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Which number is net calories?

Skyler103
Skyler103 Posts: 121 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been on MFP for years, but this is something I never really noticed. On my home page above my news feed, there's a running count of the calories I've used for the day. If you add exercise calories, it keeps track of that too. For example, yesterday it said 1813- 665 exercise calories=1148 net calories.

On my food diary, it said I ate 1813 with 252 calories remaining. I've always thought to get net calories you subtract the number of calories left from how many you actually ate. That would make my net 1561.

I try to leave about half of my exercise calories because I use the number my exercise bike gives me. It's still about 100 cals less than MFP gives me, but it still seems inflated.

I just need to know which of these numbers is correct for my net. I don't want to be eating too little, but I feel like if I ate anymore yesterday, it would have been too much.

Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,987 Member
    Net calories is what is left after subtracting exercise calories from your total intake for the day.
    For example: someone who eats 1500 calories and exercises for 600 calories, has only eaten 900 net calories (= only 900 calories of fuel for being alive and daily activity)
  • Skyler103
    Skyler103 Posts: 121 Member
    Ok thanks! Don't know how I got the other way in my head. Glad to have the confirmation.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,316 Member
    If you've been doing this for a while, your actual average weekly weight loss - averaged over 4-6 weeks (whole menstrual cycle for premenopausal women) is a better guide than a calculator's estimate. If you're losing more than 0.5%-1% of current weight per week (with a bias toward the lower end of that), eat more, unless under close medical supervision (like weekly) to watch for complications, or morbidly obese at the time.
  • Skyler103
    Skyler103 Posts: 121 Member
    I have been doing this a while, but things with my body have been different for about a year. I quit smoking at the end of 2020. Since then, the way MFP works for me isn't the same. I haven't been able to lose as easily as before, so I feel like I'm starting from scratch.

    At first, as expected, I craved sweets. Things I never would have even bought before. I gained about 5 pounds initially. I expected that. It seems that a lot of people report not being able to lose weight for about a year after quitting. I think it has to do with hormones, endorphins, other unknown body chemistry type things and the fact that smoking can raise your heart rate, causing you to burn an extra 100 calories or more per day. The increased hunger hasn't helped. I feel like I'm coming out of that now, thankfully.

    I've managed to keep my weight stable, or even lose a few pounds. Unfortunately, I will then go on vacation and erase all of my gains. Not important, but I've decided when I am home I need to be more aggressive with my calorie deficit in order to make some long term progress. I still want to be in a healthy calorie range, though. I just never noticed that the net calories on my home page were different than what my wrongly perceived net calories were. I don't spend a lot of time on the home page. Usually, I'm looking at my food diary.

    Thanks for the confirmation, and I hope to be able to pin down what the new normal looks like for me in the next few weeks.

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