Originally Posted by
TrojanHorse
Know that your calories burned estimates are going to be high. Don't eat to replace calories you burn.
Excellent advice. Best to just pretend those calories burned don't exist. I think a lot of people tend to overestimate the amount of calories they burn and underestimate the amount of calories they consume. It's all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you can have an extra piece of cake for dessert because you rode two miles that morning. But that kind of thinking just gets you into trouble. The best way to lose weight is to overestimate the number of calories you consume (and shoot to stay under a limited amount) and underestimate the number of calories you burn, or just forget about them altogether. If you just forget about calories burned during exercise, it becomes a bonus to your weight loss.
Unless, of course, you're riding a half century or something, then you might want a few snacks to keep your energy up. I rode a half century a couple weekends ago and MyFitnessPal warned me at the end of the day that I wasn't eating enough. I had eaten when I got back home and didn't want any more food, but according to MFP I still had a 1600 calorie deficit at the end of the day and needed to eat. I'm thinking of turning the "You've earned _____ calories through exercise" option off, if it's possible.