Net calories... what does it mean?

phantomess_jess089 wrote: »

Hi Guys

I have no idea what net calories mean,
So far i have eaten 1002 calories, i have burnt off 652 calories so i have 850 calories remaining but i have a net 350 calories?

Do i need to eat the net calories (350) or do i need to eat the remaining calories (850)?

i'm aiming to loosing 2lb a week and have lost 10lb since starting on 15/05/2016
i'm eating 1200 calories a day and will burn off anything between 450 to 750 calories a day (excluding one day at the weekend)

MFP gave you a calorie goal BEFORE exercise. So when you do exercise, you are making the deficit bigger. The problem with a large deficit is your body will have a more difficult time fueling existing lean muscle mass.

Fast weight loss helps you lose "weight".....moderate paced weight loss helps you lower your body fat %.

Pound per week goals
75+ lbs set to lose 2 lb range
Between 40 - 75 lbs set to lose 1.5 lb range
Between 25-40 lbs set to lose 1 lb range
Between 15-25 lbs set to lose 1 -.50 lb range
Less than 15 lbs set to lose 0.5 lbs range

Net = eaten - burned from exercise.

You are supposed to eat the exercise calories. Your net has to be 1200 every day.

If you burn 450 to 750 you should eat 1650 to 1950 every day for your net to be 1200.

Other posters are correct. I will simplify it more. Eat your required 1200 calories and eat some of your exercise calories back. So if you burned 652 calories and you ate 1/2 back you would eat 1200 plus 325 more totaling 1525.

phantomess_jess089 wrote: »

rachelelser wrote: »

okay so you started at 1200 minus 1002 (that you ate) plus 652 (from exercise)- meaning of your original 1200 you have 350 left to eat. On top of that you 'bought' 652 calories with your workout, totaling 850 calories. If you want you can eat that addition 652 because you earned it on top of your normal amount, or if you want to lose weight faster don't eat them. I would caution on over exercising without replenishing your energy, although 652 for me is just about 30 minute on the elliptical so you are probably okay.

Does that help clear things up?

Also, congrats on your 10lbs!

I think it does lol i'm no good at maths! haha, So i can eat the remain 850 calories if i want too? or do i just need to eat 350?

haha sorry i'm so confused

and thank you so much, i've still got a long way to go!

You ate 1002. You need 198 more calories to =1200. Then you exercised for "652"......so adjust this number for inflation......1/2 * 652 = 326.

or ...........Eat 1200 + 326 = 1526 total calories. To make this easier OVERRIDE your estimated calorie burn. Then MFP will do the math for you.

rachelelser wrote: »

okay so you started at 1200 minus 1002 (that you ate) plus 652 (from exercise)- meaning of your original 1200 you have 350 left to eat. On top of that you 'bought' 652 calories with your workout, totaling 850 calories. If you want you can eat that addition 652 because you earned it on top of your normal amount, or if you want to lose weight faster don't eat them. I would caution on over exercising without replenishing your energy, although 652 for me is just about 30 minute on the elliptical so you are probably okay.

Does that help clear things up?

Also, congrats on your 10lbs!

^^ This isn't exactly right. The 350 net that you're getting is MFP saying you've only eaten 350 calories worth of fuel for your normal day because you exercised almost 1000 off, so you should eat another 850 to get to 1200 for the day (not including exercise). I also wouldn't tell someone who only has 350 net calories for the day to not eat them if you want to lose faster....not the best idea.

Remember, this is how MFP works. You tell it your stats and how much you want to lose, then the app spits out an answer....assuming you're doing no exercise.

Let's take a hypothetical person that maintains on 2000 cals a day and wants to lose 1lb per week.

2000 main - 500cals = 1500 cals per day to lose 1lb per week.

Now, hypothetical person adds in a run that burns 350 calories.

2000 maintenance + 350 exercise = 2350 new maintenance calories.

2350 new maintenance - 500cals = 1850 cals per day to lose 1lb per week.

One thing to remember is that if you're using the MFP database to estimate your exercise cals, it can be over exaggerated so many members recommend eating back ~50%-75% of exercise calories to start off and then adjust from there.