Eat losing calories or leave them
sungazer2014
Posts: 2 Member
Hello
I am using MFP to lose weight and MFP says my calorie goal should be 1000 less which results in 1850 calories a day.
Now as you can see on screenshot, I am able to eat 1850 calories a day but I am losing calories through exercise . The question is now, should I retake those calories?
Currently I do not eat them back but does this mean I am coming to something called "starving mode" and my body stops losing fat and goes to emergency mode where it keeps all the fat?
I am really heavy >240lbs so I wonder what is best to do in terms of calories.
The excericse calories are coming from my synced FitBit.
Any suggestion?
Thank you!
I am using MFP to lose weight and MFP says my calorie goal should be 1000 less which results in 1850 calories a day.
Now as you can see on screenshot, I am able to eat 1850 calories a day but I am losing calories through exercise . The question is now, should I retake those calories?
Currently I do not eat them back but does this mean I am coming to something called "starving mode" and my body stops losing fat and goes to emergency mode where it keeps all the fat?
I am really heavy >240lbs so I wonder what is best to do in terms of calories.
The excericse calories are coming from my synced FitBit.
Any suggestion?
Thank you!
0
Replies
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Usually, most people eat back approximately 50% of their exercise calories - this is due to calorie burn estimates being very inaccurate.
The calorie burn seems very very overestimated. Unless you're doing some crazy workouts, I highly doubt you've burnt 1,200 calories through exercise.
I'd stick to the 1850 and see how fast the weight comes off - if it's too much (more than 2lbs a week), up your calorie intake. If not, keep going.
Also, "starvation mode" doesn't happen when you're overweight and eating less than usual. "starvation mode" is literally prisoner-of-war, malnourished-African-child starvation. Like will die any day because your body has gone into starvation mode and is eating organ muscle to try and keep you alive. Ignore "starvation mode"3 -
Thanks for your feedback Kate!
You are right, it is not from one workout. The deficit comes from my FitBit which includes my calorie loss over the day calculatet by FitBit + 380 cal from my workout.
I am currently not eating back those calories shown from FitBit but I am not losing that much weight as well so I wonder if this is wrong and if I should eat more.
Right, I understand the "starvation mode", good to know I can ignore it ;-) I just thought that when my body needs 1850 calories a day just to keep up its work and if I lose through walking and workout, say 500 calories, this would lead to 1350 calories which are less than that what the body needs to function. I somehow heard that I should never go under the calories which my body needs just for resting but again, I am not sure about this.1 -
I would only count the 380 calories as the extra you worked out and "earned" to eat back. MFP already computes and factors in your normal regular daily activity based on activity level you chose when you set your weight loss goal (ex. 1 pound a week loss, etc).0
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If you aren't losing much weight though I wouldn't eat back the 380 calories.0
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I would only count the 380 calories as the extra you worked out and "earned" to eat back. MFP already computes and factors in your normal regular daily activity based on activity level you chose when you set your weight loss goal (ex. 1 pound a week loss, etc).
This isn't how it works, though. If you're set as Sedentary in MFP but take 10,000 steps in a day without doing a dedicated workout, do those steps not burn calories?
To OP, I would advise you to eat back at least 50% of those calories. My calorie goal is the same as yours, and when I walk 6+ miles a day I can achieve 1000+ exercise calories. As long as your logging is completely accurate, you should lose as expected with eating back some, of those calories.2 -
OP how much weight are you trying to lose?
Are you logging all the food you eat?
Are you weighing your food with a food scale?
How many total cals burned did your fitBit say you had on this day? Is that fairly normal?0 -
I only eat back about 30% of what I lost
Mostly because there are no apps or gadgets that really accurately measure your exercise calorie lost
I have a Fitbit and it's the worse ever when gauging your calories lost. When I compare it to a chest strap hr the Fitbit was WAY OFF. And if someone has a high resting beats per minute, that'll mess with calories burnt too. I only use my Fitbit as a glorified Pedometer and a friend challenge app. This is why I only eat 300 -
I would only count the 380 calories as the extra you worked out and "earned" to eat back. MFP already computes and factors in your normal regular daily activity based on activity level you chose when you set your weight loss goal (ex. 1 pound a week loss, etc).
This isn't how it works, though. If you're set as Sedentary in MFP but take 10,000 steps in a day without doing a dedicated workout, do those steps not burn calories?
