Calorie Confusion when exercising
WAQuilter59
Posts: 6 Member
So I don't mind calorie tracking as it helps me maintain control. I am a bit confused, however, when exercise calories are taken into account. I'm working on 1200 calories per day, not includiing exercise, which is more than adequate for me with smart choices. Anyone know how low you can go when exercise is aubtracted? I don't want to send my metabolism into starvation mode. MFP is giving me warnings if exercise takes me below 1000.
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You're already eating too little, if you're exercising and over 5 foot tall. Read the stickies (permanent links) on the top of all the forums.0
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You don't subtract your exercise calories, you add them into the calories you eat...0
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So. if you are eating 1200 calories, then burn 400 calories jogging, you should be eating 1600 calories total for the day.0
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MFP is designed so that you eat back your exercise calories... Most people eat back 50% or so to counteract the perceived inflation of the calorie estimates which, overall, do seem to be generally high.0
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BecomingBane wrote: »MFP is designed so that you eat back your exercise calories... Most people eat back 50% or so to counteract the perceived inflation of the calorie estimates which, overall, do seem to be generally high.
This^
MFP gave you 1200 based on zero exercise. Unless you are a senior lady or under 5" tall....you can eat more & still lose weight. You want to eat enough so your body can support existing lean muscle. This helps you lose a larger percentage of fat.0 -
BecomingBane wrote: »MFP is designed so that you eat back your exercise calories... Most people eat back 50% or so to counteract the perceived inflation of the calorie estimates which, overall, do seem to be generally high.
This. Eat the exercise calories, they taste the best!0 -
Starvation mode us a myth. But you should be eating more. I lose weight just fine eating around 1800 a day.0
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Why is it then when I get over like 1400 or so I gain weight?0
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1200 is what seems to work for me from past experience . 56, 5-10, office desk job, now going to the gym for 3-5 days a week, 45 minutes on an ArcTrainer for +600 calories per session.0
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Dreysander wrote: »Why is it then when I get over like 1400 or so I gain weight?
because you are likely underestimating your consumption...selecting erroneous entries from the data base, eyeballing serving sizes, etc. it's very common...most people are eating more than they think they are, even when they think they're logging accurately.0 -
I'm as accurate as I can possibly be. I measure most of my food with a food scale or use the numbers from packaging.0
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WAQuilter59 wrote: »1200 is what seems to work for me from past experience . 56, 5-10, office desk job, now going to the gym for 3-5 days a week, 45 minutes on an ArcTrainer for +600 calories per session.
your diary isn't set to Public so we can't see, but if you were eating 1200 on no-exercise days and then did 250 cals of exercise you would be expected to eat 1450 cals.
600 calories in 45 minutes sounds like an overestimate though.
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Dreysander wrote: »I'm as accurate as I can possibly be. I measure most of my food with a food scale or use the numbers from packaging.
Your food diary looks like it could use a lot of tightening up in my opinion. You use generic entries for things a LOT, and they are usually well below the average calories per gram that specific brands use. You also use 'strips' and 'pieces' instead of weighing some items that you eat a lot.
Also, what do you do with the leftover bits of apple? Since every single apple you've had over the last two weeks is 150g on the nose, I have to assume you are cutting off exactly 150g of apple a time, because no brand of apples is going to be that consistent in it's weight.
Why 2 TBSP of peanut butter? It's the most calorie dense item you eat, why not weigh it?
You're being more accurate that most people, but there's still a lot of room for improvement.0 -
Yeah I weigh my apples and cut off extra bits so it's exactly 150g. Sometimes it's a little lower, like it was 147g yesterday but I forgot to fix it. You'll also notice that things like cucumber and blueberries are the same way. I have chickens so nothing is wasted, food scraps go to them. It's because I like to preenter stuff. If I end up going a bit over or under I'll usually go back and fix it. I should be weighing my peanut butter? Okay (I effing love peanut butter, that's why I eat it every day lol). I don't know why that hadn't occurred to me, I mean I weigh my hummus...
The danged RoFo chicken is my husband's fault (when he's on travel my logs are much more accurate because I don't eat it - check the week of December 14th for an example), I was using the nutrition facts from their website on it but I knew that was very lowball, so I started using an adjusted one that somebody entered here. They are always different sizes but it usually averages out. I'll have a look to see if I can find a per gram or per oz measurement for chicken strips, I'm sure it's gotta be out there somewhere.
How do I adjust things like my oatmeal or whey protein so that it's accurate rather than what the packet says? I always assumed that it's weighed in the factory so it's pretty much the same amount per packet.
