I Don't Understand What Calories I'm Eating/Burning!

Drevi48
Drevi48 Posts: 4
edited November 7 in Health and Weight Loss
I am currently 201 pounds. I am 5' 3'' and 22 years old and my GOAL WEIGHT is 150 pounds. I just started MFP on August 13, 2014.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

GOAL: 1300
FOOD: +1383
EXERCISE: - 389
NET: = 994

REMAINING = 306


Thursday, August 14, 2014

GOAL: 1300
FOOD: +1305
EXERCISE: - 507
NET: = 798

REMAINING = 502

I know the net weight formula is GOAL - EXERCISE = NET
What I am not sure of is, what my net means for my diet?
Am I having too little caloric intake for any healthy weight loss? Am I having to much caloric intake for healthy weight loss?

Also, can someone solve these examples for me? Just so I have a better understanding of what exactly is affecting what, and what I should be doing or if I'm not understanding something fully by miscalculations in my examples.

EXAMPLE: Let's say I completed the whole 1300 for the day and decide to exercise. I burn 500 calories, I will have a net of 800. So does this mean I must eat back those 500 calories I worked off in order to get my net back up to 1300? Will doing so defeat the purpose of my exercise?

EXAMPLE: I have a goal of 1300 calories a day. I have eaten 300 calories, so have a remaining of 1000 calories and a net of 0. I exercise and burn off 300 calories. Will my net be 1000 calories with a remaining of 1,300 calories? Am I supposed to eat 300 more calories apart from my remaining (totaling to 1600 that day)? Or just the remaining 1000?

EXAMPLE: 1300 calories a day is completed. I exercise off 650, now my net is 650, and my remaining is 650. If I eat 650 more calories, would this be okay?

In the examples I'm just using nice round numbers just to get an idea. I know I do not NECESSARILY (lots of debate on this) have to eat back ALL my exercise calories.

Should I be aiming to have my Net and my Remaining close to each other like in the last example?
Or should I stay closer to my goal with my net, by being within 0-200 remaining calories? In the case of the last example, would I eat 450 more (Total intake 1750, net 1100, remaining 200)?

How am I doing with my calories so far?
I know it's a really long post so thank you to anyone who takes time to explain this to me! :embarassed:

Replies

  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    Ok, I'm not sure I've completely understood what you're saying, but here are my thoughts.

    Aim to eat 1300 calories.

    Aim to eat most of your exercise calories back, but otherwise don't worry about having about 200 remaining.

    Ignore the net thing.

    What do others think of that advice?
  • IHateThinkingOfAUsername
    IHateThinkingOfAUsername Posts: 568 Member
    Personally I focus on my Net as it already takes into account a 500 cal deficit (I've chosen to lose 1lb a week). I also make sure that my net isn't under my goal calories by more than 100 calories.
    So in my example:
    Goal (currently because I'm off work) = 1200 calories.
    Exercise = 250 calories on elliptical trainer
    Net 950.
    So I would eat at least 150 calories back (usually I try to eat back them all).
    (So I've actually eaten at least 1350 cals).

    But (and this is a big but) you have to be accurate with your logging. Both of your food eaten, and of your exercise burnt. If one is out of wack the overall net will be affected. In terms of food make sure you weigh and log everything, and with exercise use a HRM for steady cardio, various websites for activity burns, and MFPs database to give you a more accurate log.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
    You want your remaining to be as close to 0 as possible. MFP works by building in a deficit that will make you lose weight with no exercise. If you exercise, you're burning more calories, so MFP wants you to eat those calories back. Hence, net calories.

    Eating back your calories is important for nutrition, satiety, and energy levels. If you are netting too low, your exercise (and life) performance will suffer.


