friends not netting 1,200.

honu18
honu18 Posts: 294 Member
edited October 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been trying hard to net 1,200 lately because my weight hasn't moved in awhile and I'm sure my weight loss won't be sustainable if I went back to eating maintenance. However, so many of my friends on MFP are not netting 1,200 a day. I was one of them for awhile, with deficits as great as 300 cals or so. I feel guilty when I see everyone else's diaries and how far under they were if I'm not. Gah. I'm so torn on what to do.

Replies

  • sc1572
    sc1572 Posts: 2,309 Member
    I don't really focus on net calories. I eat if I'm hungry and it's within my calorie limit/. Most days, my net is about 1,000. If I'm hungry, I eat if it's a good time of day, if I'm not, I don't!
  • Riverofbeauty
    Riverofbeauty Posts: 205 Member
    I've moved onto maintenance in the last 2 weeks, and I'm trying to net 1200 calories, but I've started exercising more so sometimes it's less.

    I'm quite small, so my maintenance calories aren't that high, and exercising lowers it quite a bit! But I'm just trying to work out what works best for me right now!
  • Kym1610
    Kym1610 Posts: 328 Member
    I've been trying hard to net 1,200 lately because my weight hasn't moved in awhile and I'm sure my weight loss won't be sustainable if I went back to eating maintenance. However, so many of my friends on MFP are not netting 1,200 a day. I was one of them for awhile, with deficits as great as 300 cals or so. I feel guilty when I see everyone else's diaries and how far under they were if I'm not. Gah. I'm so torn on what to do.

    Everyone needs to find what works for them
  • karenzephyr
    karenzephyr Posts: 33
    Im super confused by this post. My understanding is that under 1200 calories and your body goes into survival mode and starts hoarding fat/ burning muscle and gaining weight. Why would you want to trigger that in your body? Isn't it smarter to stay at 1200 and lose weight slower or am I not understanding something here?
  • honu18
    honu18 Posts: 294 Member
    I don't want to. But I did it for awhile just because I didn't feel the need to eat all of my exercise cals back. I've induced that response and am trying to get out by first trying to net 1,200. All of my friends are not doing that though, and so now I'm sort of feeling bad when I don't have as big of a green number left.
  • Saffyra
    Saffyra Posts: 607 Member
    I think as long as you make sure you are eating more than 50% of your total calories needed to stay alive at your healthy goal weight (BMR) you will be okay. I'm not recommending this and it is not for maintenance but you dont say how few calories you are eating.

    So if you are eating only 500 calories a day and your BMR says you should be eating 1600, you need to step up to the plate and add something to your dinner! (and honestly I didnt see the pun until I'd reread it. Horrible!)

    Here's the article I read on it. It was mainly about starvation mode but I thought it was interesting.
    http://caloriecount.about.com/truth-starvation-mode-ft28742

    I hope you get the info you need.
  • emmab0902
    emmab0902 Posts: 2,338 Member
    I rarely net 1200 as I KNOW FROM MY DOCTOR that my metabolic rate is lower due to meds I am on. And as for the starvation mode, I am not sure how much I buy into that given when my mother and baby died several years ago I barely ate and dropped weight fast. Now I am NOT NOT NOT saying that was good or that I would want to go through that again, but I certainly didn't need to eat more to keep losing.

    Tom Venuto has a great article on the infamous starvation mode too.
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,571 Member
    I rarely net 1200. I'm really close to goal (almost maintenance) and have 1400 to eat before I've done a lick of exercise. I typically burn between 450-1000 at each session and I eat almost all of them back but I don't subtract my existence calories from what my HRM says I burned and I also give myself a little cushion for measuring errors so I try to leave around 200 each day. So even though I'm eating anywhere from 1400-2200 per day it will show my net under 1200.
  • Navmachine
    Navmachine Posts: 63
    im almost always a bit under 1200, so dont feel bad. i've learned to only eat when im genuinely hungry, and wether that falls above or below 1200 calories, is up to my daily grind. good luck to you, and i hope you find what works for you. :)
  • lottycat
    lottycat Posts: 333 Member
    It occaisionally looks from my diary that I've netted less than 1200cals, when that's the case it's usually because I've eaten out, or at a friends house and have most likely underestimated the food that has been prepared for me (what with extra oil, cheese, dressing etc.), so I've left what looks like a large deficit to be on the safe side. Ooooor it's that I think MFP has greatly over estimated the calories I've burned from exercise (I dont have a heart rate monitor, so it's difficult to know how accurate it is). I say try not to worry about your friends diaries and just focus on your own, unless they ask for advice, obviously. x
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