It's about the NET calories

dawnna76

I see so many posts here were people are asking why they are not losing weight or how they are hungry but they are at thier calories for the day. These people are working out daily as well.

One common denominator I have noticed is that all the posters (or many of them) are eating at least 1200 calories a day but thats not after factoring in the exercise so many are at 600 or less calories a day!

just a reminder on the My home page is shows
Goal Food - Exercise = Net

the NET is the total that should be at or above 1200 calories for the day, Not the food portion!~

Eat more so that the net is right and it should jumpstart your weightloss again.

lvnspoonful

Thank you for this post!

awelch79

I learned that the hard way! Some days its hard to get to 1200, especially when I exercise hard at night, so Ive had to start planning ahead and have more snacks throughout the day so I dont get home from the gym at 8 and realize Ive only got 500 net calories...like I did last night!

TeenaMarina

Thanks for the reminder; I was just made fully aware of this phenomenon recently. And I believe it... but I still don't quite get the "why" ?! Can anyone explain to me why I can't expect to be able to eat 1200 calories, exercise, not eat any calories back, and lose weight? Thanks. x

menchi

Thanks for posting! I completely agree and I can't seem to convince the many people who don't believe in eating back their exercise calories. I've kind of given up trying to convince them. I'm super glad that you understand though and the others on this thread are supportive. I think maybe the non-believers just need to learn it the hard way for themselves. Aiming for net calories has worked great for me. I eat plenty enough and I'm steadily losing weight. In fact I'm almost at my goal weight and I think my clothing size now is the smallest it's ever been in my adult life.

shaunshaikh

menchi

Thanks for the reminder; I was just made fully aware of this phenomenon recently. And I believe it... but I still don't quite get the "why" ?! Can anyone explain to me why I can't expect to be able to eat 1200 calories, exercise, not eat any calories back, and lose weight? Thanks. x

Each day you spend a total amount of calories for bodily functions and to do your daily activities (we'll call this the basic amount of calories). Imagine that the amount of those calories determine the size of a gas tank on a car. That means if you exercise, the tank gets bigger. That means you have to put in the basic amount plus the extra from exercise in order to completely fill the jar.

When you completely fill the jar, that's when you are in maintenance where you are giving your body just enough to do basic + exercise so that there's no extra to be stored for weight gain. To lose weight, you need to give your body a little less than a full jar. MFP calculates this "little less" (the deficit) for you when it sets you NET calories in your plan. The problem with only eating 1200 Cal and then exercising is that this "little less" becomes "a lot less" and up to a point that might help you lose more weight, but too much and your body starts to starve and desperately holds on to calories. That makes it really hard to lose weight.

dawnna76

:flowerforyou:

lil_missfit

I'm glad you posted this:)) It brought me some reassurance:)) Thank you.....I am a little overwelmed however with all this new info, so bare with me:)) I was just told in a workout class to stop eating back my exercise calories because it is simply maintenence....THEN a "fitness trainer" told me not to as well, though I think he just works at the gym and has to train ppl.....THEN an RD (registered dietician) told me to simply "replenish" once I have finished working out with food/drink rather than eating back the calories.....I am going to keep doing this (eating back the calories)...because MFP lays out a pretty good case....BUT....I have to tell ya.....it's stressing me out to hear and read soooooo many different point of views:)) I have 278 calories left today and I have already planned and diary'd all of them....it will be extra hard for me to eat that:)) I will try....yesterday I left 19.

Aloxander

1325Calories RemainingGoal Food Exercise = Net
1470 145 - 0 145

Aloxander

I don't understand! ::explode: I'm breaking my head. I know this might be dumb. I just want to get on the right path. So my NET calories should say 1200 or more?

Please help :ohwell:

dawnna76

I'm glad you posted this:)) It brought me some reassurance:)) Thank you.....I am a little overwelmed however with all this new info, so bare with me:)) I was just told in a workout class to stop eating back my exercise calories because it is simply maintenence....THEN a "fitness trainer" told me not to as well, though I think he just works at the gym and has to train ppl.....THEN an RD (registered dietician) told me to simply "replenish" once I have finished working out with food/drink rather than eating back the calories.....I am going to keep doing this (eating back the calories)...because MFP lays out a pretty good case....BUT....I have to tell ya.....it's stressing me out to hear and read soooooo many different point of views:)) I have 278 calories left today and I have already planned and diary'd all of them....it will be extra hard for me to eat that:)) I will try....yesterday I left 19.

The calories you are allowed here on your setting in MFP I assume are already lowered to alter the amount of weight loss per week you wanted to see. So its already subtracting from your basic calories needs plus lifestyle. So even by eating back your calories you will still lose weight cause your are already at subtracted calorie. For maintenance you would not have a deficit to begin with. Meaning if you were to instead maintain at your currrent weight rather than try to lose you will have more calories everyday to eat

a great way to figure this out manually how many calories you need to eat daily to maintain or lose here is a great formula.

