NET CALORIES - I DONT UNDERSTAND!

xxxTRISHAxxx · February 2013

Hi all, Im really struggling to get my head around net calories and what calories I should be eating.

I have a daily target of 1200 calories (Im only 5ft 1/2 inch) in order to loose 1-2lb per week. I make sure I have 3 healthy meals a day and snacks and I never feel hungry. Im normally within 10-20 calories of my target, but do go over if I feel the need (like yesterday for pancake day!!).

Anyway, Im making an effort to get in exercise most days with a good walk and some swimming.....nothing too vigorous!.....and am burning between 500 - 1000 calories a day. Now my mind is telling me that this exercise may help me loose more weight, will help me tone as I loose, and will give me the calories if I feel I want to consume over my 1200 goal.

Yesterday on my diary a friend commented that Id eaten way to few calories, that my net calories was too low and that I should eat back the calories I burn. This upset me a little as I felt I had achieved a really good day with food and exercise.This was yesterdays figures:

Goal - 1200
Food - 1425 (slightly higher than normal)
Exercise - 1163 (slightly higher than normal)
Net - 262
Remaining - 938

Now what is confusing for me is that if I had not done that exercise then I would have in theory overeaten that day! Therefore as I normally stick to around 1200 then surely if I do not want to eat more food then I shouldnt exercise?? Or if I do exercise I need to eat more even if I dont want it and am not hungry?? I really struggle to see the point of just eating for the sake of it.

Sorry if this post is confusing.....but its probably because Im confused while writing it! Basically I want to watch what i eat...hence not watching was what put on the weight in the first place....but I want to keep healthy at the same time!

Can anyone shed some light on what I am doing right/wrong, what your suggestions for me are and mostly what NET calories actually means to my weight loss.

Thank you for reading

Trisha

lauren3101 · February 2013

To put it simply, the aim of the day is to get that number as close to zero as possible.

HOWEVER, if you are using MFP to count cals burned, it can over-estimate. I would recommend getting yourself a HRM.

There are easy ways to get your calories up without adding too much food. Peanut butter, avocado and nuts are all calorific yet good for you, and you won't have to eat a lot of them.

coxg6 · February 2013

Your exercise is great & important - however, you have to get the energy from somewhere. If you are burning all the calories you are eating with exercise then you're living on little or nothing!

higgi7 · February 2013

I struggle with the same concept. I know for sure that if I ate back all my exercise calories I would gain weight. I, too, struggle with the idea of eating when you are not hungry. However, I am no expert and my bodies metabolism is in a deep freeze. I really am struggling to get the scale to move. Good luck!

WeAreLegend · February 2013

In your case, you have burned in a single day doing exercise almost all the calories you consumed. Therefore, even though you ate ~1400 calories, you burned most of it off working out. Therefore, it is as if you have only consumed ~200 calories. This is too little, MyFP is telling you to eat more.
ps. your net calories are the calories you ate after calculating how much you burned via exercise.

Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Nutrition Facts For Foods

xxxTRISHAxxx · February 2013

Hi...I have a heart rate monitor so all my exercise is accurate other than my swimming as my HRM cant be used in the water. Sorry what number do I need to get to zero?...is it the NET number? Sorry if I sound stupid but my exercise is having a leisurely walk or a slow swim, so im not feeling warn out etc so still struggle to understand that I need to eat more so thinking I just wont go for the swim...or if I do will drive rather than walk there. I totally understand my body needs calories but my food is my first focus and i really dont want to eat food that I dont want. Trisha x

Sujit8383 · February 2013

its a simple mathematics.............to try to lose weight arnd 1.5-2 lbs or whateva u configured it, u hv 2 keep goal of say 1200 according 2 mfp......................then if u eat arnd 1200 and not working out entire week then also u will lose arnd 1.5-2 lbs according 2 mfp.................

if u do workout say 1000 or so then it acts as a bonus 4 u.........it means even if u eat 1200+1000=2200, still u will lose arnd 1.5-2 lbs according 2 mfp.........but if u don't eat back ur exercise cals then u will feel weak and/or will lose weight more than 1.5-2 lbs per week..........

hope this make sense..........

xxxTRISHAxxx · February 2013

Thank you for the advise

ruthieg10 · February 2013

I really struggled with this as well. I didnt undertsand how i could eat more and still lose weight!But it is true, like everyone is saying you need to fuel your body for workouts.

So if your goal is 1200 cals a day but you excersize and burn 500 cals you should be eating 1700cals total.

x

Caletagirl · February 2013

The way I look at it, is its like driving a car. You have 1200 cal a day to use and if you do exercise you are gaining more calories but burning calories and you need to fuel them otherwise you are running on empty.
I have found that when you put the exercise into MFP, the exercise calories can be too high. So I always say, eat your 1200 when exercising along with water and part of your calories you gain from exercise. Its all about eating the right things. And also eat after exercise as your metabolism is still working.
Hope that makes sense.
Good luck

edahs · February 2013

Hi notsolittlesi

You should aim to have your net as close to the Goal (1200) as possible. You get given 1200 calories a day to eat, and anything you burn in exercise can be considered bonus. The Remaining amount should be as close to zero as possible.

