Is my caloric intake ok?
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corysmithsmail
Posts: 166 Member
Does this look ok, or does anyone have a similar intake and see weight loss?
I have MFP set to 1200cal a day. I stick to that. I walk 10k steps a day and I do cardio for 1hr and weights for 30-45min every other day.
I never eat back all of my exercise calories. I feel like that would just justify me pigging out. I may go over my MFP cal limit by 100-200 but I dont like to go much over since I know calories on labels can be lower than they are, and I dont weigh my food.
I guess what I'm asking is, is it ok to not eat back my calories?
I have MFP set to 1200cal a day. I stick to that. I walk 10k steps a day and I do cardio for 1hr and weights for 30-45min every other day.
I never eat back all of my exercise calories. I feel like that would just justify me pigging out. I may go over my MFP cal limit by 100-200 but I dont like to go much over since I know calories on labels can be lower than they are, and I dont weigh my food.
I guess what I'm asking is, is it ok to not eat back my calories?
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Replies
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How much are you losing each week?1
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Since you're not weighing your food, you may already be eating exercise calories back plus more. Or you're not getting enough nutrition. It's really hard to keep track if you're not verifying the calorie count in what you're eating. Unless you're measuring some other way. I often use measuring spoons and cups because they're convenient.7
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I never eat back my exercise calories.
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nutmegoreo wrote: »How much are you losing each week?
I lose 1 to 2 lbs a week. So nothing crazy0 -
2snakeswoman wrote: »Since you're not weighing your food, you may already be eating exercise calories back plus more. Or you're not getting enough nutrition. It's really hard to keep track if you're not verifying the calorie count in what you're eating. Unless you're measuring some other way. I often use measuring spoons and cups because they're convenient.
I measure my food with measuring cups and spoons but I don't use a food scale. I've heard the scale can make a big difference but I feel like that would be even more restrictive and time consuming3 -
corysmithsmail wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »How much are you losing each week?
I lose 1 to 2 lbs a week. So nothing crazy
Given that you aren't using a food scale, you are likely eating more than you realize and therefore consuming some of those activity calories. Over time, if you notice your weight dropping too fast, eat more. Rapid weight loss is rarely ideal.11 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »corysmithsmail wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »How much are you losing each week?
I lose 1 to 2 lbs a week. So nothing crazy
Given that you aren't using a food scale, you are likely eating more than you realize and therefore consuming some of those activity calories. Over time, if you notice your weight dropping too fast, eat more. Rapid weight loss is rarely ideal.
I thought 2 lbs a week was the max amount to lose in a healthy way.... maybe I'll bite the bullet and get a scale.0 -
corysmithsmail wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »corysmithsmail wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »How much are you losing each week?
I lose 1 to 2 lbs a week. So nothing crazy
Given that you aren't using a food scale, you are likely eating more than you realize and therefore consuming some of those activity calories. Over time, if you notice your weight dropping too fast, eat more. Rapid weight loss is rarely ideal.
I thought 2 lbs a week was the max amount to lose in a healthy way.... maybe I'll bite the bullet and get a scale.
2lbs is more approprite if you are over 200 lbs. Recommendation is generally about 10% of your body weight. Your body can only take so much from fat stores, the rest comes from muscle. If you want to preserve the muscle, slower is better.8 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »corysmithsmail wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »corysmithsmail wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »How much are you losing each week?
I lose 1 to 2 lbs a week. So nothing crazy
Given that you aren't using a food scale, you are likely eating more than you realize and therefore consuming some of those activity calories. Over time, if you notice your weight dropping too fast, eat more. Rapid weight loss is rarely ideal.
I thought 2 lbs a week was the max amount to lose in a healthy way.... maybe I'll bite the bullet and get a scale.
2lbs is more approprite if you are over 200 lbs. Recommendation is generally about 10% of your body weight. Your body can only take so much from fat stores, the rest comes from muscle. If you want to preserve the muscle, slower is better.
Oh ok I see. Well I'm about 190lbs now, but I've been over 200 for the longest so I guess that's why I was fixated on 2lbs. So many ways to go wrong in this!
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@nutmegoreo your profile pic is hilarious btw!2
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corysmithsmail wrote: »@nutmegoreo your profile pic is hilarious btw!
Thanks! It's one of my favorite geeky T-shirts.
Have you read the "most helpful posts" at the top of the "getting started" forums" There are some at the top of the "general diet" forum as well. I know there are a lot of them there, so I would recommend at least reading the sexy pants one along with so you're new here. Logging accurately is another good one.
There is a lot of dieting misinformation out there. Finding out much of what I thought I knew wasn't correct was a huge relief to me and has helped immensely in moving forward in a way that isn't an emotional game anymore. It's now just maths, numbers, and data (and tasty food, of course). It's become fascinating in many ways.5 -
nutmegoreo wrote: »corysmithsmail wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »corysmithsmail wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »How much are you losing each week?
I lose 1 to 2 lbs a week. So nothing crazy
Given that you aren't using a food scale, you are likely eating more than you realize and therefore consuming some of those activity calories. Over time, if you notice your weight dropping too fast, eat more. Rapid weight loss is rarely ideal.
I thought 2 lbs a week was the max amount to lose in a healthy way.... maybe I'll bite the bullet and get a scale.
2lbs is more approprite if you are over 200 lbs. Recommendation is generally about 10% of your body weight. Your body can only take so much from fat stores, the rest comes from muscle. If you want to preserve the muscle, slower is better.
Um, did you mean 1%?
