Calorie Goal vs Net Calories

MandyMoos1978

Help - am i meant to eat the calories that I burn with exercise? If I did I would be eating way over 2000 calories a day and that does not seem right - I just need to put my mind at ease. I try to eat below my calorie goal of 1560 and then do exercise on top of that and so end up with a low net at the end - today it is 278. Is this good or should I be eating more? I am getting myself all mixed up i think

psuLemon

Help - am i meant to eat the calories that I burn with exercise? If I did I would be eating way over 2000 calories a day and that does not seem right - I just need to put my mind at ease. I try to eat below my calorie goal of 1560 and then do exercise on top of that and so end up with a low net at the end - today it is 278. Is this good or should I be eating more? I am getting myself all mixed up i think

If MFP is estimating your exercise calories, you should eat 50-75% of them. And why do you think 2000 calories is a lot. I eat 3000+ and I still lose weight. And if you say, well it's because you are a guy, then I will share the link below. She eats 3000-4000 calories a day.



http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

MandyMoos1978

It has just confused me! We are always being told that 2000 calories for women and 2500 for men is recommended. So if we eat less than that we should lose weight, exercise should help us to burn those calories. If I burned 1000 calories exercising and then ate 1000 calories, what was the point in doing the exercise? The way I see it, it should be calories in should be less than calories out. For example If I ate 1500 calories and burnt 1600 then i would have burned off my calories for the day plus more so I should lose weight - but i may be wrong! Thats why I need the help and advice.
My husband is on a VLCD where he has shakes that amount to less than 500 calories a day plus he does a lot of walking. He regularly loses 5-7lb a week so if I am eating 1560 a day and then burning around half of those I should lose weight too but not at the same rate! I am confusing myself now I think!

chellybailey

Hey hunny,

I don't bother with all that. I eat what I eat within reason. Listen to your body. If what you have eaten today satisfys you and your not hungry then I wouldnt bother trying to eat more xxx

mermx

Hi Mandy loads of things on this website to answer your question.

But the short version is you need to check what your BMR is and don`t eat below it. You need all those cals for your body to function. Then if you exercise you eat some back to keep healthy and lose weight. You can eat them all back if you like.

As you have just started I would advise that you follow the `recipe` by eating them all back and then tweak it as you go along.

PoetikLuvr

The way MFP has been working for me is that I keep my net within 200 calories of my goal (usually under). So if MFP says your goal is 1200 whatever you take in and whatever you burn at the end of the day should be right around 1200. Mine is usually at 1000. If you aren't taking in enough calories you could send your body into starvation mode and make it harder to lose the weight. My sister in law (when she first started MFP) was doing the same thing. Using her excercise calories against her goal and getting a low net or even sometimes a negitive net at the end of the day; and she found she was having a hard time losing any weight. Her body thought she was starving herself and so it was storing all the calories as fat. Once she started doing it my way, and the way suggested by MFP under the FAQ's she saw she started losing a lot more. Also, we don't count any ole' thing as excercise points.....only cardio like things. We don't count cleaning the house or driving the car, or anything we would normally do. We only count things that are beyond a normal day. This is helping keep the calories burned at a realistic number since MFP already accounts for your daily normal use. This is why you answer the question about the kind of lifestyle you have. Sedentray, active, etc. Hope this information helps you!

bathsheba_c

The 2,000 caloried per day thing is a recommendation based on a certain amount of physical activity per day. Maybe you get less than that, maybe more. It's just an average.

What MFP does is refines that average for you based on additional factors, including age, weight, and activity level. Again, this is still just an average of calorie use for people in your demographic, but it is much closer to accurate. Then it takes your weight goals and calculates how much under or over that calorie use you ought to be per day in order you should aim for in order to meet your goals. MFP also has a minimum number of calories that it will tell you to ingest out of concern that, if you drop below that amount, you will not get sufficient nutrients and/or are so under-eating that it will be counterproductive to your weight loss.

Now obviously, if you are getting more exercise, you need to eat more every day to help sustain energy levels and provide nutrients to repair your body. That leads us to the question, "Should I eat back my exercise calories?"

