Myfitnesspal.com calories needed to remain constant calculat

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hinesburger
hinesburger Posts: 2
in Fitness and Exercise
New member here. I was weighed on a Tanoni scale (sp?) or bodyfat scale at my gym today. The print out listed the calories I need per day as 1,891. After I completed my first entry on this site today, it I saw a place that reads I need 2,600. Has anyone else noticed such a discrepancy? I just ate a nice bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch and was happy that I still had 435 calories to spare for my goal, according to this site. Then, when I saw that overstatement of bmi calories next to the printout from the digital scale.....I am confused. I prolly just went way over my limit today.

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  • Shawn_Marie
    Shawn_Marie Posts: 312
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    Not sure about that kind of scale but can say that I started using MFP about 3 weeks ago following the calories and have lost 11 pounds as of last friday .... I do workout 4 - 5 times a week as well. So I would say if you are satisfied (hunger) with the calories from the gym scale you can manually change the settings on MFP.

    Hope that helps .... it is all estimated whether it be a scale, HMR or MFP ...
  • BGabbart
    BGabbart Posts: 173 Member
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    The number you got from the gym is probably what you need to maintain your current weight. If you logged your exercise than it was added in with your daily allowance, MFP wants you to eat back your exercise calories.
  • Shawn_Marie
    Shawn_Marie Posts: 312
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    Hi B,
    Is it necessary to eat back your exercise calories? If I did, wouldn't I maintain my weight?
    I thought that not eating back those calories was the way to lose the weight?
  • uubulldawg06
    uubulldawg06 Posts: 102 Member
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    Hi B,
    Is it necessary to eat back your exercise calories? If I did, wouldn't I maintain my weight?
    I thought that not eating back those calories was the way to lose the weight?

    mfp already builds in a deficit into your calorie intake. if you do not eat back your exercise calories your body may not be getting enough fuel and could eventually go into starvation mode and cause you to plateau or gain back weight.
  • Shawn_Marie
    Shawn_Marie Posts: 312
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    really? I didn't realize that because the calorie allowance for me seems huge ... it is like 1700 ...
  • heathally
    heathally Posts: 128 Member
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    There is a deficit built into your daily calorie allowance on MFP. Even if you didn't excercise and ate the calories they told you to, you would lose some weight. If you excercise and don't eat back those calories, you increase that deficit. This sounds good, but the problem is that you can put your body into starvation mode if you are not careful. Basically, your brain realizes that you haven't been eating enough to fuel your body and triggers this thing where you start burning muscle instead of fat...not good. Plus, when you eat back your calories, your stamina an energy increase.

    Personally, I eat back some of my excercise calories, but not always all of them depending on how much I've done in a day. I always make sure I eat at least 1200 calories a day. Some days I go over a little, but I don't stress out as long as I'm within 100 calories of my goal or if I was well below my net the day before. I've been on MFP since this winter and I've lost 25 pounds on the site (I'd lost some before joining). It really does work if you use the calories they tell you to and stay active. And don't feel bad about changing things up either. I decided to lower my net calories by not eating back my excercise calories for about 2 weeks. I lost a lot, but then I took it right back up to where it had been to prevent starvation mode. Personally, I think it's a good thing to keep your body guessing so that you don't get in a rut. I change up my excercises too for the same reason. It keeps me out of a rut and keeps things more interesting. Good luck on your journey!
  • Shawn_Marie
    Shawn_Marie Posts: 312
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    Thank you Healthally for all the information - I appreciate it! Knowledge is power!!
  • hinesburger
    hinesburger Posts: 2
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    i had forgotten I even posted that. My wife is asleep and I couldn't sleep. Glad I stumbled across this thread again. You guys are awesome for responding. Thanks.

    Im pretty happy with this sight after all. A nutritionist at my gym recommended it. I'm not sure if it's the logging in of everything and seeing it, or having to log in everything keeps me from cheating and overeating, but whatever it is.....it's working. 8/24 I started this site @ 206 on my gym scale. When I weighed before leaving the gym today with no shoes, I weighed 193.5. Now.....I work out .......ALOT....and I'm sure at least 4 lbs was water weight. I am currently on a heart transplant list, and trying to get off of it. In march I weighed 217 and felt like garbage, sitting around feeling sorry for myself. Then, one day I just got so mad, that I didn't want my family to remember me that way if something happened, and I wasn't doing my best for them by being so lazy and giving up. I went for a long walk and decided it was time to at least try and make a change.

    Now....some 5 months later, while filing for disability has given me the opportunity to take care of myself the way my doctors intended.....and actually quite a bit more than they recomended. (what do they know right?) my current workout regimen is "

    6 days a week 40 minutes (8 miles) bike to gym, weight training 45-60 min, walk over two bridges downtown 40 min @ 4mph, swim laps for 60-80 minutes in sets of 500 yds ea (rest 1-1.5 minutes btween), then bike 40 minutes home (8 miles) God is Awesome!!! God bless you all.

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