What the heck is this? Net calories, Net calories under weekly goal, Net Calories over weekly goal

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CaSsCuTeRz
CaSsCuTeRz Posts: 9 Member
edited May 2016 in Food and Nutrition
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Hi Everyone!
I'm really confused as to what this Net Calories and Net Calories under weekly goal thing means.Then I see net Calories over weekly goal (which I assume means all my calories over my goal) I put my MFP goal on 1200 calories a day. Hoping to lose 2lbs a week. But I'm not sure what these numbers mean. How can I tell by looking at the nutrition weekly calorie chart how much I'm supposed to have lost this past week? I've tried Googling it but its all really unclear.

So for example is I ate 3613 calories over my weekly goal then would that mean that ...i only lost one pound this week because all those extra calories equal a pound??
Thanks to anyone that can help!

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  • BlueberryWatermelon
    BlueberryWatermelon Posts: 73 Member
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    "Net Calories" = Calories Eaten - Calories Burned With Exercise
    "Calories" = Calories Eaten

    So, for you, you ate on average 1716 calories per day. But your net calories were 1095 per day. That means you burned an average of 621 calories per day through exercise. (1716-1095=621)

    The easiest way to know if this is accurate is keep at it for a few weeks and weigh yourself to see if you're losing at the expected rate. If you aren't, then make some adjustments. Your calorie burns may be overestimated, for example.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
    edited May 2016
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    It's hard to tell how many pounds you should expect to lose because your goal is 1200. This number can be artificial because it is the minimum number that MFP will give a woman through the guided goals, as far as I know.

    For example, if I require 1900 calories per day on average to maintain my weight. I need to create a deficit of 3500 calories to burn 1 lb of fat, or an average of 500 calories per day

    Lose 0.5 lb per week: 1900 minus 250 cals per day = 1650 cals per day
    Lose 1 lb per week: 1650 - 250 = 1400 cals per day
    Lose 1.5 lb per week: 1400 - 250 = 1150 cals per day. Well, MFP won't go below 1200, so I'll get "1200"
    Lose 2 lbs per week: 1150 - 250 = 900 cals per day. Again, for the same reason, MFP gives me 1200 calories, but if I eat 1200 calories per day I won't lose 2 lbs per week because I'm not creating the deficit required to do so.

    If you want to know how many calories MFP "thinks" you'll lose per week, you should go to your Goals area again and tell me what MFP thinks you need to maintain your weight. Then we can compare that to 1200 calories and determine your predicted weekly loss

    MFP uses "net calories" since a deficit can be created through either eating less calories, or generating additional activity beyond what activity level you told it you were through intentional exercise
  • CaSsCuTeRz
    CaSsCuTeRz Posts: 9 Member
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    Thank you @JaneiR36 ! So I went to the goals section and changed it to maintain my weight at a sedentary level and it says 1870 cal that I can eat. My fit bit claims that my body naturally burns about 2400cal a day.
  • CaSsCuTeRz
    CaSsCuTeRz Posts: 9 Member
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    @BlueberryWatermelon thanks for your input that makes perfect sense now!

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