So how many calories do I have left each day?

DarleneMarie203

What the total calorie part of my homepage says or what the "net" number is? What is the "NET" number anyway??? Thanks!

pastryari

You want to NET your calorie goal.

Example:
MFP gives you 1500 calories.
You burn 500 calories through exercise.
Your NET is now 1000 calories.
Now you need to eat 500 more calories so your NET is the original 1500 calories.

gbcyto

I've tried to not 'eat back' my exercise calories, so I always seem to have plenty of net calories. I did this with the hopes of having quicker results. If I eat my original amount of calories say 1260 and exercise so I have 500 left in my net...is this bad? Am I risking that my metabolism is going to starvation and slowing down?

pastryari

I've tried to not 'eat back' my exercise calories, so I always seem to have plenty of net calories. I did this with the hopes of having quicker results. If I eat my original amount of calories say 1260 and exercise so I have 500 left in my net...is this bad? Am I risking that my metabolism is going to starvation and slowing down?

It's completely unnecessary to eat so little food and be at such a large deficit.

This isn't a sprint. If you do it that way, the liklihood of putting the weight back on is higher.

It can also be dangerous to your health in the long run and make transitioning to maintenance difficult.

Fuel your body. 500 calories is not enough.

DopeItUp

I've tried to not 'eat back' my exercise calories, so I always seem to have plenty of net calories. I did this with the hopes of having quicker results. If I eat my original amount of calories say 1260 and exercise so I have 500 left in my net...is this bad? Am I risking that my metabolism is going to starvation and slowing down?

Yes, terrible idea. Try to reach your calorie goal every day. Stay within +/- 100 or something reasonable. Succeed.

Athijade

I've tried to not 'eat back' my exercise calories, so I always seem to have plenty of net calories. I did this with the hopes of having quicker results. If I eat my original amount of calories say 1260 and exercise so I have 500 left in my net...is this bad? Am I risking that my metabolism is going to starvation and slowing down?

If you are using MFP numbers for exercise, I would only eat back 50%-75% of those calories. MFP seems to have very inflated exercise numbers.

However, MFP is set up so that you DO eat back your exercise calories. Why would you eat less when you can lose just as well (and be healthier in the long run) with more calories? This isn't a race. "Quicker" results are not always better results when it comes to losing weight.

gale1089

If you use a IIFYM or TDEE calculator you're not supposed to eat back your exercise calories though right? Exercise calories are already calculated into the number it gives you.
I usually hit my goal but my net is still around 1300 or so.. am I right about that?

Fullsterkur_woman

If I do it right, 0.

pastryari

If you use a IIFYM or TDEE calculator you're not supposed to eat back your exercise calories though right? Exercise calories are already calculated into the number it gives you.
I usually hit my goal but my net is still around 1300 or so.. am I right about that?

TDEE calculators include exercise, but MFP does not. If you're going by TDEE numbers, you don't eat them back. If you're going by MFP, you do eat them back.

If your goal is 1300 and you're netting it, then yes you are doing it right.

cwolfman13

I've tried to not 'eat back' my exercise calories, so I always seem to have plenty of net calories. I did this with the hopes of having quicker results. If I eat my original amount of calories say 1260 and exercise so I have 500 left in my net...is this bad? Am I risking that my metabolism is going to starvation and slowing down?

Yes, this is bad...

MFP gives you a calorie GOAL that already includes a massive deficit of calories from what would be required for you to maintain weight. Your weight loss deficit is built in; why else would you go through all of the trouble of giving your stats and weight loss goals to MFP, only to have them give you a maintenance calorie goal? It is counterproductive to have too large a deficit..it will ultimately result in burning a lot of muscle and other LBM along with your fat...but a much larger amount of LBM that is necessary. To boot, hair starts falling out and you end up with other malnutrition symptoms done long term.

MFP's GOAL calories are also NET of exercise....this means that MfP doesn't believe you when you say you're going to exercise X times per week and burn XXX calories per workout...it gives you a goal that doesn't include any of that...with MFP, exercise is accounted for after the fact when you log it...which is why you're supposed to eat back your estimated burn (just make sure you're estimating as good as you can). Other calculators do account for exercise before the fact and include such activity in your activity level...do not get confused with those calculators...those are not MFP...

gbcyto

You all make excellent points and it is probably more long term and substainable. I've been so motivated to succeed that I measure and record everything - I do feel that I am probably taking it a little too far.

camm1969

You want to NET your calorie goal.

Example:
MFP gives you 1500 calories.
You burn 500 calories through exercise.
Your NET is now 1000 calories.
Now you need to eat 500 more calories so your NET is the original 1500 calories.

If she's burned off 500 calories then surely her 'net' is now 2000?

sijomial

You all make excellent points and it is probably more long term and substainable. I've been so motivated to succeed that I measure and record everything - I do feel that I am probably taking it a little too far.

Try and get into the mind-set that "weight loss" isn't success.
Fat loss, muscle retention plus learning healthy and sustainable eating habits are real success.