Not sure how to net 1200

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ksafe
ksafe Posts: 20
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm totally full after consuming 1200 calories gradually today. Even if I could eat more, I'm confused about how I'm supposed to eat more without exceeding my sugar level and other limits. The Nutrients section on my app says I shouldn't exceed 56 grams of sugar, which I've already exceeded by 10 grams.

I am doing Insanity daily, and trying to count calories. I guess I just don't fully understand what I'm supposed to be doing with the net and deficit thing. I've googled the difference and read numerous threads about it here, but I still don't understand what I should be trying to do. Should I just work on Net, and ignore deficit? How can I increase my calories to have a safe workout? I consume 1200 daily, and I burn roughly 650 daily through Insanity. The rest of my day, I'm sedentary, besides carrying around a baby. Is what I'm doing acceptable?
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Replies

  • spatticus
    spatticus Posts: 230 Member
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    I'll leave it to the pros to answer this but your net seems really really low! You need to give your body the fuel it needs.
  • ksafe
    ksafe Posts: 20
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    I'd like to, but I don't get how I'm supposed to without overdoing sugars and other bad values. I average about 400 calories per meal because I drink 8 cups of water per day. I'd have to over-eat.

    What should I eat???
  • Crystals422
    Crystals422 Posts: 382 Member
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    Boneless skinless chicken breast, almonds, fish, veggies. It is ok to go over if the sugar is coming from friuts and veggies.
  • Missevanston
    Missevanston Posts: 361 Member
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    You should worry about the NET number. The way to do it is to eat healthy foods to add up to the NET number. I know that there are days when you won't feel like eating more, but you should try because you are burning a good deal each day and are not giving back what you need to survive.
  • SarahWrittenThin
    SarahWrittenThin Posts: 595 Member
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    your net should match your goal. Your values all go up to allow for more with the calories you burn, except for sodium.
  • Mike523
    Mike523 Posts: 393 Member
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    I'm confused... You're profile says you're male. Is that true? If you ARE male, you should not be eating any less than 1500-1600 calories per day.

    If you're female, 1200 is ok as a base number. But it's really not ok to eat 1200 and then burn 650 of it doing Insanity. YOU NEED TO EAT MORE.
  • ksafe
    ksafe Posts: 20
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    I am male, but as you can see, I have no idea what the heck I'm doing. I've never counted calories before. I kind of just jumped right into Insanity, and decided a few days in that I was going to go full force with nutrition as well as Insanity.

    I got 1200 from the MyFitnessPal iPhone app. I logged all my activity, and then it told me to consume at least 1200 calories.
  • ksafe
    ksafe Posts: 20
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    Just out of curiosity, if I hadn't asked these questions, and had just continued to consume 1200 while burning 650, what would have happened? Would the weight loss just stop working? Or are we talking dangerous implications?
  • Mike523
    Mike523 Posts: 393 Member
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    I'm guessing you set MFP to help you lose 2 lbs. per week... MFP for some reason is not smart enough to set the lower limit of 1500 calories for males. I suggest you do two things - 1) go back through the MFP goals and set it to lose 1 lb. per week, and 2) start eating not only the base calorie number that MFP shows you, but also the extra calories you earn from working out. Insanity is pretty.....well....INSANE, and if you don't fuel your body you will burn out quickly.

    I would estimate that on days you do Insanity, you should be eating about 2100 calories or so (at least 1500 base plus 600 extra earned from the workout). But this is just an estimate - go back and adjust your goals to get the right numbers.
  • Mike523
    Mike523 Posts: 393 Member
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    Just out of curiosity, if I hadn't asked these questions, and had just continued to consume 1200 while burning 650, what would have happened? Would the weight loss just stop working? Or are we talking dangerous implications?

    It's not a black and white thing... You probably would get results for a while - even rapid weight loss. But over time, a few things would probably start to happen. You would start losing energy - bonking out during your workouts, having trouble staying awake throughout the day, etc. Because of this, your metabolism would probably start to slow down, and your results would slow or stop completely. Also, and this is probably the worst part, you would end up losing too much muscle along with the fat. Your goal should be to burn away fat and keep as much of your lean mass as possible, and in order to do that you have to feed your body.
  • nsciambi
    nsciambi Posts: 70 Member
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    I can't view your diary, but with frequent meals and/or snacks, it should be pretty easy to hit at least 1500 calories. Don't worry so much about your sugar, as long as the sugars are natural (ie, fruit and dairy). Try to eat very 3 hours.

