Not Understanding Net Calories
goldyray1
Posts: 64 Member
My net calories for the last week has been a negative number...ex:-350. Is this good or bad?
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Replies
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What are your calories in vs out? Is it possible you are double counting a fitness tracker?
Net calories on the app should be positive.1 -
Eating more than budget. For example, let’s say you have a budget of 1500 calories and eat 1850, you are 350 over budget or -350.0
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LtHammerhead wrote: »Eating more than budget. For example, let’s say you have a budget of 1500 calories and eat 1850, you are 350 over budget or -350.
Not really. On MFP's homepage, having negative net calories means severely undereating, since net calories should equal the calories goal MFP gives you.
In your example the remaining calories are negative (not the net calories).
From OP's other thread, I seen to remember there's a synced tracker, that might be inflating calorie burns. But it needs to inflate burns for a LOT to justify a negative net calorie intake. Or perhaps something is being double counted.3 -
It's very, very unlikely you had net negative 350 calories for a whole week. That would be less than zero calories, as in, eating zero calories and then doing 350 calories of exercise. You'd be gnawing your own arm off after a week of that. There's a terminology issue here. Why don't you tell us how many calories you ate and how many you burned off with exercise, and we can take it from there.3
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It's very, very unlikely you had net negative 350 calories for a whole week. That would be less than zero calories, as in, eating zero calories and then doing 350 calories of exercise. You'd be gnawing your own arm off after a week of that. There's a terminology issue here. Why don't you tell us how many calories you ate and how many you burned off with exercise, and we can take it from there.
I'd suggest reading this thread as well from OP:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/458996243 -
It's very, very unlikely you had net negative 350 calories for a whole week. That would be less than zero calories, as in, eating zero calories and then doing 350 calories of exercise. You'd be gnawing your own arm off after a week of that. There's a terminology issue here. Why don't you tell us how many calories you ate and how many you burned off with exercise, and we can take it from there.
Wait...now I'm confused. Showing a negative number like in OP's example above means they have eaten 350 calories over their net and not under (usually a green positive number) , right? Or am I getting this wrong and we're talking about something else?0 -
Net calories are how many you consumed after exercise calories are accounted for.
Negatives mean you exercised off every calorie you ate and then some.
BAD.4 -
Also is totally possible. If you're not sedentary, you're synched to your device or working out and logging it, and eating 1200 calories a day you're going to get in trouble FAST.0
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dragon_girl26 wrote: »It's very, very unlikely you had net negative 350 calories for a whole week. That would be less than zero calories, as in, eating zero calories and then doing 350 calories of exercise. You'd be gnawing your own arm off after a week of that. There's a terminology issue here. Why don't you tell us how many calories you ate and how many you burned off with exercise, and we can take it from there.
Wait...now I'm confused. Showing a negative number like in OP's example above means they have eaten 350 calories over their net and not under (usually a green positive number) , right? Or am I getting this wrong and we're talking about something else?
If she's actually talking about the net calories, a negative net calorie intake would indicate under eating.
Lets say MFP gives the OP a target of 1200 calories...that target is 1200 net calories, not gross. If she exercised and burned...300 calories and she ate those back, her gross calorie intake would be 1500 calories, but her net would remain 1200. If she ate 1200 calories and exercised 300 calories and didn't eat those back, her gross calorie intake would be 1200 calories, but her net intake would be 900 calories. If she eats 800 calories gross (CI) and exercises 1000 off (CO), her net calorie intake would be -200 calories
A negative net calorie figure would indicate that basically the OP is exercising off every single calorie she consumes and then some. Whether or not this is truly the case is unknown and I would be skeptical...this is often a combination of eating very low calorie and exercising, but overestimating exercise calories burned...but still, estimation errors aside, a net negative calorie intake would be indicative of a very low calorie intake combined with excessive exercise.2 -
Open your diary and we will be able to help you more specifically...3
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DancingMoosie wrote: »Open your diary and we will be able to help you more specifically...
Exactly!
It's really hard to diagnose a problem with numbers when you can't see the numbers in question, especially with some doubts about the terminology being used.
So far you have had suggestions you are over-eating, under-eating, massively under-eating.1 -
DancingMoosie wrote: »Open your diary and we will be able to help you more specifically...
Exactly!
It's really hard to diagnose a problem with numbers when you can't see the numbers in question, especially with some doubts about the terminology being used.
So far you have had suggestions you are over-eating, under-eating, massively under-eating.
Yeah, this is the issue for me. I understand what cwolfman is saying above, but the way OP phrased the question (and writing the number specifically with the negative sign, which is what I usually see when I overeat my net calories daily) is what's throwing me and making me think they are overeating.
