Calorie Question

subzermac
subzermac Posts: 14 Member
edited November 27 in Health and Weight Loss
okay so ive posted about losing weight being under calories and what not. but i have a question that google doesnt seem to have an answer to lol.

ok so say a person has to eat 2500 cals a day right, works out and burns 300 cals. do they have that EXTRA 300 calories to eat or should that be an addition the caloric defict ?



let me know if that doesnt make sense.

Replies

  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
    edited December 2015
    Depends what kind of system you do

    With MFP yes the calorie amount you get here is with deficit so you exercise is not included Which means indeed you can eat a part of it back ( most people do a part because exercise calories are often over estimated so a lot of people dont eat it all back but 25% to 75% )

    However when you do TDEE your exercise are included and you dont eat those back because it is already in your total amount.

    So the 2500 calories a day, how did you come up with that number? MFP or an online TDEE calculator?

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  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
    edited December 2015
    MFP is the NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) system so without exercise.
    So this is the amount of calories for your normal daily activity as work, living, breathing, sleeping, and moving around. NO EXCERCISE. This is the being alive burn lol

    And than you have also,

    TDEE = total daily energy expenditure, is the amount of energy in calories you burn per day. So including exercise calories.
    So this is the NEAT system PLUS EXERCISE!

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  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Yes, like BWB said it depends on how you got the 2500 number.
  • subzermac
    subzermac Posts: 14 Member
    it was just a random number, mine is around 2,600 my workout cals burned are around 250-350 weights and cardio
  • subzermac
    subzermac Posts: 14 Member
    i got the same numbers from different apps usually 2500 to 2800
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    subzermac wrote: »
    it was just a random number, mine is around 2,600 my workout cals burned are around 250-350 weights and cardio

    Right, but the point is how did you calculate that 2600 number?

    If you used an online calculator, did it ask you (and therefore factor in) how often and how intensely you exercise? If so, that's already included into your 2600 number so you would not eat additional calories.

    If it didn't ask that (example - MFP does not ask if you used it to calculate your goal calories) then it's not included, and you would eat the additional calories.
  • subzermac
    subzermac Posts: 14 Member
    opps i meant 2200
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    subzermac wrote: »
    opps i meant 2200
    Did you get the 2200 from MFP?
    What is your activity level set to? (Sedentary/slightly active/active/very active)
  • Marqiiz
    Marqiiz Posts: 707 Member
    edited December 2015
    Thanks for asking this question. I was just wondering about it myself.
    I said screw it & enjoyed the "extra" calories haha.
    My Goal (1920)calories, I consumed (2709) & burned (1342) 1 1/2 hour in the weight room & 1 hour of Muay Thai.

    My calories were set by MFP.
    I can't remember if I set it to Active or very active.

    FYI I'm a little hungry.
  • subzermac
    subzermac Posts: 14 Member
    RodaRose wrote: »
    subzermac wrote: »
    opps i meant 2200
    Did you get the 2200 from MFP?
    What is your activity level set to? (Sedentary/slightly active/active/very active)

    yeah i did, but also got it from a couple different online calculators as well 2100-2200 range. i put mine as very active, Monday tuesday thursday sat and sunday i exercise
  • subzermac
    subzermac Posts: 14 Member
    Marqiiz wrote: »
    Thanks for asking this question. I was just wondering about it myself.
    I said screw it & enjoyed the "extra" calories haha.
    My Goal (1920)calories, I consumed (2709) & burned (1342) 1 1/2 hour in the weight room & 1 hour of Muay Thai.

    My calories were set by MFP.
    I can't remember if I set it to Active or very active.

    FYI I'm a little hungry.

    1920 is such a low number to be eating lol its very close to mine.
    i have that problem as well, i get very hungry not too long after eating
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    subzermac wrote: »
    RodaRose wrote: »
    subzermac wrote: »
    opps i meant 2200
    Did you get the 2200 from MFP?
    What is your activity level set to? (Sedentary/slightly active/active/very active)

    yeah i did, but also got it from a couple different online calculators as well 2100-2200 range. i put mine as very active, Monday tuesday thursday sat and sunday i exercise

    But when you are saying very active, is that because you are factoring in your exercise or do you have a very active job/life and THEN you exercise?

    What kind of exercise? How often?

    Also I know you said you hit Google but there are literally thousands of threads on this topic here in the forums, if you search "eating back exercise calories".
  • If one could perfectly gauge your daily calorie burn at rest, along with the calorie burn of exercise, as well as the calorie content obtained from the food you eat, then yes, what you suggest (eating back exercise calories) would be the correct course.

    Since we (humans) are terrible at calculating all of those messy numbers without intense scrutiny and a lot of scientific and medical equipment, many people opt to only eat back a portion of their exercise calories and to keep the remainder as a "buffer" to make up for errors in calculation, which will more often than not favour the calories in side, detrimental to weight loss.
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