Need help understanding how many calories to eat

trishyorke

I have it plugged I that I want to lose 1 pound a week, it tells me my calorie intake should be 1470. When I work out I end up with a additional 600 calories....so how much should I eat and how do I look atthe net calorie? Thanks

bajoyba

You want to eat back most or all of those exercise calories. Net calories are the calories that you have left after a burn. So if you eat back those calories, it would look like this:

2070 - 600 = 1470 net calories.

If you don't exercise, eating your goal of 1470 is fine. If you burn off 600 calories through exercise and don't eat them back, you're only netting 870 calories. MFP intends for you to eat those calories back, as the necessary deficit for a 1lb loss per week is already built into your calorie goal. I always eat back most or all of mine, and it has worked out just fine so far.

megsmom2

You want to eat back most or all of those exercise calories. Net calories are the calories that you have left after a burn. So if you eat back those calories, it would look like this:

2070 - 600 = 1470 net calories.

If you don't exercise, eating your goal of 1470 is fine. If you burn off 600 calories through exercise and don't eat them back, you're only netting 870 calories. MFP intends for you to eat those calories back, as the necessary deficit for a 1lb loss per week is already built into your calorie goal. I always eat back most or all of mine, and it has worked out just fine so far.

this. well put. OP...read the FAQs or some of the pinned threads about this issue. this is how MFP works...and it DOES work. You can do this!