I dont understand still
ksmommy5
Posts: 142 Member
I have it set to lose 2lbs a week at lowest active. My goal is 1290 (which it was 1470 before I inputted my exercise?) and I have consumed 1238 cals in food. So 1290-1238+350=402
My net cals are only 888. So its the 1238 cals in food -350 cals burned = 888 net.
Its 10 pm. How am I going to consume 400 cals now?
It seems like the cals adjust when i add exercise? I cant explain why it was 1470 yesterday and 1290 today after adding exercise. (When I look on the whole food diary summary it says daily goal is 1640).
My net cals are only 888. So its the 1238 cals in food -350 cals burned = 888 net.
Its 10 pm. How am I going to consume 400 cals now?
It seems like the cals adjust when i add exercise? I cant explain why it was 1470 yesterday and 1290 today after adding exercise. (When I look on the whole food diary summary it says daily goal is 1640).
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Replies
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ok Im relatively new with this as well, I think I understand what you are asking. MFP will give you a number of calories that you need to eat for the day to be healthy and lose weight eg 1200. For every bit of exercise/calories you burn MFP adds these to your daily allowance. If you really want to lose weight ignore this and stick to the 1200, but you are ok if you eat within the extra calorie range. I think most people on here would try not to eat anymore than half of the calories they earn from exercise. Hope this is clear and helps.1
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This is a bit more complicated, as we would need to know if you had Myfitnesspal setup your calorie intake goal or if you did that. MFP as a rule seems to suggest a 1200-1300 diet for many. My opinion is to target your caloric intake of 1290 and don't eat back the cals you burned in exercise. So, you should be good for today.1
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This is all so confusing. I still dont know why my goal increased so much from 1470 yesterday no exercise to 1640 today wit exercise. Thats a huge difference considering Ive only eaten 1200 cals. I guess I will survive? lol0
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OK, since you have your diary open (thank you), I think I can answer this, with just a bit of speculating.
Looking back a couple of days, it appears that your daily eating calorie goal, before exercise, was 1470. As of today, it is 1290.
Why has it changed? There are a couple of possibilities I can think of: Either you changed something in your profile settings (activity level, how many pounds/week you want to lose - that sort of thing), or you recorded a weight loss. Either of those can result in a downward adjustment in calories you can eat.
If you let MFP calculate your calorie goal for you (by putting in your age/height/loss-rate goal/activity level in your profile), then it intends for you to eat back any exercise on top of that initial calorie goal. That's because your desired weight loss rate is already calculated into your basic daily eating goal.
Many people choose to eat back less than 100% of their exercise because they worry it's over-estimated. That's the source of recommendations to start eating back 50-75% of exercise at first, until you see how fast you're actually losing weight.
Some people will say you should not eat back exercise, because that will help you lose faster. If you have a slower weight-loss-rate goal (like 0.5 pound/week) and/or a very large amount left to lose (say 50+ pounds or more) and a small number of exercise calories daily (say 200-300, though it depends on size & more), then it's probably OK not to eat back the exercise.
But it's unhealthy to lose weight too fast, so it would be a bad plan to not eat back exercise calories if you have a high goal (like 2 pounds per week), are getting close to goal weight, and/or exercise many hundreds or thousands of calories in a day.10 -
OK, since you have your diary open (thank you), I think I can answer this, with just a bit of speculating.
Looking back a couple of days, it appears that your daily eating calorie goal, before exercise, was 1470. As of today, it is 1290.
Why has it changed? There are a couple of possibilities I can think of: Either you changed something in your profile settings (activity level, how many pounds/week you want to lose - that sort of thing), or you recorded a weight loss. Either of those can result in a downward adjustment in calories you can eat.
If you let MFP calculate your calorie goal for you (by putting in your age/height/loss-rate goal/activity level in your profile), then it intends for you to eat back any exercise on top of that initial calorie goal. That's because your desired weight loss rate is already calculated into your basic daily eating goal.
Many people choose to eat back less than 100% of their exercise because they worry it's over-estimated. That's the source of recommendations to start eating back 50-75% of exercise at first, until you see how fast you're actually losing weight.
Some people will say you should not eat back exercise, because that will help you lose faster. If you have a slower weight-loss-rate goal (like 0.5 pound/week) and/or a very large amount left to lose (say 50+ pounds or more) and a small number of exercise calories daily (say 200-300, though it depends on size & more), then it's probably OK not to eat back the exercise.
But it's unhealthy to lose weight too fast, so it would be a bad plan to not eat back exercise calories if you have a high goal (like 2 pounds per week), are getting close to goal weight, and/or exercise many hundreds or thousands of calories in a day.
Yes. You are right. I had my weight wrong so it adjusted then I had it down to 1 lb a week then changed it to 2. I just now put it down to 1.5lb. I just need to lose around 60-70 in the next year but this just is how many calories to eat without exercise? So if I exercise theoretically I would lose more than 1.5 lbs a week? I'm 245.0 -
This content has been removed.
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OK, since you have your diary open (thank you), I think I can answer this, with just a bit of speculating.
Looking back a couple of days, it appears that your daily eating calorie goal, before exercise, was 1470. As of today, it is 1290.
Why has it changed? There are a couple of possibilities I can think of: Either you changed something in your profile settings (activity level, how many pounds/week you want to lose - that sort of thing), or you recorded a weight loss. Either of those can result in a downward adjustment in calories you can eat.
If you let MFP calculate your calorie goal for you (by putting in your age/height/loss-rate goal/activity level in your profile), then it intends for you to eat back any exercise on top of that initial calorie goal. That's because your desired weight loss rate is already calculated into your basic daily eating goal.
Many people choose to eat back less than 100% of their exercise because they worry it's over-estimated. That's the source of recommendations to start eating back 50-75% of exercise at first, until you see how fast you're actually losing weight.
Some people will say you should not eat back exercise, because that will help you lose faster. If you have a slower weight-loss-rate goal (like 0.5 pound/week) and/or a very large amount left to lose (say 50+ pounds or more) and a small number of exercise calories daily (say 200-300, though it depends on size & more), then it's probably OK not to eat back the exercise.
But it's unhealthy to lose weight too fast, so it would be a bad plan to not eat back exercise calories if you have a high goal (like 2 pounds per week), are getting close to goal weight, and/or exercise many hundreds or thousands of calories in a day.
I just wanted to point out that this post is both awesome and insightful, and I wish I could mark it as both.4 -
At 245lbs, even sedentary and without working out, you would be losing weight at 1500-1600 calories/day. I started at 229lbs and am 42 yrs old and lost 50 lbs with that calorie range. Would have lost more if I'd kept at it.1
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serindipte wrote: »At 245lbs, even sedentary and without working out, you would be losing weight at 1500-1600 calories/day. I started at 229lbs and am 42 yrs old and lost 50 lbs with that calorie range. Would have lost more if I'd kept at it.
Thank you! And good job!1 -
OK, since you have your diary open (thank you), I think I can answer this, with just a bit of speculating.
Looking back a couple of days, it appears that your daily eating calorie goal, before exercise, was 1470. As of today, it is 1290.
Why has it changed? There are a couple of possibilities I can think of: Either you changed something in your profile settings (activity level, how many pounds/week you want to lose - that sort of thing), or you recorded a weight loss. Either of those can result in a downward adjustment in calories you can eat.
If you let MFP calculate your calorie goal for you (by putting in your age/height/loss-rate goal/activity level in your profile), then it intends for you to eat back any exercise on top of that initial calorie goal. That's because your desired weight loss rate is already calculated into your basic daily eating goal.
Many people choose to eat back less than 100% of their exercise because they worry it's over-estimated. That's the source of recommendations to start eating back 50-75% of exercise at first, until you see how fast you're actually losing weight.
Some people will say you should not eat back exercise, because that will help you lose faster. If you have a slower weight-loss-rate goal (like 0.5 pound/week) and/or a very large amount left to lose (say 50+ pounds or more) and a small number of exercise calories daily (say 200-300, though it depends on size & more), then it's probably OK not to eat back the exercise.
But it's unhealthy to lose weight too fast, so it would be a bad plan to not eat back exercise calories if you have a high goal (like 2 pounds per week), are getting close to goal weight, and/or exercise many hundreds or thousands of calories in a day.
Yes. You are right. I had my weight wrong so it adjusted then I had it down to 1 lb a week then changed it to 2. I just now put it down to 1.5lb. I just need to lose around 60-70 in the next year but this just is how many calories to eat without exercise? So if I exercise theoretically I would lose more than 1.5 lbs a week? I'm 245.
Short answer: In theory, this is absolutely true - if you don't eat back your exercise calories, you would lose more than 1.5 pounds per week.
