Net and Gross Calories Burned

Clarisse_McClellan
Clarisse_McClellan Posts: 44 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I apologize if this has been discussed before. If it has, just link me to the thread, and I'll shut up and read. I was reading on my calorie calculator that I should determine my net calories burned if I'm trying to lose weight. It linked me to a page, explaining the difference between net and gross calories burned.

Basically, gross calories burned is every calorie you use during an exercise, including the calories you'd have burned by just existing. Net calories is just the calories you use to perform a given exercise. The theory is that, if you've already figured your TDEE and are using it to determine how many calories you should eat, you've already accounted for those calories and you just need to know the net calories you burned doing an exercise. It wasn't a huge difference (only 50 calories), and it's very tempting to say I'm not going to worry about 50 calories. But it makes sense. I just thought I'd see what others thought of this idea.

Net Versus Gross Calories Burned

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,092 Member
    If you've figured your TDEE, that already includes your exercise calories, on an averaged basis. (The article doesn't say anything about TDEE, as far as I could see)

    If you let MFP figure your calorie goal, and followed the instructions properly, it estimated your NEAT (calorie burn not including exercise), and does expect you to add exercise calories and eat those. It's correct that ideally you'd add your net exercise calories, not your gross exercise calories.

    It's only going to be 50 calories if you're a 30 year old, 125 lb, 5'5" tall woman (or some other kind of person with an RMR of 1500 calories). RMR estimates vary with size and age. You'd have to estimate your RMR and use the formulas to figure it for yourself.

    For people doing normal amounts of intentional exercise, the difference isn't very big, within the scope for error in our overall eating/exercise estimates. (Most exercise machines estimate calories with questionable accuracy in the first place.) I'd maybe think about calculating it for very long but not very intense exercise, if at all, because it would be a higher percentage of that kind of exercise.

    If you use a good fitness tracker sync-ed properly to MFP, the who question becomes much less relevant.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Some practical examples based on my hourly difference of about 100 cals between net and gross and using the MyFitnessPal method of accounting for exercise....

    My indoor exercise bike gives my power output so I can work out my net calories very accurately.

    My outdoor cycling apps/HRM give me gross calories but they under-estimate for me pretty consistently and their gross calorie estimates are actually closer to my actual net cals expended.

    Circuit training entry on here I feel is rather generous (MyFitnessPal really should take 1 MET off their estimates) - I tend to take 100 cals off the estimate for an hour of training.

    Strength training on here for me I feel is rather a low estimate for the amount of weight I shift in a workout so I'm happy to use the gross estimate to help correct that.


    For long duration exercise the difference can become significant in percentage (for low burn rate activities) and actual terms, for short duration exercise it's pretty trivial in context of the array of BMR, activity multiplier, food logging and exercise logging estimates.

    To be honest unless someone is into double figures hours of exercise a week the difference between net and gross exercise calories isn't likely to be a major reason for someone not getting the expected weight loss results over time.
  • Clarisse_McClellan
    Clarisse_McClellan Posts: 44 Member
    edited May 2019
    Ann - I'm one of those people who use MFP for the calorie logging. I don't go from their numbers, because I just don't trust them. I use a TDEE calculator to figure out my TDEE before working out and go from there. Because my amount of exercise varies quite a bit from week to week. Because I'm a freak. :D

    I must be a freak, because my blood pressure is so low. Calorie trackers are always way off for me, too.
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