Calorie Question
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priara31
Posts: 27 Member
Question - if MFP gives a caloric goal of 1400 to lose weight and if it takes 3500 calories burned to lose 1lb a week, should I be eating my 'exercise' calories? I guess I'm a little confused on how to create a deficit? I guess my question is at the end of the day, should my nutrition calories always be at 1400 despite exercising?
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Replies
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yes4
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Yes, your goal of 1,400 doesn't include any additional exercise. To keep to your original, healthy deficit, you'll want to make sure you're eating at least some of your exercise calories back. The goal is to net 1,400. So if your goal is 1,400 and you burn an additional 150 calories through exercise, eating 1,550 will bring you to 1,400 net.7
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MFP gives you a deficit built in to your 1400 based on what you told it. Extra exercise on top of the activity level you told MFP you had gives extra calories, You do need to eat to fuel your activity. So atleast 25-75% of exercise calories are what most people eat back, As a sort fo a buffer but also fueling your activity and also recievign a bit of a deficit boost.
so say im set at 1400...I walk for a while and burn say 200 calories. Ill eat back 50-150 of those depending on my hunger levels. Putting me at 1450-1550 calories for my days food And leaving 50-150 calories as a buffer. Really becomes more of an issue when more active but im basically saying your deficit is built in already dont be afraid to eat back additional exercise calories3 -
The calorie goal that MFP gives you already includes a deficit consistent with the loss per week rate that you entered in setup. That goal only takes into account your regular daily activities and does not include intentional exercise. To fuel your exercise, you need to eat back at least a portion of the reported calories burned. Many people find that the calories given for exercise are overstated, so it can be a good idea to start by eating back around 50% of those exercise calories. You can then adjust how many you eat based on whether you're losing faster or more slowly than you anticipate.2
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Question - if MFP gives a caloric goal of 1400 to lose weight and if it takes 3500 calories burned to lose 1lb a week, should I be eating my 'exercise' calories? I guess I'm a little confused on how to create a deficit? I guess my question is at the end of the day, should my nutrition calories always be at 1400 despite exercising?
Your calorie target is your deficit...MFP already did the math. It is your deficit before exercise as exercise isn't included in your activity level...exercise is unaccounted for, additional activity beyond what you told MFP your activity level is.
So yes...that is the way this tool is designed to work. It allows people to have a weight loss target independent of exercise and to eat more when they move more than they said they would. That said, estimating calories out can be difficult...many people eat back a % of those calories rather than all of them to compensate for estimation errors.3 -
You create a deficit by burning more calories than you consume. I don't know your weekly loss goal, so I'll just assume you're going for a 1 lb./week loss. MFP has given you a number, taking into account your weekly activity level, at which you can meet that goal. If you included your exercise in your activity level, don't eat your exercise back.
I set my activity level as "sedentary", because I'm kind of flaky about my workouts. I've been on a streak lately, but I never know when I'm just going to sigh and tell myself, "Not today." If your level is set to sedentary, I'd recommend starting out by only eating about half those workout calories back, until you know how close your estimates (both workout calories and calorie needs per day) are. No matter what your activity level is set to, I'd advise evaluating how close your eating goals are to your reality in a few weeks. Because we're all different.3 -
Thank you everyone!!! Y'all have been a great help! I was wondering why I wasn't losing but rather maintaining.0
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janejellyroll wrote: »Yes, your goal of 1,400 doesn't include any additional exercise. To keep to your original, healthy deficit, you'll want to make sure you're eating at least some of your exercise calories back. The goal is to net 1,400. So if your goal is 1,400 and you burn an additional 150 calories through exercise, eating 1,550 will bring you to 1,400 net.
Thank you! This makes so much more sense now!0 -
Thank you everyone!!! Y'all have been a great help! I was wondering why I wasn't losing but rather maintaining.
If this is the case then we should have been told this as all of our answers would have been very different
If you arent losing for weeks at a time thn your eating to much and need to get a food scale and tighten up your logging. The original question made is seem like your undereating but apparently its the opposite.1 -
Thank you everyone!!! Y'all have been a great help! I was wondering why I wasn't losing but rather maintaining.
Oh no, I had no idea that was your issue. Let's revisit. If you aren't losing, you aren't in a deficit. How long have you been at it without losing?
Adding more calories won't be the answer in this situation. If it's been more than a few weeks and you aren't losing, you'll want to make sure you aren't accidentally eating more than you think you are. Once you've got a solid grasp on how many calories you're actually taking in and eating the right amount, that's when you'll want to account for your exercise.
If you open your diary, we may be able to help you troubleshoot your logging.1 -
JaydedMiss wrote: »Thank you everyone!!! Y'all have been a great help! I was wondering why I wasn't losing but rather maintaining.
If this is the case then we should have been told this as all of our answers would have been very different
If you arent losing for weeks at a time thn your eating to much and need to get a food scale and tighten up your logging. The original question made is seem like your undereating but apparently its the opposite.
