Net Calories and Exercise - Clarification Needed

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Splinkysgirl2
Splinkysgirl2 Posts: 66
in Health and Weight Loss
So, help me to understand please. When I exercise, should I try to get my Net calories up to my recommended food goal or should I stick with the non-net food goal? I don't want to make my body go in starvation mode if it is Net Calories I should be paying attention to.

My recommended goal is 1320 based on 7 days of 20 minute workouts. I have been allowing myself to eat between 1200 - 1340 calories (1340 was my original goal based on 3 days of 30 minute workouts). I try sticking closer to 1200 because that is the number that I used in the past and it is a "standard recommended" lowest calorie intake. So by staying in this range, I rarely go over my maximum or under my minimum non-net calories and it has worked with losing an average of 1 pound a week.

Can someone please explain the logic of net calories and exercise so I can be better informed about what I am doing?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Replies

  • jessica_mom343
    jessica_mom343 Posts: 61 Member
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    Your gonna get yes and no answers. It's all what fits your body. I eat mine most of the time and I lose. I've lost 22 lbs in 7 weeks. Some people don't lose eating theirs. If you losing while eating them they why stop?? I mean who wants to eat less when they can keep eating and still lose??
  • moushtie
    moushtie Posts: 371 Member
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    The goal that MFP sets is based on what you set your activity level to, not what you say you will workout. As far as I can tell, the exercise goal is completely separate from your calorie goal.

    You should try to eat your calorie goal each day. If you input exercise on top of that, it gives you extra calories, that you may choose to eat or not. There are plenty of differing opinions on exercise calories, and I'm not going to tell you whether to eat them or not.
  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
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    just make sure you always eat the min 1200

    I think you may need to eat more -When you exercise this puts you at a deficit. It seems like a lot of people do better when they eat their recommended allowance PLUS their exercise calories.

    So now we can figure out where your goal should be.
    Go to the tools section and figure out your BMI:

    Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
    With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
    With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
    With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
    and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle building, and reducing fat. This means it is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode).


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo
  • misslexii
    misslexii Posts: 19
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    Well, It really just depends on you.

    When I first started I tracked food intake only so I knew what I consumed a day so I knew what to decrease it by.
    I was only consuming around 1300 a day and maintaining old weight [no exercise]
    I dropped this to 1200 a day [any less is bad] and dropped 2kgs in first week - still no exercise.

    I am only first week into 1200 cals + exercise and am aiming for 1300 cals burnt a week [which was what MFP allocated for me]
    Am hoping to double this next week because I haven't got the results I was expecting.

    I would recommend speaking to your doctor, or to a dietician or even personal trainer because they will be able to give you advice to best suit you. Every person's body works in a different way and I don't feel that I have lost enough to really tell you how you should go about it
  • Splinkysgirl2
    Splinkysgirl2 Posts: 66
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    Your gonna get yes and no answers. It's all what fits your body. I eat mine most of the time and I lose. I've lost 22 lbs in 7 weeks. Some people don't lose eating theirs. If you losing while eating them they why stop?? I mean who wants to eat less when they can keep eating and still lose??

    Thanks to everyone who has responded thus far. This comment makes sense to me. I guess I will have to experiment to see which one will suit my body best. I'm really curious to see what happens when I do eat the exercise calories as I have not yet been courageous enough to try it. Crossing my fingers. :glasses:
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
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    Just make sure you have a good idea exactly how many you're burning. You don't want to think you burned off 300 calories, eat back 300, when you actually might have only burned off 150....

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