Net calories Question

arp1217

Okay, so I am confused on this whole net calories thing...On a normal day I will have a 1500 calorie limit, I then tend to work out and burn an average of 1400-1700 calories in two hours. Now, am I supposed to eat enough to make it up to 1200 NET calories, or how does this work? Because the other day I ate 1636 calories and burned 1447 calories and had a net calorie of 189....is this bad?

i am so confused! If anyone can help me out that would be great! Thanks!

NoAdditives

Everyone is different, but the general guideline is 1200 net calories. Net calories are calories consumed minus calories burned. So yes, you do need to eat enough of the calories you burned to get back to 1200. On your MFP home page there is a little banner that calculates this for you. For a while I wasn't totally clear on the concept of net calories, it took seeing the equation on the banner for me to get it. Oh, and yes, if you're net calories are 189, that's not good. MFP already calculates a calorie deficit for you, so it's bes to eat at least some of your exercise calories.

But again, everyone is different. Not everyone needs 1200 calories and some people need more. I've found that I need about 1500 net calories in order to lose weight, but that's just my body, my metabolism, and my genetic history.

chocolatnoir

Yikes. I'm not an expert but I'm pretty sure that is bad.
Out of curiosity, what exercise are you doing that burns that many calories in a couple of hours? It's a lot!

NotAllWhoWanderAreLost

i was stuck on a 3 week plateau then i suddenly "got" the concept of NET calories I hadn't been eating enough to support the additional activity level and thus was pushing my body into starvation mode. I was concentrating so hard on ending my day betweeen 1200 and 1400 calories (and was quite successful) and i mostly looked at my 400-500 calorie burns as a little extra deficit to make myself lose faster: WRONG! I was STUCK and it wasnt until i started finishing my day at 1200+ NET that the pounds started coming off again

BTW, what a great burn for 2 hours work! Do you hike? Thats my fav "super burn" activity

richiefixo

Babe, forget about the net calories for now because if you eat enough to get back to the 1200 extra think of the extra carbs and fat and sugars you could potentially be packing on. MFP doesn't give lay way for potential calories burned through the day. so i say keep doing what you are doing eat healthy and enjoy your weight loss. if you hit a plateau then up your calories by 200 -400 calories but never over 1800. and keep working out!!!! cos you wanna tone your muscle which in turn will burn more fat and drop more weight!....

Goodluck babe!

PS:
(check out shows like the biggest looser, they work out each day for a considerable amount of hours and have set calories through the day...they don't eat 5000 calories to make up for the work outs..

ginnyroxx

i was stuck on a 3 week plateau then i suddenly "got" the concept of NET calories I hadn't been eating enough to support the additional activity level and thus was pushing my body into starvation mode. I was concentrating so hard on ending my day betweeen 1200 and 1400 calories (and was quite successful) and i mostly looked at my 400-500 calorie burns as a little extra deficit to make myself lose faster: WRONG! I was STUCK and it wasnt until i started finishing my day at 1200+ NET that the pounds started coming off again

BTW, what a great burn for 2 hours work! Do you hike? Thats my fav "super burn" activity

ditto ALL of this. I lost at first but then gained 2 pounds and stayed there until I learned I have to eat my exercise calories (1200 net) this will be the 2nd week now where the scale has gone down. sounds crazy, but it's true. i had to eat MORE to start losing.

fromaquasar

My understanding was that you had to eat 1200 calories to not hit starvation mode - nothing to do with net cals. It doesn't make any sense otherwise. If my level is set at 1200 and I exercise and burn 600 I have to eat back that FULL 600 to get up to 1200 net. Every calorie you burn you'd have to eat else you'd always be in starvation mode. I only net 800 cals a day on average, but eat sometimes 1400 - I'm not hungry, and I'm loosing weight......

fromaquasar

Ah ha! You are totally right - so I went and looked at the settings and it does say I should be eating 1200 NET CALORIES a day.

Hmmm that is severely unmotivating to exercise though - I don't think I could eat 1800 calories a day!

alantin

Ah ha! You are totally right - so I went and looked at the settings and it does say I should be eating 1200 NET CALORIES a day.

Hmmm that is severely unmotivating to exercise though - I don't think I could eat 1800 calories a day!

