Confused about calories...
 

I apologize for asking such a ridiculous question, but I really can't seem to get a grasp on this whole "calories burned" thing.

So I just did the Calorie Calculator/Daily Caloric Needs, and if I use the option for exercise 3 times weekly, it says my daily caloric needs for maintenance are 2166 calories.

Here's where I get confused:

When I exercise, do I add the calories burned from each workout to my daily caloric needs, and THAT is how many calories I burn for that day? Or is the calculator I just used accounting for my workouts, and I'm only burning 2166 total?

I don't understand!!!!! Also, you guys say you add in your sleeping hours to your fitday activities. Is that not accounted for in your BMR? I seriously get so confused by all of this that I want to stop counting calories altogether, because I never know what the right number is!!!

Somebody please explain :confused:

Since I don't use the FD activities calculator, I don't think I can answer the first part of your question. But I know that sleep doesn't factor into active, waking BMR. Everything slows down when you sleep. It is your body's time to conserve energy and "reset." So, your metabolic rate drops off drastically when you're asleep, your brain activity goes way down (even during REM), and you're basically burning only enough to keep basic life functions going. Which means even if you're vegging on the couch watching TV, you're burning more calories than when you're asleep. As far as I know, the FD calculator assumes you're awake all the time unless you specifically include time spent sleeping, which will drop your daily caloric needs number. Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong.

-Nik

Thanks Nik...

And in reference to the first part of the question, I got that calculator off of a different website (just some random calorie calculator).

I was just wondering, as a generality, do they factor in your workouts, or do you usually just add the calories burned to your daily caloric needs?

Like...say I burn 2166 per day, and then I burn another 300 on the elliptical. So am I correct in saying I burned 2466?

That sounds right to me.

The main reason I don't use calculators for calories burned is because it's so hard to pin it down exactly. I just assume a baseline of 2000 and work from there. Plus, most calculators only account for the calories burned while doing the activity itself, whereas some activities raise your BMR for a certain amount of time afterwards. For example, when you move around heavy boxes for half a day, you raise your BMR by something like 20-30% for the next 24 hours!

IMHO if you can log everything you do in a day then you'll have a good estimate of how much you've burned, but for me they're too detail-dependent to be useful.

-Nik

Maybe I just need to stop caring quite so much about the exact number of calories, work out like I always do, keep my eating at a minimal yet sustainable level, and just live my life!

All these numbers are making my head hurt!!! :)

i know what you mean, i also gave up counting my calorie burned since i can not make any sense of it. but, when i see the others talking about calorie deficincies, i feel left in the dark!:o

Farah, I honestly think I'm just going to "monitor" my calories, not count them so strictly, and just make sure that I work hard at working out, and put in an honest effort to lose weight at a healthy rate, and to just be more healthy in general!

I don't think I want to live the rest of my life counting every single calorie I put in my mouth...that's just silly. As long as I make smart food choices, and don't overeat, I believe that I will reach my goal and be a healthier, happier person!

Hi Jenny,
The calorie burn thing is confusing, both in theory and the way Fitday applies it. Here's what works for most people. When you set up your profile pick a level of activity that does not include your exercize routines. For me, most of my day is either at my desk or stand/walking in the laboratory. So "seated with some activity" is appropriate for me. The "calories burned" in the table now reflect the amount of calories you use just to do the things you need to do in your every day life.

Now, when you exercize you will add those activities independently. For example, my daily calorie need is about 1900, or about 80 calories per hour on average. Then I add a 2 hour run at 10 min miles. Fitday will calculate the calories burned for those 2 hours and replace 2 hours at 80 calories with 2 hours at about 500 calories burned per hour. So my calories burned for that day will be around 2740.

That is the value that will be used to calculate my daily calorie deficit. So if I eat 1700 calories and burn 2700 calories, I will have a deficit of 1000 calories - which is really good, almost a third of a pound of fat at 3500 calories per pound of fat.

What can get confusing is that the calorie burned calculations are only a rough estimate. There are many, many factors that go into exactly how many calories an individual burns. And a program like Fitday just can't account for all of those factors.

Many of us believe that our profiles over estimate the number of calories we require for our day-to-day activites. That is why some people add "sleep" or other activities to lower the number. Lots of folks also find that the calories burned doing an activity doesn't match other data they have available like the calculators on elliptical machines or GPS equipment. Therefore you will probably read recommendations on how to adjust those numbers in Fitday by changing the time spent doing and activity or the intensity of that activity.

The calorie deficit calculations can be really helpful for planning meals and exercize. But not everyone likes them or can use them, so the bottom line is: Whatever works for you... stick with it.

RunBikeSki -

So when you calculate YOUR daily totals, do you put in the sleep hours like some people do? I guess I just don't know whether or not I should do it myself? I have my daily activity set at seated with some activity (I work as a police dispatcher, and then usually do household chores when I get home). Then I go ahead and add in whatever exercise I do.

So based on how I do things now, do you suppose I should also include 8 hours sleeping (or however many I sleep). Right now it usually shows me burning around 2200 calories BEFORE my workouts.

If I add sleeping, it puts me at like 1550 calories...quite a huge diference. So I really don't know which to go by?

Jenny, I think it's smart for you to ease into things. Just do healthy things and see how the scale responds. I did that for about a year and once I wanted to get more serious, then I started counting calories. Maybe at some point I'll take it up another notch and count calories expended so I can actually figure out my deficiencies, but for right now, I'm happy with the rate at which I'm losing and don't feel the need.

Just do what feels good. As long as the scale is moving and you're engaging in healthy habits, don't feel the need to count out every calorie in/out. Best of luck!

Hi Guys,
I agree with all that's been said except for at the beginning of the thread when you were going to add on 300 calories to the 2166 calories. That 2166 is calculated already expecting you to work out 3X per week, since that is what you have the calculator set on. Maybe I'm missing something? But I would not add on extra cals unless you are working out a lot more than 3X a week. 2466 is likely an overestimate of your calorie needs.

Sorry, hope I didn't add to the confusion. Let me know if I've got it wrong!

I don't add sleep
 

Hi Jenny,
A lot of this is just plain old experience. For me, the 1900 cals or so calculated is about right. And I just know that after several years of working with calorie calculators and my body. That being said, I think that I am actually more active during the day than the "seated with some movement" category. So I have, in effect, lowered my calories requirement by choosing a lower acitvity level.

Here is my thinking: I would much rather think that my calorie requirement was lower than it really is and end up losing fat a little faster. As opposed to thinking that the requirement was higher and not lose weight because I was eating too much.

One other reminder, the calorie requirement calculation is based you the weight you have entered into your profile. So as you get closer to your goal, make sure to record that in FitDay. Sadly, and this totally pisses me off, the small you get, the less you get to eat. Seems so unfair :D

If the calories burned is too confusing to figure out, ignore it completely. An easier solution is to pick a number of calories you think you should be eating to lose weight, and stick with it for 2 weeks. If you aren't losing weight (or aren't losing fast enough), decrease that number by 10%. Rinse and repeat as needed until you reach your goal.

just wanted to say, i'm really proud of you people! you always come up with something smart to say. compare to your posts, mine looks like a damzel in stress and not the voice of a strong, motivated woman that i'd like to be!
man, weight loss wasn't stressfull enough!!!!!!!!:D

Yup, bottom line... lizzy's right
 

It is all about losing the pounds. Some of us just love the geeky parts of the process - it somehow makes it more tolerable, even entertaining. But the whole idea is to come up with a method that works for YOU and only YOU.

BTW thanks Farah, I'm not sure that we're any smarter, just been around the block a few more times. (Perhaps I should just speak for myself. Ahem, Lizzy and the Rhino are tots compared to me :p)

I'm also confused about calories
 

Hi all, I'm new to Fitday and just completed my profile. According to Fitday, I should be eating almost 2200 calories a day. On another website, I calculated calories and that one said 1600. Another said 1500. A couple of years ago I had my BMR tested and that said 1350.

It's no wonder weightloss is such big business. It's annoying when you get different calorie targets, because you don't know which one is closest to your actual needs.

If I got 2 responses the same, I'd use that number, but unfortunately, they are all over the place. To complicate things, I'm on medications that have weight gain as a side effect and am hypothyroid.

