New and confused

jlynnk06

I've only been tracking for two days and I have a question about net calories. My net calories are negative at this moment. Does that mean I HAVE to eat over 1000 ccalories? I'm eating a lot and I am very full. Your opinions/advice are greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

55amanda

No u do not! The goal is to stay under the net calories. As long as you're full, you're good

Iron_Rose

Yea Red is bad, green is good. The red negative means you've gone OVER your daily goal.

cc141

You don't want negative net calories. It would be easier if you opened your diary so we could see how many calories you're eating.

bwogilvie

My net calories are negative at this moment.... I'm eating a lot and I am very full.

If both of those statements are true, I strongly suspect one of the following is true:

1. You just did an epic endurance event. The day I rode 111 miles through the Berkshire Hills, I was at -1024 calories for the day. I ate 3260 but burned 4284. I just couldn't eat any more. But I made up for it over the next few days.

2. You're eating more than you think. Do you have a food scale? Are you logging everything you eat, including (for example) the piece of fruit you grab when going through the kitchen? This post is helpful:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

Your net calories should be as close as possible to your goal without going over (like "The Price is Right") but you can balance them over the course of the week. I often eat over my goal on weekends, but I make up for it by eating somewhat under on weekdays.

jlynnk06

I've opened my diary to the public. I do have a food scale which I use as well as measuring cups/spoons. I am purposely measuring so I get a hang of portion control. I'm walking 3 miles per day and every other day I'm adding weights. I've also just started doing 30 day shred.

ew_david

No u do not! The goal is to stay under the net calories. As long as you're full, you're good

Um no.

Once or twice is fine, but the idea us to meet your goal, not come in under all the time.

OP, I'd probably only eat back about half of your exercise calories. I'm willing to bet 600+ is overestimating.

lemurcat12

Your goal is 1200, so yes you definitely should plan to hit 1200 net. It might feel okay at first, but if you don't it makes it tough to get enough nutrients and the energy you need. It also risks you getting burnt out really quickly, and you don't need to drop your calories so low to lose (based on the total you have now).

You also should, in general, eat back at least part of your exercise calories. However, you should also be aware that MFP overestimates the calories burnt for lots of things, and lots of the things you are logging seem like they could be part of daily activity. MFP's over 900 estimate for them is going to be way off.

What might make more sense is to think about your daily activity estimate. Lots of times people say sedentary because of how MFP describes it, but almost no one is sedentary. If you change your activity level to lightly active, for example, you would probably get some more calories to burn and also could not log a lot of what you have logged (your cooking, cleaning, walks to do errands, that kind of thing would be included in the activity level). And so you wouldn't have 900 additional calories to deal with, but you should still eat at least your goal plus some portion of the exercise calories you do have.

DancingMoosie

Do you have your settings set as sedentary? Personally, I would not log cooking or cleaning because those are part of your everyday activities, even at sedentary. Unless you are doing something that is actually a workout, or doing some kind of marathon spring cleaning, don't log it. Also, how do you walk for 20 min completely downhill? Or was that part of the walk that was logged as 3.5mph?

Also, you are not eating a lot. I see one full meal in the last two days, plus some snacks. Your protein total for today is only 33 grams. That is very low. If you keep eating such few calories and protein, you will lose a lot of muscle as you lose weight and lower your metabolism.

I would suggest eating more protein, strength train, and net at least 1200 calories a day.

1PatientBear

No u do not! The goal is to stay under the net calories. As long as you're full, you're good

Incorrect. You want to get close to your net calories. A few calories over or under is no big deal, but 1000 calories under, as you have been for the last two days, is not a good thing. Eat some food!!!

3dogsrunning

The idea is your "net" calories should be the same as you goal.
So if you have 1500 calorie goal ad you do 500 calories worth of exercise you should eat 2000 calories which would give you a net of 1500. 2000 (total eaten) - 500 (calories burned in exercise) = 1500 net, which is your goal.

The thing is, that works only if you don't overestimate exercise calories. I see you have logged cleaning and a few other smaller things. I don't tend to include those in my exercise. Some people do. It will also depend on how much weight you have to lose and how aggressive your goal is.

RunnerStephe

Too few calories will put your health at risk. This is helpful in getting what your daily goal should be. http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

jlynnk06

Thanks everyone. I will adjust exercise diary and see where that puts me.