Success stories eating 1200 net calories

breeshabebe

I just realized the difference between eating 1200 calories and NETTING 1200 calories.... I definately thought 1200 a day was way to little... I was working out hard (burning at least 500) a day and netting about 700 calories a day. I was getting really mad at the scale because I wasn't losing much... I mean I know its good to lose slow but it was crazy slow... so now I make sure that I net 1200 calories a day and this seems to be working.

linz910

I say do whatever feels right for you or works for you. If you're hungry and you haven't hit your "net" calories for the day, then certainly eat something. Even if you splurge once in a while, it's okay. I see red on my graph once a weekend due to my beer consumption. I do work out 4-5 days a week and normally I'm under my daily allowance. In fact, there hasn't been a week that's gone by that I haven't been under my total calories by at least 2,000 and I'm losing anywhere between 2.5-4.5 lbs per week which is actually pretty good.

I've just come to realize that once I changed what I was eating, I felt full and didn't need all the calories they've assinged to me.

JanieElise

Once I started eating my calories back (Net) it made a world of difference!! Thanks for the thread.

tryinghard71

I net out around 1200 most days.. actually eating 1500-1600 and then burning the rest through exercise. I eat a lot of protein.. usually around 125-150g. In the past when I have tried to "diet" I was aiming for around 1500 and for whatever reason I always crashed and burned and binged. I hit the weights hard 4-5 days per week and do cardio in addition to that 1-2 days a week.

I don't know if I'm just in a different mindset or what.. I think a lot of it has to do with me eating the right foods and eating clean this time instead of trying to stuff in 1500 calories of processed, packaged crap.

Are you comfortable at that amount of calories and losing weight? I'd stick with what works. Most days I eat a little over my goal but I'm losing 2-2.5 a week.

edit: also.. when you enter your workout calories in MFP, are you using MFP's estimates or are you using a heart rate monitor? HRM will give you more reasonable estimates whereas MFP tends to overestimate, so you may be closer to your goal than you realize.

Very true on the HRM.

tryinghard71

Can someon explain Net vs. Gross calories to me? I think I understand but I want to make sure

Gross is all the calories you consume that day. Net is the calories you consumes MINUS those your burned off after ADDED exercise not including your normal daily routine.

I am SUPPOSE to eat 1200 calories. I NEVER do! I always eat over. However, I will net 1000-1200 calories a day depending on my exercise. On days like today where I am doing cardio and strength training, I eat about 1800 calories and burn 600-700 calories. Technically I am only netting 1200 calories. I feel fine doing this. I think where people freak out about the "1200 rule" is when they don't eat back their exercise calories, I would feel like I was dying if I did that. I have been losing 0.5-1lb a week with this.

:drinker:

tryinghard71

As previously stated, MFP already sets up your deficit. For me, my goal calories are 1,200. Assuming I don't exercise that is what MFP suggests I eat. However, as I add exercise MFP gives me more calories to eat. I think the Weight Watchers program has a similar concept. So once you start exercising, that is when the "net' and "goal" comes into play. Without exercise, my goal calories would simply be 1,200 (a deficit from my maintenance calories which would cause me to lose weight).

So when exercise is incorporated you have to eat some calories back. Think of it like this, I need 1,200 calories to sustain my body which I would get from my food. Once I start exercising, those calories I need to sustain my body are burned away, so that's why you are supposed to eat more. So if I workout today, and I only eat 1,200 calories and burn 500, my NET is 700 which is NOT ENOUGH FOR MY BODY TO SUSTAIN ON. If I were to eat 500 more calories, my total calories would be 1,700, then you minus the 500 from exercise and TA-DA!...my net calories are 1,200 and it matches my goal calories.

Excellent!

Mads1997

So let me get this right so I can hopefully understand. I usually exercise about 600-700 calories per day, sometimes as much as 1200 calories. Sometimes as few as 300. MFP suggests that I eat about 1480 calories a day. You guys are saying that I should be NETTING 1480? I usually NET between 600-900 on average, sometimes less on my 1200 calorie workout days.

