Please explain this net calorie thing

dannerchick

So I'm confused my calorie goal is 1200 I put in my food intake for the day and I had 150 cal remaining for the day then I added my daily exercise and now my total calories left for the day are over 600. So will I lose weight if I consume the extra 600 calories or should I pretend as if I only have 150 left....

A_Lynn

Net calories is the calories that you did not burn off via the exercise you had during the day. Usually what I do is just try to not eat the entire extra calories that I have left, but go for just half. It varies from day to day, sometimes I am under my net goal and some times I'm over. Just don't make it a daily habit out of it and you'll be fine!

Sparlingo

So I'm confused my calorie goal is 1200 I put in my food intake for the day and I had 150 cal remaining for the day then I added my daily exercise and now my total calories left for the day are over 600. So will I lose weight if I consume the extra 600 calories or should I pretend as if I only have 150 left....

The caloric deficit is built in to your net calorie goal. That's why you told mfp what your general activity level was, and why you told it how much you would like to lose per week. That's all baked into that calorie goal it gives you. If you exercise, you're creating a larger deficit, so you can eat more and still expect to maintain that initial deficit.

That's the beauty of MFP. If you're more active one week and less active another, you can vary your eating to keep the weight loss steady.

3dogsrunning

MFP figures the amount of calories you need to lose weight without exercise Most calculators take into account exercise, MFP doesn't.
So it assumes you will log any extra exercise above your normal daily activity.

So if you calorie goal is to eat 1400 calories from MFP, that is you eat 1400 calories from a day without any extra activity If you workout and burn 300 calories, MFP wants you to eat them back. So your goal would be 1400 plus 300 = 1700. If you eat 1700 - your 300 you net 1400.

blimpoboo

it probably depends upon your age. as we age our metabolism slows down. so my nutritionist told me that if i want to lose weight steadily I should not eat the extra calories that i "earn" back.

dixiewhiskey

it probably depends upon your age. as we age our metabolism slows down. so my nutritionist told me that if i want to lose weight steadily I should not eat the extra calories that i "earn" back.

This.

Everyone is different. Some folks on here swear by eating back all their exercise cals.. I don't myself, some days I do, some I don't. I eat to meet my nutrient goals for muscle gains, macro goals, nothing else.

bizco

MFP includes a built-in daily calorie deficit whether you exercise or not. On days you DO exercise, you need to eat back your extra earned calories to maintain the same daily calorie deficit.

BigAndTallSection

One way that I look at net that makes sense to me is the net is the total calories that you have eaten once your exercise calories are factored in.

In other words you start the day off with a goal calorie target of 1400 which represents how much you should eat to lose whatever you told MFP you want to lose per week. Then you go and exercise to the tune of 300 calories. Well now you should eat 1700 calories to stay at the goal that you established since you added 300 calories of exercise. Your net is going to show you how many calories you are at while taking your exercise into consideration.

So if you was at 700 calories eaten with a daily goal of 1400 and then you logged that 300 calories of exercise then your net would be 400. Meaning you only are given credit for 400 of the 700 you ate because you exercised 300 of that away.

taso42

Read this http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf

1julietax

To be honest about it I never even look at the net calories. I eat my daily goal of calories and workout and am consistently losing. Why toss in something else to worry about?

paulperryman

it probably depends upon your age. as we age our metabolism slows down. so my nutritionist told me that if i want to lose weight steadily I should not eat the extra calories that i "earn" back.

This.

Everyone is different. Some folks on here swear by eating back all their exercise cals.. I don't myself, some days I do, some I don't. I eat to meet my nutrient goals for muscle gains, macro goals, nothing else.

I've only been on this journey for 4 weeks now starting at 40yrs old, 111kilo's, 175cm tall i've lost close to 6 kilo's only eating some if not any of my exercise calories, 1500 calories is my sweat daily goal spot for weight loss it seems. I exercise 5 days a week for 60mins a day burning an average of 800 a day and eat very few of those back, i do stock up on protein b4 and after the workouts and the rest of the day is generally fruits, vegetables or salad and lots of water and some form of protein/carbs.

My dad at 66yrs and around 90kilo's works harder then i do in the same exercises and only burns around 500. he also eats far less then i do, he's a type 2 diabetic and doesn't believe in the eat more not less mantra plus he has to watch his blood sugar levels etc., subsequently his weight loss stalled months ago but he's still pretty fit for someone his age who's has high blood pressure (as do i), type 2 diabetes and has had a quadruple bypass from a rare heart malfunction.

Goes to show too that even the fittest people can get "fat people" diseases and symptoms.

Anyway i'd say do what works for you, not what others tell you you have to do. If eating them back works better then good, if not eating them works and you aren't depriving yourself then thats ok too. and obviously as you get closer and closer to the ideal weight and BMI for your age/height bracket it would be easier to eat any calories back given it would be probably be a much smaller amount based on less weight = less calories burned and less energy needed.

babydiego87

To be honest about it I never even look at the net calories. I eat my daily goal of calories and workout and am consistently losing. Why toss in something else to worry about?

Is it really that hard to be able to net your allotted calories?