what you want to lose. You could also suffer various other undesirable effects from a deficit that is too large, including lack of energy, greater likelihood of binging or abandoning your goals altogether, hair loss, skin issues, organ damage ....
  • MommyL2015
    MommyL2015 Posts: 1,411 Member
    It's not adding those calories as a reward, it's adding them because it assumed you actually burned them. The number that MFP gives you for calories is already considering a deficit, and that is a NET number, that means calories eaten after exercise.
  • cynthiabaez
    cynthiabaez Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks everyone all your post helped me
  • steuartcj
    steuartcj Posts: 132 Member
    I also don't log my exercises. Wish MFP would give the option of tracking (min and calls) but NOT adding the cals to the diary. My scale will tell me how I'm doing.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    MFP is designed for you to eat back exercise calories.

    This. Plus your deficit is already built in.
  • steuartcj
    steuartcj Posts: 132 Member
    That's (min and cals) not calls. Auto correct is another unneeded hassle.
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