I don't understand the app

Options
njmunroe
njmunroe Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone. I started using this app a few weeks ago. I went from sedentary to walking 30 minutes a day or biking an hour a day. I lost 2 pounds. I'm definitely logging everything that goes into my mouth. I feel I should be losing more. The plan put me on 1510 calories a day but I've been using the calories the app adds from walking abd excersice. Should I only be consuming the 1510 calories a day to lose weight or is this program designed that I can consume the extra calories that get added in as well to lose weight. I FEEL like I'm losing in my body but my scale says otherwise. Also, The program is recording my daily steps and adding calories to my calorie balance, but am I also supposed to add my 30 minute walk or bike ride? Thanks for your advice.

Replies

  • NewTnme
    NewTnme Posts: 258 Member
    Options
    Great job at staying at your daily caloric goal even added cals and "Will" to exercise. The scale is an important tool but can sometimes sabotage your will power. in the last few weeks if you've noticed a change in your body and not the scale that's ok because i'm assuming the change is lose. You feel toner? just keep it up. the scale will change. the app is great if you use it and stick to it. for me i fall off every so often but stick to it and time will definitely tell.
  • Heather4448
    Heather4448 Posts: 908 Member
    Options
    v0q7zytosko5.png
  • Spiderpug
    Spiderpug Posts: 159 Member
    Options
    I keep mine as sedentary (80% desk job) then add exercise daily as i do it (i.e. Dog walk) and eat back 2/3rds of the calories given - has been working for me so far.

    Well done so far
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    edited September 2017
    Options
    You didn't give us your stats. If you don't have alot to lose-20-25 lbs or less, then weight loss will be slower. Losing .5 lb a week can be a struggle and you have to be really accurate in logging. If you've got alot to lose it usually goes faster. A 1 lb loss per week is a decent loss. If you want more help you'll have to give more information. Things are too vague.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
    Options
    njmunroe wrote: »
    Hi everyone. I started using this app a few weeks ago. I went from sedentary to walking 30 minutes a day or biking an hour a day. I lost 2 pounds. I'm definitely logging everything that goes into my mouth. I feel I should be losing more. The plan put me on 1510 calories a day but I've been using the calories the app adds from walking abd excersice. Should I only be consuming the 1510 calories a day to lose weight or is this program designed that I can consume the extra calories that get added in as well to lose weight. I FEEL like I'm losing in my body but my scale says otherwise. Also, The program is recording my daily steps and adding calories to my calorie balance, but am I also supposed to add my 30 minute walk or bike ride? Thanks for your advice.

    With MFP you are supposed to eat exercise calories. A lot of people eat only a portion of those exercise calories to account for overestimating of calorie burns. You need to look at your results over time to see how much is right for you.
    You are losing. You just started new exercise so may be retaining some water. Give it time.

    If you are not losing at the rate you are supposed to after a few weeks check the accuracy of your logging first. Try using a food scale, check the entries you choose from the database are correct.

    You say the program is recording steps and adding calories so I assume you have an activity tracker synced to MFP. In that case you would not log your activity as it is already being added by the tracker. If that confuses you then you can unsync your device and just log the walking and bike ride manually.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Options
    Why do you think you should be losing more? What did you set your weekly weight loss to? It's really just all about the math. Also weight loss won't happen in predictable linear patterns.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,676 Member
    Options
    Two pounds is good. Exercise is more for health than for weight loss as it takes a lot of exercise to burn enough calories to make much difference. Your 30 minutes of walking and 60 of biking probably only burns 150-200 calories. Since it takes 3500 calories deficit to lose a pound, obviously it is going to take time to lose a lot. If you aren't losing as much as you would expect, based on your food intake, you may be retaining water, or you may not be weighing and measuring everything that you are eating. Or you may be using calorie values that are incorrect.
  • bribucks
    bribucks Posts: 431 Member
    Options
    To clarify, what do you have your activity level set at? If you have it set to "lightly active" and are additionally having MFP count your steps (I would assume it would count steps during your 30min walk), you could be double-dipping on the same calories.

    It would be better to set it to sedentary and let it calculate your steps, or set it to lightly active and don't log the 30min walk.

    Additionally, exercise calories can be notoriously difficult to estimate properly, even if it is MFP calculating calories based on your steps. For that reason, many people only eat back 50-75% of those "extra" calories to leave room for a margin of error.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,912 Member
    Options
    I see you're female. Many of us retain water at ovulation or premenstrually. Because of this (and because Lyle McDonald said to) I compare myself to last month, not last week.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6846ZTBu08k&index=4&list=PLUXvX9BaxgqG9yO5XWB3gA_QshvrrcjVr

Categories