Adding exercise

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phoebeflora2732
phoebeflora2732 Posts: 1 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi I am one week into MFP and love how easy it is to add calories and see what I have left for the day. I only have 1200 calories per day so I definitely add exercise and am relieved that this gives me more calories to eat. I haven't weighed myself yet as I want to wait until I can see the weight loss in my body but do other people add exercise in and then eat more calories and still lose weight?

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  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    edited October 2021
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    Yes. That's the way MFP is set up. The only way you can go wrong is to:
    1. underestimate your calories (get a digital food scale).
    2. overestimate your exercise burn.

    There are many threads that tackle these two problems, so read the "most recommended posts", and you can also do a search on them.

    Good luck.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
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    Yes as long as you are consistent on your portions and exercise. Remember sometimes MFP may overestimate calories burned and your TDEE(what your body burns on average daily). You "might" have to adjust the numbers.

    A food scale can be useful if you are not consistent on portions for your meals. As longs as your body weight is dropping, you are considered to be in a caloric deficit. If you are losing more weight than expected on average, you are in a larger deficit than anticipated and I would bump up the calories a bit especially at your 1200.

    Consider resistance training as it has many many benefits and will help retain muscle as you lose weight.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,259 Member
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    Good advice above, from both!

    I'd add: Remember that sometimes MFP can underestimate base calorie needs, too, since essentially it's estimating based on a population average. Individuals can vary from that in either direction, higher or lower.

    If you stick with a plan consistently for 4-6 weeks (whole menstrual cycles for those to whom that applies), then average weekly results are a good guide - better than any so-called "calorie calculator". Keep monitoring, and adjust if needed going forward from there . . . especially if something about your lifestyle changes, like your job or living circumstances.

    Experientially: I estimated my exercise calories carefully, and ate them all back, during weight loss and for nearly 6 years of maintenance since. After that initial trial period and adjustment - what I suggested above - my weight trend has been very predictable. I lose or gain or maintain as I'd expect, based on my eating and activity levels.

    I'm down almost 1/3 of my original body weight, 183 to mid-120s pounds.
  • I2k4
    I2k4 Posts: 180 Member
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    Fairly new to this, had to be informed that a Goals activity setting above "not very active" boosts baseline calories and changes macro targets, so then super-adding defined exercises can inflate the target. I'd say the Goals setting activity level should only reflect daily physical demands of work or home life and exercise added as it's done. Overall it is working pretty well for me.

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