Want to log my exercise but don't want those "eat back" calories- ugghh.
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ColoradoDan
Posts: 85 Member
So I have been working out five days a week - crazy for me. Went from none to loving it.
I do cardio every day + high intensity strength training (almost like cardio - breathing heavy and sweating like wild).
I want to log it just because it feels like I should log it, track my progress, show I am working out......but I know that is just for my personal feelings. I don't log it because MFP, fitness trackers, fitness apps, workout apps, etc all seem to way, way, way, way over estimate the calories burned and I don't want to go and eat 600 extra calories because MFP says that is what I burned when really I only burned 150.
Guess maybe I could log it in another app or all under strength since strength does not count calories right?
I do cardio every day + high intensity strength training (almost like cardio - breathing heavy and sweating like wild).
I want to log it just because it feels like I should log it, track my progress, show I am working out......but I know that is just for my personal feelings. I don't log it because MFP, fitness trackers, fitness apps, workout apps, etc all seem to way, way, way, way over estimate the calories burned and I don't want to go and eat 600 extra calories because MFP says that is what I burned when really I only burned 150.
Guess maybe I could log it in another app or all under strength since strength does not count calories right?
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Replies
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You can do what a lot of us did and eat back just a portion of the calories to account for the over-estimation.
If you feel confident that you burned 150, then eat 150.0 -
If you have a different way to calculate your calorie burn, you can enter it manually.0
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You can also log your exercise in MFP and manually change the calorie burn to 0 or 1.0
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janejellyroll wrote: »You can do what a lot of us did and eat back just a portion of the calories to account for the over-estimation.
If you feel confident that you burned 150, then eat 150.
This^^^ Before I started using my FitBit I would only enter in about 70% of my actual time.0 -
so eat back only part of your calories - if you burn 600 according to MFP, eat back 250 calories and enjoy
you could get a heart rate monitor, do some figuring and probably track more accurately. i used to use mine with endomondo, but it didn't always stay connected. or you could log your cardio as walking, and on MFP you can choose the walking intensity. with a little experimenting, you could probably get close to what you burn.0 -
I agree with jane. Just eat back a portion of the exercise calories. If you find that you are losing faster than your goal then you know you can eat back more if you are losing slower then eat back less. I started eating back about 50% but I have found that eating back 75-80% works best for me for the exercise that I log.0
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Most people eat back 50-75% because calorie burns are estimates.
Just over ride your calorie burn to something like 50%. Eat those calories back for awhile. MFP is designed this way because large deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle mass. Earned calories should in theory bring you back to the original deficit you signed up for.
After a few weeks you will have a good idea as to whether 50% was a good number or not. Then you can tweak that 50% up or down to match actual progress.0 -
agree, just put 150. I recently started doing a lot more strength training and I want to keep track of it. unfortunately putting things in strength dont transfer the activity to other places I log and report on my exercise (like Garmin) so I usually put a low number (half of circuit training) in cardio as well.0
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The stupid green number makes me happy - so I always log the exercise and just sort of mentally calculate what I REALLY have left.0
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kathrynjean_ wrote: »You can also log your exercise in MFP and manually change the calorie burn to 0 or 1.
LOVE THIS IDEA - WOO HOO - FOUND A SOLUTION.
The truth is I have no idea what my real calorie burn is. I have a heart rate monitor that tells me one thing, treadmill tells me another, workout app says something really high, MFP tells me another number - all for the same exercise and all 100-200 different from each other. It's madness.0 -
I add it and then manually change it. Its not hard. I've found that a treadmill will give me one number, the other app I used gives me another and MFP will give me a third. Through trial and error, I've figured out which one works best for me and I adjust accordingly. I also either ignore the added calories or eat back a portion of them. My walking doesn't give me much of a burn anyway.0
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If you have a heart rate monitor. That is the most accurate calorie estimation.0
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ColoradoDan wrote: »So I have been working out five days a week - crazy for me. Went from none to loving it.
I do cardio every day + high intensity strength training (almost like cardio - breathing heavy and sweating like wild).
I want to log it just because it feels like I should log it, track my progress, show I am working out......but I know that is just for my personal feelings. I don't log it because MFP, fitness trackers, fitness apps, workout apps, etc all seem to way, way, way, way over estimate the calories burned and I don't want to go and eat 600 extra calories because MFP says that is what I burned when really I only burned 150.
Guess maybe I could log it in another app or all under strength since strength does not count calories right?
