calorie deficit

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vanessa194
vanessa194 Posts: 77 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hello all my MFP fam .. Im so confused ive been on here for 25 days now and still dont understand the whole net calories to exercise to daily calorie deficit .. my daily deficit is 660 (dont understand) my daily burn is 1860(sedentary) and calories should be 1200 ( daily) . so my question is i will eat lets say like 900 - 1000 cals then end up working out late and burn like 400-500 cals .. and my net is like under 700 sometimes has even been in the negative .. but i feel like that has put a slow down to my lb lost but im still losing everyweek .. i wonder if i have a higher net i will lose more ... i feel like i just answered myself .. but any insight would be greatly appreciated .. :) thanks everyone for showing me support .
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Replies

  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
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    Its not always about if you will lose more. Its your HEALTH you should be worrying about :flowerforyou:
  • almawr
    almawr Posts: 77
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    bump ! I dont get this either ! x
  • curlyclo
    curlyclo Posts: 243 Member
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    You want to make sure that your net calories equals your goal calories. This means if you burn calories from exercise you should eat something to make up for them! Your calorie deficit (how many calories less you should consume relative to your maintenance amount) is calculated for you already in your daily calorie target.

    Make sense?
  • vanessa194
    vanessa194 Posts: 77 Member
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    well i mean i think im eating enough in the day but then i burn cals at night that make me under my daily cal goals /
  • Elisirmon
    Elisirmon Posts: 273 Member
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    What I do is determine what exercise I am going to do and then mark it down on the calculator and then it gives you your calories intake for the day and it also makes you more motivated to do the workout since you have been eating for it.
  • davidpm
    davidpm Posts: 208 Member
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    Your body needs 1860 calories to maintain itself. If you workout, it needs 500 calories MORE, so 2360 calories. You're trying to run a deficit on 2360 and if you cut it by 1000 to burn 2lbs a week, you should be eating no less than 1360 calories a day AFTER your workout is entered.

    On days that you don't workout, I'd aim for no less than 1200 a day.
  • ktastrophe
    ktastrophe Posts: 1 Member
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    "net" calories just means how many calories you've eaten minus the one's you've burned off through excercise and daily burn. If your net calories are too low--which might be where you're at--your body can go into starvation mode which will keep you from losing weight.
  • curlyclo
    curlyclo Posts: 243 Member
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    well i mean i think im eating enough in the day but then i burn cals at night that make me under my daily cal goals /

    Right. You should be eating these calories back so that at the end of the day your net cal = goal cal.
  • vanessa194
    vanessa194 Posts: 77 Member
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    okay so pretty much my net is suppose to be 1200 .. but if im working out at 7:00 at night .. its hard for me to just put something in my mouth to make up those calories with out feeling gross with myself .
  • danyeljoy
    danyeljoy Posts: 2
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    From the friends I have who have lost upwards of 70 lbs, the key is to take your sedentary caloric burn and give yourself about a 500 deficit, in order to lose weight. That should be your caloric goal each day. Dont go below that. You should really never go below 1200, for anyone, because then you are not eating enough. If your body doesn't have enough calories going in, it will think it's starving and hold onto the calories/fat that it has. So, you are right that it could be impeding your weight loss. If you add exercise to the mix, your net can be below the 1200, or 1360 in your case. You should try to replenish some of those calories burned, if possible. But I dont believe it's necessary. Calories are basically fuel for your body to live. Another factor that is really key is protein. You want to make sure you use it to your advantage, for sure. Where did you find out your caloric burns/deficit numbers? I didn't get mine from here...just knew it from a fitness evaluation I had done. If you would like to know how much protein you should have daily, I can help you out with that. Hope this helped answer some of your questions/concerns. :)
  • Epeaf
    Epeaf Posts: 1
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    If i understand the question properly, then basically you're supposed to eat 1200 calories a day (most people require between 2000-2500 calories a day for normal activity and to maintain their weight), if you exercise on top of that, you're burning extra calories on top of your normal daily activity, which may require more calorie intake. Basically, assuming your normal calorie burn on a normal day