Net calories vs Calories

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XxLostCookiexX
XxLostCookiexX Posts: 12
in Health and Weight Loss
What "type" of calorie should I use to guide me through weight loss? These days, I eat more calories than I'm suppose to, so I exercise more than usual to burn it all off. But should I be eating less and work out "normally" to see bigger results? Whenever I check my reports, I'm always over the limit line for calories, but under net calories... so I was wondering which one should I care more about?

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  • kiwitechgirl
    kiwitechgirl Posts: 145 Member
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    Net calories are what matter. But, do be careful about how you measure exercise burns - the MFP database does tend to estimate high. A heart rate monitor with chest strap is the most accurate way to measure cardio. Urns.
  • Nikiki
    Nikiki Posts: 993
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    ^^^^what she said.
    I'll also add: if you are eating more than you "should" be you might need to re-evaluate your food & your goal. Eating more protein helps me stay full on less, and I dropped my loss per week goal in order to increase my calories figuring a slow loss was better than being miserable and cheating on my diet all the time.

    As for net vs gross: I go off of net, and I generally don't eat back all my calories. My goal is 1700 and most days I net around 1500.
  • katherinelav2
    katherinelav2 Posts: 29
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    Hi. I have 2 questions I'm new to this..
    I weigh 145 but look almost 20 lbs smaller.. but i want to loose 10 pounds by march 15th.. if possible
    If I take in 1,500 calories a day and workout both the elliptical for 30 mins and the bike for 25-30 mins could i loose the 10 pounds by then? or should i eat less calories. Today I had a net of`1,036. is that good? i ate 1,563 and exercised 527
  • EllieSenra
    EllieSenra Posts: 5 Member
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    If you eat your goal in calories, you won't lose weight but rather maintain it. I found a website that explains perfectly how calories and weight loss/gain works, and after that I understood that if I eat my goal calories and still burn about 500 calories a day (with not eating those 500 calories back), that's where the weight loss comes from. So, you should consume your goal calories and workout normally and you will see weight loss. Working out extra hard just to balance it all out to even again won't do anything for you in terms of losing weight!
  • Brocksterdanza
    Brocksterdanza Posts: 208 Member
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    How about listing that site ellie
  • RllyGudTweetr
    RllyGudTweetr Posts: 2,019 Member
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    Hi. I have 2 questions I'm new to this..
    I weigh 145 but look almost 20 lbs smaller.. but i want to loose 10 pounds by march 15th.. if possible
    If I take in 1,500 calories a day and workout both the elliptical for 30 mins and the bike for 25-30 mins could i loose the 10 pounds by then? or should i eat less calories. Today I had a net of`1,036. is that good? i ate 1,563 and exercised 527
    MFP guidelines indicate netting under 1200 calories is bad; unless you're exceptionally short and/or small boned, this is probably true for you. So, you should probably be eating a little more.

    Why are you mixing two different steady state cardio machines each day? Is it just to alleviate boredom?
  • katherinelav2
    katherinelav2 Posts: 29
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    So i should try to eat 1300 a day?
  • katherinelav2
    katherinelav2 Posts: 29
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    Haha ya it is i can't do 40 minutes on one of ill just die of boredom. I am actually 5'5 so should i be eating more?
  • katherinelav2
    katherinelav2 Posts: 29
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    Thanks :) so i should be eating what as a net calorie?
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    If you eat your goal in calories, you won't lose weight but rather maintain it. I found a website that explains perfectly how calories and weight loss/gain works, and after that I understood that if I eat my goal calories and still burn about 500 calories a day (with not eating those 500 calories back), that's where the weight loss comes from. So, you should consume your goal calories and workout normally and you will see weight loss. Working out extra hard just to balance it all out to even again won't do anything for you in terms of losing weight!

    ^This is incorrect. MFP already has a calorie deficit built into your daily calorie goal based on your goal loss per week, which means if you only ate your calorie goal and did not do any exercise, you would still lose weight. MFP is designed for you to eat your exercise calories back on top of your daily goal. Most people only eat a portion of those calories back to account for any inaccuracies in their exercise calorie burn estimates or food logging.
  • hurricanegirl13
    hurricanegirl13 Posts: 109
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    I'm really quite confused about which calories I should be watching.

    My daily intake (according to MFP) to lose 1.5 lbs a week is 1380.

    For example, I consumed 1323 calories today, and burned 658 calories in exercise. But I still have 710 calories remaining... with a net of 670.

    I have no idea what this means! Am I aiming for a net of 0? Or a high net? Or do I ignore it and look at the fact that I have 710 calories left? I'm so confused!
  • kiwitechgirl
    kiwitechgirl Posts: 145 Member
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    The number of calories MFP says you have remaining for today, in green? Get that as close to zero as you can. You want your net calories eaten to be as close to your 1380 daily intake goal as possible. So yes, you should eat those 710 calories you have remaining.
  • hurricanegirl13
    hurricanegirl13 Posts: 109
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    Is it inadvisable to *not* eat back the calories I gained from exercising? I know some people do, some people don't.


    The bottom line would be, I don't want my net to go over my 1380 daily intake goal, right?
  • kiwitechgirl
    kiwitechgirl Posts: 145 Member
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    Depends where you're getting the figures for you exercise burns. If it's the MFP database, I wouldn't eat them all back as it tends to run high. But if it's a heart rate monitor with chest strap, you should be ok. You might want to start by eating 50% back, give it a couple of weeks and adjust if necessary. I eat all mine back and it hasn't impeded my weight loss.
  • Bassopottomous
    Bassopottomous Posts: 3
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    I'm a little confused on the calorie information as well. Each new day it says "You're daily goal 1,410" Then under that, "Remaining 1,410." But at the end of the day when I close out the report it reads something slightly different, like yesterday it was "Your daily goal 1,962." "Remaining 1,426" and the day before that, by days end it said "Your daily goal 1,801." "Remaining 375." I am confused as to why the daily goal portion keeps increasing, even though at the start of the day it's 1,410.
  • benefiting
    benefiting Posts: 795 Member
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    Isn't it if you go by the TDDE approach you don't need to worry about the net calories?
  • kiwitechgirl
    kiwitechgirl Posts: 145 Member
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    Do you log exercise? That will increase your calories.
  • Bassopottomous
    Bassopottomous Posts: 3
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    Do you log exercise? That will increase your calories.

    Yes I do, and now it makes sense. Thank you.

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