Weekly net calories

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Littleloz34
Littleloz34 Posts: 41 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I look at my calories over a weekly basis ...

My weekly net is saying 1700 - does that mean I’m having on average around 1700 calories daily ?

My goal
Is 1200 daily .

So my net week would be over - , it’s it 3500 over maintenance to gain a lb ?

Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,195 Member
    edited November 2021
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    Net calories is your calorie intake minus your exercise calories.

    3500 calories above maintenance is around 1lb of fat gain, yes. But what MFP is showing you is how much above your goal you are, and your goal of 1200 per day is not maintenance but weight loss (whatever rate you selected).
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,757 Member
    edited November 2021
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    Your food intake (before additional intake to account for exercise) was set at 1200 per day* probably in order to achieve an overly agressive goal

    * Unless you're very old, very light, very un-tall, very sedentary, or selected a very agressive weight loss goal for your current physical status, or more realistically a combination of the above, then you would probably get a net goal above 1200.

    Getting a net goal of 1200 means MFP set you at minimum intake for health because your requested loss rate was probably too aggressive given the stats I am implicitly bringing up in the discussion above (current age, weight, height, activity level, loss rate)

    Even then, you should be adding the calories that would accrue from any activity and exercise you engage in above the base level of activity you've selected.

    1700 Calories as an average intake, if accurately estimated, will result in weight loss over time for the vast majority of "average" sized individuals.

    Using a weight trend app to observe weight change over time may be beneficial and help one differentiate between shorter term water weight variations and slower longer term fat level changes brought about because of caloric adjustments
  • Littleloz34
    Littleloz34 Posts: 41 Member
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    I’m only 4ft 11

    I don’t understand this net calorie thing ? Mine says 1700 but I haven’t exercised ? I thought that net meant after exercise ?
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
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    Net means 'calories available for you to use'.

    If you exercise you have used some and your net will be 'number left after you burned some'. If you haven't done exercise then it's just the number you ate.
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
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    Maybe you can post a screenshot of what you're looking at? It will be easier to advise.
  • Littleloz34
    Littleloz34 Posts: 41 Member
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    Net calories
  • Littleloz34
    Littleloz34 Posts: 41 Member
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    So does that mean I’m averaging around 1739 calories daily this week ?
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,195 Member
    edited November 2021
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    If you aren't exercising and haven't gotten a calorie adjustment through a fitness tracker: yes.
    Probably more than that, since the last day of the week is incomplete (only 400 calories).

    If you tap on the button 'total' instead of 'net' you'll see your actual calorie intake (without any exercise or calorie adjustment altering the numbers).
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,757 Member
    edited November 2021
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    I'm going to make some random assumptions.

    You chose 2lbs a week as your weight loss goal.
    You chose the option that describes your activity level as sedentary/not very active.
    You got 1200 Cal as your eating goal.

    Your last day is incomplete. If we assume you will end up eating on your last day at about the average of the six previously completed days you will clock in at about 1963 Cal a day on average for the week.

    1963 Calories for a relatively short person as you've described yourself will probably be a deficit level of eating resulting in some degree of fat loss IF you are actually not sedentary and/or you engage in some exercise that you have not explicitly logged and accounted for.

    If, however, the above is a true net intake after all activity has been taken into account, it is less likely that a 1963 intake would represent a significant deficit at your height.
  • Littleloz34
    Littleloz34 Posts: 41 Member
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    Thanks everyone 😊
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,031 Member
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    Littleloz34 wrote: »
    So I look at my calories over a weekly basis ...

    My weekly net is saying 1700 - does that mean I’m having on average around 1700 calories daily ?

    My goal
    Is 1200 daily .

    So my net week would be over - , it’s it 3500 over maintenance to gain a lb ?

    Looking at that screen shot - simple answer - YES

    Yes it means you are having on average over 1700 calories per day.

    You can see several days on the graph well above the goal and that is creating that average.

    Separate question: is 1200 the correct goal?

    It is probably too low - although I dont think the correct goal would be as high as 1700 or 1900 that other posters are suggesting.

    I am taller than you at nearly 5 ft 4 in although also older.

    I put my activity level as lightly active and I lost on 1460.

    if you put your stats into MFP - height, weight, age, gender, estimated activity level and a realistic weight loss rate (try 1lb per week, for most people that is a good start) and see what amount MFP gives you.

    This amount is your net amount - ie if you exercise you also eat back those calories burned (or at least some of them)



  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 980 Member
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    The weekly net figure is an average, over the last 7 days - so, yes, it's saying that that's what you're eating per day, on average. If you were adding exercise to the tracker, it would be calculated as your food intake minus your exercise cals.


    Depending on how much you weigh at the moment, at your height it's quite possible that 1200 cals is correct, simply because MFP won't go any lower. One thing to look at is what your weight is doing / has been doing over a period of 6-8 weeks. At that level of food intake, are you losing weight? If so, carry on as you are. If not, you'd need to reduce your calorie intake.


    I'm not much taller than you and I realised, early on, that if I set the Guided Set Up to 'maintain current weight', my goal was less than 1450. Take 250 cals off that to give a deficit and I was given 1200. It didn't matter what rate of weight loss I selected, I still got 1200 because MFP won't go lower. As I lost weight, the number of cals to maintain my new current weight got smaller. MFP would never give me less than 1200 cals so all that happened was that my deficit, and therefore my rate of weight loss, got smaller. Now that I've reached my goal weight, my maintenance figure is 1350 cals. Thankfully exercise gives me more cals.

    As I don't do the same amount of exercise every day, might have a glass of wine some evenings, eat out every so often etc, I use the weekly net average to check that, on average, I'm eating the number of cals that I should be. It's a very useful tool.

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