Goal calorie & Net calorie Confusion!!!

lmkelly679

I'm supposed to eat 1400 calories a day and like yesterday i burned a little over 300 calories. I know on MFP it adds back those burned calories so my net calories are less than what i actually ate. I always thought it was optional to eat back what i burned. Yesterday my amount eaten was about 1200 but my net were below 1000. I read on MFP that I'm supposed to eat a certain amount of net calories to lose weight and disregard my goal of eaten calories. Basically I'm confused! lol can someone please help me and explain this? If it helps here are my stats: 160 lbs, 5'2, moderately active, 27 years old.
Thanks for the help!

cmriverside

This site works by you eating what you are given. Don't try to bypass the system, you'll be sorry. I've been here five years, you can either "get" it now or keep fighting till you do. :flowerforyou:

Don't complicate it. Use the tools as given here. In a month, reevaluate.

Read this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/506979-correct-calorie-deficit
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.


and this one: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/510406-tdee-is-everything

cmriverside

So, eat until there are ZEROS at the bottom of your Food Diary. (Where it says "Remaining") You want to eat those exercise calorie credits.

ladyraven68

I'm supposed to eat 1400 calories a day and like yesterday i burned a little over 300 calories. I know on MFP it adds back those burned calories so my net calories are less than what i actually ate. I always thought it was optional to eat back what i burned. Yesterday my amount eaten was about 1200 but my net were below 1000. I read on MFP that I'm supposed to eat a certain amount of net calories to lose weight and disregard my goal of eaten calories. Basically I'm confused! lol can someone please help me and explain this? If it helps here are my stats: 160 lbs, 5'2, moderately active, 27 years old.
Thanks for the help!

When you set up MFP, it set a deficit for you to lose weight - 500 cal deficit for 1lb, 250 cal deficit for 0.5lb etc.
If you exercise, you have burned extra calories, so you have made the deficit bigger. It tells you to eat back those extra calories so that you keep the same deficit that you set.

The deficit will allow you to lose weight even without exercise.

The Goal calories are a NET goal, so that is eaten calories - exercise calories.
In your case yesterday 1200-300=900 net..

To maintain the net 1400 calories you should have eaten 1700. (1700-300=1400).

However, you need to bear in mind that the exercise calories on MFP may not be accurate.

Good Luck.

lmkelly679

Ok thank you! Does 1400 calories a day sound about right for my weight and my goal?

Devlyn_P

Hello, MFP is telling you your actual calories eaten and your net changes due to exercise. They are using the basic formula of calories in vs out so you may be consistent in your nutrition. Eating back calories is "optional" but for me those exercise numbers must be accurate in order for me to eat them back. Machines and the MFP estimator is always off and it is way to easy to over/underestimate exercise calories.

Based on your stats given: 5"2 @ 160lbs moderate activity your TDEE is estimated at 2340. You can manually set your goals instead of using MFP's estimator if you would like ( I manually do it due to having detailed goals). Take a deficit from your TDEE number to safely lose weight.

Try clicking on "goals" and see what MFP has your deficit at. 1400 calories a day from the numbers you gave had me calculate you at a 930 deficit which is uber high. Alot of people plateau faster when they go to the extreme immediately. Remember, slow and steady wins the race.

Tina180130

bump

lmkelly679

I went into my settings and had MFP redo it for me. It said my net calories should be 1200 a day but it reset my goal to eat 1200, so should i ignore my initial goal of eating 1400 a day and just pay attention to the net calories? so basically if i don't exercise i only eat 1200 but if i do say burn 300 calories i can then eat 1500 that day?

ladyraven68

I went into my settings and had MFP redo it for me. It said my net calories should be 1200 a day but it reset my goal to eat 1200, so should i ignore my initial goal of eating 1400 a day and just pay attention to the net calories? so basically if i don't exercise i only eat 1200 but if i do say burn 300 calories i can then eat 1500 that day?

On top of your goals page, what does it say is your daily calorie burn?

What loss did you set as your target?

em9371

Yep net is what's important.
If Mfp gives you 1200, on your goals page it actually states that the allowance is net
* Net Calories Consumed = Total Calories Consumed - Exercise Calories Burned
so on days you exercise you will need to eat back the exercise cals to keep your net at the right level.

As above poster said, 1200 seems pretty low so check you don't have your goals set to lose too much x

lmkelly679

I went into my settings and had MFP redo it for me. It said my net calories should be 1200 a day but it reset my goal to eat 1200, so should i ignore my initial goal of eating 1400 a day and just pay attention to the net calories? so basically if i don't exercise i only eat 1200 but if i do say burn 300 calories i can then eat 1500 that day?

On top of your goals page, what does it say is your daily calorie burn?

What loss did you set as your target?

It says 1920 for daily burn. I set it at 2 lbs a week but it reset it to 1.4

lmkelly679

it gave me a daily deficit of 720 calories

lmkelly679

Where did everyone go? lol

auntiebabs

I went into my settings and had MFP redo it for me. It said my net calories should be 1200 a day but it reset my goal to eat 1200, so should i ignore my initial goal of eating 1400 a day and just pay attention to the net calories? so basically if i don't exercise i only eat 1200 but if i do say burn 300 calories i can then eat 1500 that day?

On top of your goals page, what does it say is your daily calorie burn?

What loss did you set as your target?

It says 1920 for daily burn. I set it at 2 lbs a week but it reset it to 1.4

it gave me a daily deficit of 720 calories

MFP won't give you less than 1200 NET calories a day because it's really difficult to get in proper nutrition in less than that.

(A lightbulb went off in my head a short while a go that "starvation mode" is more about nutrition than it is about calories... You can eat 3500 calories a day, but if they are empty calories, your body will want to hang on to everything because it's still looking for nourishment to fuel your body)

with about 25 lbs to go to get into the healthy range 2 lbs a week is probably too much to ask of your body.

What helped me be successful was to give myself a range

ROCK BOTTOM: 1200 net cal
TARGET: what gave me to MFP lose 1 lb a week (when that got to 1200 I switched to lose 1/2 lb a week)
TOP OF MY RANGE: Maintain GOAL WEIGHT calories

as long as I stayed within my range I continued to lose... and I tended to naturally Zig Zag my calories

SAFETY VALVE: Maintain my CURRENT WEIGHT (remember to recalculate this as your weight changes)
as long as I'm under this I shouldn't gain...

When my MFP target for lose 1 lb a week got to 1200 calories I switched to lose 1/2 lb a week. when i got 5 lbs away from my goal instead of letting MFP take away calories every time I lost a pound I added about 100 calories. So I would be eating at my maintenance calories by the time I got to my goal.

Yes, it took longer, but it doesn't matter how much I lost, or how quickly I lost it.... if I can't maintain it.
The thing that scares me silly is that when you gain back you always gain back Plus more... and I can't afford to risk that.

MusiqDiva

This makes so much sense now...so I may have been accidentally putting myself in starvation mode because I am working out so much and not eating enough to make up for it? My net some days is like 500 cals...maybe this is why I am not losing weight like I'm used to?