Net calories Question.

kleinmother3

I am having some trouble figuring out something. At the end of the day after I have worked out & logged in all my food. Should my NET calories be positive or negative. For the most part my have all been in the positive. Am I doing some wrong?

Thanks for the advice

deadstarsunburn

Net is basically what you've consumed. I don't think it can be negative? It's comparing food eaten and calories burned.

lifeinpink09

Theya re allowed to be positive. Negative net would mean that you burned that much more than you ate. Say you ate 1200 and burned 1500. Your net is -300. But if you ate 1200 and burned 300 your net is 900.

Pappabacon

Your net should be at your goal calories if you have eaten all your exercise calories (I think).

methetree

oh it can be negative, but it shouldn't be.
I keep trying to maintain at least 1200 net.

I find that when I don't the weight just hangs and won't budge.

Good luck!

kleinmother3

So you want it to be negative?? So confused about this.

lifeinpink09

No you don't want it to be negative. You just want it lower than calories in. You DO need a certain amount of calories to function. Like if you eat 1500 you might want your net to be 1200.

Leesap65

You should never have negative calories for the day. Never eat less than 1200 calories per day. This is after excercise. For example, if you are burning 400 calories during exercise, then you can eat up to 1600 calories a day. Eating less than 1200 will cause your metabolism to stand still.

Amo_Angelus

You have to eat posative calories or you'd die...in term of MFP, the defecit you're working on is already calculated for you, you have to have a net of 1200 at the end of the day or your body will start to starve.

kleinmother3

Here's where I stand right now:


Calories Remaining
Goal Food Exercise = Net
1200 1260 - 1473 -213

So you are saying that I should eat another 213 calories so I am not negative. BTW this is all my meals.

methetree

Here's where I stand right now:


Calories Remaining
Goal Food Exercise = Net
1200 1260 - 1473 -213

So you are saying that I should eat another 213 calories so I am not negative. BTW this is all my meals.

You should eat way more than 200 calories. You want your net calories to end up about 1200 for the day.

So, if that is today, you should actually eat about another 1400 calories so your net is 1200.
Then your body wont starve!

taso42_DELETED

Here's where I stand right now:


Calories Remaining
Goal Food Exercise = Net
1200 1260 - 1473 -213

So you are saying that I should eat another 213 calories so I am not negative. BTW this is all my meals.

Your net should be your goal. In this case looks like your goal is 1200, so your net should be 1200. Also, 1200 happens to be the recommended minimum for women. You should avoid dropping below 1200 net calories.

So given the info above, you would need to eat 1513 additional calories to hit your goal today, given that you had such a large calorie burn. Are you sure that 1473 calorie burn is accurate?

Another way to look at it is this - up at the top where is says ___ calories remaining, you want to get that number as close to 0 as possible. If you're within 50-100 over or under, you should be ok (though given your target of 1200 to begin with, I would be hesitant to go under)

MrsCon40

Your net should be at your goal calories if you have eaten all your exercise calories (I think).

This^^ And your net should be at least 1,200 calories unless you are really small.

kleinmother3

Yes it pretty accurate. Crazy busy work out day. 1 hour of yoga, 30 mins lifting, 40 mins running & lots of gardening. Not normal but feeling good. I even went to another site and compared calorie burned and made adjustments.

SDMHudson

Very helpful thread, I was a little confused myself. Thanks!

taso42_DELETED

Yes it pretty accurate. Crazy busy work out day. 1 hour of yoga, 30 mins lifting, 40 mins running & lots of gardening. Not normal but feeling good. I even went to another site and compared calorie burned and made adjustments.

Well that is a sensational burn! On the rare day that I intend to work out that much, I try to plan ahead and eat a bit extra all day long so that I don't have to consume a whole crapload of calories at the end of night. Although, sometimes, I rather enjoy consuming a whole crapload of calories at the end of the night :glasses:

cmriverside

I think what confuses people is this thing on their home page:




This is the SAME as the bottom line (the "Remaining") on your Food Diary.

Your "Goal" on this picture is the same as "Your Daily Goal" on your Food Diary.

In my example, my Goal (Daily Goal) is 1490. My food so far today is 992 (already eaten), no exercise, "Remaining" is 498.

So (1490 - 992) + 0 = 498

Calories Remaining = 498



It's just a different Math problem. The word "Net" is what messes people up. Because the Net on their Food Diary is a little different.

_____________________________________

MaggieP86

Here's where I stand right now:


Calories Remaining
Goal Food Exercise = Net
1200 1260 - 1473 -213

So you are saying that I should eat another 213 calories so I am not negative. BTW this is all my meals.