What is your motivation to exercise?
If it is to lose weight through burning calories, then that is pretty simplistic I think. Exercise has an enormous impact on our bodies and the amount, that the OP is doing, has even more so! It takes a lot to recover from it but it also takes a lot of energy while you are doing it. That energy is taken first from carbohydrates in your diet and second from your fat reserves ( you burn both during exercise ). The catch is that if there are not enough carbs in your liver and muscles in the form of glycogen during the exercise, that energy isnt taken from fat too but from an easier and quicker option, your muscle tissue!
The muscle tissue is also in danger when seeking weight loss through diet alone and not exercising at all. The main reason for exercise during a weight loss program then is to minimize the loss of muscle tissue and maximize the loss of fat tissue, but that requires you to eat back most of your exercise calories and maintain a reasonable deficit (about 500 Kcal less than you burn in a day). Otherwise, instead of maintaining the muscle tissue, you are in fact tearing it down.

There are links in my signature to a couple of great articles about the exercise calories and recommended calorie deficits for different weight ranges. I think those will answer most questions you might have!

Cheers!
And dont think there is no use to exercise! Even though it's not much use to making you lose faster (no way to do that healthily!) it does improve your cardiovascular system, train your muscles, and improve you nervous system, which translate to better quality of life and good looks too! just remember, there are three aspects to training that all need to be in order for it to be effective, safe, and healthy. Exercise, rest, and diet.

vbhoj74

Wow, so many months on this, and even I had the same misconception of more deficit = more weight loss with 1200 net calories consumed. I never thought Net cals = cals consumed - cals burned, i thought it was only what i consumed. Actually, it shows more projected weight loss when you complete your entry for the day with more deficit and having min 1200 cals consumed, thats so misleading. I'm on a plateau, and no matter how hard I burn, the weight just keeps coming back, now I probably have a clue.

great informative thread !

SHBoss1673

Babe, forget about the net calories for now because if you eat enough to get back to the 1200 extra think of the extra carbs and fat and sugars you could potentially be packing on. MFP doesn't give lay way for potential calories burned through the day. so i say keep doing what you are doing eat healthy and enjoy your weight loss. if you hit a plateau then up your calories by 200 -400 calories but never over 1800. and keep working out!!!! cos you wanna tone your muscle which in turn will burn more fat and drop more weight!....

Goodluck babe!

PS:
(check out shows like the biggest looser, they work out each day for a considerable amount of hours and have set calories through the day...they don't eat 5000 calories to make up for the work outs..

Be wary of all encompassing statements like the part above like "but never over 1800." Without knowing her situation and her body meticulously, you shouldn't make that statement.

Also. Guys, I know many people LOVE the biggest loser, and for some reasons it's a great, inspiring show. But be REAALLYYYYYY careful about what you take out of that show. It wasn't designed as a blueprint for the average person to lose weight. The techniques they use are extreme, and they have highly trained medical staff on site to support them, the are constantly monitored, and check in with doctors on a regular basis. For most everyone else, you should expect neither the amount of weight loss per week, nor should you choose deficits any where near as large as they create.
You have to remember, these people are generally morbidly obese, and the show sacrifices certain principles of healthy weight loss to get them out of the emergency zone (I.E. these people are so fat they are in immanent danger of serious medical problems and/or death).

To the OP: The reason why this site says to eat back exercise calories is because years of research has shown that creating a super large deficit can complicate weight loss in ways that few people understand. Besides slowing down your metabolic rate (and effectively making the site wrong about your calorie burn), Creating a deficit to large can force your organs to work harder (stressing them and possibly shortening their life span), can deprive you of vital nutrients (vitamins and minerals), and will introduce 2 new dynamics into weight loss. The first is increased fat storage, the second is protein canabalization. Add these two together and you have a completely different energy metabolism calculation.
I know we all want to lose the weight NOW. But going to fast creates it's own set of issues and sets people up for long term failure. Better to lose the weight slowly, keep your muscle mass mostly intact, and allow your body the time it needs to adjust to changes. This keeps skin tighter, you ph balance intact, and doesn't induce wholesale chemical fluctuations that large deficits can.

UpToAnyCool

bump - thanks banks

xxPeppaxx

bump bump bump bump it up!

binary_jester

arp1217

Thanks for all of your feedback, I am starting to get a grasp on what I need to do. I appreciate all the help!

NotAllWhoWanderAreLost

:drinker: great thread! BUMP!

Keekaj520

I'm just not geting it... I can't wrap my brain around this. lol
I've always lost weight by eating less and I think that's my problem. I am still in that frame of mind. So I eat less than my allotted calories because I fear gaining...

Maybe because its late that I can't grasp this.... Simply put, I have 1550 daily to lose the amount of weight I have chosen for my goal. When I exercise it adds calories, so i should eat more? I've hit a plateau and can't get off of it.. I work out every single day..

help me

ginnyroxx

your body needs a minimum of 1200 NET. I am the poster child for this equation. I lost weight then gained & stalled - and i was doing everything right.....except I was eating under 1200 net calories. That's the only thing i had left to try, b/c i knew i was drinking water, working out, eating healthy.

i tried it for a week. i freakin LOST weight. madness.....but it works.

