NET CALORIES

meganlynn1014

Ok... I have read posts about how the net calories are CALCULATED... but why do I need to know them? I guess I am confused on their importance in the weight loss journey. Should my net calories be high or low?

For example:

Goal: 1420
Food: 1287
Exercise: -485
Net: 802


Will someone explain this to me? Why is the net important?

rockerbabyy

you want to get your net as close to your goal calories as possible.
when you net less than 1200 your body will get used to having so little food and your metabolism can slow down and eventually (not right away) you can go into starvation mode.
your goal is what you need to eat to lose x lbs per week without exercise. when you add exercise in, you need to eat more to keep your body fueled and running properly

drusso1491

what rockerbaby said... net calories is the calories you get from food - calories burned off in exercise... its important to remember that everyone burns a decent amount of calories just being awake and keeping the body running (BMR) .. I have heard from a few sources that when dieting calories shouldn't really drop too far below 1500 just b/c of the large amount youll burn from sustaining life and being active ontop youll easily go into a caloric deficit and at that low it is counter productive to the body, again what rocker stated hope that cleared it up

Cathleenr

Ok... I have read posts about how the net calories are CALCULATED... but why do I need to know them? I guess I am confused on their importance in the weight loss journey. Should my net calories be high or low?

For example:

Goal: 1420
Food: 1287
Exercise: -485
Net: 802

Will someone explain this to me? Why is the net important?

well, it looks like you hadn't reached your caloric goal even without the exercise deduction.
your daily caloric intake is based on your basal metabolic rate, which is the number of kcals you need to just survive. as an example, you may need 1350 calories per day to maintain your body's functions. anything less and you lose weight anything more and you gain.
if you jog for 30 minutes and expend 200 calories doing it, now your basic minimum caloric requirement is 1550. anything less and you lose weight, anything more and you gain.

there is a balance between eating too little in the quest for weight loss or eating too much in the quest for weight gain and you have to take into consideration the amount of activity you are going to do...jogging lightly has very different energy and nutritional requirements than heavy bodybuilding.

Rachiepie6

rockerbabyy is right

When setting your goal MFP factors in a deficit from what your body expends from everyday activity excluding additional exercise.
When you exercise your body will need more energy, from food.

I suggest, that if your goal is 1420, that your food intake be above 1200 and your net calories be in between 1200-1500. Going over your goal by a little bit isn't bad, going over a lot is. The aim is to have your net as close as possible to your goal

meganlynn1014

So I am supposed to eat more to get my net calories up to my goal calories? I just ate some nuts so it brought it up to 950. I just need to figure out the balancing act I suppose.

Also, in theory, If I ate 1200 calories a day without exercise I could lose weight? I have never tried food management before so I am completely new to this. Any advice would be great! Thank you!!

rockerbabyy

So I am supposed to eat more to get my net calories up to my goal calories? I just ate some nuts so it brought it up to 950. I just need to figure out the balancing act I suppose.

Also, in theory, If I ate 1200 calories a day without exercise I could lose weight? I have never tried food management before so I am completely new to this. Any advice would be great! Thank you!!

correct on both counts nuts are a good way to get in some easy calories. also peanut butter, avocado etc.

if you only ate 1200 a day with 0 exercise you would lose weight. however, you might also lose muscle, and your body wouldnt be as toned looking once you hit your goal weight.

stephabef

This is my problem, too. I'm so used to eating 1200 calories that when I have a big burn I struggle with taking in so many more calories. I eat a lot of nut butter as is, so I don't really want to add MORE nuts in. And I feel like I'm already eating when I'm not hungry just to reach 1200.

BrittaneyHG

Net calories means EAT UP! You still have 800 calories you need to eat in order to lose weight efficiently and have all the nutrients your body needs.

HINT:
High protein low fat foods like geek yogurt and protein shakes will help you out a lot. You body takes longer to break down Protein which will help you burn more calories when just sitting on the couch and it will keep you full longer. Read that in EAT thing NOT that. They also have a website.

mamitosami

Just bumping this so it's in my topics--I'm always confused by this too... ahem, numbers are not my forté....

sheila0321

bump

ArroganceInStep

When you net less than 1200 your body will get used to having so little food and your metabolism can slow down and eventually (not right away) you can go into starvation mode.

Rockerbabyy is basically right but I'm going to try to clarify a bit more (sorry rockerbabyy, I just had a huge debate about this yesterday so I'm in write-a-whole-lot mode)

I tend to go with this article for calculations since it's easier, but there are other methods as well: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/how-to-estimate-maintenance-caloric-intake.html

So if you're a woman, take your weight*10 and that's an approximation of your maintenance calories

Another common way to calculate your needs is the Harris Benedict Equation: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

Plug your height, weight, and age into the BMR calculator and multiply it by your activity factor.


The idea with both of those calculations is that if you eat that many calories, you will stay the same weight. If you exercise and burn X calories or eat X calories less, that will generate a deficit for the day and result in weight loss (1 pound is roughly 3500 calories). Exercising is good for your overall health, but is not necessary for weight loss (lots of people say weight loss is 85% diet 15% exercise or something like that, that's because it's much easier to overeat any amount of exercise you do). Most people to lose weight combine eating less and exercising more to create their deficit.

The reason we look at net calories is because your body still needs a set amount of calories to function. That doesn't mean that if you don't eat for a day you'll die, but if you don't eat enough over an extended period of time, you will eventually begin to suffer the adverse effects of malnutrition (at the extreme case this can result in death). Burning calories on exercise takes that energy away from your body when it might otherwise use it to keep your bodily functions running.

There is no magic number, a lot of people use 1200 which is a decent starting point, but the truth is it's a gradual thing. Some people need a lot more, some people need less, and as you restrict your caloric intake more and more, you'll start to experience problems. Things like fatigue, muscle pain, digestive problems, and worse. The question of how few calories you can eat and how big a deficit your body can handle safely is not something I have enough evidence to speak to specifically, but suffice it to say that too large a deficit will cause problems.

Everyone need a certain amount of calories to survive, which is why people generally look at net calories rather than just calorie intake by itself.

That being said, people in general are notoriously bad at logging accurate caloric intake (in most cases they log too few calories, but in some they log too many) and estimates of caloric expenditure are just that, estimates. So while you may have arrived at 900 net calories, that might not be what it actually was. The more accurate you can be with your measurements, the better control you can take over your diet and exercise.

_Ben

Net calories are pretty much for those who chose to eat back their calories. If their net calories are within their goal, they will lose weight, even if their total calories are over their goal, but their exercise brings them back into their goal.