Confused??? I Need clear cut answers not opinions

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HakeemTheDream89
HakeemTheDream89 Posts: 167 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm going to be totally honest ..I'm not off to a good start as far as food selection for today. Definitely regretting having that Cheeseburger especially right after eating a PB & J. Does exercise calories not matter If I go over my calories goal of 2,800?

I plan to burn at least 1,200 calories today but i'm trying to figure out why doesn't that count? I've been told that If I eat over 2,800 calories and burn 1,200 of them I still will not lose weight.. I will be just maintaining my weight. Someone let me know

By the way for dinner I plan on eating pot roast and mixed vegetables
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Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    If net 2800 cals is a deficit (if you used MFP to get your numbers) then yes, you will lose weight if you eat net 2800 cals or less.

    If you eat more that that it will reduce your deficit so you may end up eating at maintenance or in a surplus depending how much more you ate.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    I'm not sure who told you that, but exercise calories are available to use. Granted, if your goal is 2800 BECAUSE of your exercise calories are already figured in (which is likely) then eating them back would mean exactly that, you'd be eating at surplus.

    Figure your TDEE (use any of the many available calculators on the Internet or MFP) without exercise factored in at all. That'll tell you how many calories you can eat in a day and not gain weight without exercising. Then add your exercise calories (in this case 1200) to that number. That'll be the MAX you can eat today without eating in surplus. Just keep in mind that exercise calories are usually over inflated, so leave some of them left over for the day.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    For instance, I am 6'2" tall, 181 lbs, my TDEE with 90 minutes of exercise five days a week figured in is 2700 calories a day. As long as I stay at 2700 7 days of the week I won't gain weight. But my actual TDEE is lower than that, so if I tried to log my exercise calories and eat those back on top of the 2700 I would gain weight because that TDEE calculation was figured with exercise already.
  • HakeemTheDream89
    HakeemTheDream89 Posts: 167 Member
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    My deficit is 3,800 so I set it up to 2,800 to lose 2 pounds a day
  • saphin
    saphin Posts: 246 Member
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    We all have less compliant days so log it and move on. Why not consider a lighter evening meal and save the pot roast for tomorrow?

    If you are using MFP as intended and your calorie goal set by MFP is 2,800, when you burn an additional 1,200 calories in exercise the exercise calories go straight towards your deficit and you should be eating at least some of these back. I don't understand what you mean about them not counting. If, however, you have manually set your calorie goal based in TDEE the exercise calories are already accommodated in this and will not count so you should not eat any of them back.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Exercise calories count, and also you will lose weight with anything under your maintenance (I assume 3800 is your maintenance and then 2800 is a 1000 calorie deficit for a 2 lb loss?).

    So don't worry about it, do a little extra exercise if you can, and stick to the plan for tonight.
  • HakeemTheDream89
    HakeemTheDream89 Posts: 167 Member
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    If I eat 3,200 calories today and burn 1,200 calories which leave me with 2,000 calories for the day.. Wouldn't that mean it was a positive day or due to me eating 400 calories over my calorie goal considered a negative day?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    abneyhakeem89 wrote: »
    My deficit is 3,800 so I set it up to 2,800 to lose 2 pounds a day

    Your maintenance is 3800, your deficit is 1000 you mean?
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    Just punch your stats and goal into MFP and let it do the math. Eat back exercise calories, or a portion thereof. No need to make manual adjustments to create a deficit - it does it for you.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    If you net 2,000 calories, then you would be in a deficit. If your goal is 2,800 then you would actually be 800 below your goal (assuming you are accurately measuring your calories consumed and your calories burned).
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    abneyhakeem89 wrote: »
    If I eat 3,200 calories today and burn 1,200 calories which leave me with 2,000 calories for the day.. Wouldn't that mean it was a positive day or due to me eating 400 calories over my calorie goal considered a negative day?

    How did you get the MFP goal? Sedentary and plan to lose 2 lb/week? If so, you add the exercise back in and any net number below the goal is going to be on track for the loss.
  • HakeemTheDream89
    HakeemTheDream89 Posts: 167 Member
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    To maintain my weight = 3,800 calories consumed every day. So I set my goal to 2,800 to lose two pounds a day which is a healthy weight loss. I was told to eat lesser then what I ate yesterday which was over 3,000 calories . I did burn over 1,200 calories but she felt like I didn't lose any weight for that day
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,750 Member
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    I'm confused about your numbers. What is your actual calorie goal? Is it 1600? How did you work that out? If you used myfitnesspal, what did you put in as your weight loss goal - 1lb a week, 2lb a week?

    Clarify that and we'll get it sorted out.
  • HakeemTheDream89
    HakeemTheDream89 Posts: 167 Member
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    I won't be eating dinner tonight and will make sure to burn over 1,000 calories
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    abneyhakeem89 wrote: »
    To maintain my weight = 3,800 calories consumed every day. So I set my goal to 2,800 to lose two pounds a day which is a healthy weight loss. I was told to eat lesser then what I ate yesterday which was over 3,000 calories . I did burn over 1,200 calories but she felt like I didn't lose any weight for that day

    Why are you measuring weight loss by the day????
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    abneyhakeem89 wrote: »
    To maintain my weight = 3,800 calories consumed every day. So I set my goal to 2,800 to lose two pounds a day which is a healthy weight loss. I was told to eat lesser then what I ate yesterday which was over 3,000 calories . I did burn over 1,200 calories but she felt like I didn't lose any weight for that day

    Who is advising you to measure weight loss by the day? That isn't really how this works.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    Whoa - full stop.

    You're making this soooooo much more difficult than it needs to be. So let me give some really easy-to-follow advice.

    You've already input your stats (age, height, weight, etc) into MFP. Add your exercise in, as you should. Eat however many Calories MFP tells you to eat each day. After a month, look to see if you've lost the 8 lb you should lose in that time frame. If so, keep on doing your thing. If you've lost less than 8 lb, just eat a little less each day. If you've lost more than 8 lb, then you can eat a little more each day.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    abneyhakeem89 wrote: »
    To maintain my weight = 3,800 calories consumed every day. So I set my goal to 2,800 to lose two pounds a day which is a healthy weight loss. I was told to eat lesser then what I ate yesterday which was over 3,000 calories . I did burn over 1,200 calories but she felt like I didn't lose any weight for that day

    Who told you that?
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    Your goal on MFP EXCLUDES exercise. So when you exercise those calories increases your deficit/increases how much you can eat and still lose.

    1000 calorie a day deficit = 2lbs per WEEK, not day.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I think he mis-typed. Maintenance is 3,800, goal is 2,800 so weight loss would be 2 lbs per WEEK.
    How do you plan to burn 1,200 today? And how accurate is that measurement? All I'm reading here is that most fitness gear overstates calories burned so be careful in eating them all back as you may not burn the 1,200 you think you are.
    I'm trying to lose +100 lbs and am using exercise calories for wine (I love wine) but only drinking back ~ 1/2.

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