Even given the small changes that I do need to make to my logging, I don't feel like I'm THAT off what I'm calculating for calories. Like I'm not logging 1300 and eating 2200 (I usually get a goal from MFP of 1800 - 2000 a day based on my activity levels) - so if I'm not eating over maintenance then why do I gain weight when I get over 1400 ish? Even if 1400 is not exactly 100% accurate could it really be that drastically off from measuring PB with a teaspoon instead of a scale?
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Dreysander wrote: »Yeah I weigh my apples and cut off extra bits so it's exactly 150g. Sometimes it's a little lower, like it was 147g yesterday but I forgot to fix it. You'll also notice that things like cucumber and blueberries are the same way. I have chickens so nothing is wasted, food scraps go to them. It's because I like to preenter stuff. If I end up going a bit over or under I'll usually go back and fix it. I should be weighing my peanut butter? Okay (I effing love peanut butter, that's why I eat it every day lol). I don't know why that hadn't occured to me, I mean I weigh my hummus...
The danged RoFo chicken is my husband's fault (when he's on travel my logs are much more accurate because I don't eat it - check the week of December 14th for an example), I was using the nutrition facts from their website on it but I knew that was very lowball, so I started using an adjusted one that somebody entered here. They are always different sizes but it usually averages out. I'll have a look to see if I can find a per gram or per oz measurement for chicken strips, I'm sure it's gotta be out there somewhere.
How do I adjust things like my oatmeal or whey protein so that it's accurate rather than what the packet says? I always assumed that it's weighed in the factory so it's pretty much the same ammount per packet.
Depends what the legislation is like where you live. Here we have the weights and measures act, which means if something is listed at 100g, it must weigh at least 99.5g. Manufacturers often put an extra few % or so in the package to make sure they don't violate the legislation and to account for the odd bit of mechanical imprecision when the packages are filled. When I weighed different 300g packages of mince, not a single one of them was less than 310g. It's a small difference, but those small differences add up and become extremely important when you're trying to lose the last few pounds and your margin for error is tiny.
For those items I usually see the nutritional information per 100g also on the packet, or website, which makes it easy. I just weigh out 50g of my oats before I add measured milk to them, nice and accurate.
As for the peanut butter, the stuff is thick, gloopy, and rather deceptive. What I do to weigh it is I weigh the open jar first, then spread whatever amount I think is a decent bit on my bread, then weigh the container again to get the difference.
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Well I have a method for weighing stuff like that (like I said, I weigh hummus) - put plastic wrap on scale, zero out scale, put whatever it is on plastic wrap until you get desired amount and there you go.
There are similar laws here about the measurements on packets being accurate to within a certain percent. That's why I never bothered with weighing prepackaged stuff. Guess I have to be even more anal retentive lol.
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" What I do to weigh it is I weigh the open jar first, then spread whatever amount I think is a decent bit on my bread, then weigh the container again to get the difference."
For those of you/us who have a scale with a "tare" function; place the container on the scale, tare it, use the product, place the container back on the scale, the negative number is the amount used. Good for those with poor mental math skills.0 -
Dreysander wrote: »Well I have a method for weighing stuff like that (like I said, I weigh hummus) - put plastic wrap on scale, zero out scale, put whatever it is on plastic wrap until you get desired amount and there you go.
There are similar laws here about the measurements on packets being accurate to within a certain percent. That's why I never bothered with weighing prepackaged stuff. Guess I have to be even more anal retentive lol.
Some of the things to do in the name of accuracy are a real pita for sure. I only just started accurately logging my condiments. Such a small amount of accuracy gained, but I am down to the last 8lbs, so now is the time for me to get ruthless with myself
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There is a slight flaw in the MFP method for small people in that it (and forum posters) will tell you to eat more even if you are in the safe range. The reason this happens is variances in activity level. If you shift all of your exercise calories into activity level you can lose at a faster rate than someone who sets it as sedentary and logs their exercise. No one will complain about the very active user losing 1lb/week, but will complain about the same user who is "sedentary" but exercises and wants to lose more than 0.5lb/week.
So, what is safe? Eat at least 1200 calories and keep weight loss under 1% of your bodyweight per week (on average, there will be fluctuations).
However, you aren't small. At 5-10 if you aren't losing weight at 1400 calories you are likely making a measurement error somewhere (or just eating without logging, which many people lie to themselves about). You BMR should be somewhere around 1400 calories, so TDEE for a sedentary person your approximate size with no exercise would be ~1680 calories/day0 -
nordlead2005 wrote: »There is a slight flaw in the MFP method for small people in that it (and forum posters) will tell you to eat more even if you are in the safe range.
Yes, most people given 1200 calories fall into a mathematical no-man's land where MFP has a flaw.0 -
Dreysander wrote: »Well I have a method for weighing stuff like that (like I said, I weigh hummus) - put plastic wrap on scale, zero out scale, put whatever it is on plastic wrap until you get desired amount and there you go.
