Make me understand science of calories

ibrahimsmama
ibrahimsmama Posts: 42 Member
edited December 3 in Food and Nutrition
Dear fellows.... I'm 36 and 146 lbs... starting to lose weight to reach my goal of 110 lbs. I'm 5.2 ... my goal is to stay under 1200 calories... But when I add my exercise it adds the reduced calories to my goal so I end up eating more than 1200 .... am I doing something wrong? I hope I put my question correctly...for instance if I lost 100 calories from exercise and I have consumed my 1200 calorie diet by night but it shows I can have 100 more calories... should I consume those 100 calories or not? Phew I guess I'm clear now

Replies

  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    eh, i personally choose not to consume back exercise calories unless i've just burned an insane amount.



    The way it works is this:

    When you set up MFP you chose your current activity level.

    MFP says "okay, according to her daily activity level, height, weight, sex, and age, she requires X amount of calories to maintain her current body weight". (for the sake of this example, i'll make it 2000 calories)

    Then you select how much you want to lose "Okay, so if she wants to lose 1 pound a week she needs to eat 1,500 calories a day to maintain a 500 calorie deficit".

    BUT WAIT- if you have exercised, your maintenance calories goes from 2,000->2,100. To remain on your journey to lose 1 pound per week 2,100 - 500, you can now consume 1,600 calories and still lose 1 pound per week.



    I hope this makes sense. ;)
  • ibrahimsmama
    ibrahimsmama Posts: 42 Member
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    eh, i personally choose not to consume back exercise calories unless i've just burned an insane amount.



    The way it works is this:

    When you set up MFP you chose your current activity level.

    MFP says "okay, according to her daily activity level, height, weight, sex, and age, she requires X amount of calories to maintain her current body weight". (for the sake of this example, i'll make it 2000 calories)

    Then you select how much you want to lose "Okay, so if she wants to lose 1 pound a week she needs to eat 1,500 calories a day to maintain a 500 calorie deficit".

    BUT WAIT- if you have exercised, your maintenance calories goes from 2,000->2,100. To remain on your journey to lose 1 pound per week 2,100 - 500, you can now consume 1,600 calories and still lose 1 pound per week.



    I hope this makes sense. ;)

    Thanks It helped ... now I have to revisit my diet and exercise.
  • amyr271
    amyr271 Posts: 343 Member
    1200 is the minimum - why are you trying to eat under that?
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    The way MFP is designed you are meant to eat back exercise calories since the information you provide and the goal calculated is a NEAT goal, meaning exercise is not included. It will provide you a goal with a deficit built in such that even if you do no exercise at all, if you log accurately (using a food scale ideally) you should lose weight at the rate selected when you entered your goals. If you do exercise, you've now created a larger deficit which may sound great initially, since most people want to lose as fast as possible, but too large of a deficit can be difficult to sustain and people often give up, it can result in loss of lean body mass (the dreaded skinny fat), fatigue, hair loss, brittle nails, sallow skin...

    1200 is the minimum recommendation for women, and aiming to eat below that (especially without eating back exercise calories) is not a good idea.

    I'm 5'2 and started at 153. I too stated out with 1200 cals but wasn't able to keep my cals that low, even with eating back exercise cals. I came on these boards and started to read about how 1200 is not necessary for most people to lose weight, and even petite women can lose eating much more. I raised my calorie goal, first to 1400, then 1500, still eating back exercise cals and still losing. I lost 30+ lbs eating between 1600-1900 cals and am now maintaining around 120 with a TDEE of 2100.
  • ibrahimsmama
    ibrahimsmama Posts: 42 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    The way MFP is designed you are meant to eat back exercise calories since the information you provide and the goal calculated is a NEAT goal, meaning exercise is not included. It will provide you a goal with a deficit built in such that even if you do no exercise at all, if you log accurately (using a food scale ideally) you should lose weight at the rate selected when you entered your goals. If you do exercise, you've now created a larger deficit which may sound great initially, since most people want to lose as fast as possible, but too large of a deficit can be difficult to sustain and people often give up, it can result in loss of lean body mass (the dreaded skinny fat), fatigue, hair loss, brittle nails, sallow skin...

    1200 is the minimum recommendation for women, and aiming to eat below that (especially without eating back exercise calories) is not a good idea.

    I'm 5'2 and started at 153. I too stated out with 1200 cals but wasn't able to keep my cals that low, even with eating back exercise cals. I came on these boards and started to read about how 1200 is not necessary for most people to lose weight, and even petite women can lose eating much more. I raised my calorie goal, first to 1400, then 1500, still eating back exercise cals and still losing. I lost 30+ lbs eating between 1600-1900 cals and am now maintaining around 120 with a TDEE of 2100.

    That's great to see your journey... Thanks for the helpful reply
  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
    I will eat back some exercise calories if needed to reach my macro goals. Example, I'm 15 grams shy of my protein goal.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    What makes it confusing is that the "calories burned" calculation is very much an estimate, so many people decide to only eat back around half of their exercise calories just to play it safe. Make adjustments as you go if you're not losing, you'll learn what works best for you.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    edited August 2016
    Here's the rub.

