Net Calories

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WWhitaker
WWhitaker Posts: 309
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm beginning to get confused with all the calories. I thought you were supposed to eat up to your allotted amount daily and then exercise, but I've now been eating back my calories I burn after I've exercised (which evidently is what you're supposed to do...I still don't understand why?), but now I'm hearing a lot of talk on NET calories and that you're supposed to eat up to 1200 NET calories. With that said, I'm allotted 1,460 calories a day, say I burn 500 calories from running, so that would up the ante to 1,960 calories that I need to consume a day, but what if my net calories are only at 800? Is that bad? I'm so confused now as to what number I need to be eating up to! I was fine trying to eat back my exercise calories, but there have been times I've done so and my NET is lower than 1200, and I've heard people say they've gained weight from not eating up to 1200 NET cals. HELP!!!!
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  • craigh04
    craigh04 Posts: 31 Member
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    bump..
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I'm beginning to get confused with all the calories. I thought you were supposed to eat up to your allotted amount daily and then exercise, but I've now been eating back my calories I burn after I've exercised (which evidently is what you're supposed to do...I still don't understand why?), but now I'm hearing a lot of talk on NET calories and that you're supposed to eat up to 1200 NET calories. With that said, I'm allotted 1,460 calories a day, say I burn 500 calories from running, so that would up the ante to 1,960 calories that I need to consume a day, but what if my net calories are only at 800? Is that bad? I'm so confused now as to what number I need to be eating up to! I was fine trying to eat back my exercise calories, but there have been times I've done so and my NET is lower than 1200, and I've heard people say they've gained weight from not eating up to 1200 NET cals. HELP!!!!

    To lose your goal amount of weight you would eat your 1460 plus what you burn so 1960 if you burn 500. That being said the minimum amount you should eat is 1200 plus the exercise calories so 1700 would be the minimum amount you should eat, but to hit your weekly goal you would eat all 1960.
  • lovinart
    lovinart Posts: 7
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    Never eat less than 1200 - that's the general rule, otherwise you're putting your body into starvation mode: it will learn to maintain at a lower level of calories because it thinks you're starving - that's why people who starve themselves will lose weight, but when they start eating "normally" again, the body has been so use to using less than 1200, that it will start to become excess calories - which is why people gain weight when they once ate less (less than 300 calories) then start eating "normally" again.

    Calories should be secondary to eating whole foods in moderation... everything in moderation... calorie counting can start to become detrimental, esp for people who start to excercise in order to get to eat something unhealthy.
  • littlecaponey2
    littlecaponey2 Posts: 143 Member
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    I think you need to do what is right for you. I never eat my calories back from what I burn, my NET calories are usually low....600-800 range....yesterday they were in the 380's and I am still losing. I have lost 11 pounds in under three weeks. I think you need to listen to your body and do what is right for you. If I see that I stop losing, I will tweak some things, but for now, it is working for me. There is no way I can eay 1800-2000 calories of "clean" food a day, so unless MFP wants me logging McDonald's....what I am doing is working for me :) Good Luck!
  • JennLifts
    JennLifts Posts: 1,913 Member
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    If you eat back your exercise, you'll hit the net for sure. The reason you eat back the exercise, is because the site has already built in a deficit, so if you don't, you're creating an astronomical deficit. Yes, the 800 net isn't good. And yes, if you work out burning 500 then you would eat 1960.
  • WWhitaker
    WWhitaker Posts: 309
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    Gotcha. Thanks! I also read too that NET calories are what your body is actually intaking. So that's why you would need to have a certain amount of NET calories because your body needs a certain amount to keep it's metabolism up, right? Pretty sure I understand that part. But then, what's with the old saying about burning more calories than you consume to lose weight? How would that work if you're supposed to be eating back your exercise calories? Sorry I'm all over the map, I just want to be educated on this and do it right. :)
  • schobert101
    schobert101 Posts: 218 Member
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    Something is wrong with your math. All the net calories are is your total calorie intake minus your exercise calories. If you eat your alloted base calories (1460) plus your exercise calories (say 500 as an example) then your total calories would be 1960 with your net calories 1460. If you do everything exactly as you should then your net calories should equal the same as your alloted base calories, in your case 1460. The reason everyone throws around the 1200 net calorie number is that a lot of people don't eat all their exercise calories and that is supposed to be the minimum that one would net but in your case if you are doing everything by the book you would net around 1460.
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    Honestly, most people suggest that you should get up to 1200 NET and that if you don't then you'll stop losing and blah blah blah.. and to me, thats just plain bull! Not everyone is the same.. not everyone needs to eat the exercise calories, not everyone needs a 1200 calorie net. It's about what is best for you and what works for your body.. and if not eating them works, then so be it.

