net calories?

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  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    now mell is saying my net should be as close to zero as possible
    see this confuses me

    No - she is saying the amount at the bottom (the red/green number) should be zero - in other words you have eaten as close to possible the amount that you should be eating.

    Edited - I just reread what mel said - ignore mel, she is not using the tool as it was meant to be used and is having a very very large deficit which is not a good idea at all, especially for you.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    for example.. live strong.com tells me that your net calories should be negative to lose weight..
    while other people are saying to eat back half your exercise calls, and then other people say to eat all and dont net under 1200.
    like why make it so confusing.
    i just need to know that right answer.

    1) You're not on livestrong... they use a different method... stop muddying things up by trying to blend different methods.

    2) Don't listen to people... they don't understand the principle, they are only making recommendations based on what worked for them.

    3) There are lots of right answers.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    yes, but i dont know if all that advice is correct.
    because ive looked at other sites and they tell me somthing different.
    i just need to know ALL about net calories and what number to focus on

    If you use the MFP method, then you eat to net calories, it does the math for you. It sets your calorie goal low so you would lose weight without doing any exercise, then when you do exercise you need more food for fuel.

    For example, if your MFP goal is 1500, then you exercise 500, you eat 1500 + 500 = 2000. The next day you only exercise 250, so you eat 1500 + 250 = 1750.

    If you are not using the MFP method, a lot of people here set their own goal based on figuring out their own BMR and TDEE. People who do that do not eat more for exercise. Or if you are already at your goal weight, you are eating your maintenance or TDEE, you eat that same number of calories every day regardless of exercise.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Plain and simple log everything in (food) and out (exercise) and get to zero for the end of the day!
    Math is Math- leave it simple you want your total at the end of the day to be zero or as close to zero as possible. So add all your food and subtract all of your exercise and get your end number to be really little. I don't eat back all of my exercise calories and I have consistantly lost 2 pounds a week for 4 months. Some days you are over and some you are under. Sometimes I exercise harder and sometimes easier, sometimes I eat really clean and other days I only eat kinda clean. I try to get to zero or close to is everyday and it is working.

    Huh?! Perhaps by "exercise" .... you mean ALL calories used during the day (?)

    Your body needs a bare minimum calories everyday ..... to breathe, to pump blood, to digest food .... etc. This is why people who are in a coma get a feeding tube.

    MFP will give you at least 1200 NET calories ...... Eat 1800 .... exercise 600 = 1200 NET

    Those NET calories are your safety net. Eating too few calories consistantly ... will result in MUSCLE loss. I don't know about you ..... but I'm looking to get rid of FAT.
  • RebeccaHite
    RebeccaHite Posts: 187 Member
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    You eat the calories it tells you to eat.if you ate 1200 calories and it give you more for working out you eat what it says.I keep going over in protein and fat on mine and not enough carbs.Everything needs to be balanced which is almost impossible but you do your best and you will get results.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    now mell is saying my net should be as close to zero as possible
    see this confuses me

    No - she is saying the amount at the bottom (the red/green number) should be zero - in other words you have eaten as close to possible the amount that you should be eating.

    OKAY .... now I see where the zero comes from
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    If you've properly set your inputs into MFP, MFP takes all the work out of it. For example...my TDEE is 2,320 calories per day; I'm set up as sedentary because I have a desk job and don't do a lot of moving around during the day. I have a goal to lose 1 Lb per week on average so MFP set my net calorie goal at 1,820 (500 calorie deficit to lose weight). When I do exercise and log my exercise calories burned, MFP will automatically up my calorie goal to maintain a net 500 calorie deficit and I eat back those calories. You want the numbers on the very bottom to be as close to zero as possible. If they're negative and red that means you have exceeded you calorie goal...if they are positive and green it means you can eat more.

    As I recall, you were actually trying to either gain or maintain correct? So you would do the opposite...if you want to maintain then set your goal to maintenance and eat to that, including eating back your exercise calories. Note, it is important to log your exercise calories in MFP as close as you can so that MFP can do the work for you.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Plain and simple log everything in (food) and out (exercise) and get to zero for the end of the day!
    Math is Math- leave it simple you want your total at the end of the day to be zero or as close to zero as possible. So add all your food and subtract all of your exercise and get your end number to be really little. I don't eat back all of my exercise calories and I have consistantly lost 2 pounds a week for 4 months. Some days you are over and some you are under. Sometimes I exercise harder and sometimes easier, sometimes I eat really clean and other days I only eat kinda clean. I try to get to zero or close to is everyday and it is working.


    Very very bad advice, especially for someone as lean as the OP.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,370 Member
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    My advice would be to pick a site and stick exclusively to that site and try following it exactly as it's intended and don't worry about what other permutations other members are doing unless it's not working for you over an extended period of time. If the calorie burns you are entering are realistic then this site intends you to eat all of those calories back so that your goal calories setting remains appropriate to your actual goal. I wouldn't mess with it if it works for you.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    My advice would be to pick a site and stick exclusively to that site and try following it exactly as it's intended and don't worry about what other permutations other members are doing unless it's not working for you over an extended period of time. If the calorie burns you are entering are realistic then this site intends you to eat all of those calories back so that your goal calories setting remains appropriate to your actual goal. I wouldn't mess with it if it works for you.

