How does the calories calculation work

craig_1990
craig_1990 Posts: 2 Member
edited December 2024 in Getting Started
Hi, new here. On the daily log, how does the calories calculation work? My 'goal' says 2690. Does that mean I'm supposed to eat 2690 calories a day?? As an example, today I've had a small breakfast, usual dinner and usual tea, this came to 1496 calories. I worked out and burned 260 calories. So now my 'remaining' calories is 1454. It's almost 9pm and I'm going to bed soon, is the app trying to tell me I should eat another 1454 calories before the end of the day?? I have tried to attach a pic but it won't do it. Thanks!

Replies

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited June 2019
    Goal is what you attempt to reach - so yes to eating goal.

    If you selected a weight loss goal, then your eating goal is less than your estimated daily calorie burn.

    That burn is estimated from your choice of daily activity level with no exercise, and then when you do exercise you log it - your daily burn goes up, your eating goal goes up.

    Same amount of deficit to lose weight.

    Different from probably any other site you've seen that asks you to estimate how much you'll workout each week, and then takes a deficit from a daily average.

    Here no workouts are planned, only accounted for when you do them.

    Be honest with logging food and workouts.

    What was the 260 calories for?
  • craig_1990
    craig_1990 Posts: 2 Member
    My goal is to maintain weight. I go to the gym average 4 times a week. Eating another 1500 calories that day would probably be another 2 meals, which I would definitely start putting weight on as I've done it before. The 260 calories burned was an easy circuit I made up for myself as the class I booked onto had no spaces when I got there.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    So if you were honest with non-exercise daily activity level, then yes the estimate of 2690 is eating goal on non-workout days.

    What are you doing that you think you burn 1500 calories?

    260 for a circuit for 30 min sounds reasonable, perhaps a tad high if it was easy.

    But yes - if you do more, you eat more. If you do less, you eat less.
    That's the life lesson regarding weight management MFP is trying to teach.

    It's always a matter of how much more or less do you eat - like with the exercise, sure it counts - but how much.

    0 is the only wrong answer, totally. Obviously there is a range of reasonable estimates, and foolish (like 1 calorie) too.

    Watch weight (which has water weight changes, so give a range) and measurements of probably the stomach since fat seems to be added there first.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,221 Member
    heybales wrote: »
    So if you were honest with non-exercise daily activity level, then yes the estimate of 2690 is eating goal on non-workout days.

    What are you doing that you think you burn 1500 calories?

    260 for a circuit for 30 min sounds reasonable, perhaps a tad high if it was easy.

    But yes - if you do more, you eat more. If you do less, you eat less.
    That's the life lesson regarding weight management MFP is trying to teach.

    It's always a matter of how much more or less do you eat - like with the exercise, sure it counts - but how much.

    0 is the only wrong answer, totally. Obviously there is a range of reasonable estimates, and foolish (like 1 calorie) too.

    Watch weight (which has water weight changes, so give a range) and measurements of probably the stomach since fat seems to be added there first.

    I think you're misunderstanding. OP is 1500 calories short of his maintenance goal of 2690 + 260 for exercise.
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