    Just for an FYI your net is what you've consumed minus your exercise.. so basically if you eat your 1960-500 you should be at 1460 net. If you eat 1700 calories minus your 500 from exercise then you would be at 1200 net.
  • bethrs
    bethrs Posts: 664 Member
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    If you are eating your exercise calories back, you should be over 1200 net calories. Net means food eaten -exercise. There is a huge debate over eating your exercise calories or not, but I have always eaten most of them back and I'm pretty much at my goal weight. (And i've been at this a while). If you are working out your body needs fuel- and your body needs fuel just to survive. If you don't eat enough you can be running on fumes. Now what "enough" means can be different for different folks.
  • bethrs
    bethrs Posts: 664 Member
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    Gotcha. Thanks! I also read too that NET calories are what your body is actually intaking. So that's why you would need to have a certain amount of NET calories because your body needs a certain amount to keep it's metabolism up, right? Pretty sure I understand that part. But then, what's with the old saying about burning more calories than you consume to lose weight? How would that work if you're supposed to be eating back your exercise calories? Sorry I'm all over the map, I just want to be educated on this and do it right. :)
    \

    MFP sets you up with a deficit in your calorie goal- so you are burning more than you eat. If you follow MFP and have a goal to lose, you burn more than you eat every day. The goal is not the same as your BMR- which is the calories you need to maintain your weight or keep yourself alive with no weight change.

    Does that help?
  • lovinart
    lovinart Posts: 7
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    take into account your BMR - what you lose from normally walking around etc... which is usually 1200 or so... depending on what you do for work etc... that's why, when you do excercise - that's adding a deficit. losing weight doesn't mean fast weight loss either.
  • WWhitaker
    WWhitaker Posts: 309
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    Something is wrong with your math. All the net calories are is your total calorie intake minus your exercise calories. If you eat your alloted base calories (1460) plus your exercise calories (say 500 as an example) then your total calories would be 1960 with your net calories 1460. If you do everything exactly as you should then your net calories should equal the same as your alloted base calories, in your case 1460. The reason everyone throws around the 1200 net calorie number is that a lot of people don't eat all their exercise calories and that is supposed to be the minimum that one would net but in your case if you are doing everything by the book you would net around 1460.

    Shocking that my math would be wrong! Haha! :~P
  • giammarcor
    giammarcor Posts: 217 Member
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    I agree with the folks that say eat your calories back. I'm no nutritionist, but everything I've read has said keep your body fed so your metabolism keeps churning and burning. Personally, I pay no attention to calories eaten or calories burned, I only look at that number that tells me how many I have left to hit my goal for the day. I try never to go over that and on occasion I fall slightly under, but for the most part, I'm right near it everyday.
  • WWhitaker
    WWhitaker Posts: 309
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    Gotcha. Thanks! I also read too that NET calories are what your body is actually intaking. So that's why you would need to have a certain amount of NET calories because your body needs a certain amount to keep it's metabolism up, right? Pretty sure I understand that part. But then, what's with the old saying about burning more calories than you consume to lose weight? How would that work if you're supposed to be eating back your exercise calories? Sorry I'm all over the map, I just want to be educated on this and do it right. :)
    \

    MFP sets you up with a deficit in your calorie goal- so you are burning more than you eat. If you follow MFP and have a goal to lose, you burn more than you eat every day. The goal is not the same as your BMR- which is the calories you need to maintain your weight or keep yourself alive with no weight change.

    Does that help?

    I think so. So basically what I need to be doing is eat my daily allotted amount and then when I exercise, however many calories I burn doing that, is how many more I need to eat. Correct? I just want to make sure I'm doing that right.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I think you need to do what is right for you. I never eat my calories back from what I burn, my NET calories are usually low....600-800 range....yesterday they were in the 380's and I am still losing. I have lost 11 pounds in under three weeks. I think you need to listen to your body and do what is right for you. If I see that I stop losing, I will tweak some things, but for now, it is working for me. There is no way I can eay 1800-2000 calories of "clean" food a day, so unless MFP wants me logging McDonald's....what I am doing is working for me :) Good Luck!

    At those net calories much of what you have lost is probably muscle. Having a too large of a deficit, unless you have 100+ lbs to lose, can cause your body to burn muscle instead of fat, to use as fuel.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Gotcha. Thanks! I also read too that NET calories are what your body is actually intaking. So that's why you would need to have a certain amount of NET calories because your body needs a certain amount to keep it's metabolism up, right? Pretty sure I understand that part. But then, what's with the old saying about burning more calories than you consume to lose weight? How would that work if you're supposed to be eating back your exercise calories? Sorry I'm all over the map, I just want to be educated on this and do it right. :)
    \

    MFP sets you up with a deficit in your calorie goal- so you are burning more than you eat. If you follow MFP and have a goal to lose, you burn more than you eat every day. The goal is not the same as your BMR- which is the calories you need to maintain your weight or keep yourself alive with no weight change.

    Does that help?

    I think so. So basically what I need to be doing is eat my daily allotted amount and then when I exercise, however many calories I burn doing that, is how many more I need to eat. Correct? I just want to make sure I'm doing that right.

    Yes, in order to meet your goal, but if you are a few hundred under you will be okay, just stay above 1200 Net to avoid having too large of a caloric deficit.

    The responder you quoted is mistaken on what BMR is. BMR is the amount of calories you would need to maintain your weight if you were in a coma. Your maintenance calories are higher and can be found in your goals tab beside the heading "calories burned from normal daily activity".
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    take into account your BMR - what you lose from normally walking around etc... which is usually 1200 or so... depending on what you do for work etc... that's why, when you do excercise - that's adding a deficit. losing weight doesn't mean fast weight loss either.

    This is wrong. BMR is not the same as maintenance calories. Maintenance can be 300 up to 1000 calories higher than BMR. Go to your goals tab to get your maintenance calories.
  • WWhitaker
    WWhitaker Posts: 309
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    Thanks, everybody!!
  • Dcgfeller
    Dcgfeller Posts: 83
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    The net calories column is all of your calories eaten minus all of the calories you burned exercising for the day, whereas the "goal" column represents the GROSS calories you need to CONSUME to meet your net calorie goal after taking into consideration how much you have burned exercising.

    In your case, 1,460 is your NET calorie goal for the day, this is the number you always want to see in the "net" column of the MFP tables, assuming you answered the questions correctly at the beginning to set your maintenance level of calories.

    If you do not exercise, it is easy to reach this goal, simply eat 1,460 calories and you are done (1,460 eaten - 0 burned = 1,460 net). But lets say you do a workout that burns 500 calories. You still want to end up with that same 1,460 net calories, because that is what will get you to your goal. But the "goal" column (or gross calories consumed) will adjust UP by 500 calories to compensate for that 500 calories that you burned on top of your maintenance level. The equation becomes (1,960 eaten - 500 burned = 1,460 net)

    As for the actual question of "should I eat my exercise calories," most people would point to yes. Remember, your weight loss goals are already built in to the calorie equations that MPF gives you. Think of exercising as allowing yourself the reward of more calories to still meet the same goal. If you REALLLY want a Big Mac today but cant get by on just your 1,460 then go get some exercise and earn it for yourself!
  • bethrs
    bethrs Posts: 664 Member
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    Gotcha. Thanks! I also read too that NET calories are what your body is actually intaking. So that's why you would need to have a certain amount of NET calories because your body needs a certain amount to keep it's metabolism up, right? Pretty sure I understand that part. But then, what's with the old saying about burning more calories than you consume to lose weight? How would that work if you're supposed to be eating back your exercise calories? Sorry I'm all over the map, I just want to be educated on this and do it right. :)
    \

    MFP sets you up with a deficit in your calorie goal- so you are burning more than you eat. If you follow MFP and have a goal to lose, you burn more than you eat every day. The goal is not the same as your BMR- which is the calories you need to maintain your weight or keep yourself alive with no weight change.

    Does that help?

    I think so. So basically what I need to be doing is eat my daily allotted amount and then when I exercise, however many calories I burn doing that, is how many more I need to eat. Correct? I just want to make sure I'm doing that right.

    Yes, in order to meet your goal, but if you are a few hundred under you will be okay, just stay above 1200 Net to avoid having too large of a caloric deficit.

    The responder you quoted is mistaken on what BMR is. BMR is the amount of calories you would need to maintain your weight if you were in a coma. Your maintenance calories are higher and can be found in your goals tab beside the heading "calories burned from normal daily activity".

    He is so right. I goof that up all the time! (thanks for catching me).

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