Net Calories

ajsawrie

What number should I try to reach for my net calories? For example: Today I ate around 1700 cals. I burned around 1500 at the gym. That gives me roughly 200 net cals. That seems really low... what should it be?

AmyRhubarb

Your net cals should be at or near your goal. Net is what your body is left with after subtracting what you burned from what you ate. And you're right, 200 isn't nearly enough.

However, 1500 burned cals seems awfully high - what sort of workout did you do, and how did you track the cals burned?

terbusha

I never pay attention to calories burnt during the day. I focus on hitting a set calorie goal and adjust that every few weeks depending on the progress I'm making towards fat loss. For example, if you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1700 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for 2 weeks. If you lose 1-2 lbs/week, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few cycles, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

janejellyroll

MFP is designed so your net calories should be the calories you're assigned for your goal.

Example: I have a goal of 1,500 from MFP. I go for a run and burn 200 calories. I will now eat 1,700 calories so that I may net 1,500 for the day.