Difference between the two

jashaw33
jashaw33 Posts: 7 Member
in Getting Started
Sorry new to this but I was wondering what it means by it saying "total calories and Net calories " if anyone could explain I would really appreciate that . Thank you .

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    MFP gives you your calorie targets based on no exercise...when you exercise you earn additional calories to "eat back"...let's say my calorie target is 1900 calories...that is my net target...without exercise, that would also be my total target...but let's say I go burn 600 calories...now my total calories would be 2,500, but my net would remain 1900 because 2,500 - 600 = 1,900.
  • jashaw33
    jashaw33 Posts: 7 Member
    Oh okay but I personally exercise to loose that weight not just to eat it up again lol . Would you feel that 1700 a day is just to high for intake of calories. Because that's what it's given me and personally I'm worried that it is wrong and it's to high. I thought women were allowed 1500 calories a day so to loose weight I would of thought 1000 calories would be just fine. Thank you again
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    jashaw33 wrote: »
    Oh okay but I personally exercise to loose that weight not just to eat it up again lol . Would you feel that 1700 a day is just to high for intake of calories. Because that's what it's given me and personally I'm worried that it is wrong and it's to high. I thought women were allowed 1500 calories a day so to loose weight I would of thought 1000 calories would be just fine. Thank you again

    I'm a woman and I eat 1700-1800 calories a day to lose weight. Whether or not it's right for you depends on a lot of factors, but I think it's worth a shot to try the amount the system gives you and adjust down only if you need to.
  • mwhalen89
    mwhalen89 Posts: 1 Member
    1000 is exceptionally low, if you are active it would be very difficult to fuel your workouts while only eating 1000 a day. There is a lot of debate about how much people "should" eat, really it comes down to a necessity for personal experience, but I would say try starting with 1500 and adjust from there, also keep in mind on rest days you wont need as much intake as on days you are working out, and that rabbit hole can go even deeper with what kind of nutrients you need on different days but that's not a serious concern if you're still working out the basic caloric intake needs. Best of luck.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    edited December 2016
    jashaw33 wrote: »
    Oh okay but I personally exercise to loose that weight not just to eat it up again lol . Would you feel that 1700 a day is just to high for intake of calories. Because that's what it's given me and personally I'm worried that it is wrong and it's to high. I thought women were allowed 1500 calories a day so to loose weight I would of thought 1000 calories would be just fine. Thank you again

    MFP sets you up to lose weight without exercise by deducting 250 calories off your maintenance for every half pound you choose to lose (so if you chose to lose a pound a week, it's figuring that you burn 2200 calories every day just living and going about your life). When you do exercise, you burn more calories. It's expected that you eat at least a portion of those calories back to fuel your body and keep your deficit consistent.

    The number it gives you is based off your age, height, weight, and the rate you chose to lose at. 1500 is not a one-size-fits-all number, and for some it could lead to them gaining weight if they burn less than that a day (usually, shorter, older, and/or more sedentary women). Eating only 1000 calories a day, unless under medical supervision, is almost never a good idea.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    jashaw33 wrote: »
    Oh okay but I personally exercise to loose that weight not just to eat it up again lol . Would you feel that 1700 a day is just to high for intake of calories. Because that's what it's given me and personally I'm worried that it is wrong and it's to high. I thought women were allowed 1500 calories a day so to loose weight I would of thought 1000 calories would be just fine. Thank you again

    You don't need exercise to "lose that weight"...

    Again, MFP gives you a target based on no exercise...that target is to lose weight...if my target to lose 1 Lb per week is 1,900, MFP is estimating my maintenance to be 2,400 which represents a 500 calorie deficit. If I exercise 600 calories, my new maintenance number would be 3,000 calories...so I lose the same 1 Lb per week eating 2,500 calories per day.

    There is no "women are allowed XXXX calories"...calorie targets are based on your age, sex, stats like height and weight, and activity level. My wife is 5'2" and about 125-130 and a very active person...she'd be about dead on 1,000 calories...she loses weight pretty easily at around 1,800 - 2,000 calories per day given her activity level. She's an avid runner and lifts weights and we have two small boys at home that we have to keep up with.
  • jashaw33
    jashaw33 Posts: 7 Member
    Thank you everyone. I have found it easy to eat around 1000-1100 and still be full but maybe this is why I'm struggling to loose the weight I'm not giving my body enough to eat to burn kinda thing . Thank you so much for your help this is an amazing community with our goals not only to loose weight but to get to know each other and hopefully give encouragement and tips to one another. Thank you again
  • jashaw33
    jashaw33 Posts: 7 Member
    edited December 2016
    I just weighed myself and in one day even with exercises I put 31b on so not happy going to cut my intake by 200 calories and see how it goes. Wish me luck
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    1000-1100 is low. What are your stats? Age, height, weight, sex etc.
    If you aren't losing at that calorie level, I'm guessing you are not actually eating that little. Ignore the idea of being in starvation mode, it isn't real. How are you estimating your calorie intake?

    If MFP gave you 1700, that is where I would start.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    jashaw33 wrote: »
    I just weighed myself and in one day even with exercises I put 31b on so not happy going to cut my intake by 200 calories and see how it goes. Wish me luck

    As in 800 calories? No. Please do not do this.

    Your weight fluctuates throughout the day, as your body is now carrying what you ate and drank since this morning if that's when you weighed yourself. If you don't have one, a food scale will help you out tremendously to see what you're actually eating. If you aren't losing on 1000 calories a day, it's pretty likely that you're eating a lot more than that (which, as we've stated, you should be, but accurate logging helps go a long way).
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    jashaw33 wrote: »
    I just weighed myself and in one day even with exercises I put 31b on so not happy going to cut my intake by 200 calories and see how it goes. Wish me luck

    Well considering it's still the same day, this would tell me that you're weigh yourself at the end of today...which means you're weighing everything you've ingested throughout the day...you do understand that that's going to show up on the scale right?

    Not all weight on the scale is fat...and a days worth of data is meaningless.
  • jashaw33
    jashaw33 Posts: 7 Member
    No Malibu lol I meant 200 of 1700 lol . Today I ate the full 1700 calories it asked for. I'm going to stick close to the 1700 for a week and then see how it's going . I was loosing weight before with the amount I was eating just not what I thought was enough to the amount I was eating. Thanks everyone I think I'm understanding this more ....

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