Net Calories?

mmk1388

For anyone versed in calories in/out:

I am new to food jounaling and tracking exercise. I am wondering what my target calorie goal should be... If I set my daily calorie goal @1500, then I track excercise, it tells me *you have earned 250 additonal calories today... So, do I want to take in 1500 calories or should I take in 1750 so that I net 1500.

I'd appreciate any input.

lucysmommy

hiya

its normally encouraged that you eat you exercise cals to keep you on the 1400cals per day

Fattack

Use the guided net from MFP and eat those exercise calories back as long as you're not stuffed

purplepollypops

It's debatable! It works better for some people if they eat their extra calories but not for others so it is down to the individual. Try both ways and find out what works best for you. I only eat mine if I'm hungry.

robin52077

you're supposed to eat them. MFP has already created as large deficit for you and if you don't eat them you are increasing that deficit possibly resulting in you becoming tired, irritable, and starving, which could lead to pigging out!

turbogynda

I resently asked my nutritionist about this, so I will try to give you a decent answer :-). I am supposed to have a calorie intake of 1300/day (I am 161 cm, SW 58 kg, CW 56 kg, GW 51 kg). This is my BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) according to my nutritionist. BMR is the number of calories you'd burn if you stayed in bed all day. You can calculate your BMR here:
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/. For a more accurate number, you must use a scale specially for this purpose.

To loose about 0,5 kg (1.1 lb) a week, you need to have a net calorie intake of 500/day average pr. week. Considering that you burn calories just by moving around on a daily basis, you will of cause burn more than your exercise alone. Having in mind that it´s important to avoid putting your metabolism in a starvation mode, your net calorie number can´t be to high.

Say that you burn 200-300 calories just by moving around (walking to school, go shopping, playing with your kids etc.), you just need a net calorie intake to be 200-300 to loose weight. So the days I have a calorie burn of ex. 800 calories during my exercise, I only fill up about 500 of them to avoid eating to little. If I only have a calorie burn of 200, I don´t fill them up unless I feel hungry.

I hope this was helpfull. Please let me know if anything is unclear! Who said loosing weight is easy ;-)

wheelieblade

so if I have a net calorie value of say 5-600 I'm ok for long 1lb a week? Sorry got a bit lost there

turbogynda

Sorry, I don´t know if I understood the question right :-). Do you mean loosing 1 lb a week? 500 in net calories average a day, INCLUDING the calories you burn doing everyday activities should be enough for you to loose 1 lb a week. But this is what apply to me, according to my nutritionist (yes, I needed help to figure this out), so it´s hard for me to say what will apply to you. If you for instance are quite muscular, you will burn more calories than a person with little muscle mass even when your doing the same activity (even when sleeping). But to be honest, I think the worst thing we can do, is not eating enough, and put our metabolism in starvation mode. We need calories to be able to burn calories.

I usually think of it this way:
Say you should eat 1800 calories a day (the best way to figure this out is by using a BMR calculator)
- You burn about 300 during your daily activities (this varies a lot!) + you burn 700 calories during your exercise = 1000 cal burned
- According to MFP you now need to eat 1800 cal + 1000 = 2800 calories.
- But to get 500 net calories, you just need to eat 2300 calories (2800 cal - 500 net cal) as long as this won´t leave you hungry.

Even more important than the calories, is what the calories represent. I´m a fan of eating as clean as possible, witch is a challenge in a busy day with A LOT of tasty temptations. Why can´t there be a pizzatree?! ;-)

turbogynda

That being said; MFP tells me I shoul eat 1200 calories, but my BMR tells me I need 1300, so I´m trusting my BMR.

wheelieblade

Yeah, sorry dodgy keyboard, I worked my BMR out to be not much more than yours although can't remember exact figure. I'm on just under 500 net today I think after exercise, it wasn't a planned figure just the way it's worked out. I'm not really muscular at all, but wan tto increase my muscle mass anyway

robin52077

The terminology in this thread is HORRIBLY wrong.

Your NET calories should be EQUAL to your calorie goal PLUS your exercise calories.

If your goal is 1300 and you exercise for about 300, you should EAT 1500 that day.

Starting at the beginning:

First off, BMR is the amount of calories your body needs even if you were in a COMA. The second you step out of bed, you need more. MFP then takes your BMR and adds to it an amount based on the activity level you selected. This will equal your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). This is otherwise known as "maintenance calories", or the amount of calories you should eat daily if you want to stay the SAME weight.

