Net Calories

It's actually very simple. When you pick you weight goal, you choose a net calories per day goal that will achieve your weight loss goals. I wanted to lose a pound a week, so I chose a number of calories per day that would achieve that. Now, I can either just eat those calories, or eat those calories plus however many I burn when I work out. It's actually the perfect incentive to work out. If I want those extra calories for snacks and a cocktail, I must work for it. I love it!

MFP automatically calculates a calorie deficit to help you achieve your goals. For example, if you want to lose 1lb per week then MFP has already calculated the 500 calorie deficit you need in your calorie number. If you burned 400 calories from exercise that would put you at a 900 calorie deficit. You don't have to eat all of your exercise calories back but as a general rule you do not want to go under 1200 NET calories. Doing this consistently will put your body into starvation mode and cause it to hang onto fat as fuel.

Also, remember everyone is diiferent. I work out at a pretty intense level 5 times a week. I wasn't losing on 1200 calories a day because my body wasn't getting the fuel it needed to support my workouts. Once I upped my calorie goal I started losing again. You can also search exercise calories on the forum thread. There are a ton of posts. Hope this helps!

You aren't "undoing" anything. Think of it this way: You go on a trip every day that is 100 miles round trip and you use 3 gallons of gas for each trip. This is your normal trip with no extra mileage. Then your trip increases and it is now 300 miles round trip....so to have the extra energy to keep going the car needs more fuel. Food is our fuel. Its the same thing with a fire. The hotter it burns the more wood you have to keep adding to keep it burning. If you don't add the fuel it will soon fizzle out. Eat your exercise calories. If you don't your metabolism will eventually slow down. Some disagree but I have had 3 doctors and a nutritionist tell me that it is important to eat your exercise calories. When I wasn't eating them I plateaued for 3 weeks. As soon as I started eating them again I went back to losing 1-2 pounds a week.

Many of us on here want to lose weight, so it feels like eating exercise calories would be slowing us down. But, exercise is not just there to help us lose weight.

It contributes to a sense of well-being and happiness. I can be stress relief. It can tone and strengthen muscles that need to be strengthened. Have you ever seen a skinny person who had a lot of cellulite or fat? Yeah. It's because they eat very little and do not exercise. It's not just the key to being skinny. It's the key to being thin and looking good thin.