what is net calories and what does food+exercise =mean? So confused
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lolab983
Posts: 16 Member
Hi all! I am new to the app and so far think it's pretty great, but I'm a little confused with the diary where it says at the top" goal - food + excersise =____" what does this last number mean? It makes no sense that you would add calories eaten and calories burned. Also what is net calories? And when you "earn extra calories" by working out does that mean you can eat them and still lose weight, eat them and maintain weight, or not eat them? I tried reading the post on the positive and negative calorie burn thing when I said it could track my steps but it was a bit confusing. Please note I dont have a Fitbit right now (although considering getting one) it just tracks steps through iPhone which I know isn't the most accurate.
If anyone could take the time to explain this to me i would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance!
If anyone could take the time to explain this to me i would greatly appreciate it. Thank you in advance!
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Replies
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Mine says ... goal | food - exercise = net ... not sure why yours is different0
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i should elaborate ... so today mine is currently at 1250 | 935 - 246 = 686 so my normal goal is to meet 1250 calories but because i exercised off 246 calories (through steps and my lunchtime walk) it gives me that amount extra to eat back ... so from all this site says so long as you stay in the green youll lose weight0
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Could you do a screen shot (prnt scr on your keyboard) and post a picture here?0
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Right at the top where it says [calories] remaining. Also if I work out it changes my daily intakes of some macros and vitamins making it impossible to get to 100%unless I eat however many calories to make up what I burned....
Hope you guys understand what I'm asking I know it's a bit confusing.0 -
usernameenvy wrote: »i should elaborate ... so today mine is currently at 1250 | 935 - 246 = 686 so my normal goal is to meet 1250 calories but because i exercised off 246 calories (through steps and my lunchtime walk) it gives me that amount extra to eat back ... so from all this site says so long as you stay in the green youll lose weight
Thankyou! So does that mean if I ate all the calories in the green I would still lose weight or just maintain?
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1200 is your calorie goal for the day. That already includes whatever deficit you decided on when you registered. So eating that will allow you to lose weight. MFP does not include exercise in that deficit so when you exercise you increase the number of calories you need to eat in order to hit that goal of 1200.
Most people only eat a portion of their calories back because calories burned estimates are often too high. By eating back say 50%, you allow for wiggle room if the estimates are off.0 -
Ok it seems to me, their math is a little dodgy.. A use of brackets would simply solve the confusion..
Basically what you're seeing is 1200 calories (from the TDE without exercise), The calories eaten are subtracted to what you're 'allowed'.. Then finally exercise is basically 'giving back' some calories which you can eat.
If i had to re-write the equation, it'd be (Goal or initial calories - calories consumed by food) + calories allowed from exercise = Total Calories Remaining or TDE
Your goal as the person trying to lose weight, is to get that TDE/Total remaining calories to 0, or as close as you can to 0.. If you reach 0, you have reached the required calories your body needs to give the nutrition you need, but still be at a deficit to lose weight.
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usernameenvy wrote: »i should elaborate ... so today mine is currently at 1250 | 935 - 246 = 686 so my normal goal is to meet 1250 calories but because i exercised off 246 calories (through steps and my lunchtime walk) it gives me that amount extra to eat back ... so from all this site says so long as you stay in the green youll lose weight
Thankyou! So does that mean if I ate all the calories in the green I would still lose weight or just maintain?
i dont eat them all back just in case ive mis-calculated somewhere0 -
Thank you everyone! I understand a bit better now
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Is there a setting where I can track my steps with my FitBit but NOT have those calories added to what I am allowed to eat? I want my daily calorie allowance to reflect ONLY the food I've eaten and not be adjusted according to the data from my FitBit.
IOW, if my daily calorie allowance to lose weight with NO exercise is 1,200 calories per day, and I walk for an hour, then MFP now shows my daily calorie allowance to lose weight at (for example) 1,350 calories. But I don't want the walking to be reflected in an adjustment to my caloric allowance. I know I (supposedly) can still lose weight if I stay in the green zone, but I don't like the numbers changing like that. Can I turn that feature/behavior off somewhere in the settings?
I want to see a true reflection of calories consumed.
And I also want to see how much I've walked.
But I want those two numbers to be separate with no slidey-wiggly-calorie-adjustment thing. (Excuse the use of highly technical language.
) 0 -
usernameenvy wrote: »i should elaborate ... so today mine is currently at 1250 | 935 - 246 = 686 so my normal goal is to meet 1250 calories but because i exercised off 246 calories (through steps and my lunchtime walk) it gives me that amount extra to eat back ... so from all this site says so long as you stay in the green youll lose weight
Thankyou! So does that mean if I ate all the calories in the green I would still lose weight or just maintain?
