NET calories???

MsMargie1116

OK, I'm curious, here on My Fitness Pal, it shows Net Calories... Why is it important to know your net calories, and what should your net calories be at??? Just curious... :-)

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

PUGS! Ok sorry. I have two and I love them.

Anyway. . . Net calories are your total calories after exercise. So if you eat 1200 calories but work out and burn 400 then you've only netted 800. You need to eat back the calories you burned (usually) so that your net goal is as close to 0 as possible.

Now, MFP is known to overestimate calorie burn and people tend to underestimate how much they consume. So it's important to measure both and try to get as accurate a number as possible. Some people suggest only eating back half of their exercise calories for this reason. Others say it's ok not to eat them back as long as you net more than 1200 for a woman and 1500 for a man. You'll find lots of threads debating this topic, so I'm telling you what the website intends. Your original goal is intended to include your calorie deficit, so if you ate that much and did no exercise at all, you'd still lose. If you DO exercise, that makes your deficit larger and MFP intends for you to eat those calories back. It can be bad to have too large of a deficit because it can cause the body to burn more muscle than you want to lose. Muscle burns more calories, so you want to keep as much as possible. Hope that helps!

rockerbabyy

they add in exercise calories because youre supposed to eat them. you can eat the calories they tell you to and lose weight without exercise.. when you do exericse you need to fuel your body and give it enough to keep it functioning.
most plans say "ok, eat 2000 calories and burn off 500 a day to lose a pound a week" mfp says "ok eat 1500 a day to lose a pound a week, dont worry about exericse. oh, you did exerciseand burned 500 calories?? great! eat those 500 too"
you still eat the same amount. you still lose the same amount. mfp just leaves room for people to choose to not exercise, or for the random days when you miss a workout for whatever reason.

the only times i recommend not eating them is if youre on a strict dr-supervised diet, or you included your exercise in your daily activity settings.
sometimes mfp can over estimate calories burned so if you think you might be burning less, eat half to 3/4 of them. if you use a HRM then go ahead and eat them all

xraychick77

its a major flaw in mfp..it makes people think they must eat those calories 'earned' from exercise back..of course its a simple case of pseudoscience.

when we choose our 'activity level' it already accounts for the exercise you do. my BMR is around 1300..with activity level, which means my daily activities including exercise my EER is around 1800. I dont even put my exercise in as it gets confusing and makes me think I need to eat more than I actually do.

yes, the whole 1200 cal thing is a myth too. there is NO set calorie intake for everyone. this myth comes from the idea that if you dont eat enough you'll be more apt to binge hence gain weight.

do some research on the Dietary Reference Intake. this can give you a science and medicine based estimate on what your body needs daily. of course we are all different, and these tables are just a guide and an average to include at least 98% of the population.

rockerbabyy

its a major flaw in mfp..it makes people think they must eat those calories 'earned' from exercise back..of course its a simple case of pseudoscience.

when we choose our 'activity level' it already accounts for the exercise you do. my BMR is around 1300..with activity level, which means my daily activities including exercise my EER is around 1800. I dont even put my exercise in as it gets confusing and makes me think I need to eat more than I actually do.

its not a flaw - its the way the site was set up. activity level is supposed to be set EXCLUDING exercise (which is why the examples for each are professions and not workout frequency/intensity). obviouisly if someone sets theirs up including exercise in daily activities they shouldnt even be entering their exercise, since its already accounted for.
if using the site as its intended, you should eat back the exercise calories. or at least a portion if you believe MFP is overestimating your burns

ca4276

These are a couple of links to info about this topic. I'm not going to tell anyone what they should do, but this is what groups like Weight Watchers are saying.

http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=35501

It's less reliable, but Wikipedia also has an article.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation_response

foremant86

its a major flaw in mfp..it makes people think they must eat those calories 'earned' from exercise back..of course its a simple case of pseudoscience.

when we choose our 'activity level' it already accounts for the exercise you do. my BMR is around 1300..with activity level, which means my daily activities including exercise my EER is around 1800. I dont even put my exercise in as it gets confusing and makes me think I need to eat more than I actually do.

yes, the whole 1200 cal thing is a myth too. there is NO set calorie intake for everyone. this myth comes from the idea that if you dont eat enough you'll be more apt to binge hence gain weight.

do some research on the Dietary Reference Intake. this can give you a science and medicine based estimate on what your body needs daily. of course we are all different, and these tables are just a guide and an average to include at least 98% of the population.

wrong, so very wrong.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

its a major flaw in mfp..it makes people think they must eat those calories 'earned' from exercise back..of course its a simple case of pseudoscience.

when we choose our 'activity level' it already accounts for the exercise you do. my BMR is around 1300..with activity level, which means my daily activities including exercise my EER is around 1800. I dont even put my exercise in as it gets confusing and makes me think I need to eat more than I actually do.

its not a flaw - its the way the site was set up. activity level is supposed to be set EXCLUDING exercise (which is why the examples for each are professions and not workout frequency/intensity). obviouisly if someone sets theirs up including exercise in daily activities they shouldnt even be entering their exercise, since its already accounted for.
if using the site as its intended, you should eat back the exercise calories. or at least a portion if you believe MFP is overestimating your burns

^^ This-- you either count your calories as part of your activity, in which case you shouldn't log it. OR you set your activity level excluding exercise (my choice) and log the exercise/eat back the calories. If you do both then yes, you will be eating the same calories twice, so that's a good point to bring up.

As for the 1200 or 1500 net, it's based on getting the proper amount of nutrients. The lower you go with your calories the less nutrition you are getting. Whether you believe in the slowing of the metabolism or not, that number is not arbitrary. For most people, it is the minimum you can eat without supervision by a doctor/nutritionist to make sure you're getting everything you need. It may not be perfect for everyone, but it's right for most people, so that's why it's the number that most calorie counting programs use.

MsMargie1116

Thanks everyone... I never really paid much attention to it, and was wondering... I normally go by the nutriton facts when I log in my food journal, less confusion that way... :happy:

MsMargie1116

PUGS! Ok sorry. I have two and I love them.

Anyway. . . Net calories are your total calories after exercise. So if you eat 1200 calories but work out and burn 400 then you've only netted 800. You need to eat back the calories you burned (usually) so that your net goal is as close to 0 as possible.

Now, MFP is known to overestimate calorie burn and people tend to underestimate how much they consume. So it's important to measure both and try to get as accurate a number as possible. Some people suggest only eating back half of their exercise calories for this reason. Others say it's ok not to eat them back as long as you net more than 1200 for a woman and 1500 for a man. You'll find lots of threads debating this topic, so I'm telling you what the website intends. Your original goal is intended to include your calorie deficit, so if you ate that much and did no exercise at all, you'd still lose. If you DO exercise, that makes your deficit larger and MFP intends for you to eat those calories back. It can be bad to have too large of a deficit because it can cause the body to burn more muscle than you want to lose. Muscle burns more calories, so you want to keep as much as possible. Hope that helps!

haaa, Yep, well ONE Pug, and a Puggle, and their son, so I guess that would be TWO puggles...