Harris benedict formula

for women: 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

Now take the final number and multiply by the level of exercise from chart below

x 1.2 - sedentary = little or no exercise
x 1.375 - lightly active = light exercise 1-3 days a week
x 1.55 - moderatly active = moderate exercise 3-5 days a week
x 1.7 - very active = hard exercise 6-7 days a week
x 1.9 extremely active = hard daily exercise and/or a physical job

so example for me it 655 + 865.65 + 314.9 - 164.5 = 1671.05 x 1.55 = 2590.12

now I want to lose weight so I subtract 500 from this number to lose 1 pound a week or 750 to lose 1.5 pounds a week

if I wanted to maintain I would not subtract anything



does that make more sense?

awelch79

I don't understand! ::explode: I'm breaking my head. I know this might be dumb. I just want to get on the right path. So my NET calories should say 1200 or more?

Please help :ohwell:

I felt the exact same way! OVERWHELMED!

1200 calories tends to e the magic number because thats considered the lowest you should be before your body starts "starvation mode" ---THIS WONT HAPPEN IF YOU ARE UNDER A DAY OR TWO, ITS IF YOU DO IT LONG TERM--so thats why you always see people saying not to go under 1200.

Heres what happened to me that made me understand better what was going on...

MFP gives you a caloric goal that will help you lose your determined weight/week even if you never exercised. Mine, at the beginning was 1220 for a 2 lb loss per week. The first day, I ate my 1220, but I also worked out and burned 696 calories. That means, if I burned 696 calories of my 1220, my body was left functioning on less than 600 calories for the day! MFP has lready calculated in the calories I needed to eat (& not eat for that matter) for the day when they gave me the 1220...so while yes, it seems like it would be a good idea to NOT eat back your calories (youd think the less you eat, the better) but your body cant function on 600 calories a day. When you first start and have A LOT of weight to lose, it may not make a lot of a difference on the scale one way or another, but its not good for your body/organs/health to stay below 1200.

I hope this helps!

Aloxander

I'm glad you posted this:)) It brought me some reassurance:)) Thank you.....I am a little overwelmed however with all this new info, so bare with me:)) I was just told in a workout class to stop eating back my exercise calories because it is simply maintenence....THEN a "fitness trainer" told me not to as well, though I think he just works at the gym and has to train ppl.....THEN an RD (registered dietician) told me to simply "replenish" once I have finished working out with food/drink rather than eating back the calories.....I am going to keep doing this (eating back the calories)...because MFP lays out a pretty good case....BUT....I have to tell ya.....it's stressing me out to hear and read soooooo many different point of views:)) I have 278 calories left today and I have already planned and diary'd all of them....it will be extra hard for me to eat that:)) I will try....yesterday I left 19.

THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH! This is as clear as water. I truly appreciate you taking the time to show me this in detail.

:flowerforyou:

The calories you are allowed here on your setting in MFP I assume are already lowered to alter the amount of weight loss per week you wanted to see. So its already subtracting from your basic calories needs plus lifestyle. So even by eating back your calories you will still lose weight cause your are already at subtracted calorie. For maintenance you would not have a deficit to begin with. Meaning if you were to instead maintain at your currrent weight rather than try to lose you will have more calories everyday to eat

a great way to figure this out manually how many calories you need to eat daily to maintain or lose here is a great formula.

Harris benedict formula

for women: 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

Now take the final number and multiply by the level of exercise from chart below

x 1.2 - sedentary = little or no exercise
x 1.375 - lightly active = light exercise 1-3 days a week
x 1.55 - moderatly active = moderate exercise 3-5 days a week
x 1.7 - very active = hard exercise 6-7 days a week
x 1.9 extremely active = hard daily exercise and/or a physical job

so example for me it 655 + 865.65 + 314.9 - 164.5 = 1671.05 x 1.55 = 2590.12

now I want to lose weight so I subtract 500 from this number to lose 1 pound a week or 750 to lose 1.5 pounds a week

if I wanted to maintain I would not subtract anything



does that make more sense?

Aloxander

To: awelch79

Thank you, much more clear. No wonder I was starving after excercising. I thought I just had to leave a deficit. :drinker:

AKFatBoy

Don't overthink it...MFP has put some thought into this calculator to do all the heavy thinking for you. Generally speaking, if you plug in all the data at the beginning, (GW, SW, how much you want to lose per week) the calculator tells you how many calories you need to take in to meet those goals. If you exercise and log it, the calculator ADJUSTS the amount of calories to keep your metabolism high enough to CONTINUE to meet your goals. You get any number of preachers, politicians or personal trainers in a room and you'll never get them all to agree on any subject they are "experts" on. Go with what works for you. For me, THIS WORKS. I eat calories back cuz it tells me to, and IT WORKS. Some days I'm a bit short, maybe up to 300 calories short. Some days I might be a hundred over. I don't stress and add or subtract those to the next day totals, it's done. Every day the sun comes up is another chance to get it right (life, not just fitness).

Gooozzzzfrahbaaaahhhh...

Enjoy the ride, you only get to buckle in once!

anner53108

Yes, if you just go by the calories MFP says you have left, you'll be good. I always try to make sure I'm within about 100 calories one way or the other.
Or, an easier way to think of it:
If you work out, you get to eat more!
OR:
Eat your exercise calories!!

Good luck everyone!