Long answer: Two more things to consider.- The target calories are based on science - researchers study large groups of people to see what their calorie requirements are. But the results, once built into calculators like MFP's, use the population average. So, it assumes your calorie needs are like an average woman of your age, activity level, etc. Most of us are reasonably close to the average (in statistical terms, it's a bell curve, and a fairly tall, narrow one - it has a small standard deviation). However, a small number of people may be further away from the average, and a tiny number can be very far from the average (in either direction).
So, recommendation: Use the MFP settings to set your initial calorie goal. Then, after perhaps a month to a month and a half of following that recommendation, look at your results. I'd suggest discarding the first two weeks from consideration. (There can be water weight issues right at first that are misleading).
Look at the remaining weeks, after the first couple. If you're losing too fast (which would be unhealthy), eat a little more. If you're losing too slowly, consider whether you may want to eat a little less, or work out a little more. (If you're losing slower than expected, but you feel great and it feels sustainable over the long haul, it'd be legit to decide it's just fine). - Different people have different experiences on the weight-loss path, and different responses to exercise. If you decide not to eat back your exercise calories, that may be just fine - assuming it isn't a very large number, or putting you into a deep calorie deficit.
But if you start to feel weak, or fatigued, or you get moody/irritable, you may want to eat a bit more, even if it means losing more slowly. Or, if you find that you're feeling so hungry or deprived that you tend to fall off the wagon, sometimes eating enough to wipe out a good-sized chunk of your calorie deficit (thus losing more slowly or even not losing at all), you may want to eat more, and lose more slowly, but in a way that is more predictable and sustainable for you.
Gosh, that was pretty wordy!
I hope it makes sense.
tl;dr: Use the calculator to set your initial calorie goal. Adjust based on your real-world results after 6 weeks(-ish).3 - The target calories are based on science - researchers study large groups of people to see what their calorie requirements are. But the results, once built into calculators like MFP's, use the population average. So, it assumes your calorie needs are like an average woman of your age, activity level, etc. Most of us are reasonably close to the average (in statistical terms, it's a bell curve, and a fairly tall, narrow one - it has a small standard deviation). However, a small number of people may be further away from the average, and a tiny number can be very far from the average (in either direction).
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I understand trying to lose a lot. I'm just restarting my journey at 255 after getting lazy about logging in here. I would actually recommend looking up a bmr calculator which calculates about how many calories you would burn if you didn't crawl out of bed for the day. It's basically your body's "survival" calories. If you consistently eat below that, your body will panic and start hoarding its fat stores and you will show or stop your loss and feel less energetic. MFP will allow you to be below your brm if you have it set to lose weight very quickly so while it might give you a good starting point, knowing your brm could keep you from slowing your metabolism.
From there, it's up to you whether you want to add your exercise calories back into your diet but if you can eat more and still lose weight, why not?
Lastly, remember that it took a while to put those pounds on so it's going to take a while to get them back off. Don't stress if you're not dropping weight as quickly as you wanted. You're making steps for a healthier you long term.
Add me if you want some help with calculating or if you just want a new friend to help keep you motivated.1 -
I understand trying to lose a lot. I'm just restarting my journey at 255 after getting lazy about logging in here. I would actually recommend looking up a bmr calculator which calculates about how many calories you would burn if you didn't crawl out of bed for the day. It's basically your body's "survival" calories. If you consistently eat below that, your body will panic and start hoarding its fat stores and you will show or stop your loss and feel less energetic. MFP will allow you to be below your brm if you have it set to lose weight very quickly so while it might give you a good starting point, knowing your brm could keep you from slowing your metabolism.
From there, it's up to you whether you want to add your exercise calories back into your diet but if you can eat more and still lose weight, why not?
Lastly, remember that it took a while to put those pounds on so it's going to take a while to get them back off. Don't stress if you're not dropping weight as quickly as you wanted. You're making steps for a healthier you long term.
Add me if you want some help with calculating or if you just want a new friend to help keep you motivated.
The MFP web version has the BMR calculator it uses as the basis for estimating a user's Activity Level Calories. I would suggest using that one at APPS > BMR. You can use your mobile device's web browser to request to open the MFP website.
I agree with nearly everything you wrote, except for the part I bolded. If a person is consistently netting at a calorie deficit - i.e. netting below their Calorie maintenance - and that definitely includes those who consistently net at or below their BMR - the body will not "start hoarding its fat stores." That is biologically, chemically, and physiologically impossible.7 -
There are some reasonable arguments for eating at least your BMR.
