New to the gym

angelsja
angelsja Posts: 859 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Just joined the gym on the 8th January mfp has me set at 1570 Cal's a day my question is should I be eating all these to lose weight I'm currently around 13stone and would like to lose about 2 stone should I eat more if I'm hitting the gym 5 days a week? Do I eat back calories burned I walk to school and back twice a day 3mile total which burns around 300cals

Replies

  • chispaza
    chispaza Posts: 153 Member
    MFP calculates the calories that you should be consuming using NEAT which is your non-exercise activity level. So, basically the calories that you burn everyday excluding exercise. You should be eating at least some of your exercise calories back also. I shoot for eating half of my exercise calories back because calories burned are often overestimated. I wouldn't eat back the calories that you burn walking to and from school, I would include those in your everyday lifestyle activities.
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    I have been eating less than or the amount shown by mfp I'm not logging excersise as I can't accurately say what I'm burning I haven't felt hungry do you still think I should eat more than the 1570 allocated on gym days?
  • chispaza
    chispaza Posts: 153 Member
    What did you put in for how much you want to lose each week? 2 lbs per week is about as aggressive as you want to go. And 1200 calories per day is the minimum for women. If you're eating around 1500 calories and you're not feeling hungry then listen to your body and do what works for you.
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    I put in 2lb due to putting on a stone over Christmas some days I've eaten less than 1000 and not felt hungry bit have eaten anyway because people say I shouldn't eat less than 1200
  • etherealanwar
    etherealanwar Posts: 465 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    I put in 2lb due to putting on a stone over Christmas some days I've eaten less than 1000 and not felt hungry bit have eaten anyway because people say I shouldn't eat less than 1200

    It's alright to eat under 1200 every once in a while but don't make it a habit as that will lead to malnourishment.
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    edited January 2018
    Even if I'm not hungry I can eat breakfast at about 9 then hit the gym and not eat again till 2ish then my evening meal at around 4.30 but my question still stands do I eat the amount shown/more or less to lose weight while working out 5 days a week really wanna get back to my lightest weight which was 11.4 I also set my activity level to activate as I do neatly 10k steps a day but reading a previous post I don't know if that's right
  • Sunshine_And_Sand
    Sunshine_And_Sand Posts: 1,320 Member
    If you are not feeling hungry with the 1570 calories, try it for a few weeks. If you are losing at a faster rate than expected, try eating back some of those exercise calories and adjust that until you are losing at the expected rate.
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    Should I lower my activity level from active to lightly active ?
  • MarylandRose
    MarylandRose Posts: 239 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    Should I lower my activity level from active to lightly active ?

    What do you do for a living?

    MFP activity level is based solely on your non-exercise life. I work in an office. I walk around some, I get water every hour and walk to the bathroom just as often. I even have a standing desk and stand half the time. But I'm not really moving all that much...not like my sister, who's a teacher, does!
    So as you can see, my MFP level is set to Sedentary.
    fqlmd0wfyhzp.jpg

    Now outside of work? I'm at the gym 5+ days/week and I love going for walks in my neighborhood, and stretch or do yoga at night if I can't unwind. I do a good mix of cardio, group fitness, and lifting, and then I log them in MFP to determine my calorie goal. But still, for MFP purposes - my non-exercise baseline life is Sedentary, so that's what I picked.
  • 1houndgal
    1houndgal Posts: 558 Member
    angelsja wrote: »
    Should I lower my activity level from active to lightly active ?

    What do you do for a living?

    MFP activity level is based solely on your non-exercise life. I work in an office. I walk around some, I get water every hour and walk to the bathroom just as often. I even have a standing desk and stand half the time. But I'm not really moving all that much...not like my sister, who's a teacher, does!
    So as you can see, my MFP level is set to Sedentary.
    fqlmd0wfyhzp.jpg

    Now outside of work? I'm at the gym 5+ days/week and I love going for walks in my neighborhood, and stretch or do yoga at night if I can't unwind. I do a good mix of cardio, group fitness, and lifting, and then I log them in MFP to determine my calorie goal. But still, for MFP purposes - my non-exercise baseline life is Sedentary, so that's what I picked.

    It sounds to me that you could possibly be not eating enough calories to support your excercise level. You should try to find away to track your excercise calories.

    Not eating enough food to fuel your body through your daily activities and basic functions could backfire on you in the worst way.

    Fiddling around with the mfp equation you are given is not the best way to go. It could endanger your health if done to an extreme.

    By not tracking an approximate kcal burned in excercise, that is fiddling around with the mfp equation. If you excercise, track it by finding a good approximation of your kcal burned.

    I worry about the mfp peeps that say they are working out at a good clip, but not tracking their excercise kcals and eating some of those excercise kcals back.
  • MarylandRose
    MarylandRose Posts: 239 Member
    1houndgal wrote: »
    angelsja wrote: »
    Should I lower my activity level from active to lightly active ?

    What do you do for a living?

    MFP activity level is based solely on your non-exercise life. I work in an office. I walk around some, I get water every hour and walk to the bathroom just as often. I even have a standing desk and stand half the time. But I'm not really moving all that much...not like my sister, who's a teacher, does!
    So as you can see, my MFP level is set to Sedentary.
    fqlmd0wfyhzp.jpg

    Now outside of work? I'm at the gym 5+ days/week and I love going for walks in my neighborhood, and stretch or do yoga at night if I can't unwind. I do a good mix of cardio, group fitness, and lifting, and then I log them in MFP to determine my calorie goal. But still, for MFP purposes - my non-exercise baseline life is Sedentary, so that's what I picked.

    It sounds to me that you could possibly be not eating enough calories to support your excercise level. You should try to find away to track your excercise calories.

    Not eating enough food to fuel your body through your daily activities and basic functions could backfire on you in the worst way.

    Fiddling around with the mfp equation you are given is not the best way to go. It could endanger your health if done to an extreme.

    By not tracking an approximate kcal burned in excercise, that is fiddling around with the mfp equation. If you excercise, track it by finding a good approximation of your kcal burned.

    I worry about the mfp peeps that say they are working out at a good clip, but not tracking their excercise kcals and eating some of those excercise kcals back.

    I said " I do a good mix of cardio, group fitness, and lifting, and then I log them in MFP to determine my calorie goal."
    I suppose the implied but unstated was that by logging them in MFP, I am then eating back those delicious exercise calories earned. I'm very happily losing at about .5lbs/month as I taper down to maintenance.
  • manderson27
    manderson27 Posts: 3,510 Member
    Just eat the calories MFP gives you. You can eat your exercise calories back but be aware that calorie burns are often a bit overestimated. A lot of people just eat 50% back and monitor what happens to their weight loss.
  • angelsja
    angelsja Posts: 859 Member
    I don't work my day goes like this get up do school run 30min round trip breakfast usually porridge with yoghurt walk to gym 5min uphill workout for about 1hour 20 walk home have lunch pick kids up at 3 have evening meal at 4
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