Probably one of the dumbest questions you'll see.

reneeb816

I am about 3 weeks into putting REAL effort into losing weight. But I am still confused as to the whole net calories thing. My "goal calories" are 1200 per day. I have been burning anywhere from 300-600 about 5 times a week. In order to lose weight, what should my net calories be at the end of the day? Should I still be in the positive? I just can't wrap my head around the math and I'm concerned as I stopped losing weight last week.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

megsmom2

if your goal calories are 1200 a day...that's what your net should be at the end of the day. Although...and I know you've read this here before...you're probably being too aggressive in your goal and should lower your weight loss goal to 1 or 1 1/2 lbs a week, and eat more food. And YES EAT YOUR BURNED CALORIES. Or most of them.

herblackwings39

Look at your food diary under the section that says "Your Daily Goal". That's the amount you want to eat. If you think your calories burned are fairly accurate, you want the section under that "Remaining" to be as close to 0 as possible. Your deficit is built into the 1200 calorie number MFP gave you. When you eat to or slightly over the Your Daily Goal section, you're netting your 1200.

psuLemon

If you workout, you are supposed to eat back your exercise calories (at least a part of them) unless you accounted for that with your lifestyle (sedentary, lightly active, etc..) So if you burn 300 calories, you are supposed to eat another 300 calories as the deficit is already built in. Also, make sure your account isn't set to 2 lbs per week.. follow the below guidelines instead.


If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

reneeb816

That helps, thank you! My current goal is about 60 lbs but ultimately I'd love to lose 100lbs. With that being said, do you really think 2lbs per week is too much? That is what I have it set to right now but if that could be working against me, I will adjust. I have taken into account my sedentary lifestyle as I work behind a desk.

I just want to make sure I've got this straight; is it good or bad to have 200-400 calories left over each day? MFP warned me one time when I had about 600 leftover so I've been sure not to do that again. It just seems like it would be way too easy if I got the net down to 0 everyday. LOL. Sorry I'm so slow at grasping this....

doIlhands

That helps, thank you! My current goal is about 60 lbs but ultimately I'd love to lose 100lbs. With that being said, do you really think 2lbs per week is too much? That is what I have it set to right now but if that could be working against me, I will adjust. I have taken into account my sedentary lifestyle as I work behind a desk.

I just want to make sure I've got this straight; is it good or bad to have 200-400 calories left over each day? MFP warned me one time when I had about 600 leftover so I've been sure not to do that again. It just seems like it would be way too easy if I got the net down to 0 everyday. LOL. Sorry I'm so slow at grasping this....

Your net should be 1200. So if you burned 300 cals at the gym you would eat 1500 calories a day.

LokiOfAsgard

Your net calories should be greater than your goal, if you exercised.

Goal: 1,200
Exercise: 300
New goal: 1,500

Ontop of that, a 1,200 calorie goal sounds like you have your setting for losing 2 lbs per week. (Unless you are very, very short) In which case, I recommend you change the settings to 1 lb per week. It's much healthier. I tried doing 2 lbs per week, and all I got was lightheaded from not eating enough.
If you want to keep it to 1,200 that's completely up to you It's your desicion. Just remember to listen to your body. If this makes you sick, or lightheaded, out of energy, irritable, tired or anything else that's not healthy, eat more

ETA:

is it good or bad to have 200-400 calories left over each day? MFP warned me one time when I had about 600 leftover so I've been sure not to do that again. It just seems like it would be way too easy if I got the net down to 0 everyday.

Netting 0 is very very bad. Your body needs some of those calories for things like breathing and seeing and all the intricate things your body does everyday Netting 0 doesn't give your body the energy to do those things. Your BMR is how many calories you would need if you were in a coma, not doing anything but living. So it's much better to eat very close to that amount. But since you are losing weight, slightly less than that amount

So pleasepleaseplease, don't ever eat so little

OH AND ONE MORE THING
There will be weeks where you don't lose anything. Don't fret! Losing weight is not linear! One or more weeks you might not lose anything, then the next week you could lose a few lbs.

dvisser1

The 1200 is a lower limit MFP put in place as a rational lower limit and to not encourage disorder like behavior. The warnings are there for the similar purpose. There are people who will try to exercise all day, eat next to nothing and expect that to be healthy. It's not healthy, physically or emotionally.

As for your question, a couple people already answered. The calorie deficit to lose weight is built into your net calorie goal. As you do exercise above and beyond your normal daily activity (you said you put sedentary, so normal activity is pretty low) you log that exercise and get to eat the calories back. If you have a few calories left over at the end of the day and are not hungry, you don't need to eat them. If you had 500 calories left over one day and the very next day you are hungry all the time and wanting to eat everything in sight, remember that you might not have eaten enough the day before. Your body will tell you clearly how it's feeling, you just have to pay attention.

As for your exercise, if you are using the MFP database calories for all your exercises please keep in mind that a lot of people on here find those to greatly exaggerate how much you are actually burning. The best recommendation is to get a heart rate monitor if you are not using one yet. A HRM that calculates calories burned will be much closer to accurate. Polar FT4 is very popular, I have a Garmin FR70 and like it a lot. You can spend several hundred, but a basic HRM that calculates calories is sufficient.

reneeb816

It's so weird though because I don't feel hungry or deprived at all! That's why it seems crazy to me that I haven't been eating enough. But I understand that I need to do this in a healthy fashion so I will bring down my desired loss amount.

Has anyone else used the MapMyWalk app? I've been wondering if the calorie count is accurate on that. I do have a HRM and will start using that also.

Thanks again for all of the help!

psuLemon

It's so weird though because I don't feel hungry or deprived at all! That's why it seems crazy to me that I haven't been eating enough. But I understand that I need to do this in a healthy fashion so I will bring down my desired loss amount.

Has anyone else used the MapMyWalk app? I've been wondering if the calorie count is accurate on that. I do have a HRM and will start using that also.

Thanks again for all of the help!

Your body can adjust. This is why anorexics don't feel hungry. Also, calories =/= quantity. Your body doesn't' get full based on the amount of calories, it's based on the quantity of the item. For example 120 calories of carrots will fill you up more than 1 tbsp of olive oil. It's also why you can have two identical burgers with two largely different caloric values. I would suggest setting your goal to 1.5 lbs per week and use that to hit your goal. Also, I would adjust your macro's to around 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fats. Protein helps with muscle retention (especially once you incorporate resistance training) which if you don't already, you should.

I haven't used the apps but in the end, all things are estimates. HRM won't work for walking either. They are designed for intense cardio. But which ever one you use, I would suggest eating 50-80% of those calories back. The issue when you create large calorie deficits is you are more likely to plateau, your body has the ability to lower your resting metabolic rate (usually after prolonged periods) and it can lead to greater muscle loss (especially the more lean you get).