Calories eaten vs. Calories burned...does this sound correct

jen2bhottie

I just wanted to double check and see if this sounds right...I recently had to raise my calories to 1500. Yesterday I ate 1714 calories and burned 451 calories, which puts my net calories at 1263. Is okay that my net calories are 1263 or should they be closer to 1500?

vanadia

That's okay. Just make sure your net calories remains above 1200.

joyelise

I have the same question! My net calories are always under 1,000.
Bad ?

DKBelle

Now that one you should change to at least 1200 , but if you work out you usually need to eat 300-400 more.

smelius22

All the posts I've seen on here so far are from people saying that you shouldn't eat your burned calories back.. so if you ate 1500 and then burned 500, you shouldnt eat that 500 back in the same day. The users that live by this swear by it and say it really speeds up weight loss.

chevy88grl

You want to make sure that you're eating at least the minimum your body needs to function. I would recommend finding out your BMR so you can make sure you're eating at least that amount of calories. If you don't eat enough calories, you'll go into starvation mode.

bizco

It depends on how much excess weight you have. Obese people can eat less than 1200 net calories and not worry about going into starvation mode. Use the Tools tab to find your BMI and weight classification.

erickirb

I just wanted to double check and see if this sounds right...I recently had to raise my calories to 1500. Yesterday I ate 1714 calories and burned 451 calories, which puts my net calories at 1263. Is okay that my net calories are 1263 or should they be closer to 1500?

As long as they are above 1200 you should be okay, that being said to meet your goal you must eat all of the calories MFP gives you.

chevy88grl

See.. if I don't eat back my burned calories, I don't lose any weight at all. I swear my body shuts right down on me. I've tried it and all I got was frustration. lol. My body NEEDS the 2000 calories I feed it everyday. It's the only way I'll lose any weight.

sunnyrunner23

Ok I just checked my BMR and it's only 1137 calories. If I eat 1200 won't I gain weight? I think it's low because I am small and old!

BflSaberfan

It really depends, make sure you are netting atleast 1200 a day and see how that goes for a few weeks, this is how I lost my first 50lbs. Now that my body is at a healthier weight I need to eat my exercise calories back and I am losing weight this way.

BflSaberfan

Ok I just checked my BMR and it's only 1137 calories. If I eat 1200 won't I gain weight? I think it's low because I am small and old!

BMR is what your body would burn if you literally slept all day.

Go to goals and look at your calories burned from regular activity, mine is set at sedentary because I dont log my exercise but it looks like this
Calories Burned
From Normal Daily Activity 1,640 calories/day

spirited_angel

All the posts I've seen on here so far are from people saying that you shouldn't eat your burned calories back.. so if you ate 1500 and then burned 500, you shouldnt eat that 500 back in the same day. The users that live by this swear by it and say it really speeds up weight loss.

I have been eatting well under my calories without realising it,and yet i have been putting weight on.I am told this is because my body needed more for what i was burning and my body wasnt getting it so went into starvation mode which is why i put weight on!!!And i can now understand that!!So i donmt know how they can swear by it¬!!My freinds are all fitness intructors and personal trainers so know what they are talking about!!And they all say its dangerous to not put enough in!!For instance if you need 1,200 without exercise and then ya workout and burn off say 700 cals but dont eat ya burn off then you are only putting 500 cals into your body!!Not been funny but ya couldnt run a car on no fuel so how can ya body run on no fuel!!Its like today if i wasnt careful i would have only put 50 cals into my body so i had to go back and re-think my menu for today!!!

kappyblu

I have to agree with chevy88girl. You have got to eat those burned calories back to keep the weight loss at a steady pace.

TRUST ME ON THIS! If you don't eat the exercise calories back, yes you will lose weight faster--AT FIRST! Then your body will not cooperate with you any longer and your weight loss will come to a screeching halt. Then you will be coming on here (like soooo many people) and asking "why am I not losing weight?"

If you set your calories at 1500, then you need to eat those 1500 hon. Your body needs fuel to burn those calories. So keep your net at 1500, keep that metabolism burning to keep the weight loss steady. Those people that swear by not eating them back will have that coming back to bite them in the butt sooner or later. Take it slow and steady. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Good luck!!

agdeierl

You want to make sure that you're eating at least the minimum your body needs to function. I would recommend finding out your BMR so you can make sure you're eating at least that amount of calories. If you don't eat enough calories, you'll go into starvation mode.