That question is fairly controversial, but the answer is that it depends on the person, and you should look to your body for cues. For example, if I don't eat back most of my exercise calories, I get ravenously hungry, which is a bad thing. Other people can fall into the trap of overestimating exercise and underestimating portion sizes. If they are only moderately active, they may be better off using the extra calories as sort of a buffer against errors.

By the way, losing 5-7 lbs per week is extremely fast, though it is not unheard of, especially if the person is very overweight. As your husband gets closer to the goal weight he wants, he is much more likely to hit a plateau. He is also not learning healthy eating habits that will allow him to maintain weight once he reaches his goal.

psuLemon

It has just confused me! We are always being told that 2000 calories for women and 2500 for men is recommended. So if we eat less than that we should lose weight, exercise should help us to burn those calories. If I burned 1000 calories exercising and then ate 1000 calories, what was the point in doing the exercise? The way I see it, it should be calories in should be less than calories out. For example If I ate 1500 calories and burnt 1600 then i would have burned off my calories for the day plus more so I should lose weight - but i may be wrong! Thats why I need the help and advice.
My husband is on a VLCD where he has shakes that amount to less than 500 calories a day plus he does a lot of walking. He regularly loses 5-7lb a week so if I am eating 1560 a day and then burning around half of those I should lose weight too but not at the same rate! I am confusing myself now I think!

If your husband is doing 500 calories then 50% of his weight loss is from muscle which is really bad. Muscle loss means a slower metabolsim which means your body will burn less calories and will lead to weight gain once he starts to eat normal. This also doesnt account for the fact he can have adverse effects such as hairloss, poor skin and organ issues from lack of nitrition. This are common side effects of programs like hcg.

The fact is, if your are not eating enough your body can increase its defense mechanism and release cortisol to prevent fat loss. And reality is you should aim for fat loss over weight loss. Losing fat is what makes you drop dress sizes. Also consider you are burning 1900 calories metabolicallly and probably well over 2500 calories through normal life and exercise. So even if you eat 1900 calories, you will still be in a calorie deficit which means weight loss.

psuLemon

Also diet is for weightloss, exercise is for fitness. You can lose weight without working out. You workout to get stronger, healthier and less prone to injury. I also workout so i can eat 3500+ calories and not gain weight.

TeaBea

MFP calculates a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise, it does not assume everyone will exercise. When you exercise you increase that calorie deficit further. If the calorie deficit is too large, you will actually slow your weight loss down. Your body requires a minimum for basic bodily functions (1200 NET for most women).

I use a heart rate monitor so my calories burned are accurate, and then eat back 100% because I don't want my body to use existing muscle mass as fuel. Think of these calories as FUEL for your workouts.

psuLemon

Hey hunny,

I don't bother with all that. I eat what I eat within reason. Listen to your body. If what you have eaten today satisfys you and your not hungry then I wouldnt bother trying to eat more xxx

Listening to your body isnt a good way of judging caloric needs. Your body doesnt know the difference between 1000 calories or 50 calories if the quantity is the same. Also hungry signals can be suppressed within 7 days. And furthermore, you generally only know something is wrong when you are too late.

myfitnessnmhoy

Help - am i meant to eat the calories that I burn with exercise? If I did I would be eating way over 2000 calories a day and that does not seem right - I just need to put my mind at ease. I try to eat below my calorie goal of 1560 and then do exercise on top of that and so end up with a low net at the end - today it is 278. Is this good or should I be eating more? I am getting myself all mixed up i think

Different things for different people, and you'll get a range of opinions on this based on personal experience. Here's mine.

When I eat too little, I lose weight very quickly followed by a long plateau because my body isn't burning the calories as much any more. Symptoms include laziness, hard-to-get-out-of-bed-in-the-morning-itis, and an intense dislike for good sweaty workouts. I've lost a lot of pounds using this method and probably would have been a good candidate to call the suicide prevention hotline for a good bit of it. I was difficult to deal with (ask my wife, she'll tell you!), and difficult to be around.

