How many net calories do you eat a day?

ColoradoBringItOn

My personal trainer said to take my body weight and multiply it by 10. Well being over 200 lbs at the moment I am eating right at 2000 net calories. I'm 5'9", large body frame, easy muscle gainer body type. I currently do strength training 2x a week and cardio 3x a week and have been for 6 weeks.

So does 2000 calories seem reasonable? Most females I see in their food diary eat around 1200-1500 a day which is why I'm asking. I really want to hear from successful people on what works for you. Thanks!

tegalicious

I do the TDEE method so I eat 2350 every day because my exercise is already factored in. I am 5'3" and 115.4 pounds and very active and lose about .5 pounds a week this way (it is more variable now that I am in a healthy weight range).

ETA: Feel free to add me as a friend if you want a friend who eats more than 1200 calories and still loses weight!!

Mokey41

That doesn't sound like a good method to me. It would mean I was allowed 1150 calories a day! You can't make a one size fits all formula. Educate yourself on BMR and TDEE and make an informed decision on your intake.

Lizzy622

2000 seems reasonable. I net about 1600 but eat gross between 1650 and 2000 depending on how much I exercise. I am also over 200 pounds and bout 5'8"

deksgrl

Most females I see in their food diary eat around 1200-1500 a day which is why I'm asking. I really want to hear from successful people on what works for you. Thanks!

A lot of them are doing it wrong.

What works is taking a reasonable deficit off of TDEE. Or, setting MFP up for a reasonable goal and eating to the Net calories. A properly set TDEE - % goal should be about the same as a properly set MFP + exercise calories goal.

Brandolin11

My personal trainer said to take my body weight and multiply it by 10. Well being over 200 lbs at the moment I am eating right at 2000 net calories. I'm 5'9", large body frame, easy muscle gainer body type. I currently do strength training 2x a week and cardio 3x a week and have been for 6 weeks.

So does 2000 calories seem reasonable? Most females I see in their food diary eat around 1200-1500 a day which is why I'm asking. I really want to hear from successful people on what works for you. Thanks!

Go here, enter your information, and the calculator will tell you everything you need to know.

http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/tools/Calculator-Daily-Calorie.html

sijomial

What have you been netting for the last 6 weeks and what have your results been?

That's the way to work out YOUR calorie needs rather than just a very simplistic formula or comparing yourself to others.

glreim21

Sounds about right. I am eating between 2100-2300 calories a day, I am 5"11. We have been brainwashed into thinking 1200 calorie diets are the way to lose weight, it may work for some smaller people but that is not a one size fits all goal.

ColoradoBringItOn

My personal trainer said to take my body weight and multiply it by 10. Well being over 200 lbs at the moment I am eating right at 2000 net calories. I'm 5'9", large body frame, easy muscle gainer body type. I currently do strength training 2x a week and cardio 3x a week and have been for 6 weeks.

So does 2000 calories seem reasonable? Most females I see in their food diary eat around 1200-1500 a day which is why I'm asking. I really want to hear from successful people on what works for you. Thanks!

Go here, enter your information, and the calculator will tell you everything you need to know.

http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/tools/Calculator-Daily-Calorie.html

Looks like I'm spot on with 2000. I checked a few calculators and they are all saying the same thing. Thanks!

DeeDeeMee

I'm 5'7" (175 cm) and have a large frame. I'm finding that I net somewhere between 1400 - 1600 calories a day. MFP is set to 1200 for me, but that's because I told it I'm sedentary. I don't do any strength training but do an hour and a half of light exercise (yoga and walking) at least 5 days a week and usually eat most of it back. I'm finding that it's working really well so far.

It is hard when you are actually 'big boned'. The charts all say that my 'ideal' weight is 71 kilos (156 pounds), but I'm aiming for 75 (165 pounds). I've been there before and you can see the outline of my ribs and hips. If I lost more than that I'd be worried.

bob_day

I really don't know how many calories I eat per day -- I don't keep track. I'm on a well regulated diet, and if I stick strictly to it I lose weight. I don't even have to think much about it. This week I'm down about a pound, and since I'm now trying to maintain my weight, next week I can have a few extra things.

wild_wild_life

My personal trainer said to take my body weight and multiply it by 10. Well being over 200 lbs at the moment I am eating right at 2000 net calories. I'm 5'9", large body frame, easy muscle gainer body type. I currently do strength training 2x a week and cardio 3x a week and have been for 6 weeks.