Ok so here is my confusion regarding your statement. I am 23, weigh about 144 lbs. and am about 5'6". I joined mfp first in sept '10 and lost 8 lbs very quickly and easily and steadily eating first 1320 cals a day then 1290, and eating some of my exercise cals back. Then I got a very severe ankle injury, quit MFP, and gained it all back. Then in early Feb. of this year I started again and it has been very slow to move in comparison. I'm doing everything the same that I did before. I set it to lose 1 lb. a week and they set me back at 1290 cals a day. I usually burn about 400+ cals at least 4 days a week and I eat most of my exercise cals back...though some days I eat only half. Anyway, according to MFP, my BMR is 1426...that's a good bit more than what they're telling me to eat to lose weight. Does that mean I should set it to "lose 0.5 lb" to actually lose 1 lb? I should eat 1426? I'm just really, really confused.

spirited_angel

I have to agree with chevy88girl. You have got to eat those burned calories back to keep the weight loss at a steady pace.

TRUST ME ON THIS! If you don't eat the exercise calories back, yes you will lose weight faster--AT FIRST! Then your body will not cooperate with you any longer and your weight loss will come to a screeching halt. Then you will be coming on here (like soooo many people) and asking "why am I not losing weight?"

If you set your calories at 1500, then you need to eat those 1500 hon. Your body needs fuel to burn those calories. So keep your net at 1500, keep that metabolism burning to keep the weight loss steady. Those people that swear by not eating them back will have that coming back to bite them in the butt sooner or later. Take it slow and steady. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Good luck!!

Exactly what i was saying hun ya gotta listen to us!!I know too well what happens when u dont eat enough!!!!

donicagalek

I don't eat them all back, but if my net isn't within a certain range for a few days I notice that I start staring at the peanut butter and acting like an irritable wench...until I start getting more calories in. :-D

chevy88grl

I know that upping your caloric intake goes against everything we've all learned when it comes to weight loss. However, as a rule severe caloric restrictions are designed for people who don't work out. Those who live a more sedentary lifestyle. If you aren't going to workout, then yes .. you MUST restrict your calories in order to lose weight. But, if you live an active lifestyle (I work on my feet 5 days a week AND I go to the gym 3-4 days a week... my lifestyle is definitely active) you MUST feed your body. This doesn't mean you go through the drive thru at McDonald's. It means that you feed your body with healthy food that it needs to function. Unfortunately, our bodies tend to hold onto fat when we aren't feeding it the right things.

MFP had my calorie intake set at 1750. If my BMR is 1453, I'm working on my feet burning an average of 500 calories in a 9 hour day AND going to the gym and burning another 500 calories -- I definitely need more than 1750 calories in a day. I tried doing 1750 and it simply didn't work.. I found that a) I was starving to death and b) I was gaining weight. I upped my calories to 2000 a day and you know what? Within a week or so, I went from 156lbs back down to 151lbs. So, I dropped 5lbs by simply eating more food. Everyone is different and we need to learn about our own bodies in order to achieve success in this journey.

agdeierl

I know that upping your caloric intake goes against everything we've all learned when it comes to weight loss. However, as a rule severe caloric restrictions are designed for people who don't work out. Those who live a more sedentary lifestyle. If you aren't going to workout, then yes .. you MUST restrict your calories in order to lose weight. But, if you live an active lifestyle (I work on my feet 5 days a week AND I go to the gym 3-4 days a week... my lifestyle is definitely active) you MUST feed your body. This doesn't mean you go through the drive thru at McDonald's. It means that you feed your body with healthy food that it needs to function. Unfortunately, our bodies tend to hold onto fat when we aren't feeding it the right things.

MFP had my calorie intake set at 1750. If my BMR is 1453, I'm working on my feet burning an average of 500 calories in a 9 hour day AND going to the gym and burning another 500 calories -- I definitely need more than 1750 calories in a day. I tried doing 1750 and it simply didn't work.. I found that a) I was starving to death and b) I was gaining weight. I upped my calories to 2000 a day and you know what? Within a week or so, I went from 156lbs back down to 151lbs. So, I dropped 5lbs by simply eating more food. Everyone is different and we need to learn about our own bodies in order to achieve success in this journey.

Well that's awesome! But I'm still a little confused, because unlike with you, MFP has set me at calories LOWER than my BMR. That's why I'm confused.

jen2bhottie

I know that upping your caloric intake goes against everything we've all learned when it comes to weight loss. However, as a rule severe caloric restrictions are designed for people who don't work out. Those who live a more sedentary lifestyle. If you aren't going to workout, then yes .. you MUST restrict your calories in order to lose weight. But, if you live an active lifestyle (I work on my feet 5 days a week AND I go to the gym 3-4 days a week... my lifestyle is definitely active) you MUST feed your body. This doesn't mean you go through the drive thru at McDonald's. It means that you feed your body with healthy food that it needs to function. Unfortunately, our bodies tend to hold onto fat when we aren't feeding it the right things.