When I eat JUST RIGHT, I feel happy and energetic and lose weight at a steady pace that I can maintain pretty consistently. For me, JUST RIGHT is about 1,500 net calories per day. That means if I spend 4 hours on my bicycle and cycle 60 miles, I'm actually eating a whole LOT of calories. And if I sit on my bum all day, I eat 1,500 calories.

2,500/2,000 is a maintenance calorie level, and it's an average. MFP will attempt to come up with an estimate based on your height, weight, age, activity level, etc. Then it will ask you how many pounds a week you want to lose, and it will subtract 500 calories a day for each pound a week you want to lose. This will be your "recommended calories".

Eat those, plus the calories you "earn" by exercising, and you will lose weight at the rate you set. If not, try adjusting your calories up or down a bit and see what starts working.

I work out to be fit and healthy. I need food to support those workouts.

I eat a specific deficit to lose weight at a specific pace. Workouts have nothing to do with my weight loss.

MandyMoos1978

Before I joined MyFitnessPal I had lost 3.5 stone by going alone. I would lose around 2lb a week. I would do around 2 hours of exercise a day, sometimes more and sometimes less. My food has not changed since I joined and neither has my amount of exercise. Most of my exercise is through walking and then a couple of times a week I would go to the gym for 50 mins. During my first week on here I never ate my calorie goal in the net calories column. I lost 5lb in one week. I have been honest about my lifestyle and so I think I will aim to eat my goal of 1560 cals a day and any exercise I do is a bonus - if that means my net cals is low then its nothing different to what I have already been doing and I will hopefully lose weight as I was before.
For the record my husband knows what he is doing, it is a medical diet and he is monitored weekly. He was very overweight and has lost around 10stone on this diet, he knows it will plateau and he knows what he is going to do to maintain a healthy weight when he comes off it.
I sometimes think these apps and forums can be counter productive and worry people unnecessarily. Feel free to friend me and check my diet. I eat 3 meals a day, healthy meals a day - I am not hungry and I feel satisfied at the end of the day, I do not feel weak when I do exercise so my body is not lacking in energy as I have plenty of fat to feed it LOL xxx

psuLemon

Hey many of us try to inform and have done extensive research. When you have a lot of fat your body can utilize the fat stores more frequently but as you approach your goal it becomes harder and harder to lose weight. I know this from personal experience and from the 200+ people i have designed plans for. In the end, i dont care what people do as its not my hody but please realize that if you ask a question you should have an open mind to the answers. In all honesty if you ask the question, it generally means something isnt working.

If you want to read more research on large caloric deficits then google bodyrecomposition.com + large deficit. Good luck.

chellybailey

Hey hunny,

I don't bother with all that. I eat what I eat within reason. Listen to your body. If what you have eaten today satisfys you and your not hungry then I wouldnt bother trying to eat more xxx

Listening to your body isnt a good way of judging caloric needs. Your body doesnt know the difference between 1000 calories or 50 calories if the quantity is the same. Also hungry signals can be suppressed within 7 days. And furthermore, you generally only know something is wrong when you are too late.

Im not talking about bloomin starvation... geez! At the end of the day If I was to burn off 1000 calories and ive had 3 healthy meals im not gonna forcefeed myself so I have eaten more calories. Some people need to lighten up a little and yes I do manage to steadily lose weight each week at a healthy weight.

Pebble321

Help - am i meant to eat the calories that I burn with exercise? If I did I would be eating way over 2000 calories a day and that does not seem right - I just need to put my mind at ease. I try to eat below my calorie goal of 1560 and then do exercise on top of that and so end up with a low net at the end - today it is 278. Is this good or should I be eating more? I am getting myself all mixed up i think

Your initial question was "am I MEANT to eat the calories I burn with exercise".
The simple answer is that if you are using MFP to calculate your calories, then yes, you are meant to.
If you are using a different way to work out your daily calorie allowance, then the answer will depend on the method they use.

Every calorie calculator I've seen suggests that you eat more if you are more active. The only difference with MFP is that it adds the cals on after you've done the exercise rather than taking a guess and adding a bit more each day to cover it. It still comes out to a recommended amount to keep your body healthy while you lose weight.

