Calories in vs NET calories

LegacyLion
LegacyLion Posts: 25 Member
edited November 14 in Health and Weight Loss
I usually eat about 1600-1700 calories a day and my goal is 1400 calories a day. However, I usually workout everyday and burn approximately 900-1000 calories a day. My calories in would be 1700 calories and my NET calories would 800 calories. Should I be eating up 1400 NET calories? Or should I should I eat up 1400 calories and still maintain burning 900 calories a day?

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Ideally, yes you should be eating 1400 net calories. But since calories burned can often be overestimated, many will only eat back 50-75% of those calories. At the very least, try to aim for net 1200 calories to give your body some fuel.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    How confident are in your calorie burn? Are you using MFP's exercise database numbers or do you have an activity tracker synced?
  • LegacyLion
    LegacyLion Posts: 25 Member
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    How confident are in your calorie burn? Are you using MFP's exercise database numbers or do you have an activity tracker synced?

    I use a stationary bike and it says how much calories are burned. How accurate are stationary bike calorie burnt tracker?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    LegacyLion wrote: »
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    How confident are in your calorie burn? Are you using MFP's exercise database numbers or do you have an activity tracker synced?
    How accurate are stationary bike calorie burnt tracker?

    Not very.. I'd be cutting the number it gives you in half. How long are you on it, speed etc

  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    How many hours a day are you spending on the bike? That calorie burn seems very high.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Actually, I just saw you're a 21-year-old male. 1400 net is way too low, let alone 1200. What is your height, weight, and goal weight?
  • LegacyLion
    LegacyLion Posts: 25 Member
    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    How many hours a day are you spending on the bike? That calorie burn seems very high.

    I workout 3-4 hours a day with moderate effort for 3 hours and light for 1 hour.
  • LegacyLion
    LegacyLion Posts: 25 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Actually, I just saw you're a 21-year-old male. 1400 net is way too low, let alone 1200. What is your height, weight, and goal weight?

    How much calories would you say I should eat a day? And how much NET calories?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    LegacyLion wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Actually, I just saw you're a 21-year-old male. 1400 net is way too low, let alone 1200. What is your height, weight, and goal weight?

    How much calories would you say I should eat a day? And how much NET calories?

    How many calories does MFP give you? It wouldn't be less than 1500, which is the lowest it will go for a male.

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    LegacyLion wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Actually, I just saw you're a 21-year-old male. 1400 net is way too low, let alone 1200. What is your height, weight, and goal weight?

    How much calories would you say I should eat a day? And how much NET calories?

    Answering Malibus questions re your; stats would help.
  • LegacyLion
    LegacyLion Posts: 25 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Actually, I just saw you're a 21-year-old male. 1400 net is way too low, let alone 1200. What is your height, weight, and goal weight?

    I'm 5'10 205 pounds. Starting weight: 215. Goal weight: 170 right now.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    I use this site https://tdeecalculator.net/ It can give you a rough idea and does not require your email address like some do.

    Put in your stats and picked Moderate exercise.

    Gives 3009 calories per day. Sedentary gives 2329. Which should be close to what MFP is using as it's base.

    Given you have ~35 lbs to lose, probably want to do 1 lb per week or so. so between 1800 (sedentary) and 2500 (moderate) is where you need to be. This is giving you 700 calories for your exercise, which seem a bit low, but not out of line. The 900-1000 may be a bit high.

    But yeah, you need to eat more than you are planning and should be eating back the bulk of your exercise calories.

    You really don't want to lose to fast (yeah, I'm having trouble with that idea as well) as it can have a negative effect on your health.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited December 2016
    I put your numbers in here http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and set you to lightly active:

    And to lose .5lbs a week it recommended 2,293 calories. Set at sedentary which means no exercise and a desk job it came out to 2001 calories to lose .5lb. So yes, you are under eating.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    @Tacklewasher We posted at the same time. Slightly different numbers though...
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    LegacyLion wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Actually, I just saw you're a 21-year-old male. 1400 net is way too low, let alone 1200. What is your height, weight, and goal weight?

    How much calories would you say I should eat a day? And how much NET calories?

    Set your goal to a pound a week. Eat that much plus half of your exercise calories. Do not go below 1500 net.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    @Tacklewasher We posted at the same time. Slightly different numbers though...

    @Christine_72 I think the big difference is between the .5 lb and 1 lb per week. To be honest, your approach is probably better and I was just kinda focused on the 2 lbs per week is too much.

    And @LegacyLion that is the issue with these calculators. They are not perfect and are based on formulas that someone has come up with. There is variability in the calculators and none will perfectly match your body. It will take some trial and error to dial in the calories, so it does take a bit of work and patience. Unlike me, you didn't start with a lot to lose, so you will have to be more careful in counting calories and learning what you actually burn.
  • LegacyLion
    LegacyLion Posts: 25 Member
    Thanks for the advice everyone!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories