Net calories vs. gross calories

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rcs7058
rcs7058 Posts: 25
in Health and Weight Loss
When you put in your calories burned on MFP do you go by your estimated gross calories or net calories??

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  • dg09
    dg09 Posts: 754
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    Not sure what you mean. But the deficit is already built in, so when you log exercise calories you want to eat those back. I think that answers your question?
  • mainelymama
    mainelymama Posts: 57
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    Not sure what you mean. But the deficit is already built in, so when you log exercise calories you want to eat those back. I think that answers your question?

    So my daily is 1920. So I should eat all 1920 and that already accounts for a deficit? Because I have been leaving about 500 calories 'remaining' a day.
  • JessyJ03
    JessyJ03 Posts: 627 Member
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    yes mainelymama. Eat the full 1920. Then eat back any extra calories you burned off through exercise. The 1920 includes whatever amount you set yourself at to lose per week (say you picked 1.5lbs per week. that deficit is included in the 1920)
  • dg09
    dg09 Posts: 754
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    yes mainelymama. Eat the full 1920. Then eat back any extra calories you burned off through exercise. The 1920 includes whatever amount you set yourself at to lose per week (say you picked 1.5lbs per week. that deficit is included in the 1920)

    Exactly.

    She can check what she has it set at here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/my_goals -- Look for "Projected Weight Loss". If she eats 1920, that's the number she should expect to lose.
  • mainelymama
    mainelymama Posts: 57
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    YES!!!! lol
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    Your net calories just like your net paycheck is what you take home at the end of the day.
  • Theforce31
    Theforce31 Posts: 14 Member
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    so, does that mean your supposed to consume that number of "net" calories?
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    Yes! :smile:
  • jfrankic
    jfrankic Posts: 747 Member
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    I calculate the I burn about 93 calories an hour, based on mfp numbers. My daily calorie goal is 1480. I got the 93 by 1480+750 daily deficit for 1.5lbs then divide by 24 hrs.

    Okay, say I burn 500 calories during a 60 minute cardio session. I only record 407 calories burned since I would have burned those 93 anyway and MFP already considers those. I don't want to count double for those.

    Is this what you are asking? Also, yes I eat back my exercise calories (plus 400 for breastfeeding).
  • Theforce31
    Theforce31 Posts: 14 Member
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    You're awesome! thank you. I knew that I wasn't eating enough.
  • rcs7058
    rcs7058 Posts: 25
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    Yea I'm still a little confused....I record my heart rates during my exercise and I take the average and plug it into an online calculator that tells me how many calories I burned. That number I get is the gross calories then theres another link on the page that says calculate your net calories. So I just don't know hwich one to use?
  • jfrankic
    jfrankic Posts: 747 Member
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    You are always burning calories, even when you are sleeping. This is your bmr. If you record your gross calories, you are basically recording extra since mfp has already accounted for those in your daily allowance. If you work out for 15 or 30 minutes, it isn't that much. But an hour is almost 100 calorie difference for me.

    So when you work out, you are burning additional calories, above what you would have been burning anyway. Dies that help? There are lots of posts on here that you can search for and they might explain it better. Think of it this way.....

    You already have $100.
    You do some work and earn more money. Put it all together and you have $500 total.
    Did you actually earn $500? No. You had some to begin with. You just had $500 at the end of the day. You really only earned $400, regardless of how much you are holding in your hand at the moment.

    You are already burning calories. The total the calculator shows calories total, like that $500. It is up to you how you want to record. Some people record the $500 .....or the gross calories burned, then only eat back part. Some eat back everything. Somebrecord net and eat all ot part. There are no rules, just figure out what works for you.

    I recently got a hrm and was shocked at the difference! I guess I record net so anyone who sees my calories burned will be seeing actual, since so many of the calculators are way off. Mfp might say I burn 640 in 45 mins on elliptical. Hrm might say 525. So my actual burn is closer to 450. I do it for education for anyone who might be using calculators. Maybe he/she might question how theirs s so high and mine is low. If someone thinks she is burning 200 calories more than she really is, eventually it might affect weight loss. Which would SUCK and be very discouraging. For some, it might make no difference at all.

    Bottom line for me - Knowledge is power. I feel empowered knowing how many calories my body burns.
  • sgall123
    sgall123 Posts: 133 Member
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    I was told by a dietician that net calories are not important it's the actual amount of calories that you intake regardless of exercise you have still eaten X amount of calories... For me I try intake about 1200-1500 cals a day & don't eat any of my exercise calories cos if I do I don't lose weight... Everyone is different I suppose so find what works for you
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    I was told by a dietician that net calories are not important it's the actual amount of calories that you intake regardless of exercise you have still eaten X amount of calories... For me I try intake about 1200-1500 cals a day & don't eat any of my exercise calories cos if I do I don't lose weight... Everyone is different I suppose so find what works for you
    Sorry but your dietician doesn't know what he's talking about.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    Yea I'm still a little confused....I record my heart rates during my exercise and I take the average and plug it into an online calculator that tells me how many calories I burned. That number I get is the gross calories then theres another link on the page that says calculate your net calories. So I just don't know hwich one to use?
    Are you asking for directions on how to use another website?
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    I was told by a dietician that net calories are not important it's the actual amount of calories that you intake regardless of exercise you have still eaten X amount of calories... For me I try intake about 1200-1500 cals a day & don't eat any of my exercise calories cos if I do I don't lose weight... Everyone is different I suppose so find what works for you

    How your dietician sees it is how I see it as well. What you eat is what you eat. What you burn total compared to what you eat total is what matters. Not which activity burned which calorie from which day.

    But MFP uses a strange, confusing method of calculating deficits so I can see where some need to actually track their 'net calorie' value in a day, because they don't want to incur a larger deficit than their MFP estimate. Most diet plans do encourage increasing deficits through activity, though, not increasing intake due to it.
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 Member
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    MFP builds their deficit differently than my dietitian / nutritionist team did.
    With the nutritionist they gave me a calorie goal of 2400 calories a day, expecting me to burn 500 calories a day in exercise to create my deficit for weight loss, but they didn't TELL me to eat less if I didn't work out that day, so with them I gained weight

    Come to MFP and get a 1900 calorie goal and IF I exercise 500 calories in a day I can eat up to 2400 calories and still have my deficit to lose weight. With the 1900 goal on days I don't exercise and an increasing goal based on how much exercise I do it's worked for me, 38 lbs were lost doing it MFPs way. Then I let the habits slide and gained most of it back by eating more calories and not exercising.
  • dayone987
    dayone987 Posts: 645 Member
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    [[/quote]

    But MFP uses a strange, confusing method of calculating deficits
    [/quote]

    lol
  • sgall123
    sgall123 Posts: 133 Member
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    I was told by a dietician that net calories are not important it's the actual amount of calories that you intake regardless of exercise you have still eaten X amount of calories... For me I try intake about 1200-1500 cals a day & don't eat any of my exercise calories cos if I do I don't lose weight... Everyone is different I suppose so find what works for you
    Sorry but your dietician doesn't know what he's talking about.
    well she's the one with the qualifications in this field!!.. ;) we are all just learning as we go along!!

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