Please open your diary, OP, or post a screesnhot or something.1 -
I had -7 calories in my diary yesterday and that is because I ate 7 calories MORE than I was supposed too...
This is probably the case here also.0 -
dragon_girl26 wrote: »DancingMoosie wrote: »Open your diary and we will be able to help you more specifically...
Exactly!
It's really hard to diagnose a problem with numbers when you can't see the numbers in question, especially with some doubts about the terminology being used.
So far you have had suggestions you are over-eating, under-eating, massively under-eating.
Yeah, this is the issue for me. I understand what cwolfman is saying above, but the way OP phrased the question (and writing the number specifically with the negative sign, which is what I usually see when I overeat my net calories daily) is what's throwing me and making me think they are overeating.
Please open your diary, OP, or post a screesnhot or something.
I'm currently showing -625 net on my home page as I've logged 625 calories of exercise but haven't logged any food at all.
Which would be some serious under-eating if I actually wasn't eating....
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dragon_girl26 wrote: »DancingMoosie wrote: »Open your diary and we will be able to help you more specifically...
Exactly!
It's really hard to diagnose a problem with numbers when you can't see the numbers in question, especially with some doubts about the terminology being used.
So far you have had suggestions you are over-eating, under-eating, massively under-eating.
Yeah, this is the issue for me. I understand what cwolfman is saying above, but the way OP phrased the question (and writing the number specifically with the negative sign, which is what I usually see when I overeat my net calories daily) is what's throwing me and making me think they are overeating.
Please open your diary, OP, or post a screesnhot or something.
I'm currently showing -625 net on my home page as I've logged 625 calories of exercise but haven't logged any food at all.
Which would be some serious under-eating if I actually wasn't eating....
This. That first big number is just calories left for the day. It's what turns red when you go over. What's circled is *NET* calories. Just like with income - gross is what you make, net is what you take home after various deductions.0 -
tracymayo1 wrote: »I had -7 calories in my diary yesterday and that is because I ate 7 calories MORE than I was supposed too...
This is probably the case here also.
But does anything there in your diary say NET calories to have gotten that term from? Not from what I can see.
Post above shows where NET calories is used, and why a negative.
Fits exactly the terms and example given by someone that doesn't know what is going on but reading exactly what is put on the screen.
And that is a confusing 1 liner to most.
Of course if you ate to goal it would still be wrong, if you ate to calories remaining it would be correct.0 -
dragon_girl26 wrote: »It's very, very unlikely you had net negative 350 calories for a whole week. That would be less than zero calories, as in, eating zero calories and then doing 350 calories of exercise. You'd be gnawing your own arm off after a week of that. There's a terminology issue here. Why don't you tell us how many calories you ate and how many you burned off with exercise, and we can take it from there.
Wait...now I'm confused. Showing a negative number like in OP's example above means they have eaten 350 calories over their net and not under (usually a green positive number) , right? Or am I getting this wrong and we're talking about something else?
The word "net" is used in various places in various ways in different parts of either web MFP or the phone/tablet apps. To me, it's hard to tell exactly what OP is referring to. Like others, I think the likeliest interpretation (in context of several other threads by the OP) is that she's under-eating, but it's hard to be sure. It's not even obvious whether she means 350 for the whole week (added over 7 days) or 350 each and every day of the week, though I think it's the latter.2 -
Ah, ok, yeah what Ann said (and everyone else) makes sense. I've been using the app for so long that I didn't even think about the information displayed likely being different between the app version and the web version. I was thinking of the number below from the app view. After doing this for so many years, I just think of it as net calories in my head, even though I guess it doesn't actually have that label. (heh, yeah, and obviously I got a little carried away today on my intake...)
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cwolfman13 wrote: »dragon_girl26 wrote: »It's very, very unlikely you had net negative 350 calories for a whole week. That would be less than zero calories, as in, eating zero calories and then doing 350 calories of exercise. You'd be gnawing your own arm off after a week of that. There's a terminology issue here. Why don't you tell us how many calories you ate and how many you burned off with exercise, and we can take it from there.
Wait...now I'm confused. Showing a negative number like in OP's example above means they have eaten 350 calories over their net and not under (usually a green positive number) , right? Or am I getting this wrong and we're talking about something else?
A negative net calorie figure would indicate that basically the OP is exercising off every single calorie she consumes and then some. Whether or not this is truly the case is unknown and I would be skeptical...this is often a combination of eating very low calorie and exercising, but overestimating exercise calories burned...but still, estimation errors aside, a net negative calorie intake would be indicative of a very low calorie intake combined with excessive exercise.
