Exercise calorie confusion
AmberGebell
Posts: 113 Member
I am still a little confused on the exercise calories. My calorie goal is 1200 but am eating about 1700 to 2000 with exercise calories. So am I really eating that many or is it a wash because of the exercise? I have uploaded a few pics of my diary, Maybe someone can shed some light because I have seem to hit a plateau and don't know what to do
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Replies
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So just a couple of quick questions that you're going to get asked:
How are you tracking your exercise calories?
How did you get to the calorie goal of 1,200?
What are your stats? (weight, goal weight, height)
Tell us about your plateau... how long has it lasted?
You should be able to get much more accurate answers with a bit more info!1 -
Just to start you off, though, exercise calories are rarely 100% accurate, so we mostly suggest eating back half of your exercise calories or less, depending on how accurate you feel that your exercise readings are, and how sustainable it is for you.2
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Thank you for you response! I use a Fitbit Hr that is synced with MFP and I manually log my weight training, I think I put in 1.5 lbs a week to lose to give me the 1200. I am 5'7 and I weigh 160 and I wear a pant size of 8 but can fit into some size 6's. I am about 10-20 lbs away from goal weight. I have lost 40 lbs super slowly since 2014. I have been at 160 for months0
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If you aren't losing weight (and you're not gaining either) then you are in maintenance--you are taking in as many calories as you are burning.
If you are wearing a Fitbit and manually logging your weight training, then you are double counting. Tighten up on your logging and consider eating back fewer of your exercise calories and the weight loss should come.2 -
with only 10-20lbs to lose, 1.5lbs a week is too aggressive of a weight loss goal - .5lbs will be better in the long run (250cal deficit a day)4
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I thought Fitbit does not count your weightraining and any non-step activities and was told I had to log them manually so I don't believe I am double counting. If you look at the pics I posted I don't eat many exercise calories back. I work out at least an hour a day and sometimes 2 times a day. And some days I have close to 2000 exercise calories in the bank. So not sure how I am eating maintenance . Maybe I should eat in maintenance for a week and then drop my calories again or zig zag my calories, Any thoughts?0
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And my question is " Are the exercise calories a wash? If my goal is 1200 and I exercise and burn 400 and don't eat them will I technically be eating 800 calories? I am not sure how accurate my Fitbit is0
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AmberGebell wrote: »And my question is " Are the exercise calories a wash? If my goal is 1200 and I exercise and burn 400 and don't eat them will I technically be eating 800 calories? I am not sure how accurate my Fitbit is
Yes. If your goal is 1,200 and you burn an additional 400 beyond what MFP assumed you would burn, you're then netting 800.
This is assuming you are logging your intake correctly and have a correct estimate for calories burned.
If you aren't sure how accurate your Fitbit is, pay attention to your rate of loss. Are you losing faster than expected? Just as you'd expect? Are you gaining instead of losing?2 -
Amber,
"Calories in" is what you eat and drink. The more you measure everything on a scale and use good entries the closer you will get to accurate measurements of what you consumed.
"Calories out" is what you:
1: Burn just being alive (BMR)
2: Burn through your normal activity level of non-purposeful exercise (NEAT)
3: Burn through purposeful exercise.
1 and 2 are estimated based on your height, weight, gender, age, and self reported activity level. There is some potential error around body composition and certain medical issues. 3 is ideally measured using a heart rate monitor. Gym equipment and MFP estimates can be off.
Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, so if you are burning more calories than you consume, your body must turn fat and muscle into energy, hence you losing weight. Science has shown this relationship is about 3,500 calories per pound.
So now, to circle back to your original question, yes calories burned "consume" what you eat. If your intention is to NET 1,200 calories per day for a certain weight loss rate, you will need to consume more than 1,200 calories in order to maintain the NET calories. If you are finding long term that you are not losing the weight, then you may be experiencing errors in either the "calories in" or "calories out" side of the equation with how you are measuring.
As for the goal of 1,200 calories, that's the least MFP will let women go. It means that based on your goals, the calculated target would have been less than 1,200 so it stopped there. When you are closer to your goal, smaller targets may be more appropriate. Hope this helps.0 -
AmberGebell wrote: »I thought Fitbit does not count your weightraining and any non-step activities and was told I had to log them manually so I don't believe I am double counting. If you look at the pics I posted I don't eat many exercise calories back. I work out at least an hour a day and sometimes 2 times a day. And some days I have close to 2000 exercise calories in the bank. So not sure how I am eating maintenance . Maybe I should eat in maintenance for a week and then drop my calories again or zig zag my calories, Any thoughts?
