Losing weight and exercise calories

I've eaten all my carefully estimated exercise calories through a bit under year of losing from class 1 obese to a healthy weight, and 8 years of successfully maintaining a healthy weight since.

Exercise calories should always be accounting for during weight loss: The differences are in how we do the accounting. There are two general methods:

1. MFP Method: Set up your MFP profile, basing your activity level setting on non-exercise activity, such as job and home chores. Include the rate at which you want to lose weight in the set-up, and MFP will include that plan in your goal. Log exercise when you do some, and eat those calories, too. (It doesn't have to be all on the same day; it's OK to "bank" some calories to eat later, within reason.)

NOTE: The MFP profile settings about how many times a week you plan to exercise don't affect your calorie goal. They're about tracking actual against planned.

2. TDEE (total daily energy expenditure method): Go to an outside TDEE calculator to get a calorie estimate based on your daily life PLUS exercise activity. The calculator will average your planned exercise into your calorie goal. (Obviously, it's then important to actually DO the planned exercise!) Some of these calculators will let you specify a weight loss rate. If they don't, use the assumption that 500 calories a day is roughly a pound per week (1100 calories a day is a kilogram per week).

Either way, exercise is accounted for: The MFP method adds it separately, the TDEE method averages it in.

Why is it important to consider exercise calories in some way? Because fast loss generally isn't a good plan. It increases health risks, and it's hard to stay the course long enough to lose a meaningful total amount of weight. Something in the range of 0.5-1% of current weight per week is usually good, with a bias toward 0.5% unless severely obese and under medical supervision for deficiencies or complications. Or, something like a 20% cut from TDEE calories i probably OK.

No matter how you estimate it, follow your estimate for 4-6 weeks (or at least one full menstrual cycle if you have those). At that point, you have enough personal experience data to calculate a personalized calorie goal. (The calculators and MFP, even fitness trackers, just give estimates based on average people from research. Not everyone is average. Most people are close, but a few aren't.) Here again, use the assumption that 500 calories per day is a pound a week, or 1100 calories is a kilogram per week. Use arithmetic for partial pounds/kilograms.

If a person doesn't exercise very much, and they select a very slow weight loss rate (the 0.5% or slower), then it's probably OK if they let exercise make them lose a little faster. If someone picks an aggressively fast weight loss rate, stacks frequent intense exercise on top of that without accounting for the exercise . . . well, they're taking risks with their health and probability of long-term success.

In between those extremes, it's a judgement call. For myself, I don't like risking my health.

For me, estimating and eating exercise calories separately works well, because much of my exercise is seasonal and weather dependent. If someone has a consistent exercise schedule, that may make the TDEE method more appealing. It's just a matter of preference, at that point.

As far as exercise calorie estimates maybe not being accurate: Sure. But calorie needs estimates are based on population averages so can be inaccurate; food logging is based on average calories while one apple may be sweeter than the next so have more calories; and food labels are allowed to be off by a reasonably big percent (I think it's 20%).

All this stuff is estimates. But that's OK: The estimates don't have to be perfect, they just have to be workable. There are research-based estimates for getting good-enough workable exercise calorie estimates.

Best wishes!

Sticking my nose in because I'm a huge advocate of eating every last calorie you're entitled to as long as you're still achieving your goals because as your weight goes down, so do the calories you get to eat.

In a nutshell, mfp already gives you a deficit (however many lbs you picked during sign up). You put yourself into more of a deficit if you exercise but don't eat at least a portion of those calories back which may or may not end up being a healthy thing to do.

And just for reference on intensity, all my exercise is walking, and not even that fast or hard and I ate most if not all those calories back and lost 120 lbs.

My opinion? Log all food and all exercise and see how that works out for you weight loss wise. Adjust if necessary.

Your results with the app are only as good as the data you put into it
-is your weekly calorie counting correct?
-are you using the proper food entries?
-are you using the proper activity level selection?
-if you're eating back exercise calories are you being accurate?

You'll know after 4-6 weeks how your equation is working.

I have noticed that since my calorie base to maintain is 1600 per day, I can eat that and still lose weight when I exercise for one hour of walking or using the weight machine. I can eat my calories and lose weight as long as I exercise long enough each day.

I use this calculator to check how accurate my calorie burns are for running:
https://exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs

To compare with your Garmin numbers, set it to Gross energy. To see how many extra calories you should consume, set it to Net energy.

My Garmin systematically underestimates my running burns, could be different to yours (HR is only a proxy to help estimate calorie burns, no guarantee it's accurate).

Use an average or add the calorie burns individually each day, that is up to your personal preference as long as you account for exercise somewhere.
I personally prefer taking it day by day because my exercise is variable. If I have a less active week, I'd rather not be overeating because I have a fixed calorie goal based on a (in my case) mythical average amount of exercise.

jenring3 wrote: »

This is the thing that still confuses me. I'm actually an endurance athlete (marathon runner) so I run 5-6 days/week and lift weights at least 2 days. My long run on Saturdays I can burn up to 1300 calories (measured with Garmin and attached chest strap heart rate monitor - not wrist based). I realize these aren't 100% accurate but the chest strap is about as accurate as it can be for a consumer device. Most of the fitness pros I follow say not to eat calories back and figure a daily calorie target at a modest deficit but figuring in a general fitness-only based workout. On a lift day I burn 200 or so, but even on a mid-week run I can burn 600. I have no idea how to set up MFP to get the fat loss I need. I realize the 1200 calories MFP gives me is WAY too low, but should I set it there and eat the measured exercise calories? Figure an average calories burned and add that to the 1200/day? So confusing

Do you actually want to eat the same number of calories every day, rather than eating more calories on days when you're more active (or bank the active calories for a small number of days to eat at a special meal(s))?