THEN, MFP SUBTRACTS from you TDEE 500 calories a day if you chose to lose 1 lb per week, which is recommended, (250 for half a pound, 1000 for 2 lbs, which is only safe for obese individuals). This 500 calories is called a DEFICIT (I think this is what you are confusing with a "NET")

This new number is your calorie goal in your diary. This number is the amount you need to EAT in order to lose the amount you chose. You do NOT need to eat LESS than that number. There is ALREADY a DEFICIT subtracted from it.

When exercise, you are increasing the safe deficit you chose, making it potentially too large and unsafe. This is why the system has you set up to eat back your exercise calories.

Your NET calories, which is listed on your homepage, should be EQUAL to your original calorie goal by the end of the day.

SO if you are set at 1400 and exercise for 300, you need to eat 1700 that day to NET your original 1400.

Those calories are there to FUEL your body for those workouts. You can't run a car with no gas. You can't run your body with no food.

So aim to REACH your goal each day, NOT to stay UNDER it. Just try to get your diary to say zero, or as close as you can get, even if it is red. Remember you have a 500 calorie deficit off of your maintenance calories, so if you go red, you did NOT fail. You have to go 500 in the red to BREAK EVEN and maintain your weight.

* the number 500 is assuming you chose 1 lb per week, if you chose a different goal, this number is different.

so, your diary should say zero at the end of the day, and your NET should say whatever number your original calorie goal was.

baisleac

BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate
TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (also called Maintenance calories)
Calorie = (unit of measurement), a unit of energy or heat variously defined. In nutrition terms, the word calorie is commonly used to refer to a unit of food energy. (The word calorie is used instead of the more precise scientific term kilocalorie.)

BMR and TDEE are two different things..

BMR is the amount of energy (calories) your body needs to function in a coma.

TDEE is the amount of energy (calories) that your body actually uses (burns) each day by living your life.

Eating less than your TDEE will give you a calorie deficit and you will lose weight.

Eat less than your BMR and you risk slowing your metabolism down; making it that much harder to continue to lose weight and that much more likely that you will regain that weight when you get to maintenance.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Your NET calories (on your home page) should be as close to the daily goal MFP set for you as possible.

Your REMAINING calories (on your homepage and food diary page) should be as close to zero as possible.

MFP builds in a deficit for you based on the information you gave it: height, weight, lifestyle, goal weight loss, etc.. All you need to do is follow the calorie goals it gives you and you will lose weight.

anubis609

should I take in 1750 so that I net 1500.

Yes.

You should have a NET of 1500.

Congratulations, you are the first poster to understand the concept of the term "net." You just happened to post a question about a minor confusion.

otr12

....You can't run a car with no gas.

See what I mean? A Prius is not a car.

wheelieblade

The problem I have is that I don't work and am a wheelchair user so my TDEE is going to be different to an able bodied woman who works and is the same height and weight. I picked the activity level closest to my current lifestyle but am unsure if my goal calories are right. I aim to eat 1200 BEFORE exercise

baisleac

The problem I have is that I don't work and am a wheelchair user so my TDEE is going to be different to an able bodied woman who works and is the same height and weight. I picked the activity level closest to my current lifestyle but am unsure if my goal calories are right. I aim to eat 1200 BEFORE exercise

You're right. The standard math might not work, in some activities you'll burn much less than an able-bodied person and in other situations a lot more; but if you can stay above your BMR and you can test different calorie amounts to find your TDEE.

wheelieblade

Thanks, I used the BMR calculator on here and got 1564, so am going to use that as a base point, hopefully will lose some weight soon so that number will be lower

KPainter70

Thanks for the explanations here on Net calories and eating back exercise calories. I haven't been doing that because honestly, I really didn't get it. And now that I do get it, I'm still not sure I can wrap my head around it. It seems like so much extra food! I am losing weight, but I don't want to put myself in starvation mode either, so I guess I'm just going to have to eat more.

Between net calories and zigzagging calories, I feel like I didn't take enough math in school.

Romy251

Thanks for your explanation robin^^. I read through all the comments above yours and got mighty confused! But what you've said makes a lot more sense. Not many people seem to be eating back there exercise calories on here and I normally do so I was wondering if I had it all wrong! Thanks for clearing it up!:)