Calorie Activity Deductions

ethalfrida

I try to be as accurate as possible by weighing my food, choosing the correct name, brand and preparation from the "add food". What I don't get is how to use the calories that are added back to my daily allowance.. Now, am I supposed to eat those calories back? I don't fully understand how to use that feature. I use a Fitbit Charge 2 but it doesn't track everything I do so I have to "add exercise".

For instance, my total for the day was 1700 calories intake, my workouts burned 489 which was added to calories remaining after eating dinner. I never eat the full recommended amount just to be sure. Trying to lose 1/2 pound per week.

Can I get some clarification?

Hilary

Hi @ethalfrida
Cronometer is to be seen as a tool to track consumption and all targets we have set by default are not for everyone. If you have different needs you are welcome to make the changes based on your healthcare professional's recommendation or personal preference.
Once you have set your calorie allowance, any foods you eat (Calories consumed) work towards making that allowance smaller, so as such, any exercise you do (calories burned) should make that allowance larger.
If you are trying to loss weight you should set up your weight goal to reflect this, and the appropriate caloric deficit to reach this goal will be substracted from the calorie allowance you have set.
You should also be sure to check your activity level and BMR settings as these contribute to your calories burned value.
If you wear your device (fitbit) all day, set your activity level to "None" as your device will import the appropriate number of calories for daily burned and separate activities. If you only wear your device for exercising, set your activity level to "Sedentary".
Let me know if you have any questions!

ethalfrida

Thank you so much but I am at a total loss. I use Cronometer to track my food intake and have synced it with the Fitbit Charge 2. I don't track calories and food intake with the Fitbit. Basically, I guess I want to know if I should eat those calories that are added back to my daily allowance from Cronometer... Appreciate your response.

Jumabr

Hilary,

I set my cronometer activity level at moderate. I also add the exercises I do with the exercise button. This seem redundent and both allow more food for the day. Would it be more appropriate to leave my activity level at sedentary and then just add the exercises separately on the days I exercises? Just curious how it is programmed. Thank you.

Hilary

@Jumabr You got it! If you are logging your activity separately, you should set your activity level to Sedentary. If you are importing a general activity value from a device as well as importing your exercise, you should set your activity level at none!
Check out this user manual article for more info on choosing an appropriate activity level: https://cronometer.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018472272-Profile-Settings#h_256650454331545174686943

Hilary

@ethalfrida it's up to you! You can contact your health care professional to get a better idea of how you should set up your plan for your weight loss goals.

Your calorie goal changes based on what you eat during the day (the amount of calories you can consume during the day gets smaller the more food you enter in it) So, if we treat calories burned entries in the same way, the more exercise we add into the diary, the amount of calories you can still consume for the day should get larger!

ethalfrida

Got it. Thank you.

Susan_RD_101

@ethalfrida

Speaking as a dietitian, I don't recommend eating those extra calories unless you are physically hungry. It's much easier to get an accurate calorie intake than it is an accurate calorie output and I find that many people tend to overestimate how much they are burning (the body also tends to burn fewer calories the more git it gets).

Hope this helps!