What should I be looking at? Total calories or net calories?

focuseddiva

When I go to the reporting tool, it allows you to view net calories or total calories. Both, for me, appear to have a daily goal of 1200.
The NET calories should equal 1200 b/c they account for eating back exercise calories burned, right?
So which view should I be looking at to see how I am doing, do you think? I have been logging for three days. My calories for the lst three days have been:
1462
1391
1878

My NET cals for the last three days:
1236
915
1171

I am 41, 5'8, 180 lbs, trying to get to 155. Targeting 2 lb loss per week if possible. 1200 cals was the goal MFP set for me.

I know all of these numbers are estimates, but I'm just wondering which I should be looking at to gauge how well I am doing: NET calories or just calories? And, in general, is it normal to have such variablity? I should be hitting 1200 but I am a bit all over the target, I think.

muziclver

Definitely look at the net calories the most. I also like to look at the whole week's worth of calories as a whole (it shows you the average you've been eating. It shows a bigger picture in my opinion because some days you eat more some days you eat less. The weekly summary will show you if you are generally eating too much, too little, or just the right amount.

jchadden42

You should be looking at Net calories. That is the total calories - exercise calories. If you're trying to lose weight, you may choose not to eat back exercise calories. Just remember, losing 2 pounds a week is very quick.

mrsamanda86

Net calories, you need to eat back your exercise calories. Also, you should definitely be netting over 1200 if you are 5'8. As you don't have that much to lose, I would put it down to 1-1.5 pounds per week.

focuseddiva

Where do I find the view of the weekly average?

Ok, so I should view net calories and those (1200) is what I should be shooting for. About 1200. Which is food eaten minue exercise burned, right? Some people on these boards have said to only eat back half of the exercise cals. So confusing!

mrsamanda86

Go the reports section and look for net calories. Some people say eat 50-75% of your exercise calories back just in case the machines or MFP's estimate of how much you burn is overestimated. I usually eat 75-100% of mine and haven't had any issues. It differs with everyone though. MFP tends to overestimate for a lot of people, but for some reason it WAY underestimates my burns. Not sure why, but I would say just go ahead and pick an amount to eat back, stick to it for like two weeks, see how much you lost and what you have your goal set to, and see if it matches up. Then, if needed, reevaluate. Hope this helps!

pawnstarNate

I didn't really read but, first thought that came to my mind is "stop looking at the calories first.....look at the food" it will tell you if it's healthy or not.

bwogilvie

As others have said, focus on net calories, but be wary of the values that MFP gives for exercise calories. It routinely overestimates mine; I use a heart rate monitor (HRM), but there are even significant variations between HRM models.

It's normal for your total calories to fluctuate, even if you're hitting your net calories spot on, unless you exercise the same amount every day. Some days I exercise for over 3 hours (long bike rides) and burn 1500-2000 calories. (One day I burnt over 4000 riding 111.5 miles). Other days I don't exercise at all. (Going to the fridge isn't exercise!) If I want to hit my net calories of 1570/day, a sedentary today might have 1570 total and a day with moderate exercise might have 2300.

I agree with muziclvr that looking at your weekly average is more useful than the daily average. Some days you might just not feel hungry, or you might want an extra something or other. As long as it balances out over the week, you're OK. I often eat a couple hundred calories over on days when I don't exercise, knowing it will balance out.

Finally, check the numbers against results. For example: If you set MFP to lose 1.5 lbs./week, and you're only losing 1 lb., you're netting 1750 more calories each week than you're logging. It could be underestimating food or overestimating exercise burn; either way, you can either try to be more accurate, or just change your goal to reflect the difference between estimates and reality.

focuseddiva

Excellent advice. Wow, you guys are very knowledgeable. This community is pretty great. Thanks again.

ttiger33

Thank you for the information..