Net Calories

kasey39

So...one way I'm actually making some progress, though I think my thyroid surgery actually helped because I've noticed it since then, is I'm getting fuller much faster - I'm quite surprised at how easy it is to stay under 1500 calories if I just pay attention to my portions and stay away from unhealthy snacks. Anyway...today I ate a little over 1200 calories. I know it's not recommended to go below 1200 without Dr. or nutritionist supervision. Having said that...I have 400 calories toward exercise, leaving me with about 890 net calories. Should I be concerned, or should I just look at as physically consuming those 1200 calories? I apologize if this question has already been asked earlier!

malibu927

If it's just one day that low I wouldn't worry about it. If you're hungrier tomorrow you can eat those calories.

kasey39

When I pulled my report for the week, it looks like it happened on a few days last week. The other couple days I had a net of around 1300.

robthephotog

You could eat back some. Looks like most say half is normal to eat back. So if your goal is 1350, you burn 300, you eat back 150 you are shooting for 1500 total for the day. For most, going under 1200 with a burn on top of that is too much. Especially for extended periods of time. Your body will eventually start fighting back.

pmm3437

A daily over/under isn't a real concern, but if your weekly average consistently comes in significantly under, you need to review, and possibly adjust, your meal plan.

Also, realize that 1200 is a nice, "convenient" figure, and your min requirement might be higher or lower due to age, height, and other factors.

Depending on the ( expected ) accuracy of your additional exercise burn, you should be looking to eat anywhere from 50-85% of those calories back.

kasey39

That makes sense - (though what's funny is, I like to eat, so it's surprising I'm that far under, but my appetite has decreased a TON so I've really cut back my portions naturally, and cut out the Doritos.) So if my goal is 1500 and I'm burning 450, I should really be eating about 1725 to keep me at around 1500 so my metabolism is working more efficiently? Maybe I'm mixing up what mfp says my goal is, whether the goal they gave me is net or consumed! If it's consumed, my net calories goal would be closer to 1350 or so. Even more funny is that I'm actually tracking more so I have data as they look at my synthroid dosage vs my thyroid numbers, and less for me be adjusting my eating, but since I'm looking at it and the weight doesn't seem to be moving much...