Net calories question? Help please!

yep. the 1200 is what you should be hitting, or sometimes more depending on how active you are being. The goal isn't to get below 1200.

Using your given numbers on a website, I calculated your Total Daily Energy Expenditure(TDEE) at about 1790/day. That means, if you aren't doing anything but living and functioning (waking up, cooking, eating, brushing teeth, sitting at work, etc.), you are burning 1790 calories, roughly. To lose 1lb/week, that means eating 3500 calories less/week OR 500 calories less/day than you burn.

1790 (living and functioning) - 500 (needed for 1lb/week) = 1290 (to eat).

Using those same numbers, I calculated your Basal Metabolic Rate(BMR) which is what your body needs at a minimum to support vital functions. The site said you need about 1492 calories (different sites will give you different numbers). That's the minimum you need to keep your body going. Many people do say that going below BMR by a little isn't dangerous or anything. However, it's a good number to keep in your mind. And it will change as you lose or gain weight. I'm not an expert in this, simply relaying information collected from similar discussions.

Without any exercise, you could be eating about 1290 calories each day AND still lose weight.

If you go for a run and burn 500 calories, that would be:

1290 (to lose weight) - 500 (burned while running) = 790 calories

Remember that BMR number of 1492... 790 is significantly below that.

790 calories are all you would be leaving yourself to fuel and feed your body, and its most vital needs.

If you ate back those 500 calories from your burn, you are back at 1290 calories NET. And remember, 1290 is still plenty to lose weight.

Having said that, I always suggest eating a bit more and losing at a slower pace. It's much more sustainable, and I felt better as soon as I did it.

I'm 5ft, how many steps are you doing a day? I normally get over 10k a day, I set mfp to lightly active and to lose 0.5lb a week which gives me 1500 calories per day plus any additional exercise calories I earn. ( I'm 42) I tend to eat around 1400 a day (some days more, others left) My net calories are generally over 1000.
I changed my setting to lightly active as then I don't feel like I'm cheating if I eat more. My official weigh in day is tomorrow but looking back I'm averaging 0.5-1lb loss per week. Sometimes more loss, sometimes gaining. Lost 20lbs since Sept last year. I don't generally eat back all my activity calories.

Edit: just checked my gross calories eaten for the last week - apart from one day I have gone over 1500 every day. not by much but over all the same. Scales will tell me tomorrow.

kksmom1789 wrote: »

Thank you everyone that commented I think I have a better understanding I hope
so if I eat 1200 calories and burn 600 I need to eat an additional 300-450 more calories making it were i eat 50-75% of my exercise calories correct?

you want to net 1200 so if you eat 1200 and burn 600 you want to eat that 600 back if you only eat back 300 you would be in a net of 900 and if you ate back 450 you would be 1050 net,still too low. you could always eat 1800 and burn 600 and you would be at your 1200 calories if that makes it easier to understand.

1) Assuming you are logging what you eat carefully, that is being sure one potion sizes (using a digital kitchen scale and weighing in grams is pretty much the most accurate you can be)
2) Assuming you are currently losing weight
Then
3) Eat all your exercise calories.

If after 2-3 weeks your weight loss has stopped, reversed (more than just when you started eating your exercise calories), or stalled, then adjust how much you eat by eating less by 250 calories or so. 2-3 Weeks evaluate again, repeat as often as necessary. Eventually, and possibly right away, you will lose the fat.

I think MFP should go away with net as it's confusing so many people ! What's the point anyway.

Eat calories left remaining