Should I eat back my exercise calories?
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You might also consider setting up a weight trending app so you can see how your doing over longer time and without the day-to-day fluctuations.
It's common to bounce up a few pounds when you transition to maintenance esp if you add a lot of calories all at once. Sounds like that's what happened with you. I wouldn't sweat it.
Amazing accomplishment. Very impressive. Congrats.0 -
And, depending on several factors, really good for you. If I might chime in....0
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stanmann571 wrote: »How are you able to walk 20-25k steps/day?
That would be a 9-10 mile and 4 hr hike for me, which I only do on rare occasions and would result in about a 1000 cal burn, all of which I would eat back to remain in maintenance.
If you actually do this that's fine but it's not sedentary but very active and probably will require a significant adjustment in your TDEE or NEAT estimate.
I usually wake up and do a 60 minute walk before work (office job, but still get a few thousand at work as well) and then another 60 minute walk after work.
I don't think that adds up to 20k steps - 10k at best. I wouldn't count the steps at work.
Accuracy in terms of steps is only important in terms of measuring the cals burned so that you know w/reasonable certainty how much food you should eat to remain in maintenance.
If you are basing your cal burn on 20k steps but are only actually taking 10k steps, you will probably overeat, gain wt and not remain in maintenance.
60 minutes at a brisk pace is 4-5 miles. at 2K steps per mile that's 8-10K, times 2 is 16-20k steps, plus incidental lifestyle easily gets to 20K.
Just what I was thinking. Even though I'm 4-5" shorter than OP, and more than twice his age, an hour of exercised-focused walking over flat to lightly-rolling terrain with hard surfaces is good for around 4 miles.
Although there's that other thread going where a 2.8 mph pace is being touted as a brisk walk.
I get that paces vary, and I know that my brisk walk is pretty blistering fast, but 2.8 for me is a leisurely meander.2 -
my walk pace (during my run/walk intervals) is 3.5MPH (17min mile) - so i could see how the OP could get 20k steps0
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Since there are a few of us that have had days that were measured as over 20k, I wonder if it is watches not agreeing with calculations some are making. When I use MMW, it agrees with my fitness watch. I am 5'8" and I walk at 4+ mph. Maybe I quick step short paces compared to others. I am not sure. I am sure that according to my fitness watch I have gone over 15k fairly often and over 20k a few times and it was always with maybe a little over 2 hours of dedicated walking plus some incidental (work, grocery store, etc).0
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I think I could get 15-20,000 steps pretty easily with 2 hours of walking and incidental daily walking, and my pace is embarassingly slow, because I am trying to keep my heart rate in the right zone until I get more fit.0
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The original question from the OP was whether she should eat all of her exercise cals back based on walking 20k steps/day and other activity. .
I questioned the 20k step estimate ONLY for thecpurpose of verifying the level of activity and cals burned. However, the OP says that it is an accurate measurement. So be it.
If that is the case, all she has to do is eat all of her exercise cals back in order to remain in maintenance, assuming she already knows what her maintenance level is.
If she has over estimated the steps taken and/or cals burned and eats all of those cals back, she will gain weight. If not, then everything is on point.
Simple as that.2 -
i start eating half my calories back and adjust from there1
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I have walked briskly with MMW tracking on my phone and wearing my unconnected fitness watch and looked up the activity of walking at roughly the speed I walked on mfp for the time I walked. I get 3 different numbers that vary pretty widely from MMW, the watch and mfp.0
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CarvedTones wrote: »I have walked briskly with MMW tracking on my phone and wearing my unconnected fitness watch and looked up the activity of walking at roughly the speed I walked on mfp for the time I walked. I get 3 different numbers that vary pretty widely from MMW, the watch and mfp.
I have mfp and fitbit connected and it gives me a 1000-1200 adjustment each day1 -
CarvedTones wrote: »I have walked briskly with MMW tracking on my phone and wearing my unconnected fitness watch and looked up the activity of walking at roughly the speed I walked on mfp for the time I walked. I get 3 different numbers that vary pretty widely from MMW, the watch and mfp.