    ETA: I want to reiterate the PP that MFP does tend to over calculate (or under calculate for some) calories burned via exercise. The best way to get an accurate measurement for cardio burn is using a heart rate monitor. Or, some people just eat back half of what MFP says so that they are still eating back calories, but they understand that MFP calorie burns aren't accurate.
  • Drevi48
    Drevi48 Posts: 4
    Oh wow! Okay thank you guys for answering. I think I'm getting a better understanding of this all.
    Question: if the 500 deficit wasnt already taken into account my "Goal" would be 1800 and this would make me maintain my weight. So by not eatiing back some of my net calories and not havig my remaining as close to 0 as possible, I am "undereating" by that much more?

    So... the net is what calories are actually in my body after the exercise, and if it's too far from the goal (too high/low) that would be bad correct?

    Too high: 1300 eaten - 200 exercise = 1100 net. Then take in 600 more calories and the net would be 1700?

    Too low: 1300 eaten - 800 exercise = 500 net. Then not taking in any more, and the net is too low correct?

    Thanks so much everyone!
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,324 Member
    You eat until you are at or close to zero calories remaining. To put it another way, you net calories should be the same as your goal calories by the end of the day. So with a 1300 goal on a day you don't exercise you eat 1300. With that goal on a day you exercise you eat 1300 plus the calories you exercised off, say 300, meaning your total food for the day would be 1600, but your net would be 1600 minus the 300 exercise so the 1300. You eat the 1600 though. That is how the page is designed.

    There are lots of stickies in the forums on how MFP works in the Getting Started section of the message board. I would highly suggest reading them.
  • IHateThinkingOfAUsername
    IHateThinkingOfAUsername Posts: 568 Member

    Too high: 1300 eaten - 200 exercise = 1100 net. Then take in 600 more calories and the net would be 1700?

    Too low: 1300 eaten - 800 exercise = 500 net. Then not taking in any more, and the net is too low correct?

    Thanks so much everyone!

    Yep :) That's right. If you're over by 500 then you're eating at maintenance (or as near to it bearing in mind the accuracy of these things); above 500 and you're eating in a surplus and will gain weight. (Based upon you choosing a 500 cal deficit to lose 1lb a week). If you eat lower than your net goal by a small amount it won't make that much of a difference, but eat a lot lower (like in your example) then you run the risk of not getting all the nutrients your body needs to be healthy.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    When you enter all your information into MFP, it provides you with the amount of calories to eat according to your weight loss goals. So, for example, you want to lose 1 pound a week and MFP sets you at 1600. That is the minimum you should eat each day. Now, you go out and exercise for thirty minutes and your heart rate monitor tells you you've burned 250 calories. You add that 250 calories on to your calorie goal, because by the end of the day, you should net that original 1600 calories.

    So, yes, eat a portion or all of your exercise calories back. This is to help you fuel your body in order to continue your workouts and activities of daily living.

    Make sure you are accurately logging both calories in and calories out, and keep in mind that MANY of the entries in MFP are incorrect. You will have to read packages, do your own research, and often enter the correct data under "My Foods" so that you have the correct entries. Avoid all entries that say small, medium, or large because (1) that description is in the eye of the beholder and (2) things that look the same size often are not.

    Also, I advise that you weigh your food instead of using measuring cups/spoons, eyeballs, and palms of your hand. One of the best investments I made was to buy a heart rate monitor for my calorie estimates.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Ok, I'm not sure I've completely understood what you're saying, but here are my thoughts.

    Aim to eat 1300 calories.

    Aim to eat most of your exercise calories back, but otherwise don't worry about having about 200 remaining.

    Ignore the net thing.

    What do others think of that advice?

    This is what I do. I don't bother trying to cut exercise calories so that they are accurate and eating my net. I just make sure I eat my goal plus a reasonable percentage of my exercise calories (more if they are reliable ones, like running, less if I'm skeptical about them, like basically any gym cardio machines, circuit training, longer biking totals). Also, if I'm hungrier/feeling tired from workouts I'll tend to eat more exercise calories than if I'm not. If I'm not hungry the day of the workout (like if I run in the evening I'm generally not) I might not eat them back that day, but eat more the next day.

