OK. I give up... I can't find the answer. Net what amt?

fmbomzo

My BMR is 1478 (rounded).
TDEE being used is 2291 (not sure whether I'm moderately or very active)
Cut (15%) = 1947

I set my MFP calorie goal to 1944 (40/30/30). I work out 6-7 days per week. I average about 7 hrs total workout time per week. My daily workout includes compound workouts (strength combined with cardio - Supreme 90 Day System) plus about 30 add'l mins of cardio (dance, elliptical, etc).

Should I be aiming for my NET calories to equal the Cut amount or just my total Food Calories (disregarding exercise calories burned)? I thougt I saw one formula that said "Daily calories - exercise - BMR" to make sure you've eaten enough calories for the day.

My diary is open if it is needed to answer the question.

HELP!!! I try to make sure I net my BMR as far as MFP's calculation, but I don't want to sabotage myself by not consistently consuming enough calories.

cyreta

I'm no expert on this, but here's what I've read on this forum consistently.

Your cut is 1947. You aim to eat this every day, no matter whether you exercise or not. You aim to not go over this number each day. Then you work out. If your 1947 minus your exercise calories burned equal a number greater than 1478, do nothing. If your 1947 minus your exercise calories burned equal less than 1478 calories, eat more until you have at least 1478 calories at the end of the equation.

So if you eat 1947 calories and you burn 500 calories, the result is 1447, just below your BMR. You would eat 31 calories of something to at least get up to your BMR.

If you eat 1947 calories and you burn 200 calories, the result is 1747, above your BMR. Do nothing. You've eaten enough for the day and not exercised so much that your body will recognize a "significant" deficit and try to slow your metabolism.

If you want to use the formula you found (daily calories-exercise- BMR) then you can. In the first example above daily calories (1947) minus exercise (500) minus BMR (1478) leaves you with a negative number (-31) . This means you eat 31 calories to make the equation equal out to zero (or around there, doesn't have to be exact). In the second example calories (1947) minus exercise (200) minus BMR (1478) leaves you with a positive number (269). Do nothing, you're good for the day.

If there are more knowledgable people out there who see an error, please post. I want to be sure I've got this right too!

fmbomzo

Thanks. This is what I was thinking but as I read more and more posts in the group, I became less and less sure of what I thought. Thanks again. I defintely didn't want to be overeating and thinking I was doing well.

ANewLucia

You got it!

ToxicTinkerbell

I'm no expert on this, but here's what I've read on this forum consistently.

Your cut is 1947. You aim to eat this every day, no matter whether you exercise or not. You aim to not go over this number each day. Then you work out. If your 1947 minus your exercise calories burned equal a number greater than 1478, do nothing. If your 1947 minus your exercise calories burned equal less than 1478 calories, eat more until you have at least 1478 calories at the end of the equation.

So if you eat 1947 calories and you burn 500 calories, the result is 1447, just below your BMR. You would eat 31 calories of something to at least get up to your BMR.

If you eat 1947 calories and you burn 200 calories, the result is 1747, above your BMR. Do nothing. You've eaten enough for the day and not exercised so much that your body will recognize a "significant" deficit and try to slow your metabolism.

If you want to use the formula you found (daily calories-exercise- BMR) then you can. In the first example above daily calories (1947) minus exercise (500) minus BMR (1478) leaves you with a negative number (-31) . This means you eat 31 calories to make the equation equal out to zero (or around there, doesn't have to be exact). In the second example calories (1947) minus exercise (200) minus BMR (1478) leaves you with a positive number (269). Do nothing, you're good for the day.

If there are more knowledgable people out there who see an error, please post. I want to be sure I've got this right too!

Thank you for finally clearing this up!!

bsinno

bump of excellent summary

Tigermad

I'm no expert on this, but here's what I've read on this forum consistently.

Your cut is 1947. You aim to eat this every day, no matter whether you exercise or not. You aim to not go over this number each day. Then you work out. If your 1947 minus your exercise calories burned equal a number greater than 1478, do nothing. If your 1947 minus your exercise calories burned equal less than 1478 calories, eat more until you have at least 1478 calories at the end of the equation.

So if you eat 1947 calories and you burn 500 calories, the result is 1447, just below your BMR. You would eat 31 calories of something to at least get up to your BMR.

If you eat 1947 calories and you burn 200 calories, the result is 1747, above your BMR. Do nothing. You've eaten enough for the day and not exercised so much that your body will recognize a "significant" deficit and try to slow your metabolism.

If you want to use the formula you found (daily calories-exercise- BMR) then you can. In the first example above daily calories (1947) minus exercise (500) minus BMR (1478) leaves you with a negative number (-31) . This means you eat 31 calories to make the equation equal out to zero (or around there, doesn't have to be exact). In the second example calories (1947) minus exercise (200) minus BMR (1478) leaves you with a positive number (269). Do nothing, you're good for the day.

If there are more knowledgable people out there who see an error, please post. I want to be sure I've got this right too!

The one thing I am confused about is surely you should not need to eat more on exercise day if your exercise calories have bought you below bmr. The days when you don't exercise make up for this because you are eating lot higher than bmr those days and it balances out. Of course if you exercise aggressively every day so you are under bmr for the whole week then that's a different story.