Net Calories

arwsgirl

I'm a tad confused. Does it matter what my Net Calories are at the end of the day? Yesterday I ended up with 153 Net Calories after 2.5 hours of exercise of various kinds. Should I be eating more? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of more exercise? See? Confused. :0)

cem789

it really depends on how much you are eating and buring - if you make your food diary public we can have a look.

153ish net calories does seem low though your body needs around 1200 calories for all your organs to function normally - if your net is 153.. thats all you are giving your body for normal functions

arwsgirl

I think my diary is public. Can you not see it? i'm pretty new here. :0)

spennato

Your Diary is not public, however I have read so many different things about your exercise calories..I say to each his own to me it does not make sense to just eat more because you have extra calories, I do not , some do but it;s good to know they are there. Good Luck

wtbyerdocmd

I don't know what you did for excercise/food intake however first make sure you are not overestimating your calorie burn and or underestimating portions/calories. That said, you do not want your net calories anywhere near that low or your body will go into starvation mode. I would make sure that you are eating a minimum of 12-1400 calories a day and if you are going to be that active (2.5 hours) then I may add an extra 200 calorie snack

arwsgirl

Ok. Now it's public. Sorry! I was very careful to measure all my portions yesterday and kept careful track of my time/effort on the machines and my heart rate was at aerobic level 90% of my exercise time. I can honestly say that yesterday's diary is as accurate as possible without my HRM (on it's way!).

I doubt every day will be that active but I'm hoping 2-3 days a week will be. Now that I've figured out child care during the day I can get to the gym a couple times a day for short bursts.

dawny17

First of all this is only MY personal opinion....but if you are exercising and burning 1400 calories in one day...STOP! You are going to burn your self out. Make easy, and "do-able" goals for yourself. Exercise 2x a week for 30 min. that doesn't mean you need to do 30 mins all at once. Do this for about a month, then if you want you can change it to 3x a week. Myself, I exercise 2x a week for 30 mins...I do the stationary bike for 20 mins then I have Tony Hortons 10 minute trainer. Some days I feel like exercising I just do the 10 minute trainer. This way i feel I've reached my goals and I don't feel guilty for not exercising everyday.

As for your food diary...you need to make wiser food choices!!!! No more dove chocolates!!!! If you want you can check out my food diary. I'm on a 1400 calorie intake a day. I just make sure if I'm going out for pizza with my friends or family, that's the day I get on the bike. Consider the calories that you burn from exercise as you "free calories". I try to make better eating choices when we go out to eat too, toss salad-no cheese and fat free dressing on the side, subway-no cheese, lite italian salad dressing instead of mayo, veggie pizza, all the little things add up!

Also try to have veggies like celery, carrots, mushrooms and green peppers in the fridge cut up to snack on. It's all about choices...and you made the right choice already to lose weight... Some times it can be overwhelming, but small steps...and don't over do the exercise!!!! you'll burn your self out and/or put your body into starvation mode! and you won't lose the weight!

Good luck, hope this helps!

arwsgirl

Thanks for the input!!

First off, I found the answer to my original question in an older post.

Secondly, I didn't exercise that much yesterday to "burn off fat". I exercised that much yesterday because it was fun! I had the opportunity to get to the gym and it's "me" time without the kids and it's just fun to expend that kind of energy again! No, it probably won't be that way everyday but you have to understand my family. In the summer we bike every other day and hike 5+ miles every Sat/Sun for rock climbing and such. I want to be able to actually KEEP UP this summer instead of wishing I could die in the back of the group. I did some investigating and number crunching and the hiking I'm planning this weekend (Friday: 4 hour hike straight up, Saturday: 6 hour hike, round trip, mostly steep incline) will burn 2-5000 calories/day! I won't be eating that much, that's for sure. I'm not sure I could if I had to. Those are longer hikes than we normally do but they're not uncommon. Usually a 1x a month thing but I'd love to make it an every-weekend thing.

My exercise/gym time is "me" time. I break a sweat on the bike while reading my Nook. I used a HRM yesterday that a friend loaned me and I can maintain an aerobic level while reading and not hate life. It's not that hard and I'm totally refreshed afterwards. I have a pretty high stress life right now and it's so helpful to be able to blow off that stress. I'm a much happier person afterwards!

Sorry - not giving up the Dove. It's 1 Promise ever day or 3 and I think I can do an extra 10 min on the bike for that indulgence. Yes, I could make better choices, but that's a learning curve and with the current celebration of my sister being in town from Taiwan (where she lives) for the next 1.5 weeks I probably won't make the best choices but I will be getting my exercise in. :0)

dawny17

like I said at the begining of my post...it was just MY personal opinion. I'm sorry if i offended you, I had a look at your diary and I just posted my opinion. and since you are a new member , I thought I should give you support. Didn't want you to get discouraged, just noticed your start weight and goal weight, didn't want you to get burnt out and end up quiting...As for the hiking, good luck, I would love to be able to do a hike like that....maybe i should set that as a goal for me!
Have Fun with your sister, cheers!