    Here are some snack ideas:

    An apple dipped into 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter ~ 250 calories
    A protein shake (1 scoop protein, 1 cup of skim milk) ~ 200 calories
    Plain Greek yogurt with fresh berries and a bit of unsweetened granola ~200-250 calories
    A handful of almonds and a stick of low fat string cheese, Babybel or a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese ~ 225 calories
    Larabars ~200 calories


    As far as your meals go, try to include some high calorie healthy fats (olive oil, nuts, natural nut butters, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc.) and don't be afraid of carbs if they come from whole grains.
  • ksafe
    ksafe Posts: 20
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    Thanks to everyone for the support and help. This is what my diary was today:

    Breakfast Calories Carbs Fat Protein
    Quaker - Honey Graham Oh's, 1 cup 147 31 3 1

    Lunch
    Natures Own - 100% Whole Wheat Bread, 2 slice (26g/.9oz) 100 20 2 8
    Sunmaid Raisins - Mini-Snacks, 1 box 45 11 0 0
    Rold Gold® - Classic Stick Pretzels, 26.5 sticks 50 12 0 1
    Great Value - Creamy Peanut Butter, 1 tablespoon 95 4 8 4

    Dinner
    Betty Crocker - Asian Helper-Chicken Fried Rice, 1.5 cup prepared 420 32 17 39

    Snacks
    Sargento - Light String Cheese (Reduced Fat Low Moisture Mozzarella Cheese), 1 piece 50 1 3 6
    Sunshine Cheez-It - Cheezits 100 Calorie Rite Bites, 1 pouch 100 14 3 3
    Great Value - Golden Sweet Whole Kernel Corn (No Salt Added), 1/2 cup 60 11 1 2
    Kudos - 100 Calorie Bar Snickers, 1 bar 100 15 4 1
    Red or Green Seedless - Green Grapes, 25 grape 50 23 0 0

    Totals 1,217 174 41 65
    Your Daily Goal 2,704 372 90 102
    Remaining 1,487 198 49 37
    Calories Carbs Fat Protein
    *You've earned 664 extra calories from exercise today

    That was under the impression that I needed to hit 1200, so I forced myself to eat Cheez-its and corn.

    I guess I'm going to need to drastically change my diet differently than I thought I had to.
  • nsciambi
    nsciambi Posts: 70 Member
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    One of the major things I notice is your lack of protein! Your body is going to need it to recover from the Insanity workouts.
  • nsciambi
    nsciambi Posts: 70 Member
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    And don't forget your veggies!
  • nsciambi
    nsciambi Posts: 70 Member
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    Oh, and don't look at my food diary as an example. I've had a bad couple of weeks. :)
  • ksafe
    ksafe Posts: 20
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    I'll look for some protein shakes and stuff tomorrow.

    Thanks everyone, you're quite literally life-savers! lol
  • ksafe
    ksafe Posts: 20
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    So even though my diary says I'll lose 30 lbs 5 weeks from now if my diet is like this every day, it's wrong?
  • nsciambi
    nsciambi Posts: 70 Member
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    I can't say if it's wrong or right, but you have to be careful about consuming too few calories. Not consuming enough calories will throw your body into starvation mode, which will slow your metabolism down, lower your energy, and make your body hold on to whatever it can for energy. That's not a good thing when you are trying to lose weight.

    For a point of reference, I'm female, 5'6", 134 pounds, and for me to lose 1 pound per week, MFP has me at 1340 net calories.
  • nsciambi
    nsciambi Posts: 70 Member
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    Do a google search on Basic Metabolic Rate and research the concept a bit. You should also be able to find a BMR calculator to find out approximately what your body is burning at rest. This number is basically the number of calories your body uses to function at a healthy level. You don't want to fall too far below that level - that's when starvation mode comes into play. If you aren't giving your body enough nutrition, it will start burning muscle for energy.
  • mlconway
    mlconway Posts: 23
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    Wow!!! That is WAY too fast of weight loss. 30 lbs in 5 weeks?! You're eating entirely too few calories. 1200 is low for anyone, but for a male it's extremely low. Especially if you're doing that much exercise. Aim for either your net calories or 200-300 calories below that. Your body needs energy and fuel for all the working out. There's no way you'll be able to last long eating 1200 calories a day. It's not healthy either. Healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week. If you eat about 200-300 calories less than your net you'll lose the weight a little fast while still being healthy.

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