I get 1560 calories to lose 2lbs a week + 256 exercise earned on a 2 mile walk = 1816 I GET to eat if I want.
Unless you are over estimating the intensity of your workouts, then YES. I sometimes eat them all back if I'm hungry at the end of the day, and other times I don't, Like today, I'm leaving 450 calories. I don't do this every day because I'd be starving. But occasionally if I'm honestly not hungry, I leave earned calories behind.0 -
Never mind. I found the answer. I can change this setting if I have the Premium version.Is there a setting where I can track my steps with my FitBit but NOT have those calories added to what I am allowed to eat? I want my daily calorie allowance to reflect ONLY the food I've eaten and not be adjusted according to the data from my FitBit.
etc., etc.
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Is there a setting where I can track my steps with my FitBit but NOT have those calories added to what I am allowed to eat? I want my daily calorie allowance to reflect ONLY the food I've eaten and not be adjusted according to the data from my FitBit.
IOW, if my daily calorie allowance to lose weight with NO exercise is 1,200 calories per day, and I walk for an hour, then MFP now shows my daily calorie allowance to lose weight at (for example) 1,350 calories. But I don't want the walking to be reflected in an adjustment to my caloric allowance. I know I (supposedly) can still lose weight if I stay in the green zone, but I don't like the numbers changing like that. Can I turn that feature/behavior off somewhere in the settings?
I want to see a true reflection of calories consumed.
And I also want to see how much I've walked.
But I want those two numbers to be separate with no slidey-wiggly-calorie-adjustment thing. (Excuse the use of highly technical language. )
Why would you not eat back your exercise calories?
the only reason to do that is if you've set your calorie manually to reflect a cut from TDEE
MFP works so that you EAT BACK your exercise
with a fitbit you can eat back most / all of them
with the MFP database the best advice is to eat back 50 - 75% and judge based on your weight loss over a couple of months
If you have a goal of 1350 calories that's NEAT - non exercise activity thermogenesis - so if you do nothing extra you eat that.
As soon as you exercise you are burning more than you said you would so you eat it back
because that's how you get a safe and sustainable weight loss over time .. and head into maintenance more smoothly
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you can unsynch your fitbit and just use the fitbit charts if you must0
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Is there a setting where I can track my steps with my FitBit but NOT have those calories added to what I am allowed to eat? I want my daily calorie allowance to reflect ONLY the food I've eaten and not be adjusted according to the data from my FitBit.
IOW, if my daily calorie allowance to lose weight with NO exercise is 1,200 calories per day, and I walk for an hour, then MFP now shows my daily calorie allowance to lose weight at (for example) 1,350 calories. But I don't want the walking to be reflected in an adjustment to my caloric allowance. I know I (supposedly) can still lose weight if I stay in the green zone, but I don't like the numbers changing like that. Can I turn that feature/behavior off somewhere in the settings?
I want to see a true reflection of calories consumed.
And I also want to see how much I've walked.
But I want those two numbers to be separate with no slidey-wiggly-calorie-adjustment thing. (Excuse the use of highly technical language. )
Why would you not eat back your exercise calories?
the only reason to do that is if you've set your calorie manually to reflect a cut from TDEE
MFP works so that you EAT BACK your exercise
with a fitbit you can eat back most / all of them
with the MFP database the best advice is to eat back 50 - 75% and judge based on your weight loss over a couple of months
If you have a goal of 1350 calories that's NEAT - non exercise activity thermogenesis - so if you do nothing extra you eat that.
As soon as you exercise you are burning more than you said you would so you eat it back
because that's how you get a safe and sustainable weight loss over time .. and head into maintenance more smoothly
Thank you! I'm actually wondering how reliable the step adjustments are, especially since it's only tracking from my iPhone and not a Fitbit... Obviously I'm going to walk every single day (unless you're bed ridden you will take some steps) and I don't know if that counts as enough excercise to eat extra calories...0 -
My MFP says you've earned -84 calories from exercise even though I'm exercising (I use the Garmin Vivofit2). The other day it said -240 from exercise. I don't get that. Shouldn't it be +?0
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@lolab983 Since I only use my PC these might not translate/apply to the App.
Here are some links to a few posts that I have found very helpful. Its a lot of information to absorb but should help you on your journey.
http://fit101.org/the-step-by-step-guide-to-losing-weight-with-myfitnesspal/
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-should-i-eat-back-my-exercise-calories/
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/833026/important-posts-to-read/p10
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