Your net should be your goal. In this case looks like your goal is 1200, so your net should be 1200. Also, 1200 happens to be the recommended minimum for women. You should avoid dropping below 1200 net calories.

So given the info above, you would need to eat 1513 additional calories to hit your goal today, given that you had such a large calorie burn. Are you sure that 1473 calorie burn is accurate?

Another way to look at it is this - up at the top where is says ___ calories remaining, you want to get that number as close to 0 as possible. If you're within 50-100 over or under, you should be ok (though given your target of 1200 to begin with, I would be hesitant to go under)

Okay. I am really turned around and confused by all of this.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/meresged/netcal81-87.png

This is a picture of my 'Net Calories' report for the week. How do I read this? What am I looking at?

I have a 'food goal' of 1540 calories a day, a BMR of 1677 calories a day.

LorinaLynn

Your net calories should be as close as possible to your goal. If your goal is 1200, your net should be 1200.

I think where a lot of people get confused is the saying, "You need to burn more than you eat." You need to take into consideration that your body is constantly burning calories. While you're sleeping, while you're eating, while you're typing on MFP.

Your BMR is what your body would burn if you were in a coma or completely bedridden. That's the amount of calories your body needs to maintain it's current weight. Just by getting out of bed and even living a sedentary lifestyle, you burn extra calories on top of that. Even if you did no exercise at all, you would lose weight eating 1677, because you're burning more than that through normal activity.

When you burn too many calories through exercise, and don't replace them, you're doing your body a huge disservice.

fakeplastictree

Your net calories should be as close as possible to your goal. If your goal is 1200, your net should be 1200.

I think where a lot of people get confused is the saying, "You need to burn more than you eat." You need to take into consideration that your body is constantly burning calories. While you're sleeping, while you're eating, while you're typing on MFP.

Your BMR is what your body would burn if you were in a coma or completely bedridden. That's the amount of calories your body needs to maintain it's current weight. Just by getting out of bed and even living a sedentary lifestyle, you burn extra calories on top of that. Even if you did no exercise at all, you would lose weight eating 1677, because you're burning more than that through normal activity.

When you burn too many calories through exercise, and don't replace them, you're doing your body a huge disservice.

Thank you for posting this, it helped me actually change my mind on eating my calories back. like you said I was always confused because they say calories in and calories out. but now i made up my mind. Time to eat up!! :bigsmile:

MaggieP86

Your net calories should be as close as possible to your goal. If your goal is 1200, your net should be 1200.

I think where a lot of people get confused is the saying, "You need to burn more than you eat." You need to take into consideration that your body is constantly burning calories. While you're sleeping, while you're eating, while you're typing on MFP.

Your BMR is what your body would burn if you were in a coma or completely bedridden. That's the amount of calories your body needs to maintain it's current weight. Just by getting out of bed and even living a sedentary lifestyle, you burn extra calories on top of that. Even if you did no exercise at all, you would lose weight eating 1677, because you're burning more than that through normal activity.

When you burn too many calories through exercise, and don't replace them, you're doing your body a huge disservice.

That does help a bunch. So as a 'net' someone with a 'goal' of 1500 calories per day would try to get that line to hit 1500?


By the way does the "in 5 weeks you would be..." account for the extra calories? I went to eat the extra 300 this morning that I earned at the gym, but put in foods before I ate. It changed my weight loss by a few pounds...

fakeplastictree

Your net calories should be as close as possible to your goal. If your goal is 1200, your net should be 1200.

I think where a lot of people get confused is the saying, "You need to burn more than you eat." You need to take into consideration that your body is constantly burning calories. While you're sleeping, while you're eating, while you're typing on MFP.

Your BMR is what your body would burn if you were in a coma or completely bedridden. That's the amount of calories your body needs to maintain it's current weight. Just by getting out of bed and even living a sedentary lifestyle, you burn extra calories on top of that. Even if you did no exercise at all, you would lose weight eating 1677, because you're burning more than that through normal activity.

When you burn too many calories through exercise, and don't replace them, you're doing your body a huge disservice.

That does help a bunch. So as a 'net' someone with a 'goal' of 1500 calories per day would try to get that line to hit 1500?


By the way does the "in 5 weeks you would be..." account for the extra calories? I went to eat the extra 300 this morning that I earned at the gym, but put in foods before I ate. It changed my weight loss by a few pounds...

I wouldn't concentrate too much on the number it says you may be in 5 weeks. There are too many variables to rely on that. I think that as long as you don't go under the 1200 net and not over your set net goal on MFP you should be fine. Losing weight quicker isn't always better.