HELP! Daily deficit "calories remaining" or "net calories"?

misshendry

Hi,

I am sure this has prob been covered a ton but I cant seem to find anything that actually answers my question...

I would like to have a daily deficit of 1000 calories a day so that I can lose 1kg (or 2lbs) a week. That seems easy enough math to work out. However using the programme I am confused about what the deficit is, is it "my calories remaining" or is it the "net calories"?

For example:

my BMR is 1200. So I need to eat 1200 calories, without exercise, just to live and have all my body functioning properly right and to maintain my weight exactly as it is right?

So I eat 1200 calories a day
I exercise at the gym and burn 1000 calories
On myfitness pal it tells me that my calories remaining are 1000 and my net is 200.

Does that mean I have a calorie deficit of 200?
OR
Does that mean I have a calorie deficit of 1000?

Please help, I am so confused and this is my last hope of working it out and not giving up!!!!!

laurenmgrasso

It means that you earned back 1000 calories from working out. So it is a deficit of 1000 calories. Just be healthy. Healthy is more important than skinny will ever be.

ihateroses

Your "net calories" is how much your body consumed that day. So when you exercise the number will lower since you burned those cals.

Just eat your "goal" green calories and you will be good to go.

misshendry

Ok cool, so pretty much if all I am interested in is what my calorie deficit for the day is then just focus on calories remaining and ignore net calories?

If I am in the green then I am losing weight, if I am in the red I am gaining? Nice and simple, thanks girls, that was just the clarification I needed!

ihateroses

If you are in the red like up to 500-cal-ish then you are maintaining, not gaining. No worries :flowerforyou:

LittleMissDover

If you already have 1000 cal deficit set and are burning 1000 then you're at a 2000 deficit so you need to eat back some exercise cals.

misshendry

How does getting into the red of approx 500 maintain current weight? I thought if you broke even at 0 give or take a few calories that would be maintenance. I have had a couple days where my calories remaining were like 564 in the red and I felt so bummed that I was gaining weight

ihateroses

Because when you are eating at a deficit you are eating to lose weight...you are eating less than the number of calories necessary to maintain your current weight.

misshendry

So you mean that even just eating 1200 calories a day and not exercising I would still be losing weight? 1200cal was what the programme set for me as a default i think when i first started, is that goal of 1200 what i should be eating if i wanted to lose, so if i over ate, like ate 1700 calories that day with no exercise that would (roughly) be me maintaining my current weight?

LittleMissDover

So you mean that even just eating 1200 calories a day and not exercising I would still be losing weight? 1200cal was what the programme set for me as a default i think when i first started, is that goal of 1200 what i should be eating if i wanted to lose, so if i over ate, like ate 1700 calories that day with no exercise that would (roughly) be me maintaining my current weight?

Yes if you entered that you wanted to lose 2lb a week which it sounds like you have with MFP setting you 1200 cals a day.

ihateroses

So you mean that even just eating 1200 calories a day and not exercising I would still be losing weight? 1200cal was what the programme set for me as a default i think when i first started, is that goal of 1200 what i should be eating if i wanted to lose, so if i over ate, like ate 1700 calories that day with no exercise that would (roughly) be me maintaining my current weight?

Exactly.

misshendry

That is so cool! Thanks for the advice ladies, and sorry I have to bug you with what seems like pretty simple stuff. Its my first time trying to get my head around it all.

One last question, I worked out my basal metabolic rate just then at 1532, so I am eating 1200 cal a day and exercising 1000cal a day, so on myfitnesspal it says I have a calorie deficit of 1000, but should that really be 1332 because of the difference between my BMR and my 1200 cal diet, or does that already take it into account?

LittleMissDover

How much are you trying to lose?

BMR is what your body needs to just survive if you were lay in a coma. TDEE is what you work out your deficit from.

misshendry

Trying to lose 14kg, its a slow road! Um, im a bit of a novice so what does TDEE mean?

LittleMissDover

Trying to lose 14kg, its a slow road! Um, im a bit of a novice so what does TDEE mean?

I suggest you change your settings to losing 1lb a week in that case.

TDEE = total daily energy expenditure.

tryclyn

Little more explanation here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Welcome and good luck.

Vailara

I believe that, depending on your stats, it can be impossible to have a deficit of 1000 calories AND eat above your BMR. Personally, I'd have to go down to about 700 calories a day to have a 1000 calorie deficit. I think that's why MFP recommends a slower weight loss for me. However, if I try to set my weight loss at 2 lb a week, MFP will still set my goal at 1200 because it seems to count that as a minimum.

I think that MFP can be confusing because of that, if you happen to be on the short side! I believe it works like this: basically, MFP will substract 1000 calories from your maintenance figure for you to lose two pounds a week (or 500 calories for you to lose 1lb a week, etc.). However if that figure takes you below 1200 calories, MFP will always set your goal at 1200 calories, not lower. So for me, I have a goal of 1200 calorie if I want to lose 1 and 1/2 pound and exactly the same goal of 1200 if I want to lose 2 lb.

LdyPsych

Little more explanation here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Welcome and good luck.

Thanks for sharing, a great resource!

cmeiron

If you already have 1000 cal deficit set and are burning 1000 then you're at a 2000 deficit so you need to eat back some exercise cals.

^ this. Eat back the exercise cals. Also, how did you calculate your BMR? That number is extremely low. Read the roadmap thread and do the calculations correctly.