The Importance of Precise Tracking for Your Nutrition Diet
For many, a successful weight loss or maintenance plan hinges on creating a caloric deficit—burning more calories than you consume. While exercise is an excellent way to increase your calories burned, relying on exercise apps to automatically add those burned calories back into your daily budget can be a double-edged sword. Fitness trackers can often overestimate calories burned, potentially leading you to eat more than you intended and hindering your progress. Taking control of your log and learning how to remove exercise from the Lose It! app ensures your nutrition diet remains the primary focus of your tracking.
Deleting a Manual Exercise Entry
Whether you accidentally logged a workout twice or entered an activity manually that you no longer want to count, removing it is a straightforward process. The steps differ slightly depending on your device.
On the Lose It! Mobile App (iOS & Android)
- Open the Lose It! app and tap on the 'Log' screen.
- Scroll down to the 'Exercise' section for the day you need to edit.
- On iOS, swipe left on the specific exercise entry and tap 'Delete'. Confirm the deletion.
- On Android, tap and hold the exercise entry until a checkbox appears. Select the entry and tap the trash can icon at the top of the screen. Confirm to remove.
On the Lose It! Website
- Log in to my.loseit.com from a web browser.
- Click on the 'Log' page and navigate to the correct date.
- Find the exercise you wish to remove and click the 'x' icon next to it. Confirm the removal.
Turning Off Automatic Sync for Activity Trackers
For many users, exercise entries are automatically synced from a connected device, such as an Apple Watch, Fitbit, or Garmin. If you don't want these activities to automatically affect your calorie budget, you can manage the sync settings.
Managing Device Sync in the Lose It! App
- Tap the 'Profile' icon in the top-right corner of the app.
- Scroll down to the 'Automatic Tracking' section and tap 'View All'.
- Select the device you wish to adjust (e.g., Garmin, Fitbit).
- Depending on the device, you may have the option to turn off the 'Exercise' or 'Calorie Bonus' sync. For Apple Watch, you may need to disconnect entirely through Apple Health.
Managing Device Sync on the Lose It! Website
- Log in to my.loseit.com and go to 'Settings' (the gear icon).
- Click on 'Apps & Devices'.
- Find your connected device and click 'Disconnect' to stop the sync completely.
Excluding Exercise Calories from Your Daily Budget
What if you want to log your workouts for tracking but not have them increase your available calories for the day? The app offers a simple solution for that as well.
The 'Exclude from Total' Feature
- Go to the 'Log' screen and find the specific exercise entry.
- Tap on the workout to view its details.
- Inside the workout details, you should find a toggle option to 'Exclude from Total'.
- Toggle this option on, and the calories burned from that specific workout will no longer be added back to your daily budget.
Exercise Tracking: Included vs. Excluded
When it comes to your nutrition diet, choosing how to track exercise can significantly impact your calorie goals. Here is a comparison to help you decide which method works best for your journey.
| Feature | Exercise Calories Included in Budget | Exercise Calories Excluded from Budget |
|---|---|---|
| Accuracy | Risk of inaccuracy due to device overestimation. | Higher precision in diet tracking, as focus is on food intake. |
| Calorie Budget | A fluctuating daily budget that increases with activity. | A consistent, non-fluctuating daily budget, simplifying planning. |
| Mental Approach | Allows for 'eating back' exercise calories, which can lead to overconsumption. | Creates a more consistent calorie deficit by not rewarding exercise with extra food. |
| Goal Focus | Balances diet and exercise equally for weight management. | Emphasizes diet as the primary lever for caloric control. |
| Best For | Those who are highly active and use very accurate trackers, or who require higher calorie intake. | Those who prioritize a consistent calorie deficit and are wary of overestimating their exercise output. |
Customizing Your Nutrition Plan Beyond Exercise
Removing exercise from your daily calorie budget is just one step toward optimizing your diet. Consider these additional steps to ensure your nutrition diet is effective:
- Rethink your activity level: If you exclude exercise calories, you may want to re-evaluate your base activity level in your profile settings. Setting a sedentary base level provides a stable foundation for your calorie target, with exercise as an extra bonus.
- Log meals accurately: The core of any nutrition diet is food logging. Ensure you are using verified food entries whenever possible or accurately weighing your portions to get the most precise data.
- Track more than just calories: Premium Lose It! users can also track macronutrients like protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Paying attention to these metrics helps ensure you are fueling your body correctly, not just staying within a calorie range.
- Plan your meals: Planning your meals in advance can prevent you from overeating or making poor choices due to hunger. The Lose It! app allows you to create and save custom recipes to simplify this process.
Conclusion
For many on a nutritional journey, removing or excluding exercise calories from their daily log is a key strategy for maintaining a consistent and effective calorie deficit. By following the simple steps to remove manual entries, disconnect devices, or simply exclude workouts from your total, you regain control over your tracking. This level of precision helps avoid the common pitfall of overcompensating for exercise and keeps your diet on track toward your health goals. Whether you choose to exclude exercise calories or simply manage them more intentionally, the power of accurate data can make all the difference in your long-term success.
Takeaway Tip
Regularly reviewing your app's sync settings and manually logged entries is a best practice for maintaining control over your calorie budget and ensuring your nutrition plan is as accurate as possible.