Negative Net Calories
user20012001
Posts: 22 Member
I’m 110 pounds right now and usually have a negative net calorie intake, or about a 200 net calorie weekly average. This is just the difference between my exercise and food intake not including metabolism or anything. Is having the average net calories be negative good? Will it speed weight loss?
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Replies
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It's not clear to me that you're using these terms in a standard way, so I actually don't really understand what you are saying and I expect that might be the case for other posters. You do need what's called a caloric deficit to lose weight, but you can't just ignore your body's regular calorie needs when you calculate that. MFP has a guided setup you can use to figure out how many calories you should be eating per day.
https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided
Unless you are very short, 110 lbs isn't going to be overweight. How tall are you and how much weight do you want to lose? If it is appropriate for you to lose a little bit of weight, it's probably not going to be realistic to expect it to happen quickly.4 -
Im about 5'5, I just use MFP net calories calculations an its usually negative or about 200 calories, sorry if it wasn't clear0
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You are underweight and should not be trying to lose weight.
What is your goal?8 -
user20012001 wrote: »Im about 5'5, I just use MFP net calories calculations an its usually negative or about 200 calories, sorry if it wasn't clear
In that case, your BMI is 18.3 and that suggests that you might actually be underweight already (the normal range is 18.5-24.9). I doubt you really need to be losing weight. Is there a particular reason you think you need to?
Remember you need a certain number of calories to live everyday, just to keep your organs functional, cells replacing themselves, etc. I know how this looks varies a little bit based on whether you use the mobile app or a web browser, but I don't think there are any circumstances where you should you end up at a negative or very low total every single day - it would mean you're starving yourself.
Can you post screenshots or open your diary to public? We might be able to better assist if you do that - right now your diary settings are set to friends only.4 -
Mostly just to be more lean0
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user20012001 wrote: »Mostly just to be more lean
So, this suggests to me that what you might actually want is recomp, which is not weight loss: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat
You need to be eating enough to fuel your body.8 -
user20012001 wrote: »
Your goal is 1270 calories, and that should be your net calories, every day. Your net calories already has a deficit built into it. It's ok to sometimes go below, like you did on Saturday when you hit 1200 calories, but you dangerously under-ate every other day.
For how long have you been undereating like this?5 -
penguinmama87 wrote: »user20012001 wrote: »Mostly just to be more lean
So, this suggests to me that what you might actually want is recomp, which is not weight loss: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat
You need to be eating enough to fuel your body.
Yes, recomp seems to be what you are looking for.
On the screenshots you submitted, the top graph is net calories, so it is subtracting out some sort of activity. You should still be meeting your goal calories on this graph as the MFP goal accounts for a deficit already if you are trying to lose weight and should be set to your TDEE if you are maintaining. The lower graph is just your calorie intake. For this example week you averaged less than 800 calories per day. Without knowing your age, I cannot give a set number but your TDEE (the base number of calories you need to perform normal daily body functions) for your current weight and height is likely somewhere in the 1300-1500 range. Again, that is assuming you maintain your current weight, which as @penguinmama87 noted above, actually falls into the underweight range.
Bottom line, you need to eat more just to support the things your body needs to do every day to keep you alive. If the information you submitted above is accurate, your eating is disordered and you will develop health issues related to it if you don't make some healthy adjustments.4 -
On and off since about may! I took about a month break from tracking during the middle of summer0
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user20012001 wrote: »On and off since about may! I took about a month break from tracking during the middle of summer
You've been *tracking* since May or *undereating* (net calories below 1200) on and off since May?
Are you starting to notice signs of malnutrition like brittle nails/hair, hair loss, menstrual irregularities?
It can take months for this to show up, so not having these symptoms NOW is not a predictor for not getting them soon, and it can then take quite a while to undo the damage.
This person felt fine...until she didn't.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10761904/under-1200-for-weight-loss/p1Emmapatterson1729 wrote: »I see new faces here daily, see new posts about eating low calories daily. If you've read my story, just ignore post. If very short and sedentary ignore my post.
I had congestive heart failure at 25 years old.
I was 5'8" around 135 lbs,
US size 9.
Ate around the 1000 calorie mark (usually coming in around 1100). Some days as low as 800 (just wasn't hungry), once every couple of weeks would binge a little and hit around 1200 calories.
I walked 3-9 miles and did an ab workout daily. After a binge, I would feel guilty and do aerobics. I also played tennis.
I wasn't Karen Carpenter thin.
I gained just over 100 lbs of water weight when my heart failed. Eating too low of calories to replenish the energy spent, caused an unbalance in electrolytes, one chamber of heart swelled, slowed, and I retained 100 lbs of water in a two months time.
Because gain was so fast, I ended up with deformities for life. I had a breast reduction, because they swelled from a perky D cup, to hanging in my lap H cup. Insurance wouldn't cover a tummy tuck or thigh lift, so stuck for life with deformed stomach and thighs (originally stomach hung so low, it would get calloused from hitting the ground when I sat).
It caused other problems as well, had to have gallbladder removed immediately, hormones went crazy, and ended up mal-absorbent.
