Do the calories I burn exercising "count"?

Posted by smoke1009 @smoke1009, Oct 19, 2022

(This has been translated using Google Translate, sorry for the inconvenience if you find any grammatical errors.)

Now yes, let's move on to the question at hand. If I ate 2,200 calories a day, but burned 800 calories while exercising, would I be in a caloric deficit? That is, would it be the equivalent of consuming 1500 calories but without exercising?
Since something that I've always done when I count calories is to count them from what I have burned that day, for example, if I burned 1000 calories that day, I would start counting the calories after having consumed 1000, that is, if that day I have consumed 2,000 calories, I count as if I've only eaten 1,000. Is it okay to use that reasoning, or is metabolism more different than we think?
I await an answer, thanks in advance.

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Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Oct 20, 2022

@smoke1009 That is an interesting question.
When you ask if they "count" - the answer for nutrition purposes is "Yes."
Every person has a unique metabolism, and our metabolism can change as we age, if we are fighting an infection (takes more calories) or if we build or lose muscle mass. What you need to do to measure your calorie intake is determine whether you lose or gain body weight. Also, it depends what you are using to calculate calories burned - most apps/watches/phones use standardized measures - our bodies are individual.

Here is an example:
I am a small, older person. When I am typically active, that is housework, gardening, daily walk and stretching, I maintain my weight at about 1600 calories per day. In Spring & Fall when there is more heavy work to be done, I will lose more than 1 pound (2.2kg) in a week if I don't eat more. That means I am burning over 500 more calories per day, and either say "Oh, the lost weight is OK" or "I need to eat more when gardening."

So, if you are exercising enough to burn 800 calories, you are eating 2200 calories and maintaining your weight, you are in a balanced state. If you are losing weight, you are in a calorie deficit, and need to calculate how much. 3500 extra/less calories produce roughly 1 pound of weight gain/loss, (1600 kc = 1 kg).

So, what would I take away from this? The number of calories you need is individual, and the way to tell is to measure weight gain/loss over time (daily weight is misleading because our bodies may retain fluid or fecal matter from day to day that will average out over time, and our exercise and sleep can also affect it.) Then calculate how many calories more or less you need to maintain your desired weight.

Are you maintaining your weight at 2200 calories, even when exercising? If so, you intake is sufficient.
Sue