Question about calorie deficit

cwolfman13 wrote: »

NicbPNW wrote: »

Hi all,

I don't know why I'm so confused but is my calorie deficit already factored in to the total calories per day that MFP assigns me? Looking to lose weight and am confused on how I read this app and how much to eat.

For example: I'm given 1,420 calories a day by MFP and I exercise about 4-5 days a week which burns 300-500 calories each time. MFP then adds those exercise calories to my daily calories so do I consume the new total OR just the 1,420 I'm given?

Thanks

When you put in your stats and your target of X Lbs per week weight loss, MFP calculates your calorie target based on that goal...so yes, the calculator is calculating a calorie target that is your deficit.

If you entered your activity level as MFP is designed, it would not include exercise. As such, exercise is additional unaccounted for activity and you account for it by logging it and getting additional calories after the fact. One of the lessons being taught is how to properly fuel your fitness, as fitness isn't all about losing weight.

Here are the numbers I got as an example. To lose 1 Lb per week MFP gave me a calorie target of 1,900. This means that MFP is estimating my non exercise maintenance level to be around 2,400 calories as this would represent a 500 calorie deficit.

In reality, I usually ate anywhere between 2,300-2,500 calories on most days because I would burn 400-600 calories with exercise depending on what I was doing. With exercise, my maintenance calories were lifted to 2,800-3,000 calories per day from the non exercise amount of 2,400...thus 2,300-2,500 calories would still be a 500 calorie deficit for me with regular exercise.

judowolf wrote: »

Nic, the general rule of thumb that I've seen most successful people on here use, is to only eat back half of the exercise calories given in the beginning. If you lose the amount of weight you are looking for, leave it, otherwise make slight adjustments up or down in your calories...don't try to lose too much, too fast. The other thing is get a good food scale and log as best that you can...hopefully this helps. Best of Luck!!