I only eat back my work out calories if I am hungry. Alot of the MFP calculations are off anyway so if I eat all the calories back I gain weight or plateau.0 -
ColoradoDan wrote: »kathrynjean_ wrote: »You can also log your exercise in MFP and manually change the calorie burn to 0 or 1.
LOVE THIS IDEA - WOO HOO - FOUND A SOLUTION.
The truth is I have no idea what my real calorie burn is. I have a heart rate monitor that tells me one thing, treadmill tells me another, workout app says something really high, MFP tells me another number - all for the same exercise and all 100-200 different from each other. It's madness.
Then you pick a method that seems reasonable, go with it, and track your results. Your own progress will let you know whether your chosen method of estimation is too high or too low -- you'll see the results in your weight loss/gain.
They're all estimates. But if you're working out seriously, you've got to account for the calorie burn somehow.0 -
ColoradoDan wrote: »kathrynjean_ wrote: »You can also log your exercise in MFP and manually change the calorie burn to 0 or 1.
LOVE THIS IDEA - WOO HOO - FOUND A SOLUTION.
The truth is I have no idea what my real calorie burn is. I have a heart rate monitor that tells me one thing, treadmill tells me another, workout app says something really high, MFP tells me another number - all for the same exercise and all 100-200 different from each other. It's madness.
Another solution: Use a calculator that factors exercise in. MFP does not. This is a TDEE (or maintenance) calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
Take your cut from maintenance. You can over ride the daily calorie goal that MFP gave you.
That way you are still eating enough to help fuel a larger % of existing lean muscle mass. Eating zero exercise calories does result in faster weight loss. However, the price for faster weight loss is often a larger percentage of lean muscle lost. Losing more fat results in a firmer look.0 -
ColoradoDan wrote: »kathrynjean_ wrote: »You can also log your exercise in MFP and manually change the calorie burn to 0 or 1.
LOVE THIS IDEA - WOO HOO - FOUND A SOLUTION.
The truth is I have no idea what my real calorie burn is. I have a heart rate monitor that tells me one thing, treadmill tells me another, workout app says something really high, MFP tells me another number - all for the same exercise and all 100-200 different from each other. It's madness.
Doesn't your HRM sync with MFP? Just use that number and ignore the rest. Or change the MFP # manually to reflect your HRM value.0 -
If you are consistently training and under-eating by an additional 600 exercise cals to your deficit already set up in MFP then you'll eventually find that you can't keep a long term deficit of over 1000-1200+ cals without your exercise and health suffering - it might be fine for a while, but keep in mind that you also want to fuel performance of those exercise session.0
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ColoradoDan wrote: »kathrynjean_ wrote: »You can also log your exercise in MFP and manually change the calorie burn to 0 or 1.
LOVE THIS IDEA - WOO HOO - FOUND A SOLUTION.
The truth is I have no idea what my real calorie burn is. I have a heart rate monitor that tells me one thing, treadmill tells me another, workout app says something really high, MFP tells me another number - all for the same exercise and all 100-200 different from each other. It's madness.
No method is going to be 100% accurate, but the HRM will be the closest to accurate. Take that amount and enter it in MFP manually. If you feel that's still too high, shave 100-200 calories off the top. If you're doing a lot of exercise, you do need to eat back most of it. If you cut your calories too low because of exercise, your body will not be getting the nutrition it needs, and you run the risk of losing muscle mass as well as fat.0 -
ColoradoDan wrote: »kathrynjean_ wrote: »You can also log your exercise in MFP and manually change the calorie burn to 0 or 1.
LOVE THIS IDEA - WOO HOO - FOUND A SOLUTION.
The truth is I have no idea what my real calorie burn is. I have a heart rate monitor that tells me one thing, treadmill tells me another, workout app says something really high, MFP tells me another number - all for the same exercise and all 100-200 different from each other. It's madness.
Another solution: Use a calculator that factors exercise in. MFP does not. This is a TDEE (or maintenance) calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
Take your cut from maintenance. You can over ride the daily calorie goal that MFP gave you.
That way you are still eating enough to help fuel a larger % of existing lean muscle mass. Eating zero exercise calories does result in faster weight loss. However, the price for faster weight loss is often a larger percentage of lean muscle lost. Losing more fat results in a firmer look.
Yes - sorry, I should have said this in my original post as well. Exercise needs to be factored in somehow. So if you want to log your workouts as 1 calorie, use the TDEE method.
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