Eat less calories than you burn????
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eemonf
Posts: 23 Member
I've been seeing a lot about eating less calories than you burn...my goal is 1700 calories a day...it took me 36 minutes on the elliptical today to burn 305 calories...does this mean I have to work out for hours? Do I have to burn more than 1700 calories??
I've also heard about different types of calories...how can I tell if the calories I'm eating are "good" or "bad"?
I've also heard about different types of calories...how can I tell if the calories I'm eating are "good" or "bad"?
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the "burn" is the total you burn in a day, not just exercise. You probably burn 1800 sat around all day, so your 300 of exercise increases that to 2100. You eat 1700 and you're 400 under what you burned.0
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If 1700 calories is the number MFP gave you and you set up your account to lose weight, that number is already less than you burn.
You burn calories everyday just by being alive, even if you don't get out of bed. Then you burn calories through your everyday activity, from sitting, walking to the car and brushing your teeth. Plus your job. MFP accounts for all of these when you set up your account.
Then you tell MFP you want to lose 2 lbs a week. It takes those calories and subtracts 1000 calories (for a 2lb a week, its 500 for 1 lbs a week). So for you, if you picked 2lbs a week, you need 2700 calories a day just to maintain your weight. Eating at 1700 means you are eating less than you burn.
MFP also expects you to log exercise and eat those calories back. Some people err on the side of caution and eat 50-75% of those calories back. Becareful because the entries like "elliptical" are usually a bit inflated.
Forget about "good" and "bad" calories. Aim for staying under your calorie goal. Try to find foods that will fill you up and keep you full - lean protein, veggies, fruit, etc are good for this. Add in a few things you like if you can fit them in.0 -
This is not referring just to calories you burn through exercising. It also refers to calories burned breathing, thermoregulating, digesting, heart beating, thinking, talking, walking around, chewing, doing dishes...
If all you did was sit in a chair all day, you'd likely burn 1200-1500 (guessing because I don't know your physical stats) just staying alive.
So no, you don't have to workout all day long to burn 1700 calories. You most likely burn more than that just by doing all the things you typically do throughout the day.0 -
Others have explained it for you already, so I won't bother, just wanted you to know you made me facepalm in the middle of calculus class.0
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I realize at this point it was one of the most basic noob questions someone could ask. But I appreciate all of the information!0
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CassidyScaglione wrote: »Others have explained it for you already, so I won't bother, just wanted you to know you made me facepalm in the middle of calculus class.
What are you doing on the internet? Shouldn't you be paying attention to the calculus (ewwwwwww), young lady?0 -
Being alive burns calories even when sleeping.0
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welcome to the site0
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CassidyScaglione wrote: »Others have explained it for you already, so I won't bother, just wanted you to know you made me facepalm in the middle of calculus class.
What are you doing on the internet? Shouldn't you be paying attention to the calculus (ewwwwwww), young lady?
QFT, minus the "eww" since calculus can be fun.0 -
This article helped me to understand the whole calorie thing [1] and set realistic targets for myself. There's a lot of misinformation in the media so it's reasonable that anyone might be confused about this. Honestly, for most of my life I didn't realize you needed to consider your base resting energy needs, SlimFast certainly didn't tell me that in the 80's
You shouldn't literally count the calories you burn exercising against your daily total (something that annoys me about MFP) unless you have special equipment that actually measures your energy expenditure. Once you figure out a target, you'll just have to weigh yourself regularly and adjust your calorie intake. Your calorie needs will change as you lose (or gain) weight so you'll need to plan on regular monitoring and readjustment.
[1] http://www.completehumanperformance.com/calorie-needs/0 -
CassidyScaglione wrote: »Others have explained it for you already, so I won't bother, just wanted you to know you made me facepalm in the middle of calculus class.
What are you doing on the internet? Shouldn't you be paying attention to the calculus (ewwwwwww), young lady?
QFT, minus the "eww" since calculus can be fun.
Calculus can be fun. But more often than not, it's just torture.0 -
This article helped me to understand the whole calorie thing [1] and set realistic targets for myself. There's a lot of misinformation in the media so it's reasonable that anyone might be confused about this. Honestly, for most of my life I didn't realize you needed to consider your base resting energy needs, SlimFast certainly didn't tell me that in the 80's
You shouldn't literally count the calories you burn exercising against your daily total (something that annoys me about MFP) unless you have special equipment that actually measures your energy expenditure. Once you figure out a target, you'll just have to weigh yourself regularly and adjust your calorie intake. Your calorie needs will change as you lose (or gain) weight so you'll need to plan on regular monitoring and readjustment.
[1] http://www.completehumanperformance.com/calorie-needs/
So if I run 10 miles, I shouldn't eat back *any* of those calories unless I have special equipment to measure my energy expenditure?
