"So the more you exercise, the more you can eat!" <-- too many calories?

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footshoe
footshoe Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm sorry but I think this thing is suggesting I eat WAY too many calories to lose weight and definitely not enough protein.

298lbs, male, 34, 2699 calories a day seems like a bit much, I am thinking a more well rounded 2500 calories with a bit more protein than the suggested 135g. I've tried multiple calculators and some even suggest upwards to 3000, seems kind of ludicrous. The more I look into it the more confusing it gets, the more unsure I am about how to proceed.

Replies

  • becomingbeautifultoday
    becomingbeautifultoday Posts: 131 Member
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    https://www.iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

    This calculator will help you heaps. Keep in mind that if you input your exercise details that it will take that into account for your calorie intake and you shouldn't "eat back" the extra exercise calories that MFP gives you.
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
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    You could experiment with following those numbers for a few weeks and see what your results are. You can always adjust as you go.
  • Rickster1967
    Rickster1967 Posts: 485 Member
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    Hmm you sure that's not your maintenance?

    I started out at 292lb and my maintenance was 2760 per day

    I ate 2000, did some exercise (did not eat those back) and dropped 2.7 per week for 23 weeks straight
  • footshoe
    footshoe Posts: 7 Member
    edited January 2018
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    thanks for the replies everyone, I will play with the numbers as the weeks go on and see how everything works out, the "eat back" calorie feature seems like a fatal flaw that will be the deciding factor of whether I continue with this app or not
  • Rickster1967
    Rickster1967 Posts: 485 Member
    edited January 2018
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    chucktonywhite wrote: »
    thanks for the replies everyone, I will play with the numbers as the weeks go on and see how everything works out, the "eat back" calorie feature seems like a fatal flaw that will be the deciding factor of whether I continue with this app or not

    it's not a flaw

    the calories you have set to lose weight does not include additional, intentional exercise

    so when you exercise if you don't eat the calories back you will have a bigger deficit

    That's what happened in my case - I was set to drop 2lb per week. I did approx 2400 in additional
    exercise per week and ended up losing 2.7lb on average because I wasn't eating back

    Thousands of people have had huge success using this app and you will too if you don't try to second guess it
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    chucktonywhite wrote: »
    thanks for the replies everyone, I will play with the numbers as the weeks go on and see how everything works out, the "eat back" calorie feature seems like a fatal flaw that will be the deciding factor of whether I continue with this app or not

    I love the eat back feature because the amount of exercise I do varies from day to day but each to their own. I just work out my NEAT (calories burned before any deliberate exercise) and add any exercise I do along the way. From this I now have a pretty good idea of total calories burned and the app will adjust my needed calories depending on the goals I have set.

    If you are consistent with your exercise then use an online calculator to work out your TDEE which is your total energy burned. Deduct 500 calories from that number for 1 pound a week loss and enter that number for your daily calories but don't add any exercise you so. Seriously, once you work out how this app works you will struggle to find any better.
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
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    Adding to the above, your tracking (the weighing and measuring of food & choosing the correct entries from the data base, and the apps that estimate calorie burn) will have an enormous impact.
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
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    Also, you can fiddle with your macros all you like, it just starts you out there. But if you know you feel better with higher protein, higher carb, lower fat, or super high carb, mid fat, mid protein (maybe you run a ton and are just starving for carbs?), or whatever macro blend fits your lifestyle, you can do whatever you like macro wise. Just go into goals and change the macro settings.

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