OP, I know you said in your other thread you wanted to lose as much as you can as soon as you can, but this is not the way.2 -
I just now opened up my diary. Maybe you can take a look and get an idea of what I am wanting to know. Thanks!1
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Your profile is still private...0
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What are you doing to earn so much exercise calories. Do you have a device connected?
And, your calories seem low. Do you log everything, and use a food scale?0 -
I have a Garmin vivosmart. I am eating about 900 calories daily. I do log everything. No I don't use a food scale. What I am eating usually is pretty cut and dried. I love broccoli and I get Green Giant frozen and it will tell you how many calories in a cup. I am not doing any exercise at all yet. I did walk one day and I cleaned house all day one day.1
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I work full time in an office. I don't have a lot of time to exercise. I try to walk at work on my breaks. Some at lunch. My Garmin Connect is connected to My Fitness Pal. Whatever calories that my Garmin shows that I have used is what shows up on MFP. Also, intensity minutes, how many steps I walk in a day...I think it counts all of that.0
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According to my Garmin right now, today was slow. It shows I burnt 2641 calories.I didn't walk today and only got 4398 steps. No intensity minutes.0
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I have to apologize for my ignorance working with stuff like this. Garmins, my remote control for the TV. No good at none of that stuff, and I am no good with this calorie stuff. I know what it tells me that I can eat a day and I try to stay a little under it to allow for any mistakes in the counting of the calories. Like tonight, I made cupcakes for a friend at work tomorrow, Well you can bet that I licked a spoon or two.2
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I'm not good with understanding the devices either, but 2641 calories for 4400 steps, and an office job seems really high. Its like its counting the calories you burn just being alive. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will have better advice.1
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My BMR is figured by MFP is 1300. Does that sound right? I am 66 and I am 5'3" and right now I weigh 175.
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I've looked over your diary. For what it's worth I have two observations:
- you are undereating. You seem to be under 1,000 calories most days. 1200 is supposed to be the rock-bottom minimum, and in fact that is supposed to be 1200 PLUS all of your intentional exercise. So if you do 300 calories worth of workout, 1500 is the rock bottom minimum to keep yourself healthy. Eating under 1000 calories per day as a regular habit is crash dieting, it ain't gonna end well.
- I notice MFP's recommended calories per day in your diary is ranging from 2500 to 3200 ish. This means you are logging north of 1500 calories per day in exercise calories. I'm not sure how you're getting there. Most people can earn about 400 calories an hour doing cardio. So are you doing 3+ hours per day of hard core cardio? Something is going wrong in how your exercise calories are getting logged. Your daily life activities like cleaning and such should not be getting logged as exercise. Exercise is your "work out" time and for most people isn't more than an hour or maybe 90 mins a day.
I don't know you or your unique circumstances, but my gut take is that you're undereating and counting things as intentional exercise that shouldn't be counted as such. Your first step should be to NEVER eat less than 1200 calories of food plus as least half of whatever intentional exercise (e.g. going to the gym; putting on sweats and going for a brisk walk, etc.) you are doing.
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I've looked over your diary. For what it's worth I have two observations:
- you are undereating. You seem to be under 1,000 calories most days. 1200 is supposed to be the rock-bottom minimum, and in fact that is supposed to be 1200 PLUS all of your intentional exercise. So if you do 300 calories worth of workout, 1500 is the rock bottom minimum to keep yourself healthy. Eating under 1000 calories per day as a regular habit is crash dieting, it ain't gonna end well.
- I notice MFP's recommended calories per day in your diary is ranging from 2500 to 3200 ish. This means you are logging north of 1500 calories per day in exercise calories. I'm not sure how you're getting there. Most people can earn about 400 calories an hour doing cardio. So are you doing 3+ hours per day of hard core cardio? Something is going wrong in how your exercise calories are getting logged. Your daily life activities like cleaning and such should not be getting logged as exercise. Exercise is your "work out" time and for most people isn't more than an hour or maybe 90 mins a day.
I don't know you or your unique circumstances, but my gut take is that you're undereating and counting things as intentional exercise that shouldn't be counted as such. Your first step should be to NEVER eat less than 1200 calories of food plus as least half of whatever intentional exercise (e.g. going to the gym; putting on sweats and going for a brisk walk, etc.) you are doing.
@lgfrie, based on other threads, the exercise calories are coming from a Garmin tracker OP has synched to MFP, so it's an all-day calorie synch by end of day. It isn't clear what's accounting for that high a calorie number (that I can tell).2
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