Just before my heart failed, I felt healthy and strong. I was just trying to lose weight I had gained from a pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage. Almost at goal weight and size when heart failed.
Shocked when I was diagnosed as eating anorexic calorie levels. I couldn't believe I was obese from eating what I thought was healthy eating.
I struggled with depression going from thin and fit to obese, going from active and athletic to immobile, couldn't breathe just walking from bed to toilet. I had never considered myself anorexic, because I was curvy and not rail thin.
Eating too low of calories isn't worth the risks of these consequences. Eating too low of calories, literally destroyed my health and severely worsened my quality of life!5 -
Net calories below 1200 since May but some days I’ll have upwards of 3,000 calories as a cheat day0
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Yes, you need to eat more if your tracking reflects how much you are actually eating. Your body will begin shutting down to conserve energy and you could cause very serious harm to yourself. Undereating is counterproductive because it will likely make you so fatigued that you don't feel like exercising or you can't exercise well when you do - if you're interested in recomp, you will need to have sufficient energy to exercise, and consume enough protein to be able to build muscle. That's going to mean more calories.
If you feel like you're full and that you *can't* eat more, choose things that are dense but not high volume - full fat dairy, nuts and nut butters, increasing the amount of oil you use in cooking, etc. to increase calories. My husband has flirted off and on with being underweight for much of his adult life - he feels satiated very easily and the way he ate growing up was super low fat, so the way he was accustomed to eating just didn't give him enough calories. But you can adjust these things and still eat a very healthy, nutritious diet. Fat is essential.2 -
user20012001 wrote: »Net calories below 1200 since May but some days I’ll have upwards of 3,000 calories as a cheat day
I don't generally like the term cheat day, but are these days planned or unplanned? If you find that they're unplanned or you just have days where you feel like you have to eat anything and everything as soon as possible, that's another sign that the calorie intake you've selected is too low and your body is working hard to try and convince you to eat when food is available.4 -
Usually unplanned it starts good and then I’ll have a big meal and forget it for the rest of the day0
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penguinmama87 wrote: »user20012001 wrote: »Net calories below 1200 since May but some days I’ll have upwards of 3,000 calories as a cheat day
I don't generally like the term cheat day, but are these days planned or unplanned? If you find that they're unplanned or you just have days where you feel like you have to eat anything and everything as soon as possible, that's another sign that the calorie intake you've selected is too low and your body is working hard to try and convince you to eat when food is available.
This is a very important distinction. I also don't really like the term cheat day but I use it sometimes because it's something others seem to understand.
A planned day where you don't track or go out to eat or fill the craving you have been having the last few days is fine. And can help you maintain a healthier eating pattern the rest of the days. This is the pattern I have followed while losing 50 lbs and then maintaining over the past several years. Everyone has cravings. It is a normal thing to want something specific or miss a comfort food that maybe you don't eat regularly. Establishing a healthy relationship with food means figuring out how to eat in a healthy way AND not have things be off limits.
If it is an unplanned day where things go off the rails and you end up at 3000 cals after several days like those you showed above, honey that's a binge. You are in a binge-starvation cycle and that is dangerous. Your body is doing everything it can to let you know you are undereating.2 -
You may want to review your diet and exercise with your primary doctor.
If your tracking is anywhere near accurate enough---and I highly suspect that it IS more than accurate enough-- you're underesting to the point of endangering your health.
And that's NOT how you will build a stronger body.
The whole cheat meal discussion is irrelevant in your case.
You should be eating at maintenance and you're far far from it.
Go have a talk with doc. If you want a more athletic body you actually need to give it resources to build itself.7 -
You are substantially undereating. When you're at zero or under you've exercised off every calorie you've consumed...which is essentially the same thing as not eating at all. You are starving your body. Your net calorie target (goal) is something to be met...that's how goals work. You shouldn't be trying to lose weight anyway, you are underweight, which to me suggests there are other issues here.6
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Sounds like a restrict-binge cycle to me as well. Here are some Eating Disorder resources:
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625071-Eating-Disorder-Resources5 -
Thank you all, my calories tracked should be accurate as I weigh almost all my food down the closest gram or eat pre portioned things, I do definitely have binges some days. I’d like to get more lean and slim down slightly more but haven’t been able to drop weight even in this deficit which is why I posted and wondered if I was misunderstanding the net calories0
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user20012001 wrote: »Thank you all, my calories tracked should be accurate as I weigh almost all my food down the closest gram or eat pre portioned things, I do definitely have binges some days. I’d like to get more lean and slim down slightly more but haven’t been able to drop weight even in this deficit which is why I posted and wondered if I was misunderstanding the net calories
Stress on your body causes water retention which is not the same thing as fat on the scale. Undereating this severely for a long time is definitely stressful. As I and others have mentioned, eating this way is counterproductive and harmful.
I would encourage you to check out the resource page posted by @kshama2001 . Consulting a doctor might also be wise.
I hope you will heed all of the thoughtful advice given on this thread.3 -
you need to lose weight like i need to add another dog to this farm.
I DON'T!
Look, what you WANT to do, even though you don't KNOW it, is called RECOMP. and its going to scare the *kitten* out of you, because its going to require that you EAT.
don't stop reading.
