I am confused again...please help

DCpaleochick
DCpaleochick Posts: 211 Member
edited December 19 in Health and Weight Loss
just when I think I got it BAM....

*do we eat back the calories you get from exercisig or not?
*and when you loose weight doesn't your calorie intake go up? So you should be adjusting it as the weight comes off?

Replies

  • mpizzle421
    mpizzle421 Posts: 80 Member
    Yes. Eat back exercise calories. Myfitnesspal already sets your calories at a 500-1000 calorie deficit. Burning further calories, and NOT eating them back isn't necessary to achieve your goals.
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    Your calorie intake goes down when you lose weight, not up. You have less body tissue to keep alive, so it requires less energy overall. However, if you increase your activity level substantially while losing weight and then keep that level up after you're done, that will require an increase.

    As to eating back exercise calories, if you're taking your caloric requirement from the MFP suggestions, a deficit is already built in and most people think you should eat back at least some calories burned during exercise.
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
    1. Only eat your exercise cals back if you are using a GOOD heart rate monitor and trust the reading. Otherwise, I guarantee you'll overestimate.

    2. Calorie allowance will go DOWN as you lose weight - a smaller you needs less energy to move. So yes, recalculate every 20lbs lost or so.
  • joylynnwatkins
    joylynnwatkins Posts: 1
    I want to make sure that I understand this correctly
    My daily summary looks like this:

    Goal:1200
    Food: 852
    Exercise: -352
    Net: 500
    Calories Remaining: 700

    So I am trying to stick to the 1200 calories for the day, the only thing left to track will be dinner. Which I would keep close to 400 calories max. Is this what I should be doing?
  • Denjo060
    Denjo060 Posts: 1,008
    Yep thats it
  • DCpaleochick
    DCpaleochick Posts: 211 Member
    Thanks for responding guys. I think I got it again!
  • stanvoodoo
    stanvoodoo Posts: 1,023 Member
    Without seeing you diary it is hard to advise but the bottom line is you only really need to eat back calories when your net is under 1200.

    You don't to go under that unless advised by a Dr.

    If you stall and can't loss anymore then try eating back a portion of the exercise calories and see if that breaks the plateau.

    Best of luck!!
  • stephsousa2
    stephsousa2 Posts: 4
    Try a post work out snack. Your body immediately needs calories to replenish. Try eating fruit, or fruit smoothies, protein shakes, energy bars, yogurt, cottage cheese (low fat of course) all of these will add calories without the negative effects of eating a 700 calorie meal at the end of your day. This can help you keep your meals lean and small while still getting the fuel your body needs to recovery from a work out.
  • Mindmovesbody
    Mindmovesbody Posts: 399 Member
    So many people have this question on here! Here is the bottom line.....you need to know two things.

    1) Your BMR ( basal metabolic rate) this is how many calories your body needs daily JUST FOR YOUR ORGANS TO FUNCTION. If you were in a hospital in a coma, they would figure out your BMR and intravenously feed you a MINIMUM of this many calories, it is what your body needs.

    2) then you need your TDEE - your total daily energy expenditure. When you get out of bed, go get breakfast or coffee, stretch, read the paper, shower...you are burning calories ALL DAY LONG with every move you make...then on top if it you are hopefully exercising. You have to chose your activity level correctly, most people vastly underestimate this and end up with too few calories. So you figure out how active you are, figure out your TDEE. THIS NUMBER ALREADY INCLUDES YOUR ACTIVITY AND WORKOUTS. If you are looking to maintain weight, you eat your TDEE every day. IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO LOSE WEIGHT subtract 15% from your TDEE and this is what you should be consuming on a daily basis. This number already accounts for your exercise. Do not eat back exercise calories unless you exercise so much that you go below your BMR!!!

    This will help you VASTLY!!!