I don't log my exercise on mfp it is already set up through Fitbit1 -
Congratulations on the loss so far!
To maintain you need to eat all your calories regardless of how you feel about it.
It is not uncommon for issues to crop up when having large deficits over long periods of time. These don't get fixed by (unreasonably/deliberately) prolonging the period of eating less than actual maintenance calories. So increasing in chunks equal to 50% of the difference each chunk being at least 100 Calories makes much more sense to me than 100 Cal a week over 10 weeks. The first gets you most of the way there in a couple of weeks and all the way there in 4 to 5.
While types and quality of "steps" vary, I am 2" shorter, 2x+ your age, weigh about the same as you (~153), average 10% to 20% less steps a day (though admittedly a lot of them are on rough and hilly terrain) and eat 40% more calories to maintain/lose a touch.
So your starting point would be eating MOST (not just 50%) of that Fitbit number. Given that 20K steps is about 5K steps above very active, if you raise your activity level on MFP to very active that adjustment number will become much smaller. Maybe 50% of THAT number might be an acceptable start and adjusting based on your trendweight.com results after 4-6 weeks if female, or a good 3 weeks if male.
Just like you had that initial jump which then stabilized, you will probably have another whenever you insert more food into your system on a consistent basis. You should also start feeling a bit more energy and strength and be able to channel that into more effective strength training.2 -
CarvedTones wrote: »I have walked briskly with MMW tracking on my phone and wearing my unconnected fitness watch and looked up the activity of walking at roughly the speed I walked on mfp for the time I walked. I get 3 different numbers that vary pretty widely from MMW, the watch and mfp.
I don't log my exercise on mfp it is already set up through Fitbit
You are missing my point. I could use the number of calories from my fitness watch. I could use MMW; I have it set to auto log to mfp. I could use my pace and duration to enter it into mfp using the add exercise and choosing walking at the speed I was walking and enter the amount of time. Each of these alternatives would give me a different number and they can vary widely. Tracking exercise is not an exact science. I prefer to log just saw I can add my own little touch of voodoo. I usually log fewer calories than I get from other methods.1 -
CarvedTones wrote: »CarvedTones wrote: »I have walked briskly with MMW tracking on my phone and wearing my unconnected fitness watch and looked up the activity of walking at roughly the speed I walked on mfp for the time I walked. I get 3 different numbers that vary pretty widely from MMW, the watch and mfp.
I don't log my exercise on mfp it is already set up through Fitbit
You are missing my point. I could use the number of calories from my fitness watch. I could use MMW; I have it set to auto log to mfp. I could use my pace and duration to enter it into mfp using the add exercise and choosing walking at the speed I was walking and enter the amount of time. Each of these alternatives would give me a different number and they can vary widely. Tracking exercise is not an exact science. I prefer to log just saw I can add my own little touch of voodoo. I usually log fewer calories than I get from other methods.
You can adjust manually using your own knowledge and interpretation of the day to make adjustments.
Or you can off-load caloric expenditure measurement to an impersonal device (or other method that does not involve personal interpretation) that, as long as you keep your activity and exercise mix relatively constant, would be expected to have a relatively constant 'error' when compared to your food intake logging and real life results.
I believe the second method has some benefits when it comes to providing consistent and actionable information. And you still get to apply your knowledge of what is actually happening when it comes to deciding whether to believe the input you've received.0 -
Well, I do have MMW auto log, but I adjust it by walking a couple of miles before I start it.0
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I'm also 5'10" and my normal weight is 150 pounds (I'm on an odd flux right now and am 160). I'm 59. I use an apple watch and used a fitbit and before that to count my steps. I eat whatever part of that extra I'm hungry for, but no more. I've maintained fairly successfully (except the last six months) for 6 years.
