Is It Possible to Have a Negative Net Calorie Count Daily?

Thanasi99
Thanasi99 Posts: 40 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Yesterday, I was able to finish out the day with more calories left over than my entire calorie goal, thus giving me a negative net calorie count.

Is it sustainable to do this every day?
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Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited April 2015
    No...all kinds of bad *kitten* will happen if you actually do that every day. Have you ever heard of starvation?
  • Thanasi99
    Thanasi99 Posts: 40 Member
    It's not that I'm not eating or anything. I consumed maybe 1200 calories yesterday (my goal is 1430), but I did a TON of exercise that burned all of those calories off and then some.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    OP - your body is using calories 24/7 for important stuff like heart, lung, and kidney function. Please fuel your body properly!

    None of us got fat overnight.....we shouldn't expect to lose weight overnight either.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Thanasi99 wrote: »
    Is it sustainable to do this every day?

    If you burned all the calories you ate through exercise that doesn't leave any for your normal body functioning. That is not a healthy idea nor is sustainable.

  • gsayler860
    gsayler860 Posts: 25 Member
    Yes it's possible but no it's not sustainable. I had a negative net calorie day last week. I spent all day moving/packing and then worked out in the evening. I had a light lunch and dinner. I think I ended up with -160 or so net calories.
  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
    Thanasi99 wrote: »
    It's not that I'm not eating or anything. I consumed maybe 1200 calories yesterday (my goal is 1430), but I did a TON of exercise that burned all of those calories off and then some.

    I have a really hard time believing you burned 1400 calories in one day, unless your session was like five hours long.
  • paulaviki
    paulaviki Posts: 678 Member
    What sort of exercise are you doing that's burning that many calories?
  • Thanasi99
    Thanasi99 Posts: 40 Member
    I spent an hour bicycling at about 11 mph, an hour of moderate paced walking at work, and about 2 hours of moderate swimming laps.
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
    paulaviki wrote: »
    What sort of exercise are you doing that's burning that many calories?

    ^

    ?
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Why would you want to do that? Not even a little healthy or desirable. I'm hoping you're just really over estimating your burn and under estimating your calories consumed.
  • Thanasi99
    Thanasi99 Posts: 40 Member
    Everything I ate yesterday was packaged (ex. one package serving size), with little room for underestimation.
  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
    Thanasi99 wrote: »
    I spent an hour bicycling at about 11 mph, an hour of moderate paced walking at work, and about 2 hours of moderate swimming laps.

    No. That would burn like 500-700 calories max, I would think.
  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
    What are you using to measure your burns?
  • Thanasi99
    Thanasi99 Posts: 40 Member
    I am using My Fitness Pal to measure my calories burned.
  • theresaTerriM
    theresaTerriM Posts: 28 Member
    It might help if someone that is good with calculations for this type of stuff to weigh in on what her numbers should look like if she were required to eat 1200 calories, and what her net should look like after exercises and food for the day.
    I can garner an estimate but I'm not experienced enough, so I hope someone else reads this that can answer it. This would give her a rough guideline so to speak of what to look/watch out for.

    I hope that made sense lol. But yeah, that's not good....
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    This happens to me a couple of times a week. I usually see numbers like -40 or -100. Today I am -47, but I haven't finished planning dinner or snacks yet.

    I have a legitimately slow metabolism/low BMR due to medical problems, so I don't worry about it. Probably not great to do that every day, but it will happen to those of us who are dedicated exercisers.
  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
    Thanasi99 wrote: »
    I am using My Fitness Pal to measure my calories burned.

    Then yeah, no. MFP grossly overestimates burns. In order to get an accurate measure, you would need a heart rate monitor, but I would think you really only burn half of what MFP says.
  • LeanButNotMean44
    LeanButNotMean44 Posts: 852 Member
    Thanasi99 wrote: »
    I am using My Fitness Pal to measure my calories burned.

    The calorie burns for exercise on MFP are grossly overestimated.