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1200 calories seems really low for all that activity0
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nutmegoreo wrote: »corysmithsmail wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »corysmithsmail wrote: »nutmegoreo wrote: »How much are you losing each week?
I lose 1 to 2 lbs a week. So nothing crazy
Given that you aren't using a food scale, you are likely eating more than you realize and therefore consuming some of those activity calories. Over time, if you notice your weight dropping too fast, eat more. Rapid weight loss is rarely ideal.
I thought 2 lbs a week was the max amount to lose in a healthy way.... maybe I'll bite the bullet and get a scale.
2lbs is more approprite if you are over 200 lbs. Recommendation is generally about 10% of your body weight. Your body can only take so much from fat stores, the rest comes from muscle. If you want to preserve the muscle, slower is better.
Um, did you mean 1%?
:laugh: I've been posting from my phone a lot and the autocorrect and typos are horrifying! Earlier today I posted that I want to do a tough murder next summer.
Yes, I meant 1%. 10% would have a person wasting away to nothing in no time.9 -
I think eating back your calories is a personal choice. There's no right or wrong answer. It's up to you and what is working for you. If you are losing 1-2 pounds a week doing things the way you are, then I'd say whatever you're doing now is working. 1-2 pounds is very reasonable. If you start to find you are losing too slowly, or too quickly, then you can adjust. People are going to give you their yes or no opinion, based on what is working for them. But the only real answer is to do what works for you. Listen to your body. Oh, and like the others, I do recommend getting a scale, if only simply because it takes away a lot of guesswork and let's you know how much you're putting in your body.8
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Eating back exercise calories is not a question of "opinion," "preference," or "personal choice." MFP is set up for you to eat back all of your exercise calories, in an ideal situation. This is a statement of fact about how this website, and your goal calorie calculation, work. But this ideal situation is assuming that all of your food and exercise calories are logged correctly. Those are big caveats for the following reasons:
- If you are not using a food scale to weigh everything you eat, then your calories are not logged correctly. You have estimates, and it's impossible to know how much error there is in your estimates. Most people who do not use a food scale are eating considerably more than they think.
- Many exercise calorie burn estimates are exaggerated. Gym equipment and MFP's database both give notoriously high estimates, but even fitness trackers have been shown to have varying degrees of error.
Therefore, we are often logging exercise calorie burns that are too high, and if you're not using a food scale, then you're introducing more error by logging fewer calories than you're actually eating.
The solutions we generally offer to these problems are to a) use a food scale to weigh all solid foods, and b) eat half of your exercise calories, which helps compensate for calorie burn estimates being too high.
If you are not using a food scale and you are losing weight at your expected pace, then you ARE eating back your exercise calories, whether you intend to or not.
Again, if you are logging your food accurately, then you need to be eating back at least a portion of your exercise calories. Depending on your activity level, not eating exercise calories can be dangerous. If you are doing small amounts of exercise, then you may not notice any bad effects from not eating your exercise calories. The problem comes when you're doing a lot of exercise and not eating enough of those calories back. At that point, you aren't giving your body the energy it needs to sustain your activity. The last thing you want is to pass out on a piece of gym equipment, or on the trail two miles from home.13 -
Great points, I try to overestimate calories. But still, I just need to suck it up and get a scale. I'm a really impatient person, so I get anxious about not losing weight "fast." 0
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corysmithsmail wrote: »2snakeswoman wrote: »Since you're not weighing your food, you may already be eating exercise calories back plus more. Or you're not getting enough nutrition. It's really hard to keep track if you're not verifying the calorie count in what you're eating. Unless you're measuring some other way. I often use measuring spoons and cups because they're convenient.
I measure my food with measuring cups and spoons but I don't use a food scale. I've heard the scale can make a big difference but I feel like that would be even more restrictive and time consuming
The food scale makes a huge difference, it really is an eye-opener. I have one at work (much to the amusement of my workmates) and one at home.4 -
quintessence84 wrote: »I think eating back your calories is a personal choice. There's no right or wrong answer. It's up to you and what is working for you. If you are losing 1-2 pounds a week doing things the way you are, then I'd say whatever you're doing now is working. 1-2 pounds is very reasonable. If you start to find you are losing too slowly, or too quickly, then you can adjust. People are going to give you their yes or no opinion, based on what is working for them. But the only real answer is to do what works for you. Listen to your body. Oh, and like the others, I do recommend getting a scale, if only simply because it takes away a lot of guesswork and let's you know how much you're putting in your body.
If you use MFP to set your calorie goal and don't add in any exercise calories, you are not using MFP the way it was designed.
MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others, however, are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p16 -
kshama2001 wrote: »quintessence84 wrote: »I think eating back your calories is a personal choice. There's no right or wrong answer. It's up to you and what is working for you. If you are losing 1-2 pounds a week doing things the way you are, then I'd say whatever you're doing now is working. 1-2 pounds is very reasonable. If you start to find you are losing too slowly, or too quickly, then you can adjust. People are going to give you their yes or no opinion, based on what is working for them. But the only real answer is to do what works for you. Listen to your body. Oh, and like the others, I do recommend getting a scale, if only simply because it takes away a lot of guesswork and let's you know how much you're putting in your body.
If you use MFP to set your calorie goal and don't add in any exercise calories, you are not using MFP the way it was designed.
MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others, however, are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
The 100% people probably use a scale I bet. I try to do stack of playing cards=serving size of meat thing, but that's not an exact science lol.
And next time I'll search before posting
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