Confused about Calories!

shaazzap
shaazzap Posts: 18
edited December 21 in Health and Weight Loss
OK, I'm kinda new to MFP....I'm really confused about how it adds up your calories and the net calories thing. So I'm only supposed to have 1200 a day, but then if I go to the gym and burn 300 calories it basically says "you can eat 300 more calories today because you earnt it in the gym" But wouldnt that defeat the object of going to the gym? If you burn it off then eat it all back in the same day?

If I dont eat the extra calories and stick to my 1200 calories, I submit my food diary then it tells me "you're eating too few calories, you're body will go into starvation mode"....oh so confused!

Can anyone shed some light :)

Cheers guys x

Replies

  • thedeegan4
    thedeegan4 Posts: 422 Member
    You should always eat back your exercise calories.
  • msgremmy
    msgremmy Posts: 88
    MFP calculates your calories with a 500 calorie deficit already in place-- so 1200 is the minimum you should eat and already includes a deficit. When you exercise, you're burning those calories and can "eat them back" to ensure that you net 1200.
  • polly_lops
    polly_lops Posts: 35 Member
    I think for women, to apparently stay at a similar weight and not gain or lose, we're allowed something like 2000. So MFP "gives" you 1200 which means it'll help you lose about 2lbs a week (I think, ish, massive estimation) If you do exercise and burn off 300, then you're allowed 300 more calories of food/drink but you'll still lose weight because you're still down 800 calories from the original 2000. It depends also on what you have for those 300 calories...you could have "good" food with low fat and it won't undo anything, sit and eat gross fatty stuff and it will. Does that make sense?
  • jealous_loser
    jealous_loser Posts: 395
    I hear eat back 1/2 of your exercise calories.
  • gseburn
    gseburn Posts: 456 Member
    Most people will say that the exercise is for fitness, your diet is for losing fat. Exercise can help boost your metabolism so that you burn more calories at rest, which will help with your overall deficit. Exercise has other benefits as well. Your calorie goal has a built-in deficit already
  • saxmaniac
    saxmaniac Posts: 1,133 Member
    The 1200 a day already has a calorie deficit to make you lose weight. For sake of argument, let's say you need 1500, so 1200 means a deficit of -300.

    If you go to the gym, you should generally eat back the calories, so that you maintain a consitent deficit of -300, rather than it being all over the place, or being too much.
  • Tierra32
    Tierra32 Posts: 2
    I would like to know also.
  • babygotback560
    babygotback560 Posts: 55 Member
    yea that why i never eat the calories i burn... i just eat my 1200 calories...
  • kierstin1976
    kierstin1976 Posts: 123 Member
    I don't eat fitness calories. If the machines at the gym tell you that you burned 300 calories they are only estimates, each person is different.
  • tifferzb1206
    tifferzb1206 Posts: 19 Member
    MFP calculates your calories with a 500 calorie deficit already in place-- so 1200 is the minimum you should eat and already includes a deficit. When you exercise, you're burning those calories and can "eat them back" to ensure that you net 1200.


    Thank you for this explanation! Most straight forward way I've heard it put and it totally makes sense now!
  • feltlikesound
    feltlikesound Posts: 326 Member
    The number of calories MFP gives you is designed to allow you to lose weight just based on diet -- WITHOUT exercising. So basically, if you just went through your normal day, ate that many calories, you would lose weight (generally at a recommended rate of 0.5-2 pounds a week based on your MFP input). MFP is suggesting you eat less calories than your body will use in a normal day, so that it burns from your "storage".

    This isn't a flawless calculation (or a very scientific explanation), of course, but that's the point of the website.

    Thus, when you work out, you make that "gap" even larger, and can push yourself beyond having enough caloric intake to fuel your body in a healthy way.
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
    Your deficit is already built into MFP - it added it at the beginning, when it asked you during your profile setup how much weight you wanted to lose.

    So when it says you should eat 1200 - what it really means is that based on your stats you burn, let's say 1700 calories a day. Let's say you told mfp you want to lose 1lb per week - that would require you eat 500 calories per day less than 1700 - in other words 1200.

    So when you work out you are burning *more* than 1700 calories a day. Let's say you burn 300 cals in exercise - now you've used up 1700+300 = 2000 calories for the day. But to lose 1lb per week you still only need to eat 500 less than you burn... so now it's 2000-500 = 1500 calories to eat.

    That's about as simple as I can put it. Hope that helped.
  • msgremmy
    msgremmy Posts: 88
    MFP calculates your calories with a 500 calorie deficit already in place-- so 1200 is the minimum you should eat and already includes a deficit. When you exercise, you're burning those calories and can "eat them back" to ensure that you net 1200.