That's a key question: What would make your life most practical and enjoyable?

To me, it doesn't matter what fitness pros (or anyone else) says, it matters what gives me a lifestyle that works best FOR ME. Those people don't know my preferences, strengths, challenges or lifestyle. I do.

After that decision, it's just about accounting methods. Either way can work for weight loss or maintenance, truly.

If you want to eat the same number of calories every day, exercise or no, start with a TDEE calculator. I like this one, because it has more activity levels with better descriptions than most, and it lets you compare several research-based estimating formulas:

https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/

Because it has so much information and so many options, the user interface is kind of scary at first. Take a deep breath, and step through it: It's pretty easy to understand and use, IME.

Since you're very active, I'd suggest your best bet would be slow loss, if you have weight to lose: Something around 0.5% of current weight per week, say; or maybe a 20% cut from your estimated TDEE at most.

You can put that estimate into your MFP calorie goal manually, rather than going through guided setup. Log your food carefully. Follow the calorie estimate pretty closely (as averaged over a week) for 4-6 weeks, or one full menstrual cycle if you have those (so you can compare bodyweight at the same relative point in at least 2 different cycles).

Once you do that, you have enough personalized data to adjust your calorie goal. Use the assumption that 500 calories daily is a pound a week, or 1100 calories daily is a kilogram per week (and use arithmetic for fractional pound/kilo adjustments).

That can work fine.

If you decide you'd rather eat uneven amounts daily (more on exercise days, or "bank" exercise calories to eat on a different day of the week), the concept is the same. The difference is that you let MFP's guided setup give you a goal, based on setting your "activity level" based on daily life activity (job, home chores, etc.). Don't lowball the activity level, and don't go for the most aggressive loss rate if it's unsuitable. (That you got 1200 calories makes me wonder what rate you requested. Two pounds or 1 kg per week is really only suitable for people who are pretty severely overweight.)

Estimate your exercise calories carefully. Lietchi suggested a good link for conservative walk/run estimates. You can add those calories when you log exercise; you don't have to go with the MFP default calorie estimates. You can even create custom exercises of your own, if you like. Log the exercise calories, and eat them, or some standard percentage of them if you're anxious, either that day or over a few days (averaging/banking is OK).

As with the other method, follow that for 4-6 weeks or a whole cycle, then adjust.

If you have a fitness tracker you wear nearly 24 x 7, syncing that to MFP is a good substitute for logging exercise manually, for most people. You still would want to do that 4-6 week/1 cycle test period then adjust, because fitness trackers can be wrong, too.

There's no reason to agonize about this. Either method, flat calories or logging exercise separately, can work. Pick the one that sounds most practical and tolerable for you, and test-drive it. Adjust based on results.

Two final things:

1. This isn't a "for life" decision. If you do the first month or two one way, and don't like it, you can switch to the other method. (May need to do a bit of further calorie-level test/adjust, that's all. It's a good idea to monitor/adjust along the way anyway.)

2. No matter the method, if you get through the first couple of weeks or so and seem to be losing very fast, and also begin feeling weak or fatigued for otherwise unexplained reasons, or have other negative symptoms, eat more. That's a warning sign of too-low calories. Otherwise, stick with the initial estimate - even if you don't seem to be losing at the rate you'd like - until you have enough data to do a personalized estimate. Most people are close to average, but a few people aren't, and the starting estimate may be high or low. (For me, the starting estimate was stupid-low.) Once you have an estimate based on your own data, things should become more predictable. Getting anxious and tweaking calorie level too often results in never getting a data-based idea of your actual needs.

Best wishes!

GlenG1969 wrote: »

jenring3 wrote: »

This is the thing that still confuses me. I'm actually an endurance athlete (marathon runner) so I run 5-6 days/week and lift weights at least 2 days. My long run on Saturdays I can burn up to 1300 calories (measured with Garmin and attached chest strap heart rate monitor - not wrist based). I realize these aren't 100% accurate but the chest strap is about as accurate as it can be for a consumer device. Most of the fitness pros I follow say not to eat calories back and figure a daily calorie target at a modest deficit but figuring in a general fitness-only based workout. On a lift day I burn 200 or so, but even on a mid-week run I can burn 600. I have no idea how to set up MFP to get the fat loss I need. I realize the 1200 calories MFP gives me is WAY too low, but should I set it there and eat the measured exercise calories? Figure an average calories burned and add that to the 1200/day? So confusing

You sound like a very active individual, however If you are trying to lose a little weight for whatever reason I'd recommend using an online TDEE calculator instead of MFP recommend calories. (I've linked an explanation of TDEE, NEAT etc to my original post above if you need it.

The reason MFP wont give you an accurate calorie goal is because it uses NEAT and not TDEE to calculate your daily needs. (cmriverside refers to this in their post above)

Use the TDEE calculator to work out your calorie needs and then manually input it in to MFP. If you feel you need to lose a bit of unwanted weight then subtract 10% from your TDEE and manually input that figure into MFP instead of the recommended one. I do this and i also use my own macro percentages 40% carbs, 35 protein 25 fats.

As you mentioned, the consensus amongst fitness professionals is NOT to eat back exercise calories. Unless, like you mentioned you have done a rather arduous and long endurance session and you know you need to. Try and track as accurately as you can and over a period of time test and adjust calories if needed.

All the best

Thank you! I think I'm starting to understand the 'don't eat back exercise calories' makes total sense IF we're talking average amounts of exercise/workouts for general fitness.