Who of you go for an average calorie goal, vs, goal + exerci

Options
NitaCB
NitaCB Posts: 532 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've recently upped my calories a bit according to the advice of another member, and this website:

http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm (If you haven't seen it, you should check it out)

So I've been trying to aim for about 1850 calories a day, which is what it recommends for me because I do a lot of running. I'm just wondering who else tries this kind of approach, as opposed to the whole MFP goal and then eating back your exercise calories. (And no, I'm not trying to start a whole debate on eating/not eating exercise calories please!) I'm wondering whether to try the other approach, but I'm very skeptical on the accuracy of the MFP burns. I don't have a HRM, I can't afford one at the moment, but I do know that that's a great solution to that. I guess I'm also particularly interested in hearing from those who don't have much variance in the exercise they do. As a runner (I do weights as well) my exercise burns can be anywhere from about 400 to 1300 on a long run day.

What do you do? Any advice or suggestions? (And please I don't want a debate on eating/not eating exercise calories.)

Replies

  • casinojames
    casinojames Posts: 7
    Options
    So I'm in the same boat with you. I do running as my primary source of exercise with the exception of workouts I do with my co workers three times a week. I do subscribe to the MFP calorie goals and set if extremely low at 1200 cals per day. Not a lot of food to live on but I burn from 300 to 900 cals per day depending how much of run I do so it all evens out. I've burned 20 lbs in just two months with this approach and I'm still dropping weight. I don't get bored or feel starved at all since the results are obvious and using this tracking program gives me a lot of encouragement. Not sure if that helps but I think what your doing now should keep you on track.
  • NitaCB
    NitaCB Posts: 532 Member
    Options
    Do you mean what I'm doing now, in going for an average amount that stays the same every day, or go by an MFP goal and eat back most of my exercise cals?
  • rachmaree
    rachmaree Posts: 782 Member
    Options
    To be honest, these days I've been going by how my body feels. I've gone up in cals, and then up again, and I still feel hungry some times, so I don't worry too much about being over, although I wish I could be more consistent. I have found that generally the allowance mfp gave seemed a little low for my needs- even with eating back my exercise cals. You really need to find out your maintanance cals and then adjust accordingly.
    For all the exercise you do Anita, I think you should be eating more!
  • NitaCB
    NitaCB Posts: 532 Member
    Options
    Yea but the burns that MFP gives me still seem too high. At the moment the goal I've got it on is only to lose 0.5 lbs a week, but with aiming for 1850, and logging in my exercise calories I hardly reach a net of 1200, unless I've only done a Pump class. Maybe I should just take my goal back down.
    And you think I should eat more- well after this race I'll be working on upping my mileage to probably 6 days a week, more like 65-80 kms. More food!
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
    Options
    my beautifully thin neighbor (she is 6 foot tall and as slender as they come) She uses MFP and logs her exercise and wears a HRM but she aims for about 1700 cals a day on average. She uses the HRM and logs it all and has learned that is about the average she should eat but she also uses it to balance out really big meals on days when she has a date with her hubby or a night out with the girls etc. It is a worthwhile method for a lot of people. I have a target that has me losing like .25 lbs a week but have found that to be my maintenance target and then I eat back most of my exercise cals...I do that because my life has changed drastically and some days I burn 250 and somedays I burn 1000 (not marathon season right now for me...burns will go back up huge in May)
    One other thing I have found Nita is that if I have a few over days I always feel better about them if I can find a day in the week that I was under by the about the same amount thus averaging out for the week at a deficit.....so I bet that an average daily calorie burn would work as well.
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
    Options
    double post sorry
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
    Options
    my beautifully thin neighbor (she is 6 foot tall and as slender as they come) She uses MFP and logs her exercise and wears a HRM but she aims for about 1700 cals a day on average. She uses the HRM and logs it all and has learned that is about the average she should eat but she also uses it to balance out really big meals on days when she has a date with her hubby or a night out with the girls etc. It is a worthwhile method for a lot of people. I have a target that has me losing like .25 lbs a week but have found that to be my maintenance target and then I eat back most of my exercise cals...I do that because my life has changed drastically and some days I burn 250 and somedays I burn 1000 (not marathon season right now for me...burns will go back up huge in May)
    One other thing I have found Nita is that if I have a few over days I always feel better about them if I can find a day in the week that I was under by the about the same amount thus averaging out for the week at a deficit.....so I bet that an average daily calorie burn would work as well.
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
    Options
    Oh...I have learned with my Garmin...I burn about 90-93 calories per mile..I think I might be shorter than you and you are a bit faster but we are about the same running wise. I think others like us burn between 85-95 cals per mile so compare that to the MFP burns and see how it compares...might help you figure your math.
  • missikay1970
    missikay1970 Posts: 588 Member
    Options
    i eat 1400 cal per day and even though i log-in my exercise on MFP, i don't eat back my calories. i stay within 5-10 calories of 1400 every day. it has worked for me so far, although i just started running and i have noticed that i will probably have to increase my cals b/c i'm hungry during the day whereas i used to not be. so i might start 1500 cal per day starting tomorrow and try that for a few weeks to see if i can knock out some more weight.
  • olivia3263
    olivia3263 Posts: 263 Member
    Options
    I just switched to doing this this week and it has worked WONDERFULLY!!

    Like you, I'm a runner, and I was getting frustrated with my weight loss (getting the last 10 pounds off). I tried upping my calories and it worked initially, but then I gained 5 pounds. I finally spent $80 and scheduled an appointment with a running nutritionist. This is what she told me to do:

    I'm 5'8" and last week I was 162 lbs. Prior I was set to lose .5 lb a week and was eating all my exercise calories. Didn't work.

    She told me it would take 1970 to maintain my weight without exercise. She told me to never eat below 1600 (my bmr). She said I could create up to a 1000 calorie deficit with exercise, but a burn more than 600 I would have to eat the extra calories. If I stick to 1600 calories a day, on non workout days I have a deficit of 370. On days I run 6 miles (about 600 calorie burn) my TDEE is 2570, so eating 1600 calories will give me about a 1000 calorie deficit. If I run longer than 6 miles, I need to eat those extra calories - for instance, if I run 10 miles (1000 calories), my TDEE is 2970: if I only eat 1600 my deficit is too large (1370) so I need to eat at least 370 calories to make it a 1000 calorie deficit - so I need to eat at least 1970 on days I run 10 miles.

    I set it up in MFP so my daily calorie goal is my maintenance level with no exercise (1970). I try to stick to 1600 unless I run more than 6 miles. My calories remaining ends up being my deficit for the day, and I really like seeing that. I try to keep that between 500 - 1000 on most days. I did this all this past week and I lost 4 pounds! (well, I'm always a range, but I was ranging 160 - 162, for the past 3 weeks and I was 158 this morning!).
  • _SpeshK_
    _SpeshK_ Posts: 496 Member
    Options
    I try my hardest not to eat back my exercise calories. I don't feel like it is beneficial for myself for weight loss, and I tend to eat a lot more when I give myself the "excuse" that I exercised. My daily calorie goal is a little higher, but I think that is more because my weight is higher. I don't even like to log my exercise calories, because I don't like the idea lingering out there, haha.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Options
    I start with a base for maintenance at 1700 and log my exercise, but typically, I end up at around 1900-2100 calories and don't fret if I'm over or under on any particular day.

Categories