    Yaaayyyyy... someone gets it!!!!
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    now mell is saying my net should be as close to zero as possible
    see this confuses me

    No - she is saying the amount at the bottom (the red/green number) should be zero - in other words you have eaten as close to possible the amount that you should be eating.

    OKAY .... now I see where the zero comes from

    I just reread it and I think I misinterpreted it, not you - I think she was advising to net to zero - which is a bad idea to say the least.
  • lilteeraw
    lilteeraw Posts: 261
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    so basically.. i should always net 1200 calories.
    so if i eat 1900 calories today but exercise and burn say 700.. id NET 1200. and that is the bare minimum.
    so id be losing weight.
    so to maintain... i should net like what 1500? so if i ate 2000 today but burnt 500 id net 1500 and i would maintain.
    these are just examples.
    im just seeing if i understand and if this is correct.
    today i really actually ate about 1600 calories and burnt 600 so im netting around 1000 calories.
    at this rate im still at a deficit.
    i dont want to be.. but i am?
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    so basically.. i should always net 1200 calories.
    so if i eat 1900 calories today but exercise and burn say 700.. id NET 1200. and that is the bare minimum.
    so id be losing weight.
    so to maintain... i should net like what 1500? so if i ate 2000 today but burnt 500 id net 1500 and i would maintain.
    these are just examples.
    im just seeing if i understand and if this is correct.
    today i really actually ate about 1600 calories and burnt 600 so im netting around 1000 calories.
    at this rate im still at a deficit.
    i dont want to be.. but i am?

    You've got the idea, now you just need to do it for a while to figure out what your numbers actually are. MFP's suggestions are usually a good start (assuming you setup your profile correctly), but often times you'll need to tweak things a bit over time.

    Go into your goals... tell MFP you want to maintain your current weight (not lose or gain), and make a reasonable estimate for your normal daily activity level (and be sure to include your workouts in this estimate, not just your regular day to day stuff). The number it spits back to you is an estimate of your TDEE - that's the number you need to NET to maintain your current weight. Net slightly below that to lose, slightly above it to gain.
  • lilteeraw
    lilteeraw Posts: 261
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    okay thankyou!
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    so basically.. i should always net 1200 calories.
    so if i eat 1900 calories today but exercise and burn say 700.. id NET 1200. and that is the bare minimum.
    so id be losing weight.
    so to maintain... i should net like what 1500? so if i ate 2000 today but burnt 500 id net 1500 and i would maintain.
    these are just examples.
    im just seeing if i understand and if this is correct.
    today i really actually ate about 1600 calories and burnt 600 so im netting around 1000 calories.
    at this rate im still at a deficit.
    i dont want to be.. but i am?

    What is your age, height, weight? You can estimate what your amount for maintenance is.
  • lilteeraw
    lilteeraw Posts: 261
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    approx 110-112 lbs.
    5'3 and im 18. and i hike everyday. but when im not hiking im pretty sedentary
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    If set to "lightly active" - 1-3 hours of light exercise per week, your amount of calories to stay the same weight is 1852. This includes all your exercise. Eat a total of 1852 every day and don't pay attention to calorie burns. If you consider yourself more active, 3-5 hours of moderate exercise per week, your maintenance would be 2087 calories.

    So if you eat around 1800 to 2000 calories a day, you would stay the same weight.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    Sheesh, how many replies are needed for such a straightforward question.

    Here, read this:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    You either want the TDEE way of the MFP way. Pick one.

    Can this thread be over now?
  • mell6355
    mell6355 Posts: 171 Member
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    Plain and simple log everything in (food) and out (exercise) and get to zero for the end of the day!
    Math is Math- leave it simple you want your total at the end of the day to be zero or as close to zero as possible. So add all your food and subtract all of your exercise and get your end number to be really little. I don't eat back all of my exercise calories and I have consistantly lost 2 pounds a week for 4 months. Some days you are over and some you are under. Sometimes I exercise harder and sometimes easier, sometimes I eat really clean and other days I only eat kinda clean. I try to get to zero or close to is everyday and it is working.


    Very very bad advice, especially for someone as lean as the OP.

    You are not reading it correctly. You want your total at the end of the day to be zero, you eat back what you burn and you eat what MFP tells you to eat. If that is wrong then I would probably be dead instead of losing 2 pounds a week!

    *add- you have to be honest with your set up- I entered that I am Sedentary because I sit all day at work. So I log all of my exercise including a 15 minute walk. If I don't sit on my butt all day like went to the mall and walked for 3 hours I would log that I walked 3 hours. Then I would eat back the calories burned for the 3 hours of exercise. I need 2200 calories if I want to maintain and sit on my butt all day, so to lose 2 pounds a week I need to be a deficit of 1000 a day not 1000 plus all the workout calories, just 1000 total. My diary is open please look at how the math works. I have some green days and some red days but I try to get as close to zero as possible.

    Yes the OP doesn't need to be a deficit because she isn't trying to lose weight but it doesn't change that her settings need to be true to her activity and profile. If she puts in active she needs to eat what MFP tells her to eat plus what she does above and beyond her normal active activities.
  • lilteeraw
    lilteeraw Posts: 261
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    ok

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