Calories for Exercise

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acorazzini5
acorazzini5 Posts: 1 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am 133 pounds and want to get to 120. The app has be set at 1520 calories per day.
1. Does this sound right? I was using Noom and it had me set to only 1200 a day.
2. I noticed FP gave me 100% of my burned calories back. Versus when I was using Noom is only gave 1/2 back.

Thoughts??

Replies

  • harper16
    harper16 Posts: 2,564 Member
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    Mfp is designed for you to eat back your exercise calories. Healthy weight loss would be set at .5 lbs a week.

    What is your height and what is your weight loss set at?
  • carlsberglewis1
    carlsberglewis1 Posts: 45 Member
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    My opinion is eating back calories defeats the point of burning them..
    You have a calorie goal, and you stick to that, and that alone.
    Easy peasy
  • carlsberglewis1
    carlsberglewis1 Posts: 45 Member
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    Disagree, but that's what an opinion is for
  • EliseTK1
    EliseTK1 Posts: 481 Member
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    1. All those calorie estimates are just that- estimates. The best way to see what works is to monitor your weight and intake over an extended period of time (at least a month or so) then figure out your daily average intake compared to your weight changes. If you aren't sure how to do this math, let me know and I can break it down for you.

    2. Your calorie deficit should be what you feel best at, whatever is sustainable and comfortable for you without going overboard in either direction. MFP is built so that you can eat back exercise calories, but this is where it becomes important to measure calories burned accurately. Exercise calories are often overestimated, so eating back half is a good way to ensure that doesn't happen. This is very personal though, and you should feel free to make adjustments if you're losing too fast or slow.

    I like to keep my deficit flexible, so I have myself set in MFP to lose 1/2 lb a week but usually don't eat back my exercise calories (200-300 kcal/day.) That means I actually end up losing ~1 lb a week.

    Keep at it! You will find what works for you.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited June 2020
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    carlsberglewis1 wrote: »
    My opinion is eating back calories defeats the point of burning them..
    You have a calorie goal, and you stick to that, and that alone.
    Easy peasy

    The purpose of exercise isn't burning calories. If that were the case all exercise should be cardio (as it tends to burn more). The purpose of exercise is to be as healthy as we can be. This is why we also include strength training even though the calorie burns are small.

    My Fitness Pal takes a different approach than some calculators. If you are using My Fitness Pal, your calorie goal is based on NEAT. Non-exercise activity thermogenisis. Your calorie goal is before exercise. If you choose to exercise, you earn more calories.

    There's a link that explains things really well.
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1

    Edited - link inside thread doesn't appear to be working.
  • netitheyeti
    netitheyeti Posts: 539 Member
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    People sometimes don't eat *all* of it back because mfp/trackers *can* be inaccurate in the sense of overestimating exercise calories. Or they have enough wiggle room in their daily deficit/calories to still have a safe weight loss rate if they ignore them.
    That's not the case for everyone tho, for some of us it's pretty much spot on (I've been able to maintain my current weight on 2000ish kcal a day, and i'm a hair under 5'3 and in the high 120s - if I don't take exercise into account mfp estimates I should be maintaining on something like 1550kcal, so obviously my workouts gave me quite a bit more to eat)

    Personally, I don't find it sustainable to not eat some back, especially currently when I'm (almost) at my goal weight (127lbs and aiming for maintenance in the 120-125lb range)... I work out at least an hour a day usually 6 days a week, I also do a decent amount of walking - I'd be tired and hungry on my 1250kcal per day. Working out is not just about burning calories either, I like feeling strong and like my movements are light/easy, I don't want to be out of breath going up the stairs or during a brisk walk. You're pretty light to begin with, imo (if that's ok for me to say), so you should be aiming for something sustainable - and if your logging is precise you should be fine eating what mfp gives you! Besides, you can re-evaluate in a few weeks if the weight loss isn't where you'd expect/want it to be, it's not a race
  • Shortgirlrunning
    Shortgirlrunning Posts: 1,020 Member
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    carlsberglewis1 wrote: »
    Disagree, but that's what an opinion is for

    Opinions aren’t facts. They can be wrong and yours encourages unhealthy and even dangerous ways of eating.
  • netitheyeti
    netitheyeti Posts: 539 Member
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    ok, in theory you could speed up the process by increasing the deficit (aka not eating stuff back), but other potential issues aside why make it harder than it needs to be if you're already given numbers that should give you a sustainable rate of weightloss? (hungrier, more tired, etc)
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    edited June 2020
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    carlsberglewis1 wrote: »
    My opinion is eating back calories defeats the point of burning them..
    You have a calorie goal, and you stick to that, and that alone.
    Easy peasy

    It sounds like you don't understand how MFP works.

    MFP gives you a calorie goal that will put you at your desired deficit (assuming your goal is to lose weight) even before exercise is done.

    The "point" of exercise isn't to burn calories (although it certainly can be part of creating a deficit). It doesn't defeat your goals to eat them. You aren't going to undo the fitness gains. In fact, eating too little can actually hold someone back from reaching their goals.

    If you want to "stick" to your calorie goal, you should actually eat back the calories because it ensures you're getting the right amount and actually meeting your goal.

    Also, did you notice that OP is 133 pounds? Even if your advice was appropriate for obese people (and I'd argue that it isn't necessarily), OP isn't in that category!

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