MFP had my calorie intake set at 1750. If my BMR is 1453, I'm working on my feet burning an average of 500 calories in a 9 hour day AND going to the gym and burning another 500 calories -- I definitely need more than 1750 calories in a day. I tried doing 1750 and it simply didn't work.. I found that a) I was starving to death and b) I was gaining weight. I upped my calories to 2000 a day and you know what? Within a week or so, I went from 156lbs back down to 151lbs. So, I dropped 5lbs by simply eating more food. Everyone is different and we need to learn about our own bodies in order to achieve success in this journey.

Okay, I just checked my BMR again and it said 1862...Under my goals MFP has me burning 2510 from daily activity so in order to lose 2lbs per week has my calorie goal set at 1500.

For activity level, I chose lightly active because I became unemployed last summer and now go to school full time. Most of my time is spent doing schoolwork and sitting in class. I do go to the gym 4 times a week and am burning 350-450 each time, then I walk 2-3 mile (3.0 mph) 2 more days.

My doctor initially recommended 1200 calories, but that was before I started exercising. I saw him again on Saturday and told him about exercising so he recommended I gradually increase my calories accordingly, beginning with 1500-1600 calories.

initially, I had a problem getting up to 1200 calories but I've been working hard on that. I go to the gym around 7-8 pm and don't really know how much I'll burn, and per recommendations here on MFP, I've tried eating more during the day, so I'm not scrambling to eat 500+ calories after I work out. I try to keep my 3rd snack under 250 cal.

I guess I'm just frustrated because I lost 8 lbs the 1st month (no exercise) then my meds were adjusted and I lost 12 more lbs in the next 2 weeks (started minimal exercise), I have gained 2 lbs in these last 2 weeks which is when I've increased exercise. I lost more eating 1200 calories without really exercising and wonder if I should go back to that until I lose a little more weight (I'm 256 lbs now). But honestly, I'm not sure I could stop exercising at this point, it's been like a drug. I mean, I'm not trying to lose 5 lbs per week (I'd be ok with that though) but 1-2 lbs per week would be nice.

I think I'm going to try increasing my calorie intake (including net) every 4-5 days or so until I start losing, but that's hard to do with no appetite. Something I've noticed since raising my calories up from 1200 is that I've been going over in other areas like carbs and sugar and sometimes total fat...should I try raising the values?

smelius22

wasn't adding my comment as a licensed physician or anything, just sharing what i'd read on other posts.. didnt think i was applying for a position as a health advisor

the people i was quoting were obviously wrong and i'm glad to have learned the right way to do the calorie counts!

jen2bhottie

It depends on how much excess weight you have. Obese people can eat less than 1200 net calories and not worry about going into starvation mode. Use the Tools tab to find your BMI and weight classification.

When I started 2 months ago I weighed 274.8 and now I'm at 256.6...so it's safe to say I have a lot of excess weight. My weight loss doctor actually had told me that as long I'm eating 6 times a day, even if I'm under 1200 calories, I should be ok for awhile. He explained that when you're not eating often enough, your body doesn't know when it's going to fed again so it starts storing everything it gets. However, if you eat frequently, your body knows it's going to be fed soon and won't sense the need to store as much.
I know I need to eat, but don't I have plenty of extra fat that my body can burn? When I lose weight and don't have enough as much fat, then I can start eating more. (I'm kidding about this part)

jen2bhottie

wasn't adding my comment as a licensed physician or anything, just sharing what i'd read on other posts.. didnt think i was applying for a position as a health advisor

the people i was quoting were obviously wrong and i'm glad to have learned the right way to do the calorie counts!

No, I appreciate any input people can give me. I've read so many different ways people should eat their calories. One person said something that made sense, but I have no idea if it's correct...he said when you exercise, your body is actually using stored energy (fats) not what you ate that same day because it hasn't been completely digested. So shouldn't I eat today according to how much I'm going to exercise tomorrow?
Other people talk about the zigzag approach where you eat 1000-1200 calories for 2 days then eat your BMR calories on the 3rd day (which mine would be 1862)
No wonder so many people are confused. I listen to what everyone has to say, but I tend to go with advice from people who were close to my weight and have successfully lost weight according to how long they've been at it. I think it would make sense that someone weighing 260 lbs would lose weight differently than someone who weighs 160 lbs.
Again, I appreciate everyone's help!