But the idea that your body will hold onto fat, to the point where you won't lose any weight, if you eat too little? Nope. If that were true, humans would never starve to death. Sadly, they do, every day of every year, all around the world.
There's some complexity that can happen when you lose too fast, such that your body starts slowing down or stopping non-essential processes ("adaptive thermogenesis"). The implications are that losing too fast is unhealthy, and is not the most productive and effective approach.
But it won't completely shut down weight loss, and in people who aren't locked in a tiny cage & fed moldy bread & brackish water only once a day but instead can eat freely, the most likely mechanism for not losing weight, once you eat too little, is the tendency to cheat or binge.2 -
Hoarding fat was referring to your body going into starvation mode which basically drains your energy to bring your total calorie burn down as close to your bmr as possible by unneeded activity. Over a long period of time it wouldn't prevent dying of starvation but is meant as a short term emergency countermeasure until food sources are more readily available.0
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Hoarding fat was referring to your body going into starvation mode which basically drains your energy to bring your total calorie burn down as close to your bmr as possible by unneeded activity. Over a long period of time it wouldn't prevent dying of starvation but is meant as a short term emergency countermeasure until food sources are more readily available.
starvation mode in this context doesnt exist.adaptive thermogenesis does however. you wont store fat in a deficit. it doesnt work that way(its an old myth)0 -
if you eat too little one day, trust me, the next day will catch up to you and you WILL over eat. I never eat back my calories, work out 3 -5 times a week, losing about .4 to 1 lb a week. it's not a race. it's a destination and a journey.1
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You tell MFP your height, weight, age, activity level (not including exercise), and how much you want to lose per week. MFP tells you how many calories to eat to achieve that.
If you increase your activity level with exercise, of course you gain extra calories. You should eat at least some of these back to keep you loss going at a safe rate. I wouldn't eat them all back though, since calorie burns are very much estimates, especially if you're using the standard MFP entries rather than a HR monitor or fitbit type device.
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extra_medium wrote: »You tell MFP your height, weight, age, activity level (not including exercise), and how much you want to lose per week. MFP tells you how many calories to eat to achieve that.
If you increase your activity level with exercise, of course you gain extra calories. You should eat at least some of these back to keep you loss going at a safe rate. I wouldn't eat them all back though, since calorie burns are very much estimates, especially if you're using the standard MFP entries rather than a HR monitor or fitbit type device.
HR monitors and fitbits are also going to be estimates too.0 -
Long answer: Two more things to consider.
- The target calories are based on science - researchers study large groups of people to see what their calorie requirements are. But the results, once built into calculators like MFP's, use the population average. So, it assumes your calorie needs are like an average woman of your age, activity level, etc. Most of us are reasonably close to the average (in statistical terms, it's a bell curve, and a fairly tall, narrow one - it has a small standard deviation). However, a small number of people may be further away from the average, and a tiny number can be very far from the average (in either direction).
So, recommendation: Use the MFP settings to set your initial calorie goal. Then, after perhaps a month to a month and a half of following that recommendation, look at your results. I'd suggest discarding the first two weeks from consideration. (There can be water weight issues right at first that are misleading).
One of the most ignored facts in weight loss. I am one of those unlucky few.
0 - The target calories are based on science - researchers study large groups of people to see what their calorie requirements are. But the results, once built into calculators like MFP's, use the population average. So, it assumes your calorie needs are like an average woman of your age, activity level, etc. Most of us are reasonably close to the average (in statistical terms, it's a bell curve, and a fairly tall, narrow one - it has a small standard deviation). However, a small number of people may be further away from the average, and a tiny number can be very far from the average (in either direction).
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I agree with nearly everything you wrote, except for the part I bolded. If a person is consistently netting at a calorie deficit - i.e. netting below their Calorie maintenance - and that definitely includes those who consistently net at or below their BMR - the body will not "start hoarding its fat stores." That is biologically, chemically, and physiologically impossible.
Thank you. Sheesh. I hate it when people post that nonsense.1 -
I find if I don't eat back at least some of my exercise calories I get too tired to perform well at the gym. I try and add my exercise earlier on in the day but also the more you log them you can start to guess quite acurately what cals will be and you don't end up with an extra load of calories to eat. The other thing I might do is plan to eat the extra for breakfast but log it on the day I do the exercise.0
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While there are many intelligent and experienced individuals here on MFP, I would STRONGLY encourage you to have this discussion with either your primary care physician or a dietitian.1
This discussion has been closed.
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