Exercise Calories

jdh419
jdh419 Posts: 65 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I didn't realize it but I ate all my calories plus my calories I earned from exercise. Will I still lose?

Replies

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    jdh419 wrote: »
    I didn't realize it but I ate all my calories plus my calories I earned from exercise. Will I still lose?

    Where did your exercise calories come from?

    In theory you are supposed to eat your calorie goal plus your exercise calorie. In some case the exercise calories are over-inflated so that is why I used the expression "in theory."

  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    jdh419 wrote: »
    I didn't realize it but I ate all my calories plus my calories I earned from exercise. Will I still lose?

    In theory you will because this is the way MFP is designed but it all depends on how accurate you are with your logging, both food and exercise. Because people can be inaccurate and underestimate how much they are eating they will eat back anywhere between 1/2 to all of their exercise calories and make adjustments after a month of so if they find they are losing quicker or slower than expected.
  • jdh419
    jdh419 Posts: 65 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    You mean you accidentally are using this program the way it was designed to be used?

    What did you think you were “earning those calories from exercise for?”

    LOL! I am told so many different things pertaining to this. Some say eat those calories while others say no. I don't how the affect weight loss.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    jdh419 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    You mean you accidentally are using this program the way it was designed to be used?

    What did you think you were “earning those calories from exercise for?”

    LOL! I am told so many different things pertaining to this. Some say eat those calories while others say no. I don't how the affect weight loss.

    If you're using MFP as designed, then you will eat back the calories burnt from exercise.

    Some people tell you not to eat back the calories because they don't understand how MFP works.

    Others will tell you not to eat them because they're concerned that MFP over-estimates the calories burnt through exercise, so they'll recommend not eating them or only eating a portion of them back.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
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  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
    Most people (who understand how MFP works) will suggest starting at eating 50% of them back for a few weeks, whilst ensuring food logging is accurate, then adjusting based on actual weight loss/management results, i.e. if you're losing more than expected eat more of them back, losing less, eat less of them back.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    RGv2 wrote: »
    Let's look at it this way. To lose 1lb per week you need to have a total weekly deficit of 3500 calories or 500 calories per day. Hypothetically you enter in your stats and it spits out a TDEE of 2000 calories, so the tool give you a goal of 1500 calories per day (assuming you do no added exercise as it isn't added as part of your day)

    TDEE 2000 - 500 = 1500 per day to achieve 500 cal deficit.

    Now lets say you do 500 calories worth of "outside" exercise, adding 500 calories to your day.

    TDEE 2000 + 500 calorie workout = a new TDEE of 2500cal

    2500 - 500 = 2000 per day to achieve 500 cal daily deficit.

    Now, it's not an exact science. There has to be a bit of testing in the beginning to verify your numbers. Normally, like said above, start by eating back 50% of your exercise calories back. If you lose faster than goal, you're cutting too much, not losing to goal you're overestimating.

    This.

    While it is not an exact science (at least in execution) weight loss is not a mystery either. If you burn more energy than you eat your body must use energy reserves for you to continue to function and move around. When you use stored energy (hopefully fat) it results in weight loss at around 3500 calories per pound.

  • Womona
    Womona Posts: 1,775 Member
    You’ll lose weight eating back your spent calories IF you have an accurate measure of both. So, get a food scale to weigh your food, and a good heart rate monitor- I highly recommend Polar products. Have been accurately detailing gear rate and calories spent for years. I got the OH1+ which goes around my arm instead of my chest. It’s the only one I trust.

    MFP tends to overestimate how many calories I expend. For example, I had a tennis clinic for 90 mins today. My heart rate monitor said I burned 536 calories. MFP assumes I burned closer to 700. So I typed in the correct number.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    edited January 2020
    As others have already stated - you're good.

    I'll also mention that MFP is designed with a modest margin of error, so even if you go over budget, you're still likely below or at maintenance, especially if you increase your activity.

  • jdh419
    jdh419 Posts: 65 Member
    @Womona can you post a screen shot of the arm band monitor you use? I have a Fitbit but it's an inexpensive one that doesn't include heart rate.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Heart rate monitors aren't calorie counters!
    They count heartbeats and can't measure energy.

    For someone with average fitness (and an average exercise HR) doing a suitable exercise they may give a reasonable estimate. But for many people and types of exercise they are likely to badly over-estimate.

    Depending on what exercises you do there may well be better and free ways to get reasonable estimates - luckily reasonable is good enough for purpose.

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