Question about my daily calorie goal

MattAxtell

Hello, I am new to this website as of yesterday.

I'm a 5"9 male , 211 lbs , in pretty good shape, just want to burn some excess fat.

My goal is to be 180 lbs.

My daily calorie goal for MFP is 1370 (aiming to lose 2 lbs / week)

Yesterday I consumed 1600 calories and I burned 750 working out.
That was only 850 net calories. I wasn't very hungry all day except for right before bed.

I feel like this amount of calories is really low, should I be eating more? Is it healthy to only have 850 net calories?

Any advice would be great, thanks.

krithsai

850 net calories seems quite low to me. I think you should be eating more considering you managed to burn off 750 calories working out.

LuckyLeprechaun

750 is quite a burn. It's great that you are understanding to eat back your exercise calories to fuel your body, but be careful of overestimating calorie burn. You don't wanna give yourself too much credit unless you know you really did burn that much. are you using a heart rate monitor to calculate your burn?

MattAxtell

Will I lose more having less net calories? or will it just make my metabolism slow down do you think?

If I dont feel hungry, I dont mind eating less, especially if it means dropping more weight

MattAxtell

750 is quite a burn. It's great that you are understanding to eat back your exercise calories to fuel your body, but be careful of overestimating calorie burn. You don't wanna give yourself too much credit unless you know you really did burn that much. are you using a heart rate monitor to calculate your burn?

Yea I have a heart rate monitor.
I average about 800 - 1000 / hour doing interval sprints. Average heart rate around 170 usually

kmeekhof

Will I lose more having less net calories? or will it just make my metabolism slow down do you think?

If I dont feel hungry, I dont mind eating less, especially if it means dropping more weight

if you are indeed burning that many calories you need to eat more. You want to come close to your initial goal= your net after exercise.

MattAxtell

Okay. That is kind of what I figured..

I just feel that if I'm not hungry I shouldn't be eating, but I suppose if I still net close to my 1370 , that all will work better.

Thanks

danyelpink

You want to try to net around the amount (1370, I think you said)... your body needs fuel to burn, or it'll slow down your metabolism & store up your fat. Having a few days of low net calories won't set you back, but don't make it a habit.

scagneti

Will I lose more having less net calories? or will it just make my metabolism slow down do you think?

If I dont feel hungry, I dont mind eating less, especially if it means dropping more weight

If you eat less, you likely will lose more weight faster until your body rebels and refuses to burn any more because it's afraid that you're not going to properly fuel it. Even worse, the weight you lose will likely be more muscle than fat (since muscle is easier for the body to lose). If you're netting 850 a day, you'll also be more tired and less likely to keep up those nice calorie burns that you're trying for.

Give yourself a few extra weeks to lose it properly and healthily. This isn't a race. It's a lifestyle choice.

meggonkgonk

Ideally you would want your Goal calories and your net calories to be as close to matching as possible. Some days you go over and some under, but your goal should be to have these nearly the same. Try planning out your meals to be more calorie dense over the course of the day so your calories balance - some nuts or seeds, avacadoes or potatoes all have nutrients and calories that are great for getting the kind of increase you need. I workout at night sometimes and find I'm just not that hungry after working out- so make the effort to get the cals in before you

Just remember- not being hungry doesn't necessarily mean your body needs less food, it just means it expects less food- if you consistently feed it less and less or are working out really hard, your body tends to think that is because you are in danger or in some compromising circumstances so it expects you to feed it less.

MattAxtell

Thanks a lot for the great responses everyone.

That is kind of what I expected to hear.

I usually work out at night (7 - 9 PM) and I dont like to eat that late, so I will just have to eat more before my workouts.

Thanks!

lauraowen479

Hello!

Just been reading throught this topic & I have been doing interval training recently and found I burnt 390 calories for 30 mins so 750 calories is not inconceivable! (especially as males tend to burn calories quicker than females).

Also - I agree with the earlier reply regarding storing fat as I have heard time and time again that taking in too few calories can have almost as much as a detremental affect as taking in too many as the body goes into 'starvation mode' where it keeps aside fat from any of the food you do intake as it doesn't know when it is next going to get a decent meal. Also, If If you exercise regularly your body will also start to take the calories it needs to sustain you directly from your muscles as it is easier to break down than taking it from your fat cells!

I would definately not recommend your current calorie intake long term!

Just a thought - If you find you are not hungry through the day it is possibly because your stomach has shrunk? Try more regular, smaller meals rather than large ones as they tend to bloat you and will give you the impression of being full for longer!

Hope this helps & doesn't sound too preachy!! It's just that I have similar issues with keeping up with my daily calorie intake & know exactly where I am going wrong - easier said than done hey!!???

lauraowen479

Oops - meant to put 290 calories - not 390 calories!

Ah well,

Still kinda adds up :-)