So does 2000 calories seem reasonable? Most females I see in their food diary eat around 1200-1500 a day which is why I'm asking. I really want to hear from successful people on what works for you. Thanks!

Go here, enter your information, and the calculator will tell you everything you need to know.

http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/tools/Calculator-Daily-Calorie.html

Looks like I'm spot on with 2000. I checked a few calculators and they are all saying the same thing. Thanks!

Just remember that calculator is saying 2000 cals total and you said 2000 cals net. That means you could be eating 2500 or higher with exercise? Your trainer probably meant total cals rather than net, as the net calorie concept is pretty meaningless.

ColoradoBringItOn

I'm 5'7" (175 cm) and have a large frame. I'm finding that I net somewhere between 1400 - 1600 calories a day. MFP is set to 1200 for me, but that's because I told it I'm sedentary. I don't do any strength training but do an hour and a half of light exercise (yoga and walking) at least 5 days a week and usually eat most of it back. I'm finding that it's working really well so far.

It is hard when you are actually 'big boned'. The charts all say that my 'ideal' weight is 71 kilos (156 pounds), but I'm aiming for 75 (165 pounds). I've been there before and you can see the outline of my ribs and hips. If I lost more than that I'd be worried.

My goal is 165. I was there in high school and loved how I looked and felt. That is realistic for my frame.

Siansonea

Because I'm old, hate exercise, and I'm female, I can't get away with high calorie limits. I stick to the 1200-1350 range, and it's worked like a charm, in the complete absence of exercise or eating any specific foods.

Mitzigan94

4'11.5-5'0 female sedentary
calories for the past month was 1600-2000
for me it was like a binge. lol

right nOw Im going back to my 1320 calorie range
.
tdee helps too with calories
.

jus saying

yarwell

I don't eat "net calories", I eat food that has calories. 1200-1600.

Fivepts

Most females I see in their food diary eat around 1200-1500 a day which is why I'm asking. I really want to hear from successful people on what works for you. Thanks!

A lot of them are doing it wrong.

What works is taking a reasonable deficit off of TDEE. Or, setting MFP up for a reasonable goal and eating to the Net calories. A properly set TDEE - % goal should be about the same as a properly set MFP + exercise calories goal.

Send to myself

Wantingtolose1

I'm netting 1200 most days but I only have 3 kilos left to lose . Normally burn calories through excercise and I'm usually eating those back rather then netting under 1200. I'm losing weight on it and not finding it too difficult but if I didn't excercise to be able to eat more I think it would be tough as 1200 is not a lot

CherylP67

I'm 5'5" and I weigh 161. My goal is 139. I just broke through a 3 month period where I was losing and gaining the same 3 pounds. I tried everything, more calories, less calories, I think a week of giving up and eating whatever got me out of that cycle.

What's working for me now is I net between 1500-1600 calories a day, meaning I eat back my exercise calories.

I'll keep doing this until I stall again, then I'll figure out the next leg of the journey.

twixlepennie

Doing the method your trainer recommended I'd only be eating 1,180 calories a day :huh: I'm in maintenance, am 5ft 6in, a 35 year old female and my maintenance weight range is 118lbs-120lbs. I eat around 1,700-2,000 calories a day, give or take a few in either direction. For exercise I walk 3-4 times a week and that's already factored into my calories.

psuLemon

Most females I see in their food diary eat around 1200-1500 a day which is why I'm asking. I really want to hear from successful people on what works for you. Thanks!

I counter your this statement with the below thread

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/506349-women-who-eat-more-than-1800-calories-a-day

The reason it appears most women on this board eat 1200-1500 calories is because they are the ones that tend to plateau more. The ones that fuel their body correctly, don't need to start threads on why they can't lose weight. The biggest thing is getting a food scale and be consistent with your logging. The majority of women I work with (that exercise) eat 1700-2100.