    OP, you aren't eating too much. You also aren't eating too little to lose. You might be eating too little given the workouts you are doing, and to make this a sustainable plan, but that depends in part on what the workout calories are based on and how reliable they are. Basically, I'd say don't be afraid to try to eat back .5-.75 of your workout calories, and to definitely pay attention to how you feel. Right at first it may not matter, but you will need to fuel your workouts to keep your energy up and to make them good workouts and to make sure you feel good and don't get overwhelmingly tired or hungry at some point in the future.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    You eat to your net GOAL...look that word up in the dictionary. Your weight loss deficit is already included before exercise...so exercise is extra activity and that's why you get those calories to eat back. Just make sure you don't overestimate your burns...most people just adjust by 50 or 60% or whatever to account for inherent estimation errors....so If they put in an exercise that says the burned 500 calories they will only put it down as 250 or 300 or whatever and eat those back to account for inherent errors.
  • Drevi48
    Drevi48 Posts: 4
    Thank you everyone! I have a good understanding now and really appreciate it!!!
  • tmarcz
    tmarcz Posts: 4
    I thought that eating back your burned calories is pointless when trying to lose weight? (This stuff always confuses me lol) So if you have your calories set to like, 1500 to lose 1 1/2 pounds a week you're already going to lose that so you can eat back what you burn?
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    To be safe most people only eat back half their exercise calories. That gives room for the over estimating that MFP does on exercise AND any room for error you may have made in calculating when you log.
  • Drevi48
    Drevi48 Posts: 4
    tmarcz

    I have mine set to 1,300 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week (I started at 201 pounds). So there is already a 1,000 calorie deficit applied. If I wanted to maintain my weight, I would be eating 2,300; 1,000 more calories. With this deficit, if I do nothing extra to lose weight (like exercise), and eat the full 1,300 calories a day, I will still (in theory) lose the weight at a healthy pace.

    So let's say I burn off another 500 calories in a day with exercise. If I don't eat back any of those calories, now I have a day where I'm eating 1,500 LESS than I normally would if I were trying to maintain my weight, which is about 3,500 calories less a week on top of the 7,000 calories less from the built in deficit. That's 10,500 less in total, which would drop weight, but not at a healthy pace, or kick me into "starvation" mode which is my body thinking I'm starving, so it tries to hold on to the fat in order to survive.

    So to be on the safe side, eating back at least some of the workout calories is recommended, as it will keep you energized and losing weight at a healthy pace.
  • sweetnessnc
    sweetnessnc Posts: 27 Member
    Thanks everybody! This REALLY helped me out a whole whole lot. I have been eating waaay below what I should have been eating. I have been cheating myself. Not to worry...that surely will not be happening again.
  • loseweight486
    loseweight486 Posts: 4
    I had a similar understanding issue. But, if I don't feel hungry, (not full, but normal) should I still try to eat to meet my calorie goal?
  • Till__I__Collapse
    Till__I__Collapse Posts: 20
    Remaining calories = Calories consumed - calories expended. The more you expend the more you can technically consume to maintain a specific amount of calories per day.
  • gamesandgains
    gamesandgains Posts: 640 Member
    My brain almost exploded from reading all of this. 10/10 is over complicating.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Simply put is MFP overestimates exercise calories so most people eat back half to account for miscalculations.
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
    You are under-eating for your age, height & weight to lose weight in a healthy manner. Your BMR (what you should eat to maintain weight in a coma) is 1700 calories. Your TDEE (total daily expenditure) even without ANY exercise or movement (as in, you lie on the couch all day) is 2060 and at a 20% deficit, which is a healthy deficit to lose weight, maintain as much muscle as you can, etc is 1648. You would lose around 1 lb a week eating that w/o any exercise. If you do exercise even a bit, that calorie amount would go up. MFP tends to give such low calorie goals for people and people love losing at a QUICK manner but it's not necessarily the healthiest way to do this. Come check out the EM2WL group and read a few of the articles there - best thing I ever did!
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