    Thank you for this explanation! Most straight forward way I've heard it put and it totally makes sense now!

    Happy to help :)
  • wareagle8706
    wareagle8706 Posts: 1,090 Member
    There is a ton of questions surrounding this all the time on MFP. You need to find the group, "Eat More Weigh Less" under Community and see what they have to say. Most people stall out and see little weight loss at 1200 calories from what I've seen.

    The basic rule is not to go below your BMR (basal metabolic rate). You can google this or, again, go to that group and they'll tell you all about it, haha. That is probably why MFP is telling you that you're eating too few calories in a day. It doesn't necessarily "defeat" the purpose of working out if you eat those calories back, but it's a fine line and every body is different. You'll just have to experiment for a while to see what works for you. Just watch the scale to see if it goes up or down based on how many calories you're taking in and that's a good indicator (unless you're doing a lot of weight/resistance training, then you need to watch your body fat).

    Hope this helps!!
  • TurtleRunnerNC
    TurtleRunnerNC Posts: 751 Member
    MFP already has the calorie deficit to lose the weight into your goal #. So for example you didn't ever work out you would still lose weight.

    If you exercise you can eat them back & still lose weight. Some people eat them all back, some part & some do not think you should eat them back at all.

    Be sure to calculate your TDEE and BMR. It is important to not eat below your BMR as this is the calories your body needs to function each day (how many it would use to keep your body functioning if you were in a coma)

    good luck.
  • devil_in_a_blue_dress
    devil_in_a_blue_dress Posts: 5,214 Member
    Here's the thing, at 1,200 even if you did zero exercise you will lose weight - so you should eat those calories back so your body doesn't think you are starving it. If you don't eat them back, your weight loss will likely slow down.
  • shaazzap
    shaazzap Posts: 18
    Ahhhhh!! OK I get it now!! very well explained by you all! Thanks very much =D xx
  • kimgravel
    kimgravel Posts: 32
    MFP already builds a deficit into your calorie allowance. So if you tell it that you want to loose a pound a week, it will tell you to eat 3,500 cals less per week.
  • HotCuppaJo
    HotCuppaJo Posts: 476 Member
    I've been at 1200 calories since Jan. 16 when I joined. I've lost 48 pounds and am close to reaching my goal. Having said that, we ALL are different, so here's what I, personally, do.

    I DO eat back or drink back my calories, but.... ONLY if I want to. Sometimes I don't feel hungry, and that's o.k. too. I like to think of think of them as a "bonus". Perhaps, a bit of a reward for working out. :) (Especially since, according to a lot of people on here, I probably SHOULD be eating more than 1200 anyway.)

    I think you will begin to figure out what your body needs after you've done this for a few weeks and your routine, and what works for YOU, will begin to fall into place. :) Best of luck to you!!! :smile:
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
    MFP factors in a lower number of calories you should consume than it would to maintain your weight. It factors in a weight loss for you. If you are set for 1200 calories (which many experts agree is the minimum you should consume for nutritional purposes), then you exercise on top of that, your net calorie intake would be 900 calories which falls below this recommendation. PERSONALLY, I usually eat back PART OF the calories. The reason is that miss-estimates of both intake (food) and exercises are likely... and we are usually more likely to under estimate portion sizes and over estimate expenditure of energy (exercise). Hence if we are not careful, we can wind up losing our calorie deficit. Therefore, If I burn an estimated 1200 calories in exercise, I'll usually eat back about 600 of them... this allows a margin of error. Also make sure your exercise is in EXCESS of your estimated daily activity level. By putting exercise in that is in line with your activity level, you are estimating your calories burned two times... Which is nice in theory but the scale don't agree. Hope this helps. Best wishes in your endeavor .
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    if you eat 1200 calories

    then exercise and burn 300 calories

    you have only consumed (or netted) 900 calories for the day

    Thus you are way under your calorie goal

    So you must eat 300 calories to bring your 'net' total back to 1200

    1200 is the minimum amount of calories MFP recommends. Generally speaking we all burn approximately a minimum of 1200 calories with just our basic body functions. By consistently consuming lower than this number you could be putting undo stress on your body.

    In a nut shell YES eat those calories earned through exercise. Your body needs them as fuel for the hard work you've done.
  • squishycow7
    squishycow7 Posts: 820 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/squishycow7/view/so-many-links-so-little-time-233614

    there are some links in there that should make it clearer for you! #3 and #5!

    Short answer- you have to fuel your workouts, or your body will freak out and hold onto your fat instead of burning it because it will think you're in some sort of dire situation. Your body doesn't care about how you want to look, it only cares about survival!
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