Are negative net calories bad

LeggyKettleBabe

I am hearing conflicting things. Is it bad or good to have negative net calories??

chachadiva150

How many?

If you eat 1800 and you had a kick butt workout and burned 2000, that's one thing.

If you eat 500 and work off 2000, then, yeah...problem.

TheWinman

I would say yeah! Your body needs calories.

shovav91

You should NEVER have a negative net. Calories are a unit of energy, the energy your body needs to survive. I would say a net of anything under 1200 on a regular basis does the body a lot of harm in the long run.

iamlottiebee

The only time I have negative net calories is when I work out first thing and log my exercise before I've had anything to eat for the day! But you shouldn't go whole days on negetive net calories...

CaseRat

Never ever EVER have negative 'net' calories.
You want at LEAST 1200 net as a complete minimum, but most likely more depending on the person.

daisyverma

I dont think negative calories are sustainable long term as your body will demand calories, fats, proteins etc etc for the brain to function so it can keep the rest of your body functioning

riskiestlavonn

Never ever EVER have negative 'net' calories.
You want at LEAST 1200 net as a complete minimum, but most likely more depending on the person.

What he said. You'll burn out if you keep going like that... at least I would. Also, you should look into the forums about eating back exercise calories (blew my mind). :-)

zuzuanne88

I've been conflicted with this too...Some people say eat back the calories you burned,while others say why work out if your gonna eat it back....I really would like to test it out with maybe two weeks of the two options but i'm terrified of gaining any weight back.Does this apply to people who have 80 pounds or more to lose?

TheWinman

I'm on a calorie goal that loses me 2 pounds a week and I've been doing this since November. I have found I lose the most weight when I eat back the calories or at least get close to what I lost when working out. I tried for a while eating much less on days I worked out and I was maybe 800 or so calories under the net calorie recommendation and I did not lose the weight as quickly. IMO

meshashesha2012

I've been conflicted with this too...Some people say eat back the calories you burned,while others say why work out if your gonna eat it back....I really would like to test it out with maybe two weeks of the two options but i'm terrified of gaining any weight back.Does this apply to people who have 80 pounds or more to lose?

i've pretty much exercised my entire life, and eating back my calories never helped me lose weight or fat. what has been working is eating at about 20-30% below my maintenance on a daily basis regardless of my workouts. i almost never eat my exercise calories back except on days when i'm really really hungry.

and no i'm not burning out, going into starvation mode, hindering my workout performance or anything else like that. i'm getting healthier (blood pressure decreased, heart rate decreased), i'm getting stronger and i'm losing fat, which is is exactly what i want so i'll stick to doing it my way

i think eating back your exercise calories is more a necessity as you get closer to your goal weight because at that point your body has less extra stuff stored away to pull energy from.

LeggyKettleBabe

I work out several times during the day. Usually walking. My average calorie burn is 1800 daily yesterday was nearly 2400. I recently gained 3 lbs in like 2 days so im wondering if its the net calories. I can eat bout 1500 calories if i eat more i feel sick like i could throw up. I dont want to give up my weights or my walking.

hottottie11

What about you doing to burn 1800 calories in a day? Just walking? You'll have to walk a whole lot to get that kind of burn?

What are you using as an estimation of your calorie burn?

SPNLuver83

bad bad bad. That's the same as starvation.

LeggyKettleBabe

What about you doing to burn 1800 calories in a day? Just walking? You'll have to walk a whole lot to get that kind of burn?

What are you using as an estimation of your calorie burn?

I walk bout 8.5 miles a day. I walk bout 5.4mph. I have a gps cardio trainer on my phone. I walk 2 - 15 minute breaks and usually 2-1hr intervals. Then I either weight train or do kettlebell for at least 45 minutes. I am a heavy weight so i burn alot of calories.

im not starving if im hungry I eat, im not worn out either. The only way i get even 1500 calories is to eat fast food.

My diet is mainly fruits veggies and lean poultry. its really hard to get up to 1500 calories eating like that.

Helloitsdan

I've been conflicted with this too...Some people say eat back the calories you burned,while others say why work out if your gonna eat it back....I really would like to test it out with maybe two weeks of the two options but i'm terrified of gaining any weight back.Does this apply to people who have 80 pounds or more to lose?

Looked at your diary.....



Up your calories to lose weight.
Right now you are traveling at a high rate of speed in a vehicle that has nooooooo gasssssssss.
Eventually youll be breaking down!

i've pretty much exercised my entire life, and eating back my calories never helped me lose weight or fat. what has been working is eating at about 20-30% below my maintenance on a daily basis regardless of my workouts. i almost never eat my exercise calories back except on days when i'm really really hungry.

Winner winner chicken dinner!!!

Check my profile for a link to help you get the right calories for your weight loss.
And never let NET fall below BMR.
Its stupid!

caseypoot

I've actually been doing a sort of calorie cycling, where I'll go maybe two to three days of the week, keeping my net less than 900 (I have Fibromyalgia, making my metabolism naturally slower and spend most of my time after working out on the couch) and then the rest of the week I'll have a net of well over 1200 or 1500 after exercise (I'll eat up to 1800 or so). It's worked pretty interestingly for me because I find that the day after the periods where I eat more and definitely burn more calories through exercise, I feel like I lost like 5 pounds as well as seeing actual results on those days.

I don't think anyone would suggest you strive for negative net calories at all because it can CAN CAN CAN lead to metabolic disorders that are far worse than just having a plateau (of course these are bad enough). If you're really trying to see results fast, I would maybe start with a very low net calorie on 1-3 days out of the week, followed with the next days with high enough nets to keep your metabolism up and keep your body from being used to a certain amount of calories (usually the trick with this is still maintaining an overall deficit for the week put together).

I've been there and done that with long periods of very restricted calories, and trust me when I say you will not be rewarded with the results you want - even if your body does happen to be able to maintain its metabolism until you reach your goal weight (not likely at all), your body would have synthesized and metabolized the energy in your muscle fibers, using that for energy because it's quicker than fat with lack of carbs; you might have a lighter body, but you're likely to have a higher body fat percentage because you have literally eaten your muscles, and now you're almost guaranteed to gain weight back ten fold.

PunkyRachel

If I'm not hungry at all and my net is only like 700, should I force myself to eat?

yarwell

If I'm not hungry at all and my net is only like 700, should I force myself to eat?

No need if you have 50 lb to lose.

PunkyRachel

If I'm not hungry at all and my net is only like 700, should I force myself to eat?

No need if you have 50 lb to lose.

Close guess, 56.4 pounds til I hit my goal weight. Not always but sometimes at the end on the day my net is less than 1000, specifically on my zumba nights. I eat but I will just feel so unbelievably stuffed, so I stop and just let my net be low.

txteacher2

Sorry, but I'm a bit confused. My calorie intake should be 1200 calories a day. When I complete my workouts, I've burnt off about 600 calories, so does that I mean I should eat 600 more calories or should I not eat anymore?