NET calories confusion

jessiedawn8400

@heybales - Sorry to keep tagging you in my posts, but you seem so knowledgeable.... I have just one more thing that is confusing me I'm hoping you can help with. I am trying to figure out what I want to set my activity level at (lightly active or active). Obviously lightly active gives me a bigger adjustment, active gives me smaller, sometimes negative at the end of the day (which is what I'm trying to eliminate). I seem to fall right between the 2 categories. In the end, all the numbers are the same daily. I know how they get all the numbers, and how the math works, and all of that. The part that is confusing me is the NET calories it shows on the weekly graph when I look at weekly NET calories. For example yesterdays numbers (my fitbit burn shows 2708 and I have a 1000 calorie deficit, though I'm getting ready to lessen that once I understand everything properly):

Lightly active: 1206 +522 adjustment=1728 goal for the day
Active: 1516+212 adjustment =1728 goal for the day.
Its the same end result, so it doesn't really matter which I choose because it's all the same, right? I thought so too until I noticed the weekly graph....

Daily NET calories for yesterday:
Lightly active: 1616 consumed - 522 = 1042 Net calories for the day
Active: 1616 - 212= 1404 Net calories for the day.

Obviously I don't want to net 1000 calories for the day......My burn was the same, my consumption was the same. My daily calories left would have been the same, why does MFP come up with different NET calories? It's really not a big deal if I follow my daily goals, but if I want to look at the weekly view that's a difference of 362 calories just for a day, if there's multiple days thats showing the lower net calories I could be overdoing it on the days I want to use those extra calories. Am I looking at this wrong? Am i missing something? I thought it really didn't matter what my activity level was at, it would just change the size of the adjustment I see. Should I just ignore the weekly graph? When it shows the daily average for the week, it's different depending on the activity level, so how do I know which one would be correct?

heybales

That's where it starts to get interesting with the NET calories idea.

Since Adjustments show up under Exercise calories, merely for MFP to handle them correctly in it's eating goal math - it's used for that NET math.

But you could have adjustments based totally on daily activity and no workouts, so it really doesn't apply.

The whole NET graph thing I think was to make it obvious to people (and it must not work great) that if you exercised a bunch and didn't make it up eating more - you are in essence getting very little calories for the body to use for normal things.
True but confusing way of getting point across.

And now with trackers you are nailing why it really doesn't make sense. Or really doesn't matter if you are doing it correctly.
The adjustment especially on non-exercise days is really reflecting the fact the base calories the NET is based on - should be higher.



The main difference between the activity levels and tracker usage is what happens at the end of the day.

Most people have probably typical days for the most part, some days may have morning workout with a known burn to increase the daily, some with workout before dinner, perhaps a few with workout after dinner.

But most have a general idea of the daily burn after watching it for a couple weeks. Workout days this much, other days this much, perhaps some surprise days with more activity.

So with that, the eat goals are pretty set perhaps up to dinner, and then that and snacks later change depending on how big the day was and the adjustment.

So whether you selected Sedentary and get big adjustment, or Lightly-Active and smaller adjustment, or Active and sometimes negative adjustment - you got an idea already and it lands about the same.

I see the evening as being the potential difference between those levels.
With the way trackers only sync 100 cal higher than last sync, you can get into a big variance in accuracy depending on when you hit the couch and then bed.

If that's 4 hrs, then MFP is estimating that remaining time until midnight @ BMR x 1.25, 1.4, or 1.6.
But Fitbit is going to report, depending on that 100 cal sync timing, possibly the next morning, that the time was only BMR level burn for 4-5 hrs.
If eating goal is thought to have been reached by say 8pm - the next morning can be off a decent amount, over 100 cal.
Now - if you always hit the couch same time, then it's a matter of probably knowing about what the correction will be the next morning, and leaving that much in the green night before.

In the end - ignore that part of the graph - since MFP doesn't really know NET calories over a more accurate base calories because it doesn't know how much was daily activity, and how much was exercise.

That extra info is why I think picking Sedentary is better - unless you are up until midnight and not hitting goal eating too early to be surprised by corrections later.

jessiedawn8400

Thank you!!! That makes sense. I usually don't go by the weekly graph and I have a pretty good idea of where my calories are at for the week without it, but I noticed that yesterday and it threw me off.