    Once you have these numbers go into MFP and set your calorie goal at either TDEE to maintain your current weight or TDEE - 15% ( cut) to lose weight. Set your carbs at 40%, fat and protein at 30% and your sodium at 2500. And start eating!!!
  • Lchaim18
    Lchaim18 Posts: 7
    I actually posed this question to my physician. She recommended at least splitting the difference. So, if you gain 300 calories from excercizing, she recommends you eat at least 150 of those calories. That was based on a beginning 1200 calorie diet
  • RandomMiranda
    RandomMiranda Posts: 298
    FYI, once you've lost some weight (I think it was 10 or 15lbs for me) MFP will prompt you to reset your calorie goals based on your new weight, so you don't have to worry about knowing when to do that part.
  • thepanttherlady
    thepanttherlady Posts: 258 Member
    I want to make sure that I understand this correctly
    My daily summary looks like this:

    Goal:1200
    Food: 852
    Exercise: -352
    Net: 500
    Calories Remaining: 700

    So I am trying to stick to the 1200 calories for the day, the only thing left to track will be dinner. Which I would keep close to 400 calories max. Is this what I should be doing?

    If you only eat 400 calories for dinner, you will net 900 for the day. If your goal is to eat the 1200 goal then you need to eat the remaining 700 calories.
  • hiker282
    hiker282 Posts: 983 Member
    I'll sum up the responses:

    Yes

    No

    Maybe

    Do what the lord tells you

    Listen to your body

    Your Uterus will fall out

    You can't gain muscle on a deficit

    You can gain muscle on a deficit

    There is a god

    There is no god

    Elvis is god

    Bazinga!
  • grex1949
    grex1949 Posts: 125 Member
    Without seeing you diary it is hard to advise but the bottom line is you only really need to eat back calories when your net is under 1200.

    You don't to go under that unless advised by a Dr.

    If you stall and can't loss anymore then try eating back a portion of the exercise calories and see if that breaks the plateau.

    Best of luck!!

    I would add to the above that you really should be eating at least your BMR, which is the number of calories it takes to keep your basic bodily functions operating. Not that you'll drop dead in a week of starvation if you don't, but it's just healthier, I think, to keep your minimum number at that BMR figure. Your BMR number, of course, will decrease with weight loss, so that will need to be adjusted.
    Here's my reasoning: If you eat the calories indicated by your BMR, you are at a deficit even without exercise, and you will lose weight. This is because even if you are sedentary, you burn about 20% more calories than your BMR getting up and moving around to get to your desk job. In the end, those calories count.
    So, say your BMR is 1600 kcal/day. If I set my goal at 1600 and don't exercise, and assuming I have a sedentary lifestyle, I'm going to have about a 320 kcal/day deficit, which translates to a one-pound weight loss every ten days or so.
    If I exercise and burn 800 kcal/day and eat an extra 800 kcal to make up for the exercise, my deficit is still going to be 320 kcal/day, and the weight loss will still be about a pound every ten days.
    But, if I eat back 400 of those 800 exercise calories, my deficit turns into about 720 kcal/day, which is two pounds every ten days.
    I think this is a better way to go, and healthier, than simply cutting 720 calories from your BMR to net 900 a day without exercise. Exercise will tone muscles. You will feel better and look better sooner with exercise.
    Of course, water intake is critical, too.
    I've only been on MFP for a few months, but I've noticed that people seem to be in too big a hurry to lose the weight they have gained over a period of months or years. It took time to put it on, it will take time to take it off properly. Move too fast with a crash diet or deprivation, and you are much more likely to simply eat your way back to where you started after reaching your goal weight. That's just my 2 cents worth. Your opinions may differ. :)
  • kathyc727
    kathyc727 Posts: 187 Member
    FYI, once you've lost some weight (I think it was 10 or 15lbs for me) MFP will prompt you to reset your calorie goals based on your new weight, so you don't have to worry about knowing when to do that part.

    I beleive MFP asks you to reset at 10lbs. lost.
  • DCpaleochick
    DCpaleochick Posts: 211 Member
    Without seeing you diary it is hard to advise but the bottom line is you only really need to eat back calories when your net is under 1200.

    You don't to go under that unless advised by a Dr.

    If you stall and can't loss anymore then try eating back a portion of the exercise calories and see if that breaks the plateau.

    Best of luck!!

    I would add to the above that you really should be eating at least your BMR, which is the number of calories it takes to keep your basic bodily functions operating. Not that you'll drop dead in a week of starvation if you don't, but it's just healthier, I think, to keep your minimum number at that BMR figure. Your BMR number, of course, will decrease with weight loss, so that will need to be adjusted.
    Here's my reasoning: If you eat the calories indicated by your BMR, you are at a deficit even without exercise, and you will lose weight. This is because even if you are sedentary, you burn about 20% more calories than your BMR getting up and moving around to get to your desk job. In the end, those calories count.
    So, say your BMR is 1600 kcal/day. If I set my goal at 1600 and don't exercise, and assuming I have a sedentary lifestyle, I'm going to have about a 320 kcal/day deficit, which translates to a one-pound weight loss every ten days or so.
    If I exercise and burn 800 kcal/day and eat an extra 800 kcal to make up for the exercise, my deficit is still going to be 320 kcal/day, and the weight loss will still be about a pound every ten days.
    But, if I eat back 400 of those 800 exercise calories, my deficit turns into about 720 kcal/day, which is two pounds every ten days.
    I think this is a better way to go, and healthier, than simply cutting 720 calories from your BMR to net 900 a day without exercise. Exercise will tone muscles. You will feel better and look better sooner with exercise.
    Of course, water intake is critical, too.
    I've only been on MFP for a few months, but I've noticed that people seem to be in too big a hurry to lose the weight they have gained over a period of months or years. It took time to put it on, it will take time to take it off properly. Move too fast with a crash diet or deprivation, and you are much more likely to simply eat your way back to where you started after reaching your goal weight. That's just my 2 cents worth. Your opinions may differ. :)

    thank you...you made a bunch of sense.
  • AlmstHvn
    AlmstHvn Posts: 376 Member
    I want to make sure that I understand this correctly
    My daily summary looks like this:

    Goal:1200
    Food: 852
    Exercise: -352
    Net: 500
    Calories Remaining: 700

    So I am trying to stick to the 1200 calories for the day, the only thing left to track will be dinner. Which I would keep close to 400 calories max. Is this what I should be doing?

    I don't think so ... you eat the Calories Remaining.
    If you only ate 400, your net would be 900 ... 300 short of your goal of 1200.
    If you eat the full 700, your net is 1200, exactly at your goal, which will get you towards the setting you chose on MFP (1 lb a week, 1.5 lb/week)

    As some have said, if you choose a number somewhere in the middle - like, 500-550 calories, you leave yourself enough of a buffer in case your exercise calorie-estimate was higher than it actually was.
  • MsMarie213
    MsMarie213 Posts: 21
    Without seeing you diary it is hard to advise but the bottom line is you only really need to eat back calories when your net is under 1200.

    You don't to go under that unless advised by a Dr.

    If you stall and can't loss anymore then try eating back a portion of the exercise calories and see if that breaks the plateau.

    Best of luck!!

    I would add to the above that you really should be eating at least your BMR, which is the number of calories it takes to keep your basic bodily functions operating. Not that you'll drop dead in a week of starvation if you don't, but it's just healthier, I think, to keep your minimum number at that BMR figure. Your BMR number, of course, will decrease with weight loss, so that will need to be adjusted.
    Here's my reasoning: If you eat the calories indicated by your BMR, you are at a deficit even without exercise, and you will lose weight. This is because even if you are sedentary, you burn about 20% more calories than your BMR getting up and moving around to get to your desk job. In the end, those calories count.
    So, say your BMR is 1600 kcal/day. If I set my goal at 1600 and don't exercise, and assuming I have a sedentary lifestyle, I'm going to have about a 320 kcal/day deficit, which translates to a one-pound weight loss every ten days or so.
    If I exercise and burn 800 kcal/day and eat an extra 800 kcal to make up for the exercise, my deficit is still going to be 320 kcal/day, and the weight loss will still be about a pound every ten days.
    But, if I eat back 400 of those 800 exercise calories, my deficit turns into about 720 kcal/day, which is two pounds every ten days.
    I think this is a better way to go, and healthier, than simply cutting 720 calories from your BMR to net 900 a day without exercise. Exercise will tone muscles. You will feel better and look better sooner with exercise.
    Of course, water intake is critical, too.
    I've only been on MFP for a few months, but I've noticed that people seem to be in too big a hurry to lose the weight they have gained over a period of months or years. It took time to put it on, it will take time to take it off properly. Move too fast with a crash diet or deprivation, and you are much more likely to simply eat your way back to where you started after reaching your goal weight. That's just my 2 cents worth. Your opinions may differ. :)

    This makes a bunch of sense i have been confused about this whole BMR/TDEE thing and you have helped me ALOT. Thank you!!
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