Keekaj520

OK so I'm supposed to eat more than 1200 calories?

Keekaj520

1550 + 1644 - 631 NET - 1013

Ok so let me hope to grasp this. I started with 1550, I ate 1644, I worked out 631 so the net for calories is 1013.. So I'm under the calories I should be eating???

ginnyroxx

that's right. MFP already gives you a deficit (home page/goals/right side - your diet profile, daily calories less your 1500)

so eat a minimum of 1200. you can see my diary from today. I'm a tiny bit short myself today but i didn't back out my bmr calories and w/ my moms homemade food (i love her) i never know what seasonings she uses, so i'd rather give myself a little leeway.

fromaquasar

Ah ha! You are totally right - so I went and looked at the settings and it does say I should be eating 1200 NET CALORIES a day.

Hmmm that is severely unmotivating to exercise though - I don't think I could eat 1800 calories a day!

What is your motivation to exercise?
If it is to lose weight through burning calories, then that is pretty simplistic I think. Exercise has an enormous impact on our bodies and the amount, that the OP is doing, has even more so! It takes a lot to recover from it but it also takes a lot of energy while you are doing it. That energy is taken first from carbohydrates in your diet and second from your fat reserves ( you burn both during exercise ). The catch is that if there are not enough carbs in your liver and muscles in the form of glycogen during the exercise, that energy isnt taken from fat too but from an easier and quicker option, your muscle tissue!
The muscle tissue is also in danger when seeking weight loss through diet alone and not exercising at all. The main reason for exercise during a weight loss program then is to minimize the loss of muscle tissue and maximize the loss of fat tissue, but that requires you to eat back most of your exercise calories and maintain a reasonable deficit (about 500 Kcal less than you burn in a day). Otherwise, instead of maintaining the muscle tissue, you are in fact tearing it down.

There are links in my signature to a couple of great articles about the exercise calories and recommended calorie deficits for different weight ranges. I think those will answer most questions you might have!

Cheers!
And dont think there is no use to exercise! Even though it's not much use to making you lose faster (no way to do that healthily!) it does improve your cardiovascular system, train your muscles, and improve you nervous system, which translate to better quality of life and good looks too! just remember, there are three aspects to training that all need to be in order for it to be effective, safe, and healthy. Exercise, rest, and diet.

Hey thanks for that - sorry I didn't mean I was unmotivated to exercise because it wasn't going to help me loose weight as such- one of my key reasons to be here is to learn to be healthy consistently - rather than loose a lot of weight BUT what I meant was if I do say a hard spin class (which I love) and burn between say 500 and 600 calories, I have never ever eaten more than 1400 calories in a day and I struggle to see how I could without eating "bad" foods - like high cal low nutrition foods -I guess I'm struggling with if I exercise like I want to how do I stop myself going into starvation mode? is this why people have protein shakes and things?

ginnyroxx

you can add fruits - a banana has about 100-120 calories
an apple is about 80 cals

almonds & cashews have a lot of calories and good fats. Same with avocado. I put avocado in my sandwiches in replace of mayo.

peanut butter is good - a thomas bagel thin and peanut butter w/ a banana is a regular breakfast of mine.

you can also drink some calories....OJ, Milk, etc.

alantin

Hey thanks for that - sorry I didn't mean I was unmotivated to exercise because it wasn't going to help me loose weight as such- one of my key reasons to be here is to learn to be healthy consistently - rather than loose a lot of weight BUT what I meant was if I do say a hard spin class (which I love) and burn between say 500 and 600 calories, I have never ever eaten more than 1400 calories in a day and I struggle to see how I could without eating "bad" foods - like high cal low nutrition foods -I guess I'm struggling with if I exercise like I want to how do I stop myself going into starvation mode? is this why people have protein shakes and things?

I suppose..
I train pretty hard too and often have to come up with a lot of calories. Today for example I got about 1600 Kcal from exercise! Planning each day beforehand helps a lot. And it is easier to get more good nutrition with a larger calorie budget IMO.

