Need help please.

Rebekkax

Okay well, I've been losing weight and eating right for about a month now. But, I don't think I'm doing it right. I've only been eating 1,200-1,300 calories a day. And exercising about 900-1,000 calories. I don't understand what "net" means on MyFitnessPal. Should it be a very low number? Also, in the past week I've only lost one pound. I usually lose three within a week so I'm just feeling bummed out like I'm not doing something right. :c

JConstine

There is most likely nothing wrong. Weight loss fluctuates and sometimes you just don't lose as much as you would like to or expect to in a certain period of time. This is normal and not a cause for alarm.

Your net calories is how many calories you have consumed after working out. Think of it like wages, Gross if your total calories eaten and Net is with the deduction of energy used during workouts. Ideally this should be above 1200 but there are people who have had success with it being lower and sometimes it's not feasible to eat all of your workout calories back.

I would say don't stress out and keep working out and eating right. If a few weeks go by with little or no weight loss, then you can figure out some areas for improvement in your routine. One week of losing less than expected is common.

14Carrots

Your net calories are what you ate minus what you exercised / what you naturally burn just living.

Your net calories should not be very low, it should meet the target set in MFP. Too little calories (like aiming for a very low net calorie number) will actually be detrimental to your weight loss because your body will try to hold onto fat instead of giving it up to your exercise.

I believe the average recommended calorie intake is somewhere between 1500 and 2000 calories, depending on your weight and activity level. If you used MFP to automatically set your goals, it should calculate this for you.

Good luck and stay with it!

Rebekkax

Well, today my net is 95. I mean, I heard the lowest amount of calories you should eat to lose weight is 1,200. And today I exercised 1,100. Wouldn't it be pointless to eat all the calories that I burned off? I just don't understand. :c

ltgw2000

As other posters said your net calories for the day are the number of calories you have eaten minus the number of calories you burned in exercise. This represents the number of calories that your body "keeps". It is important to remember that your body needs to "keep" some calories to use for normal metabolism. Besides exercise you burn calories by thinking, breathing, regulating temperature, digesting food, fighting infections and routine activity like walking around the house. This is considered your "basal metabolic rate" . Your net calories go toward meeting the bodies needs for basal metabolism. If the body does not get the calories it needs to do those functions it will think that you are starving to death and it will adjust your metabolism to be as slow as possible in an attempt to avoid starvation. This makes losing weight more difficult in the long run! Your net calories should be close to your daily caloric goal. This will help you to give the body the fuel it needs but keep your metabolism purring along and allow you to lose weight at a heathy rate.
Sounds like your will power is amazing! It is ok to eat back some of what you burn off. Your body will use it to repair and build muscle!

Rebekkax

As other posters said your net calories for the day are the number of calories you have eaten minus the number of calories you burned in exercise. This represents the number of calories that your body "keeps". It is important to remember that your body needs to "keep" some calories to use for normal metabolism. Besides exercise you burn calories by thinking, breathing, regulating temperature, digesting food, fighting infections and routine activity like walking around the house. This is considered your "basal metabolic rate" . Your net calories go toward meeting the bodies needs for basal metabolism. If the body does not get the calories it needs to do those functions it will think that you are starving to death and it will adjust your metabolism to be as slow as possible in an attempt to avoid starvation. This makes losing weight more difficult in the long run! Your net calories should be close to your daily caloric goal. This will help you to give the body the fuel it needs but keep your metabolism purring along and allow you to lose weight at a heathy rate.
Sounds like your will power is amazing! It is ok to eat back some of what you burn off. Your body will use it to repair and build muscle!

Ugh fkdjgbksdfjghfdjkh I wish this wasn't so confusing! I thought I was doing good. :c Can you help? I mean, I'm understanding what you're saying but I just don't know how many calories I should eat a day. I googled it and my BMR is 1,986. I can't eat that much.. and then I saw you should subtract 500 from that amount and that would be 1,400 something. Is that right? I mean, I could eat 1,400 a day. But still if I exercise 1,000 my net would be 400 and that's no where near 1,400. :c I don't get it.

JConstine

You can try one of three things:

Decrease your exercise. Burning 1000 kcals a day is pretty hardcore and if you are not eating enough to sustain the metabolic processes needed for your muscles to rebuild and recover and for your body to do it's chemical reactions it's not going to be much more helpful than just going for shorter, high intensity workouts that burn about 250-400 kcals.

Increase your food intake intelligently. If you are using weights, eat more protein like lean meats and eggs. Eat whole grains which are usually more calorie dense than their processed counterparts and provide you with good fiber and lasting energy if you are doing lots of aerobic workouts. Fill up on fruits and veggies. On days where you work out, try to eat at least 2000 kcals to sustain your body while it's being so active.

A combination of both. You can increase your calorie limit to around 1600-1700 and do shorter (but not necessarily easier) workouts and net around 1200-1300 kcals.

ltgw2000

This site does a decent job breaking this down. They seem to take a slow and steady approach to weight loss with the goal of enduring change. Go to the MY HOME tab and the GOALS tab beneath that to see how they have broken it down for you based on your current and target weight. I'm no expert, but they seem to make reasonable recommendations. Some individuals on this site get involved in very specific diet and exercise programs that may be more regimented, for faster weight loss, or may have other goals, don't worry about all that and keep it simple. Also remember that the weight loss won't be a smooth predictable curve, despite this site predictions. There will be plateaus and even bumps in the road, that is ok as long as the trend is going toward your goal.