net calories- what does it mean!?

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zane856
zane856 Posts: 60 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

Sorry, this may be a really stupid question, but can someone explain net calories to me? I try to eat between 1000-1200 calories a day (I'm 5'2) and exercise a lot. I add in my exercise sometimes but I never figured out what to do with the net so I ignore it and just aim to eat the 1000-1200 a day. Am I supposed to be eating 1000-1200 with the exercise calories? Any help would be greatly appreciated, I am guessing this is not as complicated as I am making it out to be. Thanks!

Replies

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,658 Member
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    You're supposed to eat your goal calories plus your exercise calories, taking into account that exercise calories may be overstated.

    Net is eaten minus exercise.
  • Nuke_64
    Nuke_64 Posts: 406 Member
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    Even at 5'2 and no exercise, 1200 calories or less is likely too low. Eating that little will cause you to lose more lean body mass (LBM) and could also lead to hair lose, brittle finger nails, and if too low, damage to your organs.

    If you exercise a lot, you definitely need eat back some of your calories. Say you burn 400 calories (hard but within the realm of possibility) your net is now 800 calories. This dangerously low.

    Here's a few more questions that will help you get more specific advise. How are are your? Female? How much are you exercising? What type of excise is it? On average, how much have you been loosing per week?
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    The way MFP is designed you're supposed to eat back your exercise calories. Your net calories are how many calories you've left your body to live off of after exercise, which is supposed to be your daily calorie goal. So if your goal is 1200 and you burn off 300 at the gym, you should eat 1500 so that your net is 1200. If you don't eat your exercise calories back, you could be leaving your body not enough to live off of.

    It gets a bit more complicated when you consider that it's very hard to estimate exercise calories burnt - the MFP database and gym machines usually tend to over estimate, so many people eat back 50-80% of their exercise calories. But the theory is to eat them all back.
  • zane856
    zane856 Posts: 60 Member
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    Thanks guys! I am a female, I exercise 5 days a week (either 3 mile runs, 90 min hot yoga, HIIT classes, more runs, walks, thats about it) but I only log the running since I am keeping track of how long/often I run. Everything else is just bonus calories I guess? Sometimes I lose, sometimes I don't, but it's trending down. I started this in August about 2 months ago and am down 12lbs, but some weeks I am better about being responsible with eating and some I am not. But it sounds like 1200 should be the goal with exercise calories factored in (well... half of them maybe??)
  • Nuke_64
    Nuke_64 Posts: 406 Member
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    At 29, 5'2" and only wanting to lose 13 more lbs, 1200 calories is too low. I should have asked your weight, for this, I'm going to assume you are 13 lbs heavier than the top of normal BMI range for a person 5'2", which is 150lbs.

    According to the scooby calculator (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) your BMR is 1456 calories. BMR is the amount of calories you would need if you were in a coma to maintain your weight. If you put in 3-5 exercises per a week, your daily average caloric intake needs to be 1800. You likely are eating a lot more calories than you think.

    Here's the take away:

    1) 1200 calories of food a day is too low for someone your age, height and weight to lose weight in a healthy manner
    2) Less than 1200 net calories is bad
    3) Eat back exercise calories
    4) Based on the intensity of the exercise, you will have to figure out how many to eat back
    5) You are probably eating more than 1200 calories a day.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    It's just what people say when they are throwing exercise into the mix.

    Eat 1000, work off 100 and you have "net" 900 calories. Eat 1500, work off 500, net 1000. Eat 10,000 calories, work off 300, net 9700.

    I'm not sure if it's a clinical, technical term or a fitness one. The doctor and dietitian never talked to me about Net Calories.
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,647 Member
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    How are you tracking your calories? Do you use a food scale?
  • zane856
    zane856 Posts: 60 Member
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    So if typically people eat more than they think and burn less than the app says, wouldn't it be okay to aim for 1000-1200 a day?? I weigh 2/3 of what I eat but since I'm losing I'm not super meticulous about it. If I stop I will be though !!
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    zane856 wrote: »
    So if typically people eat more than they think and burn less than the app says, wouldn't it be okay to aim for 1000-1200 a day?? I weigh 2/3 of what I eat but since I'm losing I'm not super meticulous about it. If I stop I will be though !!

    No - because "typically" this and "typically" that.

    If you aim for 1,000 calories in food and you are correct, then you aim for 300 calories burned and you are correct....then you are netting 700 calories.

    This may be enough for some small children, but not enough for a full grown adult.

    You have 13 pounds left to goal.........1/2 pound a week loss would be good progress. That's a 250 calorie deficit. That's easy to screw up if you aren't weighing food.

    Also, water weight can mess with the scale. Are you taking measurements too? A higher sodium day = water weight, time of month = water weight, sore muscles = water weight.
  • VykkDraygoVPR
    VykkDraygoVPR Posts: 465 Member
    edited October 2015
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    I'm not sure if it's a clinical, technical term or a fitness one. The doctor and dietitian never talked to me about Net Calories.

    Just an accounting term, really. It just happens to fit the MFP method very well (calories consumed - exercise = net calories consumed). I tend to think of it in terms of gross calories (goal + exercise adjustment = total calories needed), but it doesn't really matter how you think of it. As long as the math is the same.

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