New to this site, need you to answer this one question!(:

ArranClarke18

right I'm trying to get the hang of it, so say if my daily calorie limit is 1770 and I eat around that much but exercise atleast 500 off and my net is 1270, is that good or bad and does that mean I'm loosing weight or not so confused, I only went over my sugars on nutrients today, struggling to get the just of it all and all the pages I read I don't know what a lot of the words mean, but I want to give this a good go (:

TammyLanham

I'm not sure what the answer is to your question - so I'm probably no help at all but I wanted to encourage you to keep with it even if you don't understand it all.

LarryPGH

If your net is 1270 and your goal is 1770, then it means you should be eating an additional 500 calories that day (in order to reach your limit, which has a built-in calorie deficit so that you lose weight in a healthy way).

alecta337

Just log everything, all your food and exercise. Try to get the big number on your home page as close to zero without going red. Getting your net calories to your goal will make you lose the amount you want (1lb or 2lb/ week whichever you picked)

Diem30

your calorie goal is what you should be eating (roughly) daily to keep your body running smoothly to loose weight effectively WITHOUT exercise.... when you exercise you get additional calories added to your count that allow you to eat more inorder to refuel your body of what its spent. I hope that helps you make more sense of things and as far as your nutrients personally my belief if just to watch your sodium and fats and try not to go over in those then once you get the hang of this and are more comfortable then you can start watching your sugars and potassium and everything else


Hope this helps feel free to add me as a friend if you have anymore questions

Diem

TabiHerbalifeCoach

your net is the amount of calories your body actually received to sustain life, you don't ever want it to drop below 1200, if you find you are not loosing weight then you'll want to make sure your net is higher.

robin52077

You should eat back those 500 so that your NET is 1700.
The 1700 already has a deficit built in to it. You don't need to stay "UNDER" that to lose weight, you need to eat ALL of that to lose weight. MFP already subtracted a bunch from a higher number to give you that number.

When you exercise and log it in, it ADDS to that number because you need to eat them, if you don't you are increasing the deficit they have already created, and eating too LITTLE can be as bad as eating to MUCH.
If you don't put fuel in the tank, the car won't run, right?
Well, your body is the same. You need to eat healthy food if you are working out to fuel your body.

At the end of the day, try to have the calories in your diary as close to "0 remaining" as possible. Aim for within 50, whether it be over or under.

Remember, they already subtracted calories from what you REALLY need, to stay the same weight, so don't think if you go over you will gain...you will still lose if you go over, just a little slower. Which isn't necessarily bad. Slow and steady wins the race.

Hollenfeuer

The daily goal works like this:

Base Metabolic Rate Calories - Deficit to lose weight - Excersise = Calories Remaining
BMR - Goal - Excersise = Calories Remaining

Your BMR is how many calories your body burns keeping you alive. The deficit depends on your goal. To lose weight faster run a larger deficit. You don't want to take in too few calories or run too much of a deficit or you will actually end up lowering your BMR as your body kicks into survial starvation mode. Excercise allows you to eat more calories as the surplus is burned off through excercise.

On the "my home" tab at the top of the page there's a label "goals" that explains it all pretty well.

Hope that helped.

robin52077

The daily goal works like this:

Base Metabolic Rate Calories - Deficit to lose weight - Excersise = Calories Remaining
BMR - Goal - Excersise = Calories Remaining

Your BMR is how many calories your body burns keeping you alive. The deficit depends on your goal. To lose weight faster run a larger deficit. You don't want to take in too few calories or run too much of a deficit or you will actually end up lowering your BMR as your body kicks into survial starvation mode. Excercise allows you to eat more calories as the surplus is burned off through excercise.

On the "my home" tab at the top of the page there's a label "goals" that explains it all pretty well.

Hope that helped.

No no no....

they do NOT subtract from your BMR......

They take your BMR, then ADD to it based on your selected activity level (sedentary, lightly active, active, etc)...which gives you your TDEE (AKA Maintenance calories)...THEN they subtract 500 from THAT to give you your 1 lb a week loss.

Your BMR is what you would need even if you were in a coma, just to beat your heart and breathe. The second you start to climb out of bed in the morning, you already need more than your BMR...

Rikkijean

i'm relatively new to this aswell but as far as ive noticed so far is wether you exersise or not your body needs a basic amount of calories every day......if you are too far under your needed calories when you end your diary for the day, it will say that you need to eat more calories or your body will go into starvation mode....at the begining of my day it says i can eat 1450 calories, but if i eat any less then 1200 thats when it sais i need more.......now i've had days where i've burned 900+ calories and eaten just over 1200, but i've also had days when i went over on my calories by the end of the day too (darn mcdonalds lol). when you complete you diary for the day it will tell you how you are doing....

for example: I currently weigh 142 lbs, if i have a day like when i burn over 900 and only eat barely the required 1200, after i complete my diary it will say "if every day were like today you would weigh 124 lbs in 5 weeks" but when i have a day where im over on my calories say by like 300 it sais "if every day were like today you would weight 138 lbs in 5 weeks"

so as you can see even if i go over on my calories it still sais i can lose weight just a whole lot slower and less of it.....but its always good to keep in mind the more you exercise, the more you can eat....and just keep encouraging yourself no matter how hard it seems at times, and be proud of yourself for making the effort........I'm proud of you for making the effort, and i'm proud of me too ♥

MissKeeKee

I am certain everyone's responses confused you more, so I'm going to simplify it. If you are staying below your calorie limit, and exercising, then you are on the right path. Just don't starve yourself!!

ablueskier

I have about the same calorie goal as you. To keep your body fueled the calorie goal is for you net after exercise. If you go even lower you can lose more weight but you could also be depriving your body of the energy you need.

robin52077

I am certain everyone's responses confused you more, so I'm going to simplify it. If you are staying below your calorie limit, and exercising, then you are on the right path. Just don't starve yourself!!

NO!

HIT your calorie target , don't "stay below" it.
And when you exercise you need to EAT MORE.

Telling someone what you just said is like saying
"if you have a goal of 1200 (which is disgustingly low IMO), and you stay below it by eating 900, and exercise for 300, then you are fine."
NOTHING could be further from the truth. Because then that person is living off of 600 that day. And that IS starving.

First off, most people's goal should be higher than 1200, and secondly, ALL those calories NEED to be EATEN, not "stay under". And if you exercise, you need to EAT BACK those calories.
MFP already subtracted some to give you that goal. EAT that goal, DON'T stay under it.