    Also, if you sat in a chair for an hour, depending on weight, you would burn between 50 - 100 kcal. Now what MFP doesn't do is include that figure with your exercise. Besides the fact that burned kcal from exercise is an estimate at best, if you burned 100 calories from walking it doesn't include the 50 - 100 cal that you would of lost by just sitting in a chair.

    So, for example, you burn 100 kcal walking or by setting in a chair. Well. That's the same amount you would of burned doing either, your just replacing walking and sitting. But when you add the exercise it says you have an extra 100 kcal to eat which isn't true. It's double counting. So it depends on what you do and for how long, but generally you do not have the full 100% of the calories to eat back.
  • ibrahimsmama
    ibrahimsmama Posts: 42 Member
    cee134 wrote: »
    Here's the rub.

    Also, if you sat in a chair for an hour, depending on weight, you would burn between 50 - 100 kcal. Now what MFP doesn't do is include that figure with your exercise. Besides the fact that burned kcal from exercise is an estimate at best, if you burned 100 calories from walking it doesn't include the 50 - 100 cal that you would of lost by just sitting in a chair.

    So, for example, you burn 100 kcal walking or by setting in a chair. Well. That's the same amount you would of burned doing either, your just replacing walking and sitting. But when you add the exercise it says you have an extra 100 kcal to eat which isn't true. It's double counting. So it depends on what you do and for how long, but generally you do not have the full 100% of the calories to eat back.

    Thanks .... I will try my best to stay in 1200 count
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    ibrahimsmama wrote: »
    cee134 wrote: »
    Here's the rub.

    Also, if you sat in a chair for an hour, depending on weight, you would burn between 50 - 100 kcal. Now what MFP doesn't do is include that figure with your exercise. Besides the fact that burned kcal from exercise is an estimate at best, if you burned 100 calories from walking it doesn't include the 50 - 100 cal that you would of lost by just sitting in a chair.

    So, for example, you burn 100 kcal walking or by setting in a chair. Well. That's the same amount you would of burned doing either, your just replacing walking and sitting. But when you add the exercise it says you have an extra 100 kcal to eat which isn't true. It's double counting. So it depends on what you do and for how long, but generally you do not have the full 100% of the calories to eat back.

    Thanks .... I will try my best to stay in 1200 count

    OP did you ever state what goal rate of loss you put in when you entered your stats? 1 lb/week?
    1200 is the minimum recommended calorie intake for women. If you are exercising regularly and/or strenuously, I would not assume that you should stay at or below 1200.

    OP have you read the stickied "Most Helpful Forum Posts" at the top of each section? I think they are a wealth of good information for new, and even veteran users. This one is a great collection:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10260499/i-like-old-posts-and-i-cannot-lie/p1

    Specifically about eating back exercise calories, this is one of the most commonly asked questions on these boards as evidenced by the title of this thread:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1

  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    ibrahimsmama wrote: »

    Thanks .... I will try my best to stay in 1200 count

    1200 sounds alittle low. Most people find that they are more successful when losing less weight a week than more, when close to their goal weight. It looks like to lose a pound a week you could eat 1310 calories a day. Then when you are around 20-25 lbs away from your goal weight, most people recommend changing it to 0.5 lbs a week to preserve muscle mass.

    Also, if you stay at 1200, you will defiantly want to eat back some of your exercise calories. What is your activity level set to and how often do you exercise?
  • ibrahimsmama
    ibrahimsmama Posts: 42 Member
    cee134 wrote: »
    ibrahimsmama wrote: »

    Thanks .... I will try my best to stay in 1200 count

    1200 sounds alittle low. Most people find that they are more successful when losing less weight a week than more, when close to their goal weight. It looks like to lose a pound a week you could eat 1310 calories a day. Then when you are around 20-25 lbs away from your goal weight, most people recommend changing it to 0.5 lbs a week to preserve muscle mass.

    Also, if you stay at 1200, you will defiantly want to eat back some of your exercise calories. What is your activity level set to and how often do you exercise?

    I'm a housewife with 11 months old naughty boy ... so I'm on foot most of the day but I put my activity level at light active .... I walk on treadmill everyday for min 30 mins and I do yoga for 30 mins as well ... I. Trying to increase my steps gradually to reach 10000 steps a day .... so now what do you suggest?
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
    edited August 2016
    I suggest you eat back half if not most of your exercise calories for a week or two, and see what happens...if you keep losing, VOILA! If you stop losing, you know you need to scale back abit..I say this because you have a 11 month old who probably saps a lot of energy out of you, and you more than likely can use it!
  • ibrahimsmama
    ibrahimsmama Posts: 42 Member
    JustMissTracy wrote: »
    I suggest you eat back half if not most of your exercise calories for a week or two, and see what happens...if you keep losing, VOILA! If you stop losing, you know you need to scale back abit..I say this because you have a 11 month old who probably saps a lot of energy out of you, and you more than likely can use it!

    Thanks you are right.... InShaAllah will try to do this
  • minime0424
    minime0424 Posts: 101 Member
    If you are eating only 1200 calories a day and burning more then you actually think you are, that would end up being an issue for your body because it will start to hold on to fat and burn muscle instead (it would save the fat in case of emergency's) sometimes if we are not feeding our body enough, and don't actually have enough fat to burn to make up for what our body still needs, you can send it into havoc!
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