New to MFP...Need help ASAP!!

init2loseit
init2loseit Posts: 6
edited September 19 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all, as you read I am brand new to MFP. I am on a journey to lose 55 more pounds. I am a little confused about the advice MFP gives for calorie goals. What does net calories mean?:huh: It tells me to eat 1800, but when I add in exercise it goes up to 2200+ calories. Is it wanting me to eat back calories burned through exercise? I have never heard of this in all my research and experience. Doesnt this kinda rule out those cals burned then?
Can some shed some light on this for me please?
Thanks
Kristine

Replies

  • init2loseit
    init2loseit Posts: 6
    Hello all, as you read I am brand new to MFP. I am on a journey to lose 55 more pounds. I am a little confused about the advice MFP gives for calorie goals. What does net calories mean?:huh: It tells me to eat 1800, but when I add in exercise it goes up to 2200+ calories. Is it wanting me to eat back calories burned through exercise? I have never heard of this in all my research and experience. Doesnt this kinda rule out those cals burned then?
    Can some shed some light on this for me please?
    Thanks
    Kristine
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    welcome....you can check out the message boards for all this information...it is a bit to digest and would take a week to retype it but it will help you alot to read it
    good luck
  • josette
    josette Posts: 3
    yeah, for some reason it adds the calories that you burned through exercise to the amount of calories that you can eat that day. i personally never eat back the calories i burned and i also dont know why it lets you. i know this isn't very helpful. sorry!
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition

    Welcome,

    Now please read these excellent and hopefully informative links.:flowerforyou:
  • gabi_ele
    gabi_ele Posts: 460 Member
    The way I understand it, it has a lot to do with loosing healthy and slow. I have been on diets where I lost lots of weight in a short time and then gained it back rapidly a nd then some.
    The Idea is to loose up to 2 punds a week, depending on how much you have to loose. You need to eat 3500 less to loose one pound, so in order to loose 2 pounds you have to eat 7000 calories less a week. Now if you exercise you get more calories because you are working them off, if you didn't eat then you body could go into what is called starvation mode which puts your metabolism in a tailspin. There are a lot of good posts about that subject and I would advise you to read up on it, it really helped me to understand why we keep eaten less and gaining more.
    the one post that helped me a lot is by Banks and is called "newbies read me 2nd edition
    I wish you success:drinker:
    Vivian and me typed at the same time... great minds think alike:bigsmile:
  • Juliebean_1027
    Juliebean_1027 Posts: 713 Member
    Hello all, as you read I am brand new to MFP. I am on a journey to lose 55 more pounds. I am a little confused about the advice MFP gives for calorie goals. What does net calories mean?:huh: It tells me to eat 1800, but when I add in exercise it goes up to 2200+ calories. Is it wanting me to eat back calories burned through exercise? I have never heard of this in all my research and experience. Doesnt this kinda rule out those cals burned then?
    Can some shed some light on this for me please?
    Thanks
    Kristine

    Eating back your exercise calories is quite controversial here on the boards, but I do it and love every second of it! Some people eat their exercise calories, others don't. Eating my exercise calories has helped me to avoid plateauing, and it also helps me on the days when I know that I'm going to go over my calories -- I'll just exercise a little bit longer on those days. Definitely read the link that someone else posted on here for the Newbies. It's wonderful information and should answer any remaining questions that you have.

    Oh, and before I forget, welcome! :flowerforyou:
  • init2loseit
    init2loseit Posts: 6
    Thank you all too much for your input!! I will read all those links.
    I know all to well about losing rapidly and regaining it all back. That is what happened to me 2 years ago. I only ate about 1200-1500 while weighing 240lbs. I also exercised like a mad woman and lost 40lbs only to plateau....or maybe enter starvation mode. I gained it all back over about 6 months. So I set out this time to do it the healthy way this time.


    One more question.....
    Would you consider a stay at home mom sedentary?
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    I'd say that a stay at home mom is probably lightly active. sedentary is for cubicle-dwellers, those that really spend most of their day sitting.

    To chime in about the exercise cals, I eat mine and as you can see I am creeping up on the big 2-0 lost! In seven weeks time.

    So my 2 cents is eat them!!
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