No........Guys should be netting no less than 1500 really.

tryinghard71

I just realized the difference between eating 1200 calories and NETTING 1200 calories.... I definately thought 1200 a day was way to little... I was working out hard (burning at least 500) a day and netting about 700 calories a day. I was getting really mad at the scale because I wasn't losing much... I mean I know its good to lose slow but it was crazy slow... so now I make sure that I net 1200 calories a day and this seems to be working.

Ya!! That is why I wish people would use the words NET and GROSS when in discussions on the message boards. It gets confusing if all people are reading is a topic on 1200 calories. 1200 calories NET and 1200 Calories Gross are two different things. I know it was very confusing for me when I first started MFP and thought I was going to die on just 1200 cals a day. When I figured it out the weight started coming off.

Mads1997

I just realized the difference between eating 1200 calories and NETTING 1200 calories.... I definately thought 1200 a day was way to little... I was working out hard (burning at least 500) a day and netting about 700 calories a day. I was getting really mad at the scale because I wasn't losing much... I mean I know its good to lose slow but it was crazy slow... so now I make sure that I net 1200 calories a day and this seems to be working.

Ya!! That is why I wish people would use the words NET and GROSS when in discussions on the message boards. It gets confusing if all people are reading is a topic on 1200 calories. 1200 calories NET and 1200 Calories Gross are two different things. I know it was very confusing for me when I first started MFP and thought I was going to die on just 1200 cals a day. When I figured it out the weight started coming off.

umm if you set up MFP properly and logged the exercise as you should have you could see it adding calories to your initial calorie goal why wouldn't you realise that you needed to eat them back also. It's really not that hard to follow.

taylorwaylor

Yeah i lost a lot of weight... then it stalled and i lost my energy and was sooooo obsessed with not going over calories.... I like to be able to eat 1,900 calories a day and still lose weight

EAT MORE 2 WEIGH LESS!

cayadear

It's not about "liking" or "wanting" to eat more every day for me. It's about what my body NEEDS.

I lost 30 # on 1200cals/day.

Did I look amazing? Well, I looked better than I used to...but not amazing.

Did I look good naked? Not really. Not until I started weight-lifting and eating 1600+ calories a day did I start looking amazing.

Every body's different, yadda yadda. But 1200cals/day is not going to work out for me and the needs of THIS body.

lgblack

I try to eat my 1200 plus my exercise calories, but I find now that I am more used to eating healthy and eating less, that my net is usually less than 1200. Even when I have my one glass of wine per week, I keep my calories low. I work out 5-6 times per week. 3-4 days weight training (programs from a personal trainer that redoes the programs every 4 weeks so my body is always challenged) PLUS 2 days cardio (which for me is Zumba. 1 hour on Tuesday and Thursday) My weight days have interval cardio worked into them as well. Since mid January I am down 12 lbs and 7.75 inches. So it's working for me!!!

cwolfman13

The most confusing thing on MFP is if you should eat back your exercise calories or not. Sometimes I will read an entire thread on not eating them back, and other times threads like this that say you should. I have been sticking to eating only 1200 cal in a day, but last week I went over on quite a few days, and not with junk food but with clean good food and I lost, so I am going to try the net calorie thing. Here's to hoping this works and I don't gain a bunch this week.

If you read the stickies (the instructions on how MFP works) then it wouldn't be confusing at all. Also, it would not be confusing if you used your common sense and noted that MFP increases your calorie "goal" when you do exercise. Now why do you think MFP would do that? Just to trick you into eating more? No...it's a goal...it is something to be achieved. It is really not the least bit confusing at all.

Some of you need to google BMR and photos of people who regularly net below their BMR (ie people with eating disorders) and see how "awesome" they look...also do a bit of research on adverse health effects as well. It's one thing to lose weight...but it's completely meaningless if you are unhealthy and your body is malnourished.

Angimom

I am eating a HUGE dinner tonight!!!! HAHAHAHA, jking. But I am going to start eating my exercise calories back. Thanks!!

momoftwo75

I'm training for my first fitness competition and what worked for me was a 500-700 calorie deficit each day. I work out 5 days a week (5 days of cardio and 3 days of weight training) unless I'm training for a show like I am now, and then I work out 3x/day some days.