To OP, I would advise you to eat back at least 50% of those calories. My calorie goal is the same as yours, and when I walk 6+ miles a day I can achieve 1000+ exercise calories. As long as your logging is completely accurate, you should lose as expected with eating back some, of those calories.
Agreed. I have myself set to sedentary on MFP, but often earn 500 to 1100 extra calories from Fitbit because I workout for an hour and I walk 20K steps per day on average, most of it at a rate of 4 mph. I'm 5'3", 110 pounds, and eat 1800 to 2200 calories daily (80 to 100% of what Fitbit says I can eat back) and haven't gained a pound. In fact, I've been losing a bit of weight over the past month. Obviously everyone varies, but ignoring the calories completely isn't wise, especially if you weigh your food on a food scale. Experiment for a few weeks, then reassess based on your results.0 -
I would definitely eat some of the exercise calories back. Just experiment a little to see what works. I have a fitbit and I think it is pretty accurate. I lose weight faster than expected if I don't eat at least 80% of my fitbit adjustment.0
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I would only count the 380 calories as the extra you worked out and "earned" to eat back. MFP already computes and factors in your normal regular daily activity based on activity level you chose when you set your weight loss goal (ex. 1 pound a week loss, etc).
This isn't how it works, though. If you're set as Sedentary in MFP but take 10,000 steps in a day without doing a dedicated workout, do those steps not burn calories?
To OP, I would advise you to eat back at least 50% of those calories. My calorie goal is the same as yours, and when I walk 6+ miles a day I can achieve 1000+ exercise calories. As long as your logging is completely accurate, you should lose as expected with eating back some, of those calories.
Where did you get these numbers from? From a fitness tracking device? Those are widely inaccurate.
Unless you are severely overweight, walking very fast, or are walking on a +5% surface grade, there's no way you are expending 1000+ calories merely from walking 6 miles.
Ex: A 200lb person would expend ~113 calories walking 1 mile at a pace of 4mph. That's 650-700 at most.
https://www.verywell.com/walking-calories-burned-by-miles-3887154
0 -
I would only count the 380 calories as the extra you worked out and "earned" to eat back. MFP already computes and factors in your normal regular daily activity based on activity level you chose when you set your weight loss goal (ex. 1 pound a week loss, etc).
This isn't how it works, though. If you're set as Sedentary in MFP but take 10,000 steps in a day without doing a dedicated workout, do those steps not burn calories?
To OP, I would advise you to eat back at least 50% of those calories. My calorie goal is the same as yours, and when I walk 6+ miles a day I can achieve 1000+ exercise calories. As long as your logging is completely accurate, you should lose as expected with eating back some, of those calories.
This. I'm set to sedentary on MFP but I earn about 500-600 calories a day via my fitbit because I walk 10-11k steps a day. I'd rather do it this way and get less extra if I have a lazy day.0 -
Annahbananas wrote: »I only eat back about 30% of what I lost
Mostly because there are no apps or gadgets that really accurately measure your exercise calorie lost
I have a Fitbit and it's the worse ever when gauging your calories lost. When I compare it to a chest strap hr the Fitbit was WAY OFF. And if someone has a high resting beats per minute, that'll mess with calories burnt too. I only use my Fitbit as a glorified Pedometer and a friend challenge app. This is why I only eat 30
Meh. Mine is accurate. If they were that inaccurate, they wouldn't have such a wide adoption rate.1 -
I would only count the 380 calories as the extra you worked out and "earned" to eat back. MFP already computes and factors in your normal regular daily activity based on activity level you chose when you set your weight loss goal (ex. 1 pound a week loss, etc).
This isn't how it works, though. If you're set as Sedentary in MFP but take 10,000 steps in a day without doing a dedicated workout, do those steps not burn calories?
To OP, I would advise you to eat back at least 50% of those calories. My calorie goal is the same as yours, and when I walk 6+ miles a day I can achieve 1000+ exercise calories. As long as your logging is completely accurate, you should lose as expected with eating back some, of those calories.
Where did you get these numbers from? From a fitness tracking device? Those are widely inaccurate.
Unless you are severely overweight, walking very fast, or are walking on a +5% surface grade, there's no way you are expending 1000+ calories merely from walking 6 miles.
Ex: A 200lb person would expend ~113 calories walking 1 mile at a pace of 4mph. That's 650-700 at most.
https://www.verywell.com/walking-calories-burned-by-miles-3887154
I'm 6'0 tall and "severely overweight" at 320lbs. I've also been tracking my weight closely since buying the Fitbit and find it generally accurate. My deficit matches my rate of loss.0
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