My issue is this, I ride an electric bike to work and use Map My Fitness to log it. The app was telling me that I was burning over 1000 calories each ride (between 1400-1600 each way). And so I ate 'accordingly' meaning that at the end of the day, I had 1000 calories in "the bank". However, I wasn't losing, but I wasn't gaining either. I also noticed on days that I added walking or elliptical, I would lose for that week.
After doing some extensive research and a test ride, it appears that I'm actually only burning between 200-300 each bike ride. I came to this conclusion by using my apple watch to test and also using this link -
http://www.calories-calculator.net/Calories_Burned_By_Heart_Rate.html
I then took last week's nutrition calories and adjusted the exercise calories and I was able to tell why I wasn't losing weight. I wasn't creating enough of a deficit. Then the question popped into my head, does MFP create the deficit with the calories it gives you, or do you need to create it by exercising?1 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Thank you everyone!!! Y'all have been a great help! I was wondering why I wasn't losing but rather maintaining.
Oh no, I had no idea that was your issue. Let's revisit. If you aren't losing, you aren't in a deficit. How long have you been at it without losing?
Adding more calories won't be the answer in this situation. If it's been more than a few weeks and you aren't losing, you'll want to make sure you aren't accidentally eating more than you think you are. Once you've got a solid grasp on how many calories you're actually taking in and eating the right amount, that's when you'll want to account for your exercise.
If you open your diary, we may be able to help you troubleshoot your logging.
Hi - see my response above
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JaydedMiss wrote: »Thank you everyone!!! Y'all have been a great help! I was wondering why I wasn't losing but rather maintaining.
If this is the case then we should have been told this as all of our answers would have been very different
If you arent losing for weeks at a time thn your eating to much and need to get a food scale and tighten up your logging. The original question made is seem like your undereating but apparently its the opposite.
My issue is this, I ride an electric bike to work and use Map My Fitness to log it. The app was telling me that I was burning over 1000 calories each ride (between 1400-1600 each way). And so I ate 'accordingly' meaning that at the end of the day, I had 1000 calories in "the bank". However, I wasn't losing, but I wasn't gaining either. I also noticed on days that I added walking or elliptical, I would lose for that week.
After doing some extensive research and a test ride, it appears that I'm actually only burning between 200-300 each bike ride. I came to this conclusion by using my apple watch to test and also using this link -
http://www.calories-calculator.net/Calories_Burned_By_Heart_Rate.html
I then took last week's nutrition calories and adjusted the exercise calories and I was able to tell why I wasn't losing weight. I wasn't creating enough of a deficit. Then the question popped into my head, does MFP create the deficit with the calories it gives you, or do you need to create it by exercising?
The math MFP uses is very simple and straightforward, but unfortunately it has to include estimates, and it can go haywire as you've seen. It's not the math that's wrong, though, people are supposed to do exactly what you're doing, and find a more reasonable estimate. The people who put in the effort to understand how things work, like you're doing, are the ones who are usually successful in the long term.
Sadly the MFP exercise database has a good deal of inaccuracy in it. And bike riding is a difficult thing to get right. I can tell you that with a non-motorized road bike I have to go about 25 miles to burn 1,000 calories.2 -
NorthCascades wrote: »JaydedMiss wrote: »Thank you everyone!!! Y'all have been a great help! I was wondering why I wasn't losing but rather maintaining.
If this is the case then we should have been told this as all of our answers would have been very different
If you arent losing for weeks at a time thn your eating to much and need to get a food scale and tighten up your logging. The original question made is seem like your undereating but apparently its the opposite.
My issue is this, I ride an electric bike to work and use Map My Fitness to log it. The app was telling me that I was burning over 1000 calories each ride (between 1400-1600 each way). And so I ate 'accordingly' meaning that at the end of the day, I had 1000 calories in "the bank". However, I wasn't losing, but I wasn't gaining either. I also noticed on days that I added walking or elliptical, I would lose for that week.
After doing some extensive research and a test ride, it appears that I'm actually only burning between 200-300 each bike ride. I came to this conclusion by using my apple watch to test and also using this link -
http://www.calories-calculator.net/Calories_Burned_By_Heart_Rate.html
I then took last week's nutrition calories and adjusted the exercise calories and I was able to tell why I wasn't losing weight. I wasn't creating enough of a deficit. Then the question popped into my head, does MFP create the deficit with the calories it gives you, or do you need to create it by exercising?
The math MFP uses is very simple and straightforward, but unfortunately it has to include estimates, and it can go haywire as you've seen. It's not the math that's wrong, though, people are supposed to do exactly what you're doing, and find a more reasonable estimate. The people who put in the effort to understand how things work, like you're doing, are the ones who are usually successful in the long term.
Sadly the MFP exercise database has a good deal of inaccuracy in it. And bike riding is a difficult thing to get right. I can tell you that with a non-motorized road bike I have to go about 25 miles to burn 1,000 calories.
Thank you for that insight! And wow, 25 miles to burn 1000!!! I have a non-motorized road bike, but because of my weight, I don't want to put too much stress on my knees, just yet. I figured once I get between 160-180, then I will take it for a spin. Again, thank you for your positive, encouraging words! 0
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