For your food dilemma, yes you can cut down on the exercise rather than having extra food.

Also a couple of observations:
1. You had a net of 262 calories for the sample day you provided - that is very low! And if you sustain that for a week, your body will start clinging on to whatever food it can get, and also reduce your metabolism.
2. You mention that your exercise is having a leisurely walk or slow swim, but your calories burned are 1100 cals or so. That would mean you had swum/walked for 3-4 hours, is that correct? I've found that the MFP calorie calculators aren't that great in estimating how much energy is burned.

robin52077 · February 2013

Basically, if calories are "remaining", eat them.

If you're truly FULL, don't stuff yourself for the sake of eating them.

The next day you may feel extra hungry, feel free to eat more, it's an average over time that matters.

If you have 200 remaining one day then go 200 "in the red" another, you're still perfect. In fact, a lot of people do that on purpose, called calorie cycling.

ladyraven68 · February 2013

Hi...I have a heart rate monitor so all my exercise is accurate other than my swimming as my HRM cant be used in the water. Sorry what number do I need to get to zero?...is it the NET number?

Remaining - should be zero.

xxxTRISHAxxx · February 2013

Hi notsolittlesi

You should aim to have your net as close to the Goal (1200) as possible. You get given 1200 calories a day to eat, and anything you burn in exercise can be considered bonus. The Remaining amount should be as close to zero as possible.

For your food dilemma, yes you can cut down on the exercise rather than having extra food.

Also a couple of observations:
1. You had a net of 262 calories for the sample day you provided - that is very low! And if you sustain that for a week, your body will start clinging on to whatever food it can get, and also reduce your metabolism.
2. You mention that your exercise is having a leisurely walk or slow swim, but your calories burned are 1100 cals or so. That would mean you had swum/walked for 3-4 hours, is that correct? I've found that the MFP calorie calculators aren't that great in estimating how much energy is burned.

I swam for 60 mins which was at a leisurely pass and used the calculation of 527 calories off MFP. The rest was walking and I wore a heart rate monitor.

Thanks for the advice

stuntpilot51 · February 2013

The net on your home page should be 1200

The remaining on your food diary should be zero.

But since HRM's, fitbits and MFP's calcs kind of overestimate give yourself some leeway.

Plus read Dan's road map, it did wonders for me, some people ***** and complain about it but it's worth a try.

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

TriShamelessly · February 2013

Your exercise is great & important - however, you have to get the energy from somewhere. If you are burning all the calories you are eating with exercise then you're living on little or nothing!

Actually, it's living off the stored energy in fat and muscle cells whenever there is a calorie deficit. Sort of the whole idea behind losing weight. Exercise is basically meant to conserve the lean muscle mass that would otherwise be lost when dieting. In any event, the "experts" - both on MFP and IRL - differ on whether to eat back some, all or none of your exercise calories. I've settled somewhere in the middle - i.e., if I'm hungry, I still eat. It's merely the choice of what I put in that has changed dramatically. Good luck to the OP with figuring out what works best for YOU!

xxxTRISHAxxx · February 2013

Your exercise is great & important - however, you have to get the energy from somewhere. If you are burning all the calories you are eating with exercise then you're living on little or nothing!

Actually, it's living off the stored energy in fat and muscle cells whenever there is a calorie deficit. Sort of the whole idea behind losing weight. Exercise is basically meant to conserve the lean muscle mass that would otherwise be lost when dieting. In any event, the "experts" - both on MFP and IRL - differ on whether to eat back some, all or none of your exercise calories. I've settled somewhere in the middle - i.e., if I'm hungry, I still eat. It's merely the choice of what I put in that has changed dramatically. Good luck to the OP with figuring out what works best for YOU!

This is sort of what I am doing. I am having more than 1200 if I want them but mostly I dont. I feel better than I have done in a long time! I understand the replys on here saying I should eat more and I will try to increase my daily intake. The post above made me feel better about things though so thank you

ambr78709 · February 2013

I was struggling with the same thing. I thought I was loosing weight but you are loosing the wrong type of weight,
if you DO NOT eat close to the calories your net needs to be. Your body will start burning the water and muscle loss will happen. The fat cells will stay because your body will go into starvation mode. Your body will fight to hold on to the fat cells last. It wants to keep the fat because it doesn't know when it will get the right amount of food and nutrition your body needs to get thru the day.

You want your body to burn energy correctly.

Even though the scale will go down, as soon as you eat what your normal intake should be (without exercise) your body will add weight fast. You want your body to learn how to burn food correctly, that is why your net should be close to 1200 even with exercise. You don't have to stuff yourself until you hit 1200, but eat healthy to come close to your calorie goal.

Hope that helps.

NET CALORIES - I DONT UNDERSTAND!

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