You really don't burn many calories weight training. It's great for you but it's not a calorie burner. I think you are overestimating your calories. I weigh significantly more than you and would have to run like 12 miles to burn 1,800 calories.
You do need to eat more than 1,200 calories if you are active, as 1,200 is the low end for women.
Are you pretty consistent with your workout routine? I was making myself crazy with the auto adjustment of the calories from my fitbit. Now I use a TDEE type method. I took my weekly burn from my fitbit, minuses the amount I wanted to lose a week then and divide by 7. I ate that daily for 3 weeks but I was losing a bit slower than I wanted to so I decreased my goal 100 calories a day and I'm at that now for a while, I will adjust as needed.3 -
sky_northern wrote: »AmberGebell wrote: »I thought Fitbit does not count your weightraining and any non-step activities and was told I had to log them manually so I don't believe I am double counting. If you look at the pics I posted I don't eat many exercise calories back. I work out at least an hour a day and sometimes 2 times a day. And some days I have close to 2000 exercise calories in the bank. So not sure how I am eating maintenance . Maybe I should eat in maintenance for a week and then drop my calories again or zig zag my calories, Any thoughts?
You really don't burn many calories weight training. It's great for you but it's not a calorie burner. I think you are overestimating your calories. I weigh significantly more than you and would have to run like 12 miles to burn 1,800 calories.
You do need to eat more than 1,200 calories if you are active, as 1,200 is the low end for women.
Are you pretty consistent with your workout routine? I was making myself crazy with the auto adjustment of the calories from my fitbit. Now I use a TDEE type method. I took my weekly burn from my fitbit, minuses the amount I wanted to lose a week then and divide by 7. I ate that daily for 3 weeks but I was losing a bit slower than I wanted to so I decreased my goal 100 calories a day and I'm at that now for a while, I will adjust as needed.
I am not adding anymore calories than my 20 minutes of weight training 4 days a week and the Fitbit is syncing the rest with MFP, So not sure how I could be overestimating my calories. I also have it set to sedentary. After weight training I do 45 minutes on treadmill and 3 days a week I do 20 minutes of H. I. T. And about 3 days a week I do an additional 45 minutes of cardio, logging about 18,000 to 20,000 steps. Again maybe my Fitbit is not accurate
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AmberGebell wrote: »sky_northern wrote: »AmberGebell wrote: »I thought Fitbit does not count your weightraining and any non-step activities and was told I had to log them manually so I don't believe I am double counting. If you look at the pics I posted I don't eat many exercise calories back. I work out at least an hour a day and sometimes 2 times a day. And some days I have close to 2000 exercise calories in the bank. So not sure how I am eating maintenance . Maybe I should eat in maintenance for a week and then drop my calories again or zig zag my calories, Any thoughts?
You really don't burn many calories weight training. It's great for you but it's not a calorie burner. I think you are overestimating your calories. I weigh significantly more than you and would have to run like 12 miles to burn 1,800 calories.
You do need to eat more than 1,200 calories if you are active, as 1,200 is the low end for women.
Are you pretty consistent with your workout routine? I was making myself crazy with the auto adjustment of the calories from my fitbit. Now I use a TDEE type method. I took my weekly burn from my fitbit, minuses the amount I wanted to lose a week then and divide by 7. I ate that daily for 3 weeks but I was losing a bit slower than I wanted to so I decreased my goal 100 calories a day and I'm at that now for a while, I will adjust as needed.
I am not adding anymore calories than my 20 minutes of weight training 4 days a week and the Fitbit is syncing the rest with MFP, So not sure how I could be overestimating my calories. I also have it set to sedentary. After weight training I do 45 minutes on treadmill and 3 days a week I do 20 minutes of H. I. T. And about 3 days a week I do an additional 45 minutes of cardio, logging about 18,000 to 20,000 steps. Again maybe my Fitbit is not accurate
Calorie burn from weight training is negligible, especially for 20 minutes per session. Ignore it. For the cardio, the ballpark burn would likely be something like 7-8 calories per hour depending on your weight.3 -
AmberGebell wrote: »sky_northern wrote: »AmberGebell wrote: »I thought Fitbit does not count your weightraining and any non-step activities and was told I had to log them manually so I don't believe I am double counting. If you look at the pics I posted I don't eat many exercise calories back. I work out at least an hour a day and sometimes 2 times a day. And some days I have close to 2000 exercise calories in the bank. So not sure how I am eating maintenance . Maybe I should eat in maintenance for a week and then drop my calories again or zig zag my calories, Any thoughts?
