What’s the difference between ‘Calories net and total’

sarahcclay

Hi.
I’m eating 1200 a day, burning 450 a day by cycling.

I’m only eating 1200 a day-is that correct?
I’m losing on average 1lb a week and I’ve lost a stone in 14 weeks.

But I’m confused by the calories net and total.

For example,
My weekly ‘net’ says under weekly goal by 2300 calories but the ‘total’ says I’m
Over my weekly goal by 1250 calories

What does it mean please.
Thanks

sarahcclay

Here is what I’m talking about

quiksylver296

The "net calories under weekly goal" is how far under your weekly goal you ate, I think. If you are supposed to be eating 1200 calories per day, that's 8400 calories per week. And you ate 2300 under the 8400 (which is way too low, BTW).

But since you're losing a pound a week pretty linearly, I'd say you're fine. If you aren't using a food scale, I suspect you are eating more per day than you think. No reason to fix it, imo, just a note.

If you stop losing a pound a week, I'd suggest incorporating a food scale into your weight loss tool belt.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

Lietchi

Net calories are what matter, and by that standard you are undereating quite a bit. (1200 net calories is what is commonly mentioned here as the minimum for women.)
But your exercise calories could be overestimated and/or you could possibly not conform to the averages used in MFP to calculate your calorie goal and/or you could be be ating more than you think)

So your actual weight loss rate is also something you should look at.
What weight loss rate have you selected in MFP: also 1 lb a week, like your real weight loss rate, or a different rate?
And what is your height, how much do you weigh and what is you goal weight?

sarahcclay

I’m 5ft7, at the mo I weight 9st 4lb. I was 10st 4lb 14 weeks ago.
Want to get to 8st 8lb.

I’ve selected lose 2lb a week. But not losing that.
So if I ate what I’d burnt off with my exercise, would I possibly lose the 2lb??
I’ve attached what I’ve lost

sarahcclay

Here

Go_Deskercise

quiksylver296

You're in the last ten pounds? You shouldn't be losing 2 pounds per week. See graphic above.

I would suggest finding the maintenance calories for 8 st 8, and just eating that number. Then you won't have any adjusting to do when you reach goal.

Lietchi

sarahcclay wrote: »

I’m 5ft7, at the mo I weight 9st 4lb. I was 10st 4lb 14 weeks ago.
Want to get to 8st 8lb.

I’ve selected lose 2lb a week. But not losing that.
So if I ate what I’d burnt off with my exercise, would I possibly lose the 2lb??
I’ve attached what I’ve lost

With only 10 lbs to lose, you really shouldn't be aiming at 2lbs per week. And certainly not considering you're already at quite a low BMI and aiming to get close to underweight.
The reason you're not actually losing that much (fortunately) is because MFP won't give you a calorie goal lower than 1200.
I'd aim at losing 0.5lbs a week. (Or even at not losing anymore weight, considering you already have a healthy BMI, and focusing on body composition)

yirara

Would you be happy to only eat 750 calories per day? Because that's what you say you're doing: eating 1200 calories and burning 450 calories cycling. It's the same. No, it's not healthy. There's a big chance that your calorie burns from cycling are in fact lower but it still means you're severely undereating. It's extremely unhealthy. Please don't do that.

sarahcclay

Thank you everyone.
I’ll look into all your advise :-)

sardelsa

sarahcclay wrote: »

I’m 5ft7, at the mo I weight 9st 4lb. I was 10st 4lb 14 weeks ago.
Want to get to 8st 8lb.

I’ve selected lose 2lb a week. But not losing that.
So if I ate what I’d burnt off with my exercise, would I possibly lose the 2lb??
I’ve attached what I’ve lost

You are definitely not eating enough and losing too fast. Not healthy at all.

Why is your goal to be just about underweight? If you aren't happy with your body composition it is usually a matter of not having enough muscle so I would look into recomp, so maintaining your weight, progressive lifting/resistance training, getting enough protein to build muscle and lose fat over time.