How much should your net calories be?

Emi_chan

I'm currently on a 1200 calorie eating plan with MFP but was wondering how much of a deficit I should be in (how much my net calories should be per day), in order to lose weight in a healthy way of ideally 2 lbs a week? I don't want to go into starvation mode or lose muscle, as I'm also doing strength training 3 days a week, with cardio on the remaining 3 days. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

kao708

MFP already calculates your deficit into that 1200 calories per day so you should keep your net at no less than 1200 to make sure the body stays fueled.

Go to MY HOME/GOALS and it will show you what it estimates your daily burn to be and how it figures your calorie goal.

Emi_chan

Thanks so much! I didn't know if I should be under the 1200 calories after my workout or if the 1200 should be what I'm aiming for postworkout. Looks like I should be keeping it at 1200 net calories to the best of my abilities even after my workouts. Looks like I'll be eating more.

LemonCitron

Personally I found that MUA puts EVERYONE at 1200 calories which is just ridiculous. And for me it's just not enough food. I was SO hungry all the time, even though I was also eating back my exercise calories.

You need to find out what your Basal Metabolic Rate is and then you need to find out what your Harris Benedict Equation is (which just calculates your daily activity level by your BMR to see how many calories you actually burn in a day)

Then you need to deduct that calorie amount by 15-20% (that creates a deficit)

So take me for example. My starting weight here was 140. And when I looked up my BMR it told me that I will burn 1433 calories a day doing NOTHING, like not even moving. Then I took the Harris Benedict Equation:

•If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
•If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
•If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
•If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
•If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

1433 x 1.2 = 1719.6 calories I burn a day. Then I deducted 15% = 1461 calories I should be eating in a day.

Here is a link to calculate your BMR.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

I hope that makes sense. Also, all of this still doesn't tell you how fast your metabolism is. You may need a little more or less calories depending on your metabolism.

For me, I lost 2 lbs in over 1 month at 1200 calories. I was SOOOO frustrated. So I upped it in the past 3 weeks and I've lost 2 more lbs and I feel so much better, I'm not hungry all the time and I'm still losing inches.

Good luck!!

bethikabob

hmmm according to that calculation I'm under eating by roughly 200 calories after removing 20%....oh well it's working for me lol

Emi_chan

Hey there,

Thanks so much for all this info!! Looks like after calculating my BMR (1267.45), I got 1292 that I should be eating daily. Looks like MFP isn't too far off with their calculations in my case.