You really don't burn many calories weight training. It's great for you but it's not a calorie burner. I think you are overestimating your calories. I weigh significantly more than you and would have to run like 12 miles to burn 1,800 calories.
You do need to eat more than 1,200 calories if you are active, as 1,200 is the low end for women.
Are you pretty consistent with your workout routine? I was making myself crazy with the auto adjustment of the calories from my fitbit. Now I use a TDEE type method. I took my weekly burn from my fitbit, minuses the amount I wanted to lose a week then and divide by 7. I ate that daily for 3 weeks but I was losing a bit slower than I wanted to so I decreased my goal 100 calories a day and I'm at that now for a while, I will adjust as needed.
I am not adding anymore calories than my 20 minutes of weight training 4 days a week and the Fitbit is syncing the rest with MFP, So not sure how I could be overestimating my calories. I also have it set to sedentary. After weight training I do 45 minutes on treadmill and 3 days a week I do 20 minutes of H. I. T. And about 3 days a week I do an additional 45 minutes of cardio, logging about 18,000 to 20,000 steps. Again maybe my Fitbit is not accurate
But you manually log your weight training into MFP, correct? If yes, stop doing it, MFP overestimates.
A fitbit is still an estimate. The most reliable measure is are you losing weight over the long term? (I use a trendweight that uses daily weights over 4 weeks to determine the trend in my weight.
If you are losing at a gradual pace then there isn't anything to worry about, keep going. If you are losing very quickly, eat more like your fitbit tells you to.
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When you say you "bank 2,000 exercise calories some days" do you mean that you think you have burned 2,000 calories solely from your exercise? Because, I can tell you, that is nearly impossible. You would have to work all day long like an iron man athlete to even come close to those numbers. I think you are maintaining your weight by simply over estimating your energy burned.6
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When you say you "bank 2,000 exercise calories some days" do you mean that you think you have burned 2,000 calories solely from your exercise? Because, I can tell you, that is nearly impossible. You would have to work all day long like an iron man athlete to even come close to those numbers. I think you are maintaining your weight by simply over estimating your energy burned.
That is a bit of an exaggeration, I'm a 235 lb women and I can burn 2,000 calories if I run like 3 hrs and 20 mins at an easy pace (which I have done, and got a my burn from my chest-strap heart-rate monitor) I don't need to do an Ironman.0 -
sky_northern wrote: »When you say you "bank 2,000 exercise calories some days" do you mean that you think you have burned 2,000 calories solely from your exercise? Because, I can tell you, that is nearly impossible. You would have to work all day long like an iron man athlete to even come close to those numbers. I think you are maintaining your weight by simply over estimating your energy burned.
That is a bit of an exaggeration, I'm a 235 lb women and I can burn 2,000 calories if I run like 3 hrs and 20 mins at an easy pace (which I have done, and got a my burn from my chest-strap heart-rate monitor) I don't need to do an Ironman.
Yes and the difference is she's 160 pounds1 -
sky_northern wrote: »When you say you "bank 2,000 exercise calories some days" do you mean that you think you have burned 2,000 calories solely from your exercise? Because, I can tell you, that is nearly impossible. You would have to work all day long like an iron man athlete to even come close to those numbers. I think you are maintaining your weight by simply over estimating your energy burned.
That is a bit of an exaggeration, I'm a 235 lb women and I can burn 2,000 calories if I run like 3 hrs and 20 mins at an easy pace (which I have done, and got a my burn from my chest-strap heart-rate monitor) I don't need to do an Ironman.sky_northern wrote: »When you say you "bank 2,000 exercise calories some days" do you mean that you think you have burned 2,000 calories solely from your exercise? Because, I can tell you, that is nearly impossible. You would have to work all day long like an iron man athlete to even come close to those numbers. I think you are maintaining your weight by simply over estimating your energy burned.
That is a bit of an exaggeration, I'm a 235 lb women and I can burn 2,000 calories if I run like 3 hrs and 20 mins at an easy pace (which I have done, and got a my burn from my chest-strap heart-rate monitor) I don't need to do an Ironman.
Yes and the difference is she's 160 pounds
Ok well this is my confusion!! I am not putting the exercise calories, The fit bit is syncing them. I walked 16,000 steps and ran an hour on treadmill today. I have my exercise on sedentary on MFP because I work an office job. I don't know that is what I am trying to figure out. I have uploaded a pic from my diary today0 -
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Regardless of what your fitbit says if you are not losing weight (barring any unknown health issues), you are either overestimating your calories burned or underestimating the calories you are eating.1
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Regardless of what your fitbit says if you are not losing weight (barring any unknown health issues), you are either overestimating your calories burned or underestimating the calories you are eating.
