We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Net Calories

naturalbeautii
naturalbeautii Posts: 72 Member
edited December 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Can someone explain net calories and please let know what I am doing wrong? Because this chart doesn't look good.

Replies

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,887 Member
    Looks like you aren't eating back your exercise calories and are about 500 cal/day under your goal. How many exercise calories are you getting and how are you tracking them?
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    No, you're massively under eating. You should eat your calorie goal PLUS exercise cals (or at least a portion of them)
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited January 2019
    Are you adding exercise manually, or do you have a tracker adding calories?

    My Fitness Pal gave you a calorie deficit before deliberate exercise. When you log exercise (or a synced tracker does it for you) - you should be eating at least a portion of those calories back.

    Ideally you should be able to eat 100% of exercise calories back and lose at the rate you set up. However, exercise calories are estimates, food logging is an estimate, and activity level is a range, etc.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1

    Edited to add - there are trackers that have know issues (bugs). You may have to disconnect and then reconnect.
  • naturalbeautii
    naturalbeautii Posts: 72 Member
    I input my exercise on MFP. I go to gym 4x times a week and workout 45 mins to 1 hour. My exercise calories might be average of 500 or 600.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    naturalbeautii wrote: »
    I input my exercise on MFP. I go to gym 4x times a week and workout 45 mins to 1 hour. My exercise calories might be average of 500 or 600.

    Then eat your goal + 250-300 calories every time you work out. After a time, you might find you are losing faster than expected. Then eat more than 50% of exercise calories. If after a time, you find you are losing slower than expected. Then eat less than 50% of exercise calories. Some forms of exercise are harder to estimate than others.
  • naturalbeautii
    naturalbeautii Posts: 72 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    No, you're massively under eating. You should eat your calorie goal PLUS exercise cals (or at least a portion of them)

    Ok...when I look at my net calories on MFP, I need to hit that goal of 1,350 everyday and on days I exercise I can eat back 50 or 100% of my exercise calories once I hit MFP goal. I just want make sure I understand this stuff completely.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,887 Member
    TeaBea wrote: »
    naturalbeautii wrote: »
    I input my exercise on MFP. I go to gym 4x times a week and workout 45 mins to 1 hour. My exercise calories might be average of 500 or 600.

    Then eat your goal + 250-300 calories every time you work out. After a time, you might find you are losing faster than expected. Then eat more than 50% of exercise calories. If after a time, you find you are losing slower than expected. Then eat less than 50% of exercise calories. Some forms of exercise are harder to estimate than others.

    Yes, this. 500-600 sounds like a lot for 45-60 min of exercise, so I'd eat back 50% to start. I'd also make sure you hit or come close to your goal all days.

    So on exercise days you'd be eating around 1600-1650.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories