Confused with net calories?!?!

mimilion1
mimilion1 Posts: 30 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
hi everyone um I need some help with losing weight....

You see I have many questions can you please answer them ://

1. Does the activity level factor in exersise?
2. When I add in exersise to mfp the calories get bigger!?! I wanna lose weight so I wanna eat less?
3. Can you guys help calculate how much calories I should eat to lose weight?? With 45 min of cardio for 6 days? And strength training for 3 days??
4. Even if you can answer the rest I need to find out how many calories to eat? I'm 198 pounds and 6'1 and I'm 18.

Please help guys, I want to lose like 1.5 pounds a week?

Replies

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited August 2015
    1. No - MFP does not factor in exercise because some people can't
    2. That's how MFP works. You eat your exercise calories to get back to your ORIGINAL deficit
    3. Plug your stats in (height, weight, age, gender) and MFP will figure that out for you (before exercise)...........or see *****

    *****TDEE is your current maintenance including exercise

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    For 1 pound a week remove 500 calories a day

    For 1.5 pounds a week remove 750 calories a day

    1.5 pounds a week is pretty aggressive for 29 pounds to go. You want to strength train to keep existing lean muscle.....but not enough fuel makes that hard for your body to do
  • mimilion1
    mimilion1 Posts: 30 Member
    But I'm still confused, my BMR is 1953 and Ik I can't eat under that.

    But how am I gonna lose weight??? With light exercise as my activity level it says I should eat 2000 calories. But what I'm concerned about is my exercise:

    If I burn 500 for example why would I eat that back?
  • AsISmile
    AsISmile Posts: 1,004 Member
    1. Does the activity level factor in exersise?
    No
    2. When I add in exersise to mfp the calories get bigger!?! I wanna lose weight so I wanna eat less?
    MFP calculates the calories in a way that allows you to lose weight without exercising. 1200 calories net is the lowest recommend calorie minimum, since your body still needs nutrition to survive you need to have this as net calories.
    If you eat 1200 calories, but burn 300 in a workout, you only eat 900 calories net. If you don't eat back those exercise calories, you deprive your body from necessary nutrients and could get malnourished.
    3. Can you guys help calculate how much calories I should eat to lose weight?? With 45 min of cardio for 6 days? And strength training for 3 days??
    Use the TDEE calculator at scooby workshop (google it).
    When calculating TDEE your exercise calories for the entire week are included and divided over the week.

    The other option is to set MFP to a 1.5 pounds weekly Weightloss and log your exercise.
    Do eat back your exercise calories.
  • mimilion1
    mimilion1 Posts: 30 Member
    Yeah but my main concern is how much calories should I eat each day. If my BMR is 1953 and I plan to exercise for 6 days 45 min each day?!?!
  • AsISmile
    AsISmile Posts: 1,004 Member
    edited August 2015
    I would suggest you just follow what the TDEE calculator indicates for about a month and see what happends on the scale.
    If your weight goes up in a month, eat less. If it stays the same, eat less. If you loose, well that is good.

    Also, knowing how much the number on the scale changed can help you find your true TDEE (maintenance) calories.
    1 lbs fat gain/loss equals 3500 calories.
    So if you want to loose 1 lbs a week, eat 500 calories under maintenance.
    If you gained two pounds in that month, you were eating 250 calories over maintenance.

    Hope that makes sense and helps you a bit more.

    ETA: in case you didn't notice, the calculator gives you TDEE, bmr and a calorie goal that matches the goal you put in, so based on how much fat you want to loose.
    Second option, eat 500 calories less than your TDEE indicates.
    Exercise is accounted for in TDEE.
    Don't worry about eating under BMR, what do you think those calories you had stored as fat are being used for.
  • mimilion1
    mimilion1 Posts: 30 Member
    Ohhhh it makes a little more sense now...but how does tdee account for exercise?? It only says your activity level: sedentary, moderate, active etc.

    I'm sedentary except for the one hour a day I workout and maybe walking to get water and pee lmaoo.

    Long story short how would I factor in exersise manually to my BMR? I heard you add it but idk?


    Sorry for all the questions I just don't wanna waste time when losing weight it's summer ya know
  • AsISmile
    AsISmile Posts: 1,004 Member
    So MFP does not calculate TDEE.

    To calculate your TDEE you need to use a calculator like the one from scooby workshop.
    In activity level choose the second or third option. (See, activity plus exercise).
    It might actually between those two, since it skips from 1-3 hours light exercise to 3-5 hours moderate exercise.
    I would start with the 1-3 hours one, run with it for a month and see how much you lose. If it is more than 2 lbs eat a bit more to stay at a healthy loss.

    I can't say how to scale exercise calories to your bmr, because then you would be leaving activity out of the equation.
    (Perhaps look up the difference between bmr, tdee and neat (the method mfp uses)).
  • DvlDwnInGA
    DvlDwnInGA Posts: 369 Member
    Try plugging your numbers in here. http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/
  • mimilion1
    mimilion1 Posts: 30 Member
    Thanks that link really helped it said my tdee (with exersise) is 2800. So would eating 2000 calories to lose weight be healthy. To lose weight???
  • mimilion1
    mimilion1 Posts: 30 Member
    It's an 800 calorie deficit if I'm correct?
  • DvlDwnInGA
    DvlDwnInGA Posts: 369 Member
    500 calories will net you a pound a week loss, 750 calorie will net you a 1.5 pound loss. So if your tdee is 2800, and you want to lose 1.5 pound a week, eat 2050 a day.
  • mimilion1
    mimilion1 Posts: 30 Member
    iightt. Thanks so much to everyone, but (sorry) I have a new question??

    So I haven't started working out yet, so now I consume on average 1500 calories a day (I used mfp to help me track). This is below my BMR (and I didnt even know until today)??

    If I start to exersise and eat 2050 would I gain weight, since my body is so used to consuming less than 2000 calories??

    Sorry for all the questions again
  • DvlDwnInGA
    DvlDwnInGA Posts: 369 Member
    Yes you will gain some weight, but it should even out over time. This stuff isn't rocket science, track what you eat for a month, if you are losing at what you are expecting great. If not, eat less/move more, if you are losing to much, eat more.

    Real life data, aka tracking for a month and seeing what happens, will trump any calculator and what it "thinks" you need to eat.

    Things to keep in mind since you haven't started working out yet, is limited weight loss and possible weight gain. When you start working out don't be surprised if you don't lose weight the first month. You body is going to be holding onto water, glycogen, etc to heal your muscles.

    Weight loss is not linear. Trends are what you are looking for. Keep it trending in the right direction and don't panic over small gains from day to day.

    If you don't own a food scale, you are not counting calories. You are just guessing, and setting your calorie needs on a guess is not a model for success.
  • mimilion1
    mimilion1 Posts: 30 Member
    Thanks a lot that put it into perspective..so I'll eat that amount and see what happens. Thanks for all the help. Let's hope these pounds come off
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