MyPlate.com Question about 'allowed additional calories'

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blueberry

New member
Hello all,

I'm finding it a bit difficult to find what I need, so I'm just going to ask :D

I've started using MyPlate.com to help record what i eat and to help better understand how much exercise i do.

I'm a bit confused about the idea of a calorie deficit when i start adding exercises to the site. it gives me a new 'allowed additional calories' everytime i add an activity, but what is it based on, and how can i know it intuitively for myself? is the calorie deficit still the same?

eg right now im approximately aiming for 1500 calories a day with a ~500 calorie deficit. At the bottom of the main page there is a "Net Calorie" row. Should this number be 1500, -500, or is it just there as a guideline for something else? :blush5:
 
Ignore the whole "net calories" thing. Really. I don't know why so many sites pull that whole exercise vs eating net calories calculation. It's confusing and doesn't help.

Figure out how many calories you need to eat and use the logging to manage that. Don't even try to log your exercise. Not only is it confusing, but the burned calories they come up with are rarely accurate.
 
what you say makes more sense then trying to go by the calculations, thanks.

is there a thread already on how to manage what you need to eat with exercise?
 
blueberry said:
Hello all,

I'm finding it a bit difficult to find what I need, so I'm just going to ask :D

I've started using MyPlate.com to help record what i eat and to help better understand how much exercise i do.

I'm a bit confused about the idea of a calorie deficit when i start adding exercises to the site. it gives me a new 'allowed additional calories' everytime i add an activity, but what is it based on, and how can i know it intuitively for myself? is the calorie deficit still the same?

eg right now im approximately aiming for 1500 calories a day with a ~500 calorie deficit. At the bottom of the main page there is a "Net Calorie" row. Should this number be 1500, -500, or is it just there as a guideline for something else? :blush5:
Click to expand...

If you really want to keep track of your calories, try using to calculate your calories burned. It's obviously not going to be 100% accurate, but I find that it gives you a fairly decent estimate as to how many calories you are burning throughout your day.

But, I agree with Kara...don't bother with trying to figure out a calorie deficit. Just keep track of how many calories you are intaking and don't over eat. While you're eating right, just keep exercising. The weight will come off as long as you eat healthy and stay active.
 
is there a thread already on how to manage what you need to eat with exercise?
Click to expand...
Not sure exactly what you mean. :)

Are you looking for a calorie guideline or more a nutritional guideline? I think there's a lot of information in the stickies on both if you check all the various areas of the board.

As far as nutrition goes, what I care about is managing my macros carefully - I try to keep to a 40/35/25 split (that's 40% carbs, 35% protein, and 25% healthy fats). Getting enough protein to support muscle maintenance (and at some point growth) is really important when you're losing weight. When you cut your calories, your body doesn't lose just fat, it loses muscle as well, so the more you can do to minimize muscle loss, the better off you are. Getting a good amount of protein helps with that.

Also just making sure that I'm eating healthy foods and not junk foods ... because the more you work out, the more your body needs good nutrition. You can't get faster, stronger, build more endurance, etc. if you're fueling your body with sugar and fats and junk.

Maybe that gives you a start to go on anyway ... :)
 
KaraCooks said:
When you cut your calories, your body doesn't lose just fat, it loses muscle as well, so the more you can do to minimize muscle loss, the better off you are. Getting a good amount of protein helps with that.
Click to expand...

when i exercise, this is what im concerned about :) how much extra roughly do i need to eat when i exercise?
 
Most recommendations I've seen for weight loss/muscle maintenance/muscle growth are based on 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight - although if you're very heavy, it might be more difficult to get 200+ g of protein w/out using supplements (protein powders, drinks, etc.).

I aim for 35% of my diet to be protein - which, if I eat 1700 calories, usually works out to around 130g of protein. Coincidentally that would be my goal weight - 130 lbs. :) So I'm comfortable with that.

The US recommended allowance is something like .45g of protein per 1 lb of body weight, which works out to something like 67g of protein for the average person. I personally think that's too low, and especially too low for someone who is cutting calories on top of that. Which is all moot, because I think the average American gets less protein than that to begin with, so getting them up to 60+g is amazing, much less getting them up over 100g.
 
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