  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Please say the 99 in your screen name is not the date of birth? As in, you are not a 16 year old trying to survive on negative calories?
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    It is possible in the short term but it is extremely unhealthy. It is a disordered way of doing things.
  • Thanasi99
    Thanasi99 Posts: 40 Member
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Please say the 99 in your screen name is not the date of birth? As in, you are not a 16 year old trying to survive on negative calories?

    That's the date of birth of my son.
  • theresaTerriM
    theresaTerriM Posts: 28 Member
    LeanButNotMean44 wrote: »
    Thanasi99 wrote: »
    I am using My Fitness Pal to measure my calories burned.

    The calorie burns for exercise on MFP are grossly overestimated.

    Serious? Wow, I just got onto MFP and was curious if they under or overestimated. So what's a good way to count calorie burn? I would hate to start logging my exercises today and think I'm burning more than I actually am! No bueno, yikes....
  • Thanasi99
    Thanasi99 Posts: 40 Member
    edited April 2015

    Serious? Wow, I just got onto MFP and was curious if they under or overestimated. So what's a good way to count calorie burn? I would hate to start logging my exercises today and think I'm burning more than I actually am! No bueno, yikes....

    I also found that to be a bummer, especially considering that I've been taking these numbers to heart.
  • Spyer116
    Spyer116 Posts: 168 Member
    not sustainable everyfday. But the odd day, it wouldn't be so bad. once you're not feeling hungry and purposely going without eating.
    i'm currently at -360 and am done for the night. I'll be perfectly fine tomorrow, and not any more hungry than I normally would be after waking up. But I wont be going negative each day
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  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
    If your goal is 1430, you need to consume 1430 calories. That's before exercise. If you burn maybe 500 working out, you need to eat back at least half of that, or your body won't get the nutrition it requires to sustain high energy activities. You'll lose a lot of muscle that way too. Your best bet is to buy a heart rate monitor, so that you can accurately measure your burns until you can get a good feeling of how much you burn individually. For example, I know that running a mile for me burns 100 calories so I typically don't wear my HRM anymore.
  • theresaTerriM
    theresaTerriM Posts: 28 Member
    edited April 2015
    Thanasi99 wrote: »

    Serious? Wow, I just got onto MFP and was curious if they under or overestimated. So what's a good way to count calorie burn? I would hate to start logging my exercises today and think I'm burning more than I actually am! No bueno, yikes....

    I also found that to be a bummer, especially considering that I've been taking these numbers to heart.

    No kidding! I was using the LoseIt! app previously but it didn't connect to my new fitness tracker (Garmin Vivofit) and so I just got onto MFP yesterday and will start logging my exercises on it today.

    Umm...kinda bummed to be honest if that's the case. But if there's some sort of ratio to keep in mind while logging them, I am still good with that.
  • Thanasi99
    Thanasi99 Posts: 40 Member
    From what I've heard now, exercise seems to only count for about half of what it's truly logged in to MFP as.
  • skippygirlsmom
    skippygirlsmom Posts: 4,433 Member
    lemonsnowdrop wrote: »
    Thanasi99 wrote: »
    I spent an hour bicycling at about 11 mph, an hour of moderate paced walking at work, and about 2 hours of moderate swimming laps.

    No. That would burn like 500-700 calories max, I would think.

    Depending on the size of the pool, how fast you swam and weight, in 2 hours you could burn 1,000 calories (or so I read on a few different sites) :smiley:
  • brisingr86
    brisingr86 Posts: 1,789 Member
    I've had a negative net day before. Worked out for like 3 hours (I have a HRM for estimating calorie burn) and didn't eat very much in anticipation of a big family meal the next day. People that do IF probably have this happen fairly frequently if they are on a 500 day and workout at all (or just BMR). Agree with others that not sustainable/healthy to do this every day. If you're doing a specific program (like IF), maybe a day or two a week is fine, with the caveat that you're eating more (little to no deficit) on days in between.

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