Question for people who are so much better at this then me.

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Ms_Blondie
Ms_Blondie Posts: 26 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, so my calorie intake for one day is supposed to be 2020 calories. As long as I eat 1200 calories in the day, is that alright or should I be eating more then that? And lets say tonight I burn 200 calories exercising, would I have to eat those calories back since technically I'd be under 1200 after burning 200 off. And the 500 calorie deficit, what does that mean? Does it mean I should have 500 calories left over for the day? Sorry for all the questions but I want to know I'm doing this correctly.

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  • chloebelle777
    chloebelle777 Posts: 18
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    i'm with ya ... i'd like to know how this works....
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
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    Your NET calories (on your home page) should be as close to the daily goal MFP set for you as possible.

    Your REMAINING calories (on your homepage and food diary page) should be as close to zero as possible.

    MFP builds in a deficit for you based on the information you gave it: height, weight, lifestyle, goal weight loss, etc.. All you need to do is follow the calorie goals it gives you.
  • lorettatat
    lorettatat Posts: 30
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    bump
  • salmanajmal
    salmanajmal Posts: 93 Member
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    Okay, so my calorie intake for one day is supposed to be 2020 calories. As long as I eat 1200 calories in the day, is that alright or should I be eating more then that? And lets say tonight I burn 200 calories exercising, would I have to eat those calories back since technically I'd be under 1200 after burning 200 off. And the 500 calorie deficit, what does that mean? Does it mean I should have 500 calories left over for the day? Sorry for all the questions but I want to know I'm doing this correctly.

    Daily calorie intake + Exercise Calories = total daily calories intake
    2020 + 200 = 2220

    plz add your exercise calories (in your example, 200) to your calorie intake for one day (which is 2020). this will increase your daily calorie intake to 2220.

    the rest of the process is very simple. you need to burn 3500 calories to reduce your weight by 1 lb. now if you eat 1200 calories, that means a deficit of 1000 calories daily. consequently you will lose 1lb after approximately 3-4 days or you can put it as you will lose 1kg in a week.

    regards
  • Levedi
    Levedi Posts: 290 Member
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    Are the 2020 calories what you need to maintain your current weight or what MFP recommended for you to lose weight at a healthy rate?

    If it's the recommended weight loss amount then you should eat your calories, including the ones you earn exercising. If you try to go 800 calories under the amount MFP recommends you'll be so hungry you'll most likely backlash and binge. You may also push your body into starvation mode. You will lose weight, but at an unhealthy rate that will most likely not allow you to maintain the loss. Not to mention that you need to build your strength as you go through the process of losing fat. That takes food energy too. Don't drop down to 1200 calories until you have a body that can live healthily on that amount - that's the bare minimum, not the goal. Lots of healthy people on here eat more than 1200 calories and always will because of their body size and exercise level.

    Hope that helps. Welcome to MFP!
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    Your NET should be at least 1200. If you eat 2020 calories and burn 500, your NET would be 1520. If you're hungry at that point, eat, but as long as your NET is 1200, that's fine. I try to make sure my net isn't too much higher than 1200 just because I lose weight easier (my base is 1380 on sedentary days, 1580 on days I work/am on my feet 6+ hours) but if I'm hungry, I'll eat it...especially if I'm 20g or more from my protein goal. More protein helps you lose weight better and keeps you fuller. On your homepage, it tells you your net so just watch that and make sure it stays above 1200. As you get closer to goal, you may need to eat more of your exercise calories. Everyone is different, though, so it just depends.
  • Cjbeans
    Cjbeans Posts: 1 Member
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    my fitness pal is estimating how many calories you burn in a day (2020) and then giving you a goal for intake (1200) if you work out and burn say 300 calories then your intake goal will increase by that amount to fuel your body. the difference between your intake and your burn will equal weight loss! hope that helps.
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
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    Mfp does all the math for you, here's how they get there:

    One pound of fat is roughly 3500 calories, so if you want to lose one pound a week, you need to consume 500 calories less than you expend each day. You can calculate your calorie expenditure by finding out your basal metabolic rate, multiplying that by a daily activity modifier and adding in any calories from exercise.

    So basically it amounts to: [exercise] + [living] - [intake] = 500 each day to lose 1 lb per week
  • karenwill2
    karenwill2 Posts: 604 Member
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    it truely does backfire. If you aren't hungry, don't eat them but don't starve yourself. Really, don't. Eat and log and stay under or at your goal. There is no race and more than 2lbs a week probably won't stay off you. The risk of starvation mode is very important to focus on. The last thing you want is your metabolism slowing to a halt.
  • baileylm
    baileylm Posts: 23 Member
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    I'm no expert, but it truly is just matter of simple math. One pound = 3500 calories. In order to lose a pound, you need to burn 3500 more calories than you take in. So, if you end each day having burned 500 more calories than you consumed, you should lose one pound each week. The higher the deficit, the quicker you lose weight. But there are exceptions. If you consume fewer than 1200 calories per day, your body will go into fasting mode which slows your metabolism and makes it harder to lose weight. As for the calories you burn doing exercise, you can either eat more calories or not -- depending on how fast you'd like to lose weight. Personally, I prefer to ignore those extra calories I have burned so I can lose more quickly.
  • Hirundo
    Hirundo Posts: 148 Member
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    My own opinion or, I should say, the way i do it...

    You should keep your Net above 1200 ...
    But for me, what ever my net is at the end of the day i try to eat at least my BMR....

    I found out that if i don't eat at least my BMR, i feel tired, hungry and cranky....

    so after i ate and did my exercise for the day .. my Net calories for the day are always somewhere between 1200 and my BMR

    But that's for me, you gotta find what works best for you ;)
  • kennethmgreen
    kennethmgreen Posts: 1,759 Member
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    site:myfitnesspal.com calorie intake
    http://tinyurl.com/3ebwjb3

    site:myfitnesspal.com calorie deficit
    http://tinyurl.com/4ymshab

    site:myfitnesspal.com net calories
    http://tinyurl.com/3avu8bx

    All of the above can also be done withing the MFP community forum using the Search link which is 184 pixels to the left of the NEW TOPIC button.

    Search works. Use it. Love it.

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