You will need to watch your own body though. I found I can't eat all the calories MFP gives me - I had to drop 250 calories under that to maintain after the first year. Maybe it was my body. Maybe my logging didn't count all the extras. Once I made that adjustment, I could eat my calories back.
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stanmann571 wrote: »How are you able to walk 20-25k steps/day?
That would be a 9-10 mile and 4 hr hike for me, which I only do on rare occasions and would result in about a 1000 cal burn, all of which I would eat back to remain in maintenance.
If you actually do this that's fine but it's not sedentary but very active and probably will require a significant adjustment in your TDEE or NEAT estimate.
I usually wake up and do a 60 minute walk before work (office job, but still get a few thousand at work as well) and then another 60 minute walk after work.
I don't think that adds up to 20k steps - 10k at best. I wouldn't count the steps at work.
Accuracy in terms of steps is only important in terms of measuring the cals burned so that you know w/reasonable certainty how much food you should eat to remain in maintenance.
If you are basing your cal burn on 20k steps but are only actually taking 10k steps, you will probably overeat, gain wt and not remain in maintenance.
60 minutes at a brisk pace is 4-5 miles. at 2K steps per mile that's 8-10K, times 2 is 16-20k steps, plus incidental lifestyle easily gets to 20K.
Just what I was thinking. Even though I'm 4-5" shorter than OP, and more than twice his age, an hour of exercised-focused walking over flat to lightly-rolling terrain with hard surfaces is good for around 4 miles.
I don't know how you guys possible get that many steps in an hour walk. I have done this six years and I get 3500 steps in a brisk 3.5 mile route, which takes maybe 50 minutes. My husband - who is taller, but has shorter legs - gets 4700.
It takes me a good day of hiking to get 20K steps OR a day working in a professional kitchen or warehouse where I am walking constantly.1 -
stanmann571 wrote: »How are you able to walk 20-25k steps/day?
That would be a 9-10 mile and 4 hr hike for me, which I only do on rare occasions and would result in about a 1000 cal burn, all of which I would eat back to remain in maintenance.
If you actually do this that's fine but it's not sedentary but very active and probably will require a significant adjustment in your TDEE or NEAT estimate.
I usually wake up and do a 60 minute walk before work (office job, but still get a few thousand at work as well) and then another 60 minute walk after work.
I don't think that adds up to 20k steps - 10k at best. I wouldn't count the steps at work.
Accuracy in terms of steps is only important in terms of measuring the cals burned so that you know w/reasonable certainty how much food you should eat to remain in maintenance.
If you are basing your cal burn on 20k steps but are only actually taking 10k steps, you will probably overeat, gain wt and not remain in maintenance.
60 minutes at a brisk pace is 4-5 miles. at 2K steps per mile that's 8-10K, times 2 is 16-20k steps, plus incidental lifestyle easily gets to 20K.
Just what I was thinking. Even though I'm 4-5" shorter than OP, and more than twice his age, an hour of exercised-focused walking over flat to lightly-rolling terrain with hard surfaces is good for around 4 miles.
I don't know how you guys possible get that many steps in an hour walk. I have done this six years and I get 3500 steps in a brisk 3.5 mile route, which takes maybe 50 minutes. My husband - who is taller, but has shorter legs - gets 4700.
It takes me a good day of hiking to get 20K steps OR a day working in a professional kitchen or warehouse where I am walking constantly.
Sounds like your tracker is miscallibrated.
I consistently get 2000 steps to the mile with each of my trackers(I had 3, now 2-Misfit, Garmin, Jawbone) And that's whether I walk 1/2 mile or 5 miles. SO, if and when I walk 4-5 miles in an hour, I expect to get 8-10 thousand steps.2 -
The odd thing is that with my very inexact voodoo adjustments, I have stayed within 1.2 pounds for several weeks with widely varying amounts of daily exercise.0
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I'm short but agree with the step count. I walk 2 hours per day, generally 8 miles or so and I get 16k steps on average. I don't get many steps during the work day, but if I did it wouldn't be that hard to get another 3 or 4k steps in one day.0
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