But, whether you eat more when you exercise is your choice. It's your body and your weight loss. Many people find that they feel less deprived, are more able to stick to it, and lose weight more successfully when they eat all the calories that are recommended (which mean including the calories from exercising).

Other people (and I think this applies more so if you have quite a bit to lose) find they are very successful not eating extra when they exercise.

It's your choice (although it sounds as though you have already made up your mind, so I'm not entirely sure why you asked the question!), and the only way to know what is best for you is to try something and see how your body reacts over a few months. Good luck with finding what is right for you.

purdieang

this was a fabulous answer by myfitnessmho (a couple above), one of the best i've read.

MandyMoos1978

Hey many of us try to inform and have done extensive research. When you have a lot of fat your body can utilize the fat stores more frequently but as you approach your goal it becomes harder and harder to lose weight. I know this from personal experience and from the 200+ people i have designed plans for. In the end, i dont care what people do as its not my hody but please realize that if you ask a question you should have an open mind to the answers. In all honesty if you ask the question, it generally means something isnt working.

If you want to read more research on large caloric deficits then google bodyrecomposition.com + large deficit. Good luck.

I did not ask the question because something is not working because I have lost another 1lb already this week. I asked because I was confused. Thank you for all the advice and tips, I think I will continue with what I am doing so far as it seems to be working as I have lost just over 3.5 stone since January and I will review my diet and exercise as I get closer to my goal and the inevitable plateau that I know will come eventually! xxx

dontwantausername1

The majority of the people who want you to eat them back see no other option as okay or decent (and they tend to show this with anger). Asking this question is like opening a can of worms. If I exercise off 700 calories I'll eat like 1300-1400 that day instead of 1200. It doesn't matter to me...I just eat when I'm hungry. I don't try to eat them back or not (but I never eat all of them). There is a lot of conflicting advice (and it's not because we who don't eat them back don't get math). What works for me may not work for you and what works for Jane may not work for John. Experiment around and see what helps you the best. Just be careful not to overestimate burned and underestimate consumed. Also, know that MFP over calculates calories burned.

All I'm going to say is that inches are coming off like butter and the scale is dropping with me not eating them back. And to the haters, I'm not only losing muscle and I'm not a sack of fat and bones. I am more toned than ever from my exercises and diet.

WaterBunnie

I eat back at least half of mine but calculate my expenditure through my FitBit account and carry the figures forward to here because they give a lower calorie expenditure for the same activities which makes me feel they are safe to eat back in full if I wish.

On lightly active days I have no qualms about eating them all and will still lose weight because of the deficit already built in and feel that my overall nutrition is better for eating them back because I'm getting all the extra vitamins, minerals and protein from doing so which I wouldn't be if I stubbornly stuck to my sedentary calorie allowance. This keeps me fit and active going forward and gives me more incentive to exercise because I can eat more as a result.

Everyone has their own way of doing things but my body is changing so much faster than the actual weight loss would explain and I'm feeling healthier than ever and am in much better spirits than previous diets have left me in.

It's not a race but a retraining program and I think using the site as designed is a pretty good template for a healthy life!

psuLemon

Hey hunny,

I don't bother with all that. I eat what I eat within reason. Listen to your body. If what you have eaten today satisfys you and your not hungry then I wouldnt bother trying to eat more xxx

Listening to your body isnt a good way of judging caloric needs. Your body doesnt know the difference between 1000 calories or 50 calories if the quantity is the same. Also hungry signals can be suppressed within 7 days. And furthermore, you generally only know something is wrong when you are too late.

Im not talking about bloomin starvation... geez! At the end of the day If I was to burn off 1000 calories and ive had 3 healthy meals im not gonna forcefeed myself so I have eaten more calories. Some people need to lighten up a little and yes I do manage to steadily lose weight each week at a healthy weight.

Apparently, you are the one the needs to lighten up. I am calm and collected but rather providing facts. I am just explaining that a body has no concepts of calories in. And many people assume high calories is bad but rather people dont understand what calories do for a body and how bodies respond to lack of calories. If you dont like my info, thats 100% fine. I am not offended. And maybe before you take offense and thinking i am trying to be malice you should do some research. I do nothing but help people succeed.