I am a 5'11 man with a desk job and exercise 5-6 hours a week and eat 2400-2600


Also, your training is off. The x 10 is for sedentary people, it's x 11 for lightly active and x12 for moderate I believe.

KnM0107

I don't mfp settings, I go for a calorie goal that does include exercise. I also eat in a range. I eat 2500 to 2750 calories a day which gives me a weight loss of .5 a pound to one pound a week.

ETA: I played with the numbers some and the only way mfp gives me 1200 calories is if I choose a weekly weightloss goal that is too aggressive and I have to set my actitity level at sedentary or lightly active (before exercise my activity level is very active).

ColoradoBringItOn

Also, your training is off. The x 10 is for sedentary people, it's x 11 for lightly active and x12 for moderate I believe.

That's very interesting. When I went to http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
These are the numbers that came back for me at my age, weight, height and activity level:
you need 3247 Calories/day to maintain your weight
you need 2747 Calories/day to lose 1 lb per week
you need 2247 Calories/day to lose 2 lb per week
you need 3747 Calories/day to gain 1 lb per week
you need 4247 Calories/day to gain 2 lb per week

With this Reference
This Calorie Calculator is based on the Mifflin - St Jeor equation. With this equation, the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is calculated by using the following formula:

BMR = 10 * weight(kg) + 6.25 * height(cm) - 5 * age(y) + 5 (man)
BMR = 10 * weight(kg) + 6.25 * height(cm) - 5 * age(y) - 161 (woman)
The calories needed to maintain your weight equal to the BMR value, multiplied by an activity factor. To loss 1 pound, or 0.5kg per week, you will need to shave 500 calories from your daily menu.

And according to the mayoclinic calorie calculator I have to eat 2300 cals a day based on everything above and an active lifestyle.

Then when I went to caloriecount.about.com It said this: Weight Loss Calculator

Results

You should consume about 2,240 calories a day to reach your goal weight of 175 lbs. This is at a reasonable weight loss average of 1.5 lbs per week.

So actually I'm not consuming enough at 2000 calories based on my activity level. I should be more like 2200-2300 roughly.

Stage14

I net an average of 1750 a day, and I'm losing about around .5lb per week, lifting once maybe twice a week when I can squeeze it in. If I could actually get back to lifting the way I was before all hell broke loose in my job, I would either
a. be losing closer to 1lb a week or
b. be averaging closer to 1900 calories a day

psuLemon

I would put you at 2100 calories total... since exercise is all included, these are gross calories, not net calories. As long as you are logging correctly, aka weighing your food with a scale, then you should see fat loss, pending you follow the standard deviation.

Docpremie

Just posted this in another thread:

"How did you set up your MFP account? You need to pick an accurate activity level. Too many folks pick "sedentary" when they are actually lightly active or even more. Also set your goal to lose no more than 1 pound/week to achieve a sustainable weight loss. Plateaus, inadequate intake & hunger are the biggest cause for people to quit. View this as a lifestyle change, not a diet. You need to find a happy medium between eating too much & dieting, so you can live with it for life! After finding your actually calorie goal, then eat back exercise calories. I'm not sure how you are measuring your exercise calories? If using MFP then most folks find their calories burns high & thus eat back 1/2-2/3 of the actual calorie burn. Other methods of measuring vary in accuracy depending on the device.

If you prefer a more constant daily calorie goal, then you can switch to the TDDE-deficit method. The following I just posted in another thread:

If you let MFP set your calories, then yes, you eat back exercise calories. I decided to use the TDEE method mostly, because I didn't like the constantly changing calorie goal. ... If you want a more constant calorie goal, then I'd switch to the TDEE-deficit method & self-set your calorie & macro goals. For protein, ensure you are getting AT LEAST 1 gram/pound lean body mass--for most women that's 100-125 grams/day. Your fat should be set at 0.4 grams/pound of lean body mass. Carbs are whatever is left. ... meet your calorie goal most every day!!! If after 3-4 weeks, you're not losing then adjust your daily calorie goal by 100 calories & watch for another 3-4 weeks. You may need more calories or less calories, it can be a little trial & error from the TDEE-deficit calculation. If you need to lose >20 pounds, set your deficit at TDEE-20%. If your need to lose 10-20 pounds, then TDEE-10 to 15%, and once you're down to <10 pounds to lose, set your goal to TDEE-5-10%.