Calorie counting, even with the best tools, is a process of estimation. It's okay to use estimation to determine how many calories to eat back due to activity -- we can make our best effort to ensure our estimates are more accurate.0 -
This article helped me to understand the whole calorie thing [1] and set realistic targets for myself. There's a lot of misinformation in the media so it's reasonable that anyone might be confused about this. Honestly, for most of my life I didn't realize you needed to consider your base resting energy needs, SlimFast certainly didn't tell me that in the 80's
You shouldn't literally count the calories you burn exercising against your daily total (something that annoys me about MFP) unless you have special equipment that actually measures your energy expenditure. Once you figure out a target, you'll just have to weigh yourself regularly and adjust your calorie intake. Your calorie needs will change as you lose (or gain) weight so you'll need to plan on regular monitoring and readjustment.
[1] http://www.completehumanperformance.com/calorie-needs/
I disagree...not getting some kind of reasonable estimate of the calories I would need after a 50 mile ride is going to have major recovery implications. There are numerous ways to estimate you expenditure and be relatively accurate. I lost 40 Lbs easily following MFP's method and eating back as estimation of my calories.
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CassidyScaglione wrote: »Others have explained it for you already, so I won't bother, just wanted you to know you made me facepalm in the middle of calculus class.
What are you doing on the internet? Shouldn't you be paying attention to the calculus (ewwwwwww), young lady?
QFT, minus the "eww" since calculus can be fun.
Calculus can be fun. But more often than not, it's just torture.
I'm not even sure I made it to calculus. Math is hard!
I also FINALLY looked up what QFT means. Because it's hard for me not to spell things all the way out (except for LOL and OMG). 0 -
This article helped me to understand the whole calorie thing [1] and set realistic targets for myself. There's a lot of misinformation in the media so it's reasonable that anyone might be confused about this. Honestly, for most of my life I didn't realize you needed to consider your base resting energy needs, SlimFast certainly didn't tell me that in the 80's
You shouldn't literally count the calories you burn exercising against your daily total (something that annoys me about MFP) unless you have special equipment that actually measures your energy expenditure. Once you figure out a target, you'll just have to weigh yourself regularly and adjust your calorie intake. Your calorie needs will change as you lose (or gain) weight so you'll need to plan on regular monitoring and readjustment.
[1] http://www.completehumanperformance.com/calorie-needs/
Most MFP vets say to eat back half your exercise calories. That way you are fueling your workout, but don't risk overeating. I would suggest doing that and then tweaking once you figure out how it works for you, rather than not eating them back at all. Besides, any "equipment" that measures your calorie burns is estimating, unless maybe you do all your workouts in a lab with a team of scientists!0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »You shouldn't literally count the calories you burn exercising against your daily total (something that annoys me about MFP) unless you have special equipment that actually measures your energy expenditure.
So if I run 10 miles, I shouldn't eat back *any* of those calories unless I have special equipment to measure my energy expenditure?
Calorie counting, even with the best tools, is a process of estimation. It's okay to use estimation to determine how many calories to eat back due to activity -- we can make our best effort to ensure our estimates are more accurate.
I'm sorry if that wasn't clear, thanks for pointing out how what I said could have been misunderstood.
If the MET formula says you burned 350 calories doing a thing, don't then assume that you can then eat exactly 350 calories, especially if it might knock you out of a deficit. You may or may not need to eat more calories when you exercise, it just depends on a lot of different factors. Just don't assume that any and all exercise you're logging gives you license to do so.
Yes, all of these tools at best provide estimations with margins of error. Which is to the next point I made:Once you figure out a target, you'll just have to weigh yourself regularly and adjust your calorie intake. Your calorie needs will change as you lose (or gain) weight so you'll need to plan on regular monitoring and readjustment.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »You shouldn't literally count the calories you burn exercising against your daily total (something that annoys me about MFP) unless you have special equipment that actually measures your energy expenditure.
So if I run 10 miles, I shouldn't eat back *any* of those calories unless I have special equipment to measure my energy expenditure?
Calorie counting, even with the best tools, is a process of estimation. It's okay to use estimation to determine how many calories to eat back due to activity -- we can make our best effort to ensure our estimates are more accurate.
I'm sorry if that wasn't clear, thanks for pointing out how what I said could have been misunderstood.
If the MET formula says you burned 350 calories doing a thing, don't then assume that you can then eat exactly 350 calories, especially if it might knock you out of a deficit. You may or may not need to eat more calories when you exercise, it just depends on a lot of different factors. Just don't assume that any and all exercise you're logging gives you license to do so.
Yes, all of these tools at best provide estimations with margins of error. Which is to the next point I made:Once you figure out a target, you'll just have to weigh yourself regularly and adjust your calorie intake. Your calorie needs will change as you lose (or gain) weight so you'll need to plan on regular monitoring and readjustment.
Oh, I see what you're saying. Yes, when I was losing weight I typically at about 50% of my calories back to account for over-estimation. Now that I have a Fitbit and am maintaining, I eat them all back. But I know from the results over time that my Fitbit provides an accurate calorie burn count for me.0 -
Thank you everyone for all of the info! And I will definitely check out that article!0
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