Actual calories or net calories?

jester13
jester13 Posts: 408 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you follow your net calories or stick with the actual calories when losing weight?

Replies

  • Dannigreen31
    Dannigreen31 Posts: 557 Member
    I just follow actual calories. If I'm in the gym a lot the I'll eat more back but on here you're supposed to eat net calories but I think that's too many! Sometimes I burn a lot and I don't ha e the biggest appetite
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    If you're following MFP's calorie goals, you should be following net calories
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    Net. That's how the system is designed.

    I don't like the often-recommended method to "eat back (whatever) percent of your exercise calories". It's confusing and doesn't work well with how mfp is set up.

    Log your exercise. If you feel mfp overestimates exercise, log fewer minutes than you think you actually did. Then eat until your net calories hit your goal. That is my approach.

    If you are going to ignore exercise, either by not logging it or by ignoring the net calories number, you need to be working to a TDEE estimate which takes proper account of your activity level. If you are using mfp's calorie allowances (which are set low to allow for exercise calories) and then not eating back exercise calories, you are not using the system as designed, and it's one short step from that to a starvation diet, imo.

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