I eat a pretty big breakfast (I didn't eat breakfast at all before!) and two meals a day (three if I'm training), and add canola oil to food to get more calories if I need them (helps get some real good fats too). I also have a nice coffee break with some pastry or some such if I find it hard to meet the calorie goal. I usually try to make it close to training so those fast carbs are there to give me a boost. Right after training I drink a recovery drink (240 Kcal designed so that everything in it helps you recover faster!) and go home eat a meal.
Sometimes it feels like all I ever do is eat! :grumble:

Food does make a tremendous difference in training! I have much more energy training when I have eaten well that day, than when I have forgotten a meal or two. I wouldn't dare going to the dojo without eating enough anymore!


virgierox
Milk is good! Lots of calcium! I didn't drink it before but after starting to watch my calcium, I've drank it every day!

SHBoss1673

1550 + 1644 - 631 NET - 1013

Ok so let me hope to grasp this. I started with 1550, I ate 1644, I worked out 631 so the net for calories is 1013.. So I'm under the calories I should be eating???

no this equation is wrong.


I wouldn't try to think in terms of net calories, that complicates the situation. All you need to do is create a reasonable weekly deficit, put that deficit into the goals wizard on MFP, follow it, eat your exercise calories, and MFP does all the work for you.

NET calories is a different concept and I'm afraid trying to explain one can confuse people about the other as some of the terms are interchangeable but their definitions change based on what formula you are using.

Keekaj520

Ok so some people are saying the equation is right but you are saying its not.. I've done the wizard, put in what I want to lose and it calculates it for me. I understand that part of it. I don't understand how everyone is agreeing with it but you are saying its not right. Explain please.

SHBoss1673

Well, you shouldn't be adding your daily calorie allotment to your calories eaten, you should always be subtracting (one from the other, see below).

But the other thing to remember is when you say NET, on MFP you need to specify whether you are talking about your real NET or the NET after deficit, because remember, MFP gives you a deficit right out of the box, so you can't look at it simply as NET. Also you have to define which calories are the positive and which are the negative. I.E. if calories burned are what you are starting with, then you subtract calories eaten. If calories eaten are your starting point then calories burned are subtracted (and the sign of the number will change in that case), basically it's the difference between whether you calculate before the day or after the day because it's difficult to calculate a net based on calories burned before you burn them. You have to be pretty precise for this to work very well.

This is why I say not to use NET calories, it becomes confusing with MFP. Technically if you're talking about real calories, (not calories after MFP gives you a deficit), your net should be zero to maintain. With MFP all you're looking to do is eat the amount of calories MFP gives you. If you want a larger deficit, then you just change your goal, and no need to ever worry about net calories again. If your goal happens to bring you below 1200 and you want it anyway, well, you can do a custom goal and go below 1200 (although I don't normally recommend this, but...). MFP makes it far easier than trying to net your calories all the time, IMHO.

Keekaj520

I'm still so confused..

SHBoss1673

I'm still so confused..

I can try to help you understand better if you like. what do you feel is the part that confuses you the most? If you want, you can PM me. It can be a bit tough to wrap your head around at first, but eventually it becomes like second nature. So much so that it becomes hard to explain to others sometimes. For me, these calculations happen automatically, I don't even think about them any more, which means sometimes I can leave out a detail here or there in an explanation that may make it sound harder than it is.

TXHunny84

Ah ha! You are totally right - so I went and looked at the settings and it does say I should be eating 1200 NET CALORIES a day.

Hmmm that is severely unmotivating to exercise though - I don't think I could eat 1800 calories a day!

What is your motivation to exercise?
If it is to lose weight through burning calories, then that is pretty simplistic I think. Exercise has an enormous impact on our bodies and the amount, that the OP is doing, has even more so! It takes a lot to recover from it but it also takes a lot of energy while you are doing it. That energy is taken first from carbohydrates in your diet and second from your fat reserves ( you burn both during exercise ). The catch is that if there are not enough carbs in your liver and muscles in the form of glycogen during the exercise, that energy isnt taken from fat too but from an easier and quicker option, your muscle tissue!
The muscle tissue is also in danger when seeking weight loss through diet alone and not exercising at all. The main reason for exercise during a weight loss program then is to minimize the loss of muscle tissue and maximize the loss of fat tissue, but that requires you to eat back most of your exercise calories and maintain a reasonable deficit (about 500 Kcal less than you burn in a day). Otherwise, instead of maintaining the muscle tissue, you are in fact tearing it down.

There are links in my signature to a couple of great articles about the exercise calories and recommended calorie deficits for different weight ranges. I think those will answer most questions you might have!

Cheers!
And dont think there is no use to exercise! Even though it's not much use to making you lose faster (no way to do that healthily!) it does improve your cardiovascular system, train your muscles, and improve you nervous system, which translate to better quality of life and good looks too! just remember, there are three aspects to training that all need to be in order for it to be effective, safe, and healthy. Exercise, rest, and diet.

This Explained SOOOO MUch thanks!!