I am just confused why people are saying that " I am overestimating my calories" SMDH, Obviously My Fitbit is and I am not really getting the answers I am looking for!! It's a bit frustrating, I am asking for help and advice. I am aware there is a problem, Just wondering what to do about it such as either not any exercise calories back ( because obviously overestimating) take a diet break for a week and eat at maintenance, turn off my HR option on my Fitbit while I am not working out, change my exercise option to lightly active"? I am hearing a lot of the problem but I am not feeling I am getting a solution
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AmberGebell wrote: »Regardless of what your fitbit says if you are not losing weight (barring any unknown health issues), you are either overestimating your calories burned or underestimating the calories you are eating.
I am just confused why people are saying that " I am overestimating my calories" SMDH, Obviously My Fitbit is and I am not really getting the answers I am looking for!! It's a bit frustrating, I am asking for help and advice. I am aware there is a problem, Just wondering what to do about it such as either not any exercise calories back ( because obviously overestimating) take a diet break for a week and eat at maintenance, turn off my HR option on my Fitbit while I am not working out, change my exercise option to lightly active"? I am hearing a lot of the problem but I am not feeling I am getting a solution
Start by eating 50% back. Keep at it for 6 weeks or so and see how much weight you lose compared to what you are trying to lose. If you are losing too fast, or finding yourself too hungry, add 100 cals a day until you get your loss rate where you want it. Losing faster than plan is not what you should be shooting for.
It takes some playing around to figure out the sweet spot for yourself and your gear. In the day you had a picture of above, shoot for being under your calorie goal by 1000.2 -
So basically what I am hearing is that " Plateaus never happen" and either I am overestimating or eating at maintenance? So this whole weight loss process you should either be losing, gaining or staying the same, and that all comes down to weather you are in a deficit or not? Is that correct0
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AmberGebell wrote: »So basically what I am hearing is that " Plateaus never happen" and either I am overestimating or eating at maintenance? So this whole weight loss process you should either be losing, gaining or staying the same, and that all comes down to weather you are in a deficit or not? Is that correct
Yup. I know some people hate the scale and go by measurements, but for me the scale is the best indicator of if I'm doing tings right. Just have to not focus on the individual readings and look at the trend. I use trendweight but also look at Libra (android). IOS has Happy Scale.
As for plateaus, or stalls, they can happen. I can stay the same for 2 weeks and then lose 5-6 pounds in a couple of days. Overall I've lost at close to the rate I was trying for but it has come off in whooshes.0 -
AmberGebell wrote: »So basically what I am hearing is that " Plateaus never happen" and either I am overestimating or eating at maintenance? So this whole weight loss process you should either be losing, gaining or staying the same, and that all comes down to weather you are in a deficit or not? Is that correct
Basically, this is correct. Sometimes the scale won't change even though you are in a deficit. This usually means that water weight is disguising any fat loss you are experiencing. There's also the "whoosh" @Tacklewasher mentioned: some people's bodies hang onto fat for whatever reason and then drop it in bunches.1 -
You can try NOT eating any calories you burn from just "steps" on FitBit and only try eating 50% of the true exercise calories back (cardio only). I sometimes log strength training and yoga at 1 calorie, so I'm not tempted to think I can eat more :-)
It helped me. (I think when you are relatively close to goal weight eating normal daily step calories back, even if you are getting 20,000 steps in, if not activity that raises your HR significantly and for long periods of time may not help in losing weight. If you are morbidly obese/moderately obese, then encouraging steps & counting things like cleaning/chores, etc. is good.
Example: When I weighed 227, I could get away with it, but at 177, I can't- I'm 5'4".) Something to consider :-)2 -
You got good advice here. There's a chance that you may be overestimating your exercise calories. You might want to drop your exercise calorie estimates by half and see how that works for you.
Also, define plateau...it's absolutely common to stay at the same weight for multiple weeks despite running a deficit. Lots of factors come into play but the important thing is to stay patient and think long-term.
It was torture when I was on the brink of breaking 190...all I wanted to see was a weight that started with a 18X. It basically took about 2 weeks for those last couple of pounds to show up on the scale despite running a rigorous deficit but when it did I saw a nice steady decline in weight for almost a week straight to get me back on trend. It happens. Nature can be cruel.1 -
Thank you everyone!! Good info0
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I lost 3 lbs!! 1574
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AmberGebell wrote: »I lost 3 lbs!! 157
lol0 -
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