You are also going to take your happy little behind down to a gym (a real gym. with weights.) and talk to a person who works there. You are going to start to pick up heavy things. on a regular basis. And get stronger. And then pick up heavier things. And get even stronger. And do this over and over. And over TIME (because it does NOT give instant results) your body will start to CHANGE. No, you will NOT look like a bodybuilder. NOTHING LIKE THAT. You can not look like that without TRYING to look like that. And this, does not do that. I promise. But it WILL make you LOOK THINNER AND STRONGER. YES! BOTH! AT THE SAME TIME!
that is what recomp does.
BUT YOU HAVE TO EAT.
go eat something. then tomorrow, go to a gym and find a trainer. make a plan with them. and STICK to that plan. EVEN IF IT SCARES YOU.
It will be worth it and it IS what you want. you just dont know it.15 -
From an underweight position slimming down doesn't get accomplished by a deficit and by losing more weight including muscle2
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user20012001 wrote: »Thank you all, my calories tracked should be accurate as I weigh almost all my food down the closest gram or eat pre portioned things, I do definitely have binges some days. I’d like to get more lean and slim down slightly more but haven’t been able to drop weight even in this deficit which is why I posted and wondered if I was misunderstanding the net calories
By "lean and slim", most people mean "toned", fit-looking, athletic-looking, like the fitness influencers photoshop themselves to pretend to look. Is that what you mean?
You're 5'5" and female. I'm 5'5" and female. I don't know your frame size, but mine is fairly narrow, so I'm best in the lower part of the normal BMI range. At 110, you're in the underweight BMI range. I've never weighed 110, though I did weigh 113 briefly when I was younger, after being ill. It was extremely thin, for me. (I now weigh in the 120s.)
There is a super-lean, strong, slim woman here on MFP who is also 5'5", every abdominal muscle visible, and the rest of her body to match, about the minimum of body fat that's compatible with health for a woman. She weighs in the 150s. I'm not saying that to suggest you necessarily want that style of body (I wouldn't mind, but I'm not willing to do the patient hard work to get there).
What I'm saying is that "slim and lean", with the usual definition of those terms, is not a function of a particular number on the scale. It's a function of being strong, with some muscle (whatever amount you personally like), and a healthy minimum of overlying fat so that the muscle shows in just the way you prefer.
At an underweight BMI, losing more fat will not lead to "lean and slim" by that usual definition. I hate to put it this baldly, but it will lead to looking stringy and bony, and is likely to lead to poorer health. It's not a good plan for health or appearance.
My advice would be to see your doctor, discuss your weight management plans with him or her, and ask for a referral to a registered dietitian to help you.
You may wish to pursue recomposition, but it seems likely to me that a very slow weight *gain* would be a better idea (you probably don't have enough body fat to power the recomp well), using a very healthy, nutritious eating style, with plenty of protein, but also healthy fats, and lots of varied, colorful veggies and fruits.
Alongside that - alongside eating maintenance calories (not net negative calories with periodic binges!) or slightly above maintenance, follow a good progressive strength training program patiently.
It will take time, but good nutrition, *adequate calories*, progressive strength training, and patience are the route to an attractive "slim and lean".
You can find suggested strength programs here:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
Please eat more routinely, and fuel yourself properly without compensatory ultra-high cheat days. Please.9 -
Update. Thank you everyone for the advice, support, and answers. I have an appointment for next week with a therapist who will helpfully recommend a good nutritionist as well. Now hopefully I start a muscle gain journey instead of continuing weight loss. I will try to change my mindset around food and body image, thank you all. Any advice for upcoming journey is greatly appreciated!17
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user20012001 wrote: »Update. Thank you everyone for the advice, support, and answers. I have an appointment for next week with a therapist who will helpfully recommend a good nutritionist as well. Now hopefully I start a muscle gain journey instead of continuing weight loss. I will try to change my mindset around food and body image, thank you all. Any advice for upcoming journey is greatly appreciated!
well done!2 -
user20012001 wrote: »Update. Thank you everyone for the advice, support, and answers. I have an appointment for next week with a therapist who will helpfully recommend a good nutritionist as well. Now hopefully I start a muscle gain journey instead of continuing weight loss. I will try to change my mindset around food and body image, thank you all. Any advice for upcoming journey is greatly appreciated!
Great plan, good show: Wishing you all the best, going forward on this more positive track!1 -
Great plan, good show: Wishing you all the best, going forward on this more positive track!
Thanks! I ate about 2,200 calories yesterday and burned about 1,100. I know now that’s still maybe not ideal but I more than doubled my usual intake. It was hard to have that much food but I feel good today. Less gym more nutrition today hopefully
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If anyone is looking at this that’s impressionable please don’t do this I just got out of months off eating disorder treatment11
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user20012001 wrote: »If anyone is looking at this that’s impressionable please don’t do this I just got out of months off eating disorder treatment
I'm so very glad to hear that you sought out treatment! It is generous of you to come back to let us know how things have gone with you, and to caution others. Wishing you good health and positive outcomes as you go forward.6
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