Meeting your macros, especially protein, is very important! You want to lose fat not muscle (lean body mass), so protein intake is very important. The more lean body mass you lose, the lower your BMR will be. That's where folks get lost in the "starvation mode" idea. It's not so much borderline/low calories cause "starvation," as it robs you of your lean body mass, and as the lean body mass drops, so does your BMR (i.e. daily basal calorie burn). Resistance training/heavy lifting is also essential for maintaining lean body mass/muscle as well."

Here's a link to Heybales TDEE calculator: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/heybales

"Go to heybales profile page & look for the link to his Excel spreadsheet. It's a few lines down from "About Me." The spreadsheet is great! I've been using it for 8 months now & have lost tons of weight, as has my family. The instructions are at the top of the document. You change the values in "yellow" & the others will adjust to give you your %BF, BMR, TDEE & macro goals. It also allows you to enter your activity in "hours." I redo my numbers monthly or after I've lost 5 pounds. The second tab also allows you to track your values over time, so everything is in one simple spreadsheet!"

Hope this helps! Good luck!!!

ColoradoBringItOn

I would put you at 2100 calories total... since exercise is all included, these are gross calories, not net calories. As long as you are logging correctly, aka weighing your food with a scale, then you should see fat loss, pending you follow the standard deviation.

Ok well I'm going to try and hit 2000-2100 this week and see what happens. I am going to use my food scale all week and see what results I get. I'm very curious at how accurate this all is.

psuLemon

I would put you at 2100 calories total... since exercise is all included, these are gross calories, not net calories. As long as you are logging correctly, aka weighing your food with a scale, then you should see fat loss, pending you follow the standard deviation.

Ok well I'm going to try and hit 2000-2100 this week and see what happens. I am going to use my food scale all week and see what results I get. I'm very curious at how accurate this all is.

A week isn't long enough... a month of accurate logging is the minimum requirement to get an understanding if its working.

prattiger65

I'm 5'5" and I weigh 161. My goal is 139. I just broke through a 3 month period where I was losing and gaining the same 3 pounds. I tried everything, more calories, less calories, I think a week of giving up and eating whatever got me out of that cycle.

What's working for me now is I net between 1500-1600 calories a day, meaning I eat back my exercise calories.

I'll keep doing this until I stall again, then I'll figure out the next leg of the journey.

This post deserves reposting because she is doing it right. What do i mean by that? She has a plan. She had a calorie goal and stuck with it for 3 months, it wasnt working. She reevaluated, adjusted, and kept going and now it is working. The best part is the attitude, "I'll keep doing this till I stall again, the figure out the next leg." That is exactly what this whole thing is about. A calculator may get you close, but you have to adjust as you go, but giving each adjustment time to work. Read, read and then read some more, learn all you can. Keep an open mind. Most important, keep at it!!!

Allup2Me78

This is accurate. Gives me very close to the same amounts as the TDEE Scooby Calculator does.

My personal trainer said to take my body weight and multiply it by 10. Well being over 200 lbs at the moment I am eating right at 2000 net calories. I'm 5'9", large body frame, easy muscle gainer body type. I currently do strength training 2x a week and cardio 3x a week and have been for 6 weeks.

So does 2000 calories seem reasonable? Most females I see in their food diary eat around 1200-1500 a day which is why I'm asking. I really want to hear from successful people on what works for you. Thanks!

Go here, enter your information, and the calculator will tell you everything you need to know.

http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/tools/Calculator-Daily-Calorie.html

ColoradoBringItOn

A week isn't long enough... a month of accurate logging is the minimum requirement to get an understanding if its working.

I just completed week 2 of food logging so next week will be 3 weeks.