Calorie count and work out questions

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tamtam78
tamtam78 Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, I know this is probably simple enough but I'm not sure of the answer. Say my calorie count is 1400 a day and I eat 1200 calories. I ride my bike for a while and it burns 500 calories. Now my total calories that I'm able to consume is 1900. Should I stick with the original 1400 calories or eat more because I'm burning more? What is the safest and healthiest thing? (these are estimates - not actual numbers). My current day looks like this.

Goal. 1380 Food 1488. Exercise 1806. Net -318. Remaining 1698.


Should I eat more? Or what. And what is the net -318?


Thanks for your help!!

Replies

  • epona_mus
    epona_mus Posts: 207 Member
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    I'm wondering the same thing. I've heard that the optimum calorie deficit is 300 calories per day for weight loss but not sure how this is calculated? Is it BMR + exercise cals - 300? Or BMR - 300?
  • Jess5825
    Jess5825 Posts: 228
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    What in the world did you do to burn 1806 exercise calories!?!?! That's amazing! But you should definitely eat more
  • harleyshan1
    harleyshan1 Posts: 21
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    Ok so same sorta question. Goal is 1200 calories. So far I'm starving (but probably b/c I have TOM) so if I eat over 200 calories but burn 200 calories I'm still ok right as long as the balance is 1200?

    Sorry brand new to this way of thinking.
  • tamtam78
    tamtam78 Posts: 6
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    This morning I got up early and rode my stationary bike for 30 minutes vigorously. Then after dinner I did it again. Each time is 600 something calories burned. When I added the two times it left the one from this morning so it show 90 minutes of bike riding. Thanks for noticing. My actual burn is 1200 something.
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    Ok so same sorta question. Goal is 1200 calories. So far I'm starving (but probably b/c I have TOM) so if I eat over 200 calories but burn 200 calories I'm still ok right as long as the balance is 1200?

    Sorry brand new to this way of thinking.

    The way MFP is set up, yes. MFP calculates your calorie goal so that you will be at an appropriate calorie deficit to achieve weightloss even if you don't exercise. Actually it's like MFP assumes you're not going to exercise. So when you DO, the system is like 'dang, you did not have to do that, but you did, great work! you've earned a snack'. LOL I eat most of my earned exercise calories and I've been very successful so far. Some people play around with not eating them, or eating part of them, or eating all of them, and people seem to find that different things work for them. Although when people say it didn't work for them to eat their exercise calories, I have to wonder if their activity level was set correctly and if their estimations of exercise calories were accurate. Not like I'm an expert or anything, I've only been at this for 3.5 months, but this is mainly supposed to just be math and the math says if things are set and estimated correctly, you should be fine to eat your exercise calories. But it's actually hotly debated on this site, so try it one way to see if it seems to work for you, and if not then switch it up and try something different. :-)

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