I'm strength training

Log "strength training" under cardio. It will give you a probably inaccurate idea of what you're burning. But it's a start anyway if you want to log those calories.

That's a great question. I actually never track the amount of calories I burn during workouts. It's pretty inaccurate. What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~2200 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for 2 weeks. If you lose 1-2 lbs/week, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few cycles, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

Also, 1680 calories is too low for a guy, especially if you're doing a lot of strength training. The extreme low calorie intake to lose weight faster is not worth the reduction in metabolism. That'll just make maintaining your progress much more difficult, and you are not really going to build any substantial muscle with that low of a calorie intake.

I always log my strength workouts as cardio just so I have a record, but I never eat them back unless I am trying to gain. Too many variables to reliably count those calories.

Heart rate monitor aren't designed for strength training at all.

jaysanchez4 wrote: »

But I logged my age, weight and height and that's the calories it set me to. 1680

Log it under cardio. It will give you a rough estimate

I'm also on about 1,680 cals/day and do strength training.

I personally don't eat back my calories from it or I do some cardio to make it worthwhile since, like others have said, the actual burn from lifting weights is pretty low. That said, lifting is a great thing to do for body composition and general well-being.

If you're hungry after lifting (I know I am sometimes!) then I'd just recommend throwing some extra protein into your day. For example, on non-lifting days, my snacks might be popcorn and apple slices. On lifting days, however, I eat greek yogurt, jerky, or a small peanut butter sandwich. If I'm really hungry, I eat about 100 'extra' calories, which is about half of what MFP says that I burn, but I try to make as many of those protein as possible.

FWIW

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/calories.htm

Justme_1 wrote: »

FWIW

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/calories.htm

I would ignore 90% of the information from that site.

sgt1372 wrote: »

FWIW, I calculate the calories burned while weight lifting at a very conservative 100 cals/hour or fraction thereof. This includes all of the many rest periods taken during my lifting workouts.

Using this number, I have not overeaten (by overestimating the calories burned while lifting) and have consistently lost weight (when that was the objective) and continue to maintain weight now.

The number may be different for you (the OP) but it's a reasonable starting point to assess what number works best for you. Good luck!

Were your energy levels sufficient? I am around 5'9" 238 pounds and just started adding weight training to an already daily cardio routine. I just want to be sure I am eating enough for my body to handle the increased activity.

jaysanchez4 wrote: »

I'm over my calories today by 339, will I gain weight now?

I did strength training for 45 minutes today so I'm really not sure how many calories I burned. If I had an idea maybe I wouldn't be over?

Please help! I'm worried that I'll gain weight from being over my calories by 339, I haven't gone over my calories at all since I started my diet.

Advice?

Not unless your weight loss goal is half a pound a week. You have to be over your maintenance calories to gain fat.

When you set up MPF, you gave it a weight loss goal of .5, 1, 1.5 or 2 lbs per week. This will be reflected in a calorie deficit of 250, 500, 750 or 1000 calories per day. If you are over by 339, then ONLY if you have MFP set for .5 lb (250 cal deficit) are you actually over your maintenance and, if you did this every day, would it show as a weight gain.

As it is, 1 day over is not something to get upset about. Maybe focus more on how many calories you are over/under for the week. You want that difference (over or under) to be as small as possible. Try not to be under all the time (I know that's hard to accept). You want to be close to the calories MFP gives you.

Also, 45 minutes of strength training is not nothing. I've no clue what that translates into for calories, but it is something.

Log it and move on to tomorrow.

jaysanchez4 wrote: »

So just to be clear, I didn't gain any actual weight from going over by 350+ calories in ONE DAY did I?

I've been really doing well with this diet and this is the first time I went over in 6 weeks!

Probably not.

And also, don't beat yourself up about going over by 350 for one day. This is the long game... think about how long life is... you will have many more days where you eat more than you plan to in a lifetime. What's important is what you usually do. In my experience, when I beat myself up about "bad" days, I want to overcompensate by restricting, which leads to a mucked up pattern. Just be chill, keep track, keep up the good work and tweak things if you're not losing as planned over time.

Also, please understand that you are talking about one tenth of a pound, at the absolute maximum. Think 3500 cals per pound. I'm not trying to be flippant, but you ARE worrying about almost nothing.