Hey guys please read i need some help

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CatRouth
CatRouth Posts: 13
in Introduce Yourself
im so confused with the whole daily intake of calories, fat etc... What is the net calories and so on what should i and shouldnt do? Soo confused should i eat back what i exercise? And will i loose weight if i stick to my daily goals MFP has set me?
Any help will be appreciated!
Cat x

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  • ahanson6
    ahanson6 Posts: 102
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    This is a great guide to calorie deficits:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

    I lost weight like crazy sticking to the MFP goals in the beginning. Things have slowed down a bit since then, but I am approaching my goal weight, plus I had 5 days straight where I was between 200 and 400 calories under my goal (before I really understood starvation mode). Now I prefer to go over my calories by a few rather than go under by 50 or more.
  • Samerah12
    Samerah12 Posts: 610 Member
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    Eat back your exercise calories- absolutely. Always make sure you're eating 1200 net calories or you will mess up your metabolism. So for example, if MFP normally gives you 1200 calories for a day, and you burn off another 600 with exercise you have to eat 1800 to reach 1200 net.

    I set MFP to losing 2 lbs a week and I eat back all of my exercise calories and I have been losing almost exactly 2 lbs a week for 6 weeks. It works great!
  • CatRouth
    CatRouth Posts: 13
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    Wicked thanks everyone! X
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
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    As long as the goal you are setting is within your healthy range and you don't expect to lose 2lbs a week without fail, just put in your current weight, goal weight, and see what it comes up with. I usually try to eat most of my exercise cals back or I get too hungry.
  • blackponytail
    blackponytail Posts: 3
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    Samerah12 is right, you need to replenish your energy and nutrients, especially after exericse. I tend to starve after exercising, so I always make sure I bring a protein bar to gym so I can have something to eat right after, so I won't over eat later.
  • bellturtle
    bellturtle Posts: 5
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    Yes. It will work. It does the calculating for you, so if you are honest with what you track you will lose weight. Learn what a cup looks like. Record EVERYTHING, and don't lie to yourself or MFP. :) I started in January and I have lost 13 lbs so far, I had been trying to diet for a year with limited success (yo-yo effect) until I finally committed to a food diary.

    You can eat back what you exercise unless you want to lose weight faster. Remember its only healthy to lose 1-2 lbs a week, so if you are already cutting 500 calories a day from your diet and then you run 5 miles every day (or its equivalent) you will lose two pounds a week - but I find that really difficult to rack up a 1,000 calorie deficit. Its also very hard for me to eat only 1200 calories, I start feeling like a weirdo and go on a crazy donut run in the middle of the night totally Charlie Sheen relapse style. But I can eat 1400 calories and run two miles which leaves me at 1200 or so net calories and I don't feel like a freak.

    Net calories works like this:

    food calories - minus exercise calories= net calories.

    Examples
    1400 calories eaten - minus 132 calories from walking= 1268 net calories

    or

    2,000 calories-minus zero exercise = 2,000 net calories.

    I find its the best thing for me to do is to try to get my total vitamin intake everyday while maintaining my calorie limit. This forces me to eat a lot of salad, fruits, lean meats, etc, because I don't want to be nutritionally deficient.

    If I know I will be eating a lot on Friday night, then Thursday I will not eat back my exercise calories so I can afford to eat something indulgent.

    I hope this wasn't too confusing...
  • CatRouth
    CatRouth Posts: 13
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    Not confusing atall very very helpful thank u everyone x

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