Exercise calories offset macros?

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idaevon
idaevon Posts: 19 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello! I am tracking my macros and following what I've calculated as my daily intake to lose roughly 1.5# per week. (I'm female, 45yo, 138#, 5'2" short) (daily intake at 1348 cals 40/30/30 protein/fat/carbs split). Haven't lost #s or inches in two weeks.

On days when I train (4-5 days - at moderate to high intensity) should I be adjusting for that? In other words, should I be adding back in my calories burned which increases the amount of macros I need to consume? I realize my TDEE is based on my activity level so wasn't sure if that's already accounted for.....

PS - I'm trying to lean out and lose the winter insulation.....I have pretty good muscle tone it's just underneath the insulation right now.....

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    If your calorie goal is based on your TDEE, then it already includes your calories burnt through exercise. But 1,348 sounds very low for a TDEE for an active person. How did you calculate it?

    Were you losing weight before or is this a new plan?
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,138 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    If your calorie goal is based on your TDEE, then it already includes your calories burnt through exercise. But 1,348 sounds very low for a TDEE for an active person. How did you calculate it?

    Were you losing weight before or is this a new plan?

    I think they mean 1348 for 1.5lbs loss per week the way I read it.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    If your calorie goal is based on your TDEE, then it already includes your calories burnt through exercise. But 1,348 sounds very low for a TDEE for an active person. How did you calculate it?

    Were you losing weight before or is this a new plan?

    I think they mean 1348 for 1.5lbs loss per week the way I read it.

    Oops, you're totally right. Good catch.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
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    If you are using MFP and have your general activity level set correctly, you should eat back some portion of exercise calories. MFP calculates calories based on NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis). This is the number of calories you burn just going about your daily routine, and the number of calories MFP gives you will include the deficit required to lose the weeikly amount of weight you entered. Not eating back at least some of your exercise calories will put you under your required minimum and could affect your health in terms of getting enough nutrition to support your activities.

    If you are using another calculator that estimates calories using the TDEE method (total daily exercise expenditure) the exercise calories are included in your calorie target and you wouldn't eat exercise calories back.

    That said, how many calories you burn during exercise will vary wildly, and are not necessarily based on heartrate or preceived exertion.
  • idaevon
    idaevon Posts: 19 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    If your calorie goal is based on your TDEE, then it already includes your calories burnt through exercise. But 1,348 sounds very low for a TDEE for an active person. How did you calculate it?

    Were you losing weight before or is this a new plan?

    I calculated as follows (and I'm no mathemetician......sooooo this could be wrong.....)

    My BMR is 1348; multiplied by 1.55 (moderate activity) = 2089 cals to maintain current weight.

    From there, to lose 1.5# per week I need a total deficit of 5250 per week (this is based on the info that it takes a deficit of 3000 to lose one pound, so 3000x1.5 =5250), which is 750 deficit per day.
    2089-750 = 1339

    (not sure where those extra 10 came from.....)

    Any recommendations on online calculators to help find an easier way to calculate this......as I said, I've never been strong at math.....and this does seem low to me but not sure.

    This is a new plan btw, so can't compare to whether I was losing or not.

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    And, to clarify, when you judged yourself to be moderate activity, that included your 4-5 days of training?
  • idaevon
    idaevon Posts: 19 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    And, to clarify, when you judged yourself to be moderate activity, that included your 4-5 days of training?

    yes - since i have a sedentary job. i think my BMR is off? or TDEE....because i'm not sure that daily intake of 1339 would be that close to my BMR of 1348 right? ...I mean that would mean i'm eating LESS than what it takes for me to be in a coma......

    I'm thinking the online info I relied upon may be inaccurate.....
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    If you like the same every day eating style of TDEE estimated why not go to a site like https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/ and let it do the maths for you?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    idaevon wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    If your calorie goal is based on your TDEE, then it already includes your calories burnt through exercise. But 1,348 sounds very low for a TDEE for an active person. How did you calculate it?

    Were you losing weight before or is this a new plan?

    I calculated as follows (and I'm no mathemetician......sooooo this could be wrong.....)

