Looking for some helpful information

To lose weight at a given rate, you need to lose X fewer calories than you burn (through a combination of daily life activity like job/chores, exercise, and just being alive with a heartbeat and such). For example, to lose a pound a week on average, you'd need to eat 500 fewer calories daily than you burn.

So, let's pretend MFP gives me a calorie goal of 1700 calories to lose weight, based on my activity level setting (which should just be non-exercise activity). That implies that MFP thinks I'd be weight-stable at 2200 calories daily, without doing any exercise.

On Tuesday, let's say I do 350 calories of exercise. That means my calories to be weight-stable that day would be 2200+350 or 2550. To lose weight at my same pound a week goal rate, I should eat 2550-500 calories on Tuesday, which is 2050 calories.

Therefore, MFP adds the 350 exercise calories to my base calorie goal of 1700, and tells me to eat 2050 calories.

Does that make sense?

P.S. Some people choose not to eat the exercise calories, either out of fear that they're wrong, or in order to lose faster. The exercise estimate may be inaccurate, of course, but zero is totally inaccurate. And faster loss isn't necessarily better: It's tempting, I know, but very fast loss also increases health risks, makes it more difficult to stay the course long enough to lose a meaningful total amount of weight.

ETA another P.S.: FWIW, I estimated my exercise carefully, then ate pretty much all of them back through nearly a year of weight loss, and 6+ years of maintaining a healthy weight since.

Yeah, I'm not one to bank calories - for me it can set up an unhealthy fixation with making my calories balance out. I don't leave calories for another day. I start over fresh each morning and strive to eat close to that day's needs.

I tried the calorie-banking thing and it led to a binge/restrict cycle that was hard to break so I just eat the day's calories. Under-eating isn't a good habit to start, in my opinion. It can lead to w a a a a y under-eating. Ya know, 'cause my head says "If losing 2 pounds a week is good, well, I'll just eat less and lose faster." Only it doesn't work and I end up eating 1800 calories in chips on one of the days following my under-eating because so. hungry.

Just the other side of the "calorie banking" thing.

nicolec4008 wrote: »

@cmriverside , yeah I'm not one for banking I start over in the morning, the reason why I have started this to help lose the weight and also help me with eating and eating better, before I was going al day without eating anything then dinner time came had dinner, then little snacks not much, and thats all, so for me just now to have breakfast lunch and dinner I find myself fuller and having 250/300 left come night time so sometimes I find it a struggle to eat the remaining as I am so full.

Well, 1200 is very low - for anyone... and can lead to problems getting sufficient nutrition. Since you only just started on the 1200, you just haven't had a chance for your body to become stressed. Yet. You'll likely crash at some point (soon) by trying to eat so little and exercising.

Maybe try using full fat dairy, have a slice of cheese as a snack, some nuts, add oil to your salads, etc. Heck, have a cookie! Fat isn't the enemy and you need it (it is 9 calories per gram so it will help you get up to your calorie goal.)

Try to, "Eat enough, not too much, mostly plants"~ Michael Pollan.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Personally, I wouldn't suggest saving up massive banks of calories day to day, or banking semi-major amounts for weeks. Those things can get into the "risks with fast loss" zone. But it should be OK to flexibly save up some few calories, use them relatively soon. Some people look at their calorie average over the week (the 7-day daily average available in the Nutrition page in the phone/tablet app, Calories tab, Week view).

This is exactly what I do, and then I start over at zero the next week. You have to do a bit of math to figure out your actual bank or deficit for the week, but I find the screen very useful.

Welcome, and good luck!

Tiernan1212 wrote: »

You've gotten a lot of great advise here, so I only have one thing to

cmriverside wrote: »

nicolec4008 wrote: »

@cmriverside , yeah I'm not one for banking I start over in the morning, the reason why I have started this to help lose the weight and also help me with eating and eating better, before I was going al day without eating anything then dinner time came had dinner, then little snacks not much, and thats all, so for me just now to have breakfast lunch and dinner I find myself fuller and having 250/300 left come night time so sometimes I find it a struggle to eat the remaining as I am so full.

Well, 1200 is very low - for anyone... and can lead to problems getting sufficient nutrition. Since you only just started on the 1200, you just haven't had a chance for your body to become stressed. Yet. You'll likely crash at some point (soon) by trying to eat so little and exercising.

Maybe try using full fat dairy, have a slice of cheese as a snack, some nuts, add oil to your salads, etc. Heck, have a cookie! Fat isn't the enemy and you need it (it is 9 calories per gram so it will help you get up to your calorie goal.)

Try to, "Eat enough, not too much, mostly plants"~ Michael Pollan.

i'm 5' 3", female, sedentary, and MFP has me set to 1250 calories per day to lose half a pound a week. i do exercise, and i eat back some of my exercise calories, usually a protein. since i am building muscle, i don't have room for lots of fats even if i eat 1400 calories on a workout day, but i do try to get some. and since i'm diabetic, i keep carbs lower, which leaves room for a half ounce of pistachios here and there.

Tiernan1212 wrote: »

You've gotten a lot of great advise here, so I only have one thing to add. As far as exercise calories go, I use my Fitbit to track mine. As Ann said above, they can definitely be inaccurate, but you know you still burned something. I will typically eat back about half of my exercise calories, and that seems to be a good balance for me (of course, every body is different).

I tend to fall into rewarding my exercise with more food, which leads to destructive patterns for me. I have to focus on my exercise calories as more of an overall health benefit than a diet benefit.

Welcome to MFP, you can do this!

i use my fitbit, and they are very inaccurate, but they give a frame of reference. keep in mind that fitbit doesn't track everything - i found it tracks my exercise bicycling on a recumbent, but not always on an upright bike. it won't track arm pedaling, which i do, chair dancing, which i also do, or any upper body exercises.

if most of one's daily exercise is walking, running or jogging, fitbit can come in very handy once linked to MFP. and while it's not accurate, neither are most other apps or devices.