There are similar laws here about the measurements on packets being accurate to within a certain percent. That's why I never bothered with weighing prepackaged stuff. Guess I have to be even more anal retentive lol.
The thing is laws like that only penalize for underweight, not for overweight, so with potential imprecision in the automated portioning/packaging most companies compensate with extra product so as not to be penalized for having too little. The practical upshot is single serving things are usually incorrect being over the amount listed, and thus contain more calories than indicated because there is more product. That is not an issue when one has a lot to lose and can run a fairly large deficit, but it is an issue when only a small deficit is being used. Then measuring really needs to tighten up.0 -
I don't believe that 600 calories in the 45 minute span is inaccurate. The machine takes my current weight into account and my heart rate stays around 140-150. It's not a treadmill but an ArcTrainer, so basically stair steps for 1-1/2 miles with variable resistance. It took me a while to work up to the full 45 minutes. It's a tough workout. Jelly legs at the end.0
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WAQuilter59 wrote: »I don't believe that 600 calories in the 45 minute span is inaccurate. The machine takes my current weight into account and my heart rate stays around 140-150. It's not a treadmill but an ArcTrainer, so basically stair steps for 1-1/2 miles with variable resistance. It took me a while to work up to the full 45 minutes. It's a tough workout. Jelly legs at the end.
What are your stats?
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Someone mentioned the exact 150g apple. I have "100g"of berries every day. Sometimes they weigh out to 97g, sometimes 102g. I don't bother changing the weight of them everyday, because i go under and over and it evens out. I do however change the weight of the avocado daily, as there's a decent calorie difference between 58g and 68g etc etc0
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WAQuilter59 wrote: »I don't believe that 600 calories in the 45 minute span is inaccurate. The machine takes my current weight into account and my heart rate stays around 140-150. It's not a treadmill but an ArcTrainer, so basically stair steps for 1-1/2 miles with variable resistance. It took me a while to work up to the full 45 minutes. It's a tough workout. Jelly legs at the end.
the problem is that machine burn calculations have a tendency to be inaccurate, even when you enter your weight. That is why most long term (and successful) MFP'ers only eat back a portion of their exercise cals it helps compensate for inaccurate calculations.0 -
Dreysander wrote: »Well I have a method for weighing stuff like that (like I said, I weigh hummus) - put plastic wrap on scale, zero out scale, put whatever it is on plastic wrap until you get desired amount and there you go.
There are similar laws here about the measurements on packets being accurate to within a certain percent. That's why I never bothered with weighing prepackaged stuff. Guess I have to be even more anal retentive lol.
Here's an easier way. Put the tub of whatever on the scale. Tare it. Scoop out what you need. The negative number on the scale will be the amount of product you used.0 -
I weigh my bread.
Spread the peanut butter on it.
Weigh the bread again.
The difference is the amount of peanut butter0 -
WAQuilter59 wrote: »So I don't mind calorie tracking as it helps me maintain control. I am a bit confused, however, when exercise calories are taken into account. I'm working on 1200 calories per day, not includiing exercise, which is more than adequate for me with smart choices. Anyone know how low you can go when exercise is aubtracted? I don't want to send my metabolism into starvation mode. MFP is giving me warnings if exercise takes me below 1000.
Starvation mode is a myth.
I believe the warning you get is standard for anyone who goes below 1200 calories.
Exercise calories are extra. Take whatever burn number you come up with from the exercise machine, phone app, MFP, or other internet source, and eat about 60-70% of those back.
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Dreysander wrote: »Why is it then when I get over like 1400 or so I gain weight?
Because you calorie estimations are incorrect, or you have a medical issue that needs addressing. I will be its simply that you are eating more than you think. 0 -
WAQuilter59 wrote: »1200 is what seems to work for me from past experience . 56, 5-10, office desk job, now going to the gym for 3-5 days a week, 45 minutes on an ArcTrainer for +600 calories per session.WAQuilter59 wrote: »I don't believe that 600 calories in the 45 minute span is inaccurate. The machine takes my current weight into account and my heart rate stays around 140-150. It's not a treadmill but an ArcTrainer, so basically stair steps for 1-1/2 miles with variable resistance. It took me a while to work up to the full 45 minutes. It's a tough workout. Jelly legs at the end.
600 plus calories for a 45 minute workout sounds way overestimated. No gym machine is accurate, they always provide high numbers because they want people to continue using their machines.
As example: this morning I went on the killer run at the gym for 40 minutes (I'm 54, 5 ft 5 and 140 pounds) and the treadmill gave me a 500+ calorie burn. Good thing I was wearing my heart rate monitor, which gave me 282. While both are merely estimates, I trust the reading from my heart rate monitor because I've lost 44 pounds and have been maintaining for 2 years.
What is your current weight and how much are you trying to lose?0
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