Jenny,

Spend approximately 75-130 bucks and buy a Heart Rate monitor that includes Calories Burned. I recommend one that is "Coded" at the very least. This means that if you are next to soemone else with a HR monitor it will rea only yours. Then wear it for one entire day from when you wake until when you sleep - BOOM - Calories counted. It will be the best money you've ever spent and as fo the HR monitors REAL use (working out) it will tell you EXACTLY the deficits you've now created - THE BEST MONEY YOU'LL EVER SPEND. The entry level "coded" Polar brand (CS-100 or FS-100) is perfect but there are literally hundreds of options.

As for your question on counting sleep or not counting sleep. NO - do not count it in your calc's PERIOD.

Great answer RunbikeSki. :)

Personally, I go by the advice that you should get at least 5 hours of moderate to intense exercise per week to lose weight. If you work out 5 days per week then that is an hour per day. If you do this and eat healthy, you shouldn't have to give yourself a headache over the numbers.

I do track my calories on here for periods of time to keep myself on track (or get myself back on track..lol) and sometimes I log my calories burned that the elliptical machine gives me, but I don't worry about it much as long as I continue to lose. I've lost almost 50 pounds since starting my workout routine and changing my eating habits in January.

Way to go!

Thanks! It's been a lot of hard work, but it's worth it! I just have to keep buying new clothes! I love it though, it's so much more fun to shop for clothes in the misses section instead of the women's plus section!

I've been on a plateau for the past month, but I'm coming out of it now. I just keep trucking along and know that eventually my body will give in and let go of the FAT!

@ Jennygoodman: tracking calories is confusing...I am with you on that and I have spend many hours online reading (which made is worse), right when you think you understand you read something else that makes it more confusing. I've taken multiple nutrition and exercise phys courses for my major and there are people on here that get it more than i do :~) it's a complete guessing game...but one that you can grasp a closer guess to with a few things

I like RunbikeSki's response...as I too was very confused with the calculators that ask you how much you exercise and include into your daily calorie needs...because A) how does this calculator know how many minutes your exercise and/or what the intensity of your exercise is? here's what I find to be helpful

1. For starters, I've read that of the few BMR equations out there the mifflin is closest to the real deal...so on FD when i calculate my base lifestyle calorie needs, i select mifflin and then whatever my lifestyle is...i.e. seated all day
2. use a calculator that will calculate your lifestyle activities and then when you "ADD" intentional exercise it will not only add the est. calories it think you burned for each activity but will also subtract the time you spent doing those activities (like fitday)...some calculator only add the calories burned to the base lifestyle calorie need...
3. if you use calculators on other sites that ask you how many days a week you exercise keep in mind the things mentioned above...it doesn't know how long you're working out for and how much you're burning but it does include your intentional exercises.
4. last...not the least, this is what I found most recently to be helpful...since we're unsure the exact amount of calories to eat to lose the weight or reach our goal, we can cycle the calories we take in...depending on your preference, this may sound like a good idea or too complex/time consuming
here's how it goes...and how I've been doing it.
Sun 1350
Mon 1400
Tue 1350
Wed 1800-1900
Thur 1200
Frid 1350
Sat 1800-1900

this creates a reasonably low average without you feeling hungry while shedding those pounds....this is simply an example so you would have to custom it to your stats.
check out this link: Permanent weight loss plan to keep weight off forever - Lose weight permanently
when you put in your stats it will give you a range of calories to eat to lose...you can use the lowest of that for your low days and the highest of that for your high days.
so basically you're doing 3 low days 1 high and 2 low days and 1 high and then you start over again. this is suppose to aid in fat loss/ weight loss without putting your body in starvation mode and tricking your body that it's getting as much food as it's suppose to.

this is of course just based on my readings and personal experience...hope it helps you as well.

DecemberBlue:

Thanks a bunch for the info! I seem to have an "okay" grasp on it, but like you said, it's easy to get confused about things when you start reading more about it!

One thing that helps is to count my caloric intake, and if I burn more than what I've eaten, I know I'm on the right track. How much more I've burned is always a guessing game due to not ever really knowing the exact number. Oh well! :) lol