    My BMR is 1348; multiplied by 1.55 (moderate activity) = 2089 cals to maintain current weight.

    From there, to lose 1.5# per week I need a total deficit of 5250 per week (this is based on the info that it takes a deficit of 3000 to lose one pound, so 3000x1.5 =5250), which is 750 deficit per day.
    2089-750 = 1339

    (not sure where those extra 10 came from.....)

    Any recommendations on online calculators to help find an easier way to calculate this......as I said, I've never been strong at math.....and this does seem low to me but not sure.

    This is a new plan btw, so can't compare to whether I was losing or not.

    Just TDEE Please spreadsheet - better than rough 5 level TDEE charts from 1919 study.
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G7FgNzPq3v5WMjDtH0n93LXSMRY_hjmzNTMJb3aZSxM/edit?usp=sharing

    Also - you have 30-50 lbs to lose to make that 1.5 lb weekly to be reasonable?

    That's really aggressive if not - and body can be rebelling and stress causing water retained weight.

    Oh, desk job doesn't mean a sedentary lifestyle outside of exercise.
    If you have household responsibilities you are lightly-active just from daily life, exercise would stack on top of that.

    If outside of exercise you hit the couch and bed the whole evening and weekend - then sedentary is daily life.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    idaevon wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    And, to clarify, when you judged yourself to be moderate activity, that included your 4-5 days of training?

    yes - since i have a sedentary job. i think my BMR is off? or TDEE....because i'm not sure that daily intake of 1339 would be that close to my BMR of 1348 right? ...I mean that would mean i'm eating LESS than what it takes for me to be in a coma......

    I'm thinking the online info I relied upon may be inaccurate.....

    What you quoted seems right except:

    (1) with the exercise you quoted moderate activity might be too low. I have a sedentary job but walk for normal activity (I am in a big city), and would use that multiplier for TDEE if I did not also exercise. If you don't walk all that much outside of exercise, than you might be right, however -- trial and error is the way to know.

    (2) at your height and weight, 1.5 lb/week is too aggressive, and that's why it is ending up below your BMR (which is sometimes okay, for someone quite obese and sedentary, but not for someone active and within or close to the healthy range).
  • peggy_polenta
    peggy_polenta Posts: 310 Member
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    idaevon wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    If your calorie goal is based on your TDEE, then it already includes your calories burnt through exercise. But 1,348 sounds very low for a TDEE for an active person. How did you calculate it?

    Were you losing weight before or is this a new plan?

    I calculated as follows (and I'm no mathemetician......sooooo this could be wrong.....)

    My BMR is 1348; multiplied by 1.55 (moderate activity) = 2089 cals to maintain current weight.

    From there, to lose 1.5# per week I need a total deficit of 5250 per week (this is based on the info that it takes a deficit of 3000 to lose one pound, so 3000x1.5 =5250), which is 750 deficit per day.
    2089-750 = 1339

    (not sure where those extra 10 came from.....)

    Any recommendations on online calculators to help find an easier way to calculate this......as I said, I've never been strong at math.....and this does seem low to me but not sure.

    This is a new plan btw, so can't compare to whether I was losing or not.
    HI, there are 3500 calories in a pound not 3000.

  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 935 Member
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    idaevon wrote: »
    Hello! I am tracking my macros and following what I've calculated as my daily intake to lose roughly 1.5# per week. (I'm female, 45yo, 138#, 5'2" short) (daily intake at 1348 cals 40/30/30 protein/fat/carbs split). Haven't lost #s or inches in two weeks.

    On days when I train (4-5 days - at moderate to high intensity) should I be adjusting for that? In other words, should I be adding back in my calories burned which increases the amount of macros I need to consume? I realize my TDEE is based on my activity level so wasn't sure if that's already accounted for.....

    PS - I'm trying to lean out and lose the winter insulation.....I have pretty good muscle tone it's just underneath the insulation right now.....

    Please don’t have such an aggressive deficit. You will crash in a few weeks. And lose muscle too. At such a low weight you only need to lose 0.5 a week. That’s a 250-300 calorie deficit. Don’t do more than that. Also 2 weeks is nothing. I would give it a full 2 months before changing anything.

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