Terpnista84

Ya!! That is why I wish people would use the words NET and GROSS when in discussions on the message boards. It gets confusing if all people are reading is a topic on 1200 calories. 1200 calories NET and 1200 Calories Gross are two different things. I know it was very confusing for me when I first started MFP and thought I was going to die on just 1200 cals a day. When I figured it out the weight started coming off.

EXACTLY!

Terpnista84

I just realized the difference between eating 1200 calories and NETTING 1200 calories.... I definately thought 1200 a day was way to little... I was working out hard (burning at least 500) a day and netting about 700 calories a day. I was getting really mad at the scale because I wasn't losing much... I mean I know its good to lose slow but it was crazy slow... so now I make sure that I net 1200 calories a day and this seems to be working.

Ya!! That is why I wish people would use the words NET and GROSS when in discussions on the message boards. It gets confusing if all people are reading is a topic on 1200 calories. 1200 calories NET and 1200 Calories Gross are two different things. I know it was very confusing for me when I first started MFP and thought I was going to die on just 1200 cals a day. When I figured it out the weight started coming off.

umm if you set up MFP properly and logged the exercise as you should have you could see it adding calories to your initial calorie goal why wouldn't you realise that you needed to eat them back also. It's really not that hard to follow.

Because a lot of people don't understand the concept of eating to lose. Most people only understand the concept of goal calories so they set out to meet that number every day regardless of physical activity. I'm sure a lot are disregarding that MFP is telling them to eat more calories when they add activity. I certainly did. People assume that eating the bare minimum calories is enough to sustain their body without considering they are burning them off by exercising.

Terpnista84

It's not about "liking" or "wanting" to eat more every day for me. It's about what my body NEEDS.

I lost 30 # on 1200cals/day.

Did I look amazing? Well, I looked better than I used to...but not amazing.

Did I look good naked? Not really. Not until I started weight-lifting and eating 1600+ calories a day did I start looking amazing.

Every body's different, yadda yadda. But 1200cals/day is not going to work out for me and the needs of THIS body.

Thank you for this! A lot of people don't understand how eating 1,200 calories PLUS exercising will affect the way they look. Eating too few calories plus exercise will really affect your muscle mass. Personally, I want to look great after I lose weight. Not just be a smaller fat person lol.

breeshabebe

I just realized the difference between eating 1200 calories and NETTING 1200 calories.... I definately thought 1200 a day was way to little... I was working out hard (burning at least 500) a day and netting about 700 calories a day. I was getting really mad at the scale because I wasn't losing much... I mean I know its good to lose slow but it was crazy slow... so now I make sure that I net 1200 calories a day and this seems to be working.

Ya!! That is why I wish people would use the words NET and GROSS when in discussions on the message boards. It gets confusing if all people are reading is a topic on 1200 calories. 1200 calories NET and 1200 Calories Gross are two different things. I know it was very confusing for me when I first started MFP and thought I was going to die on just 1200 cals a day. When I figured it out the weight started coming off.

umm if you set up MFP properly and logged the exercise as you should have you could see it adding calories to your initial calorie goal why wouldn't you realise that you needed to eat them back also. It's really not that hard to follow.

Um... I thought that 1200 was too low... so I set mine at 1500 and didn't eat back my exercise calories.... but I was still eating too low because I was having like 500-900 calorie burns. I kept seeing people say that MFP give too low of calories (not understanding the difference between "net" and "goal".... so I assumed MFP was giving me really low calories so that I could lose weight really fast.
I think it's pretty easy to misunderstand if you are new to MFP. I "set up MFP properly" and still had to adjust my macros. It's not hard to follow.... but if you are new to this stuff, it's easy to misunderstand... especially when people are posting about 2 extremes... "so and so eats 5,000 calories a day and loses weight" or "so and so eats 1200 calories a day and loses weight"....

Cre8veLifeR

I just read in a nutrition book to take your goal wt X 10-12 to determine your calorie intake for the day. I am at 1500 on no exercise days and 2000 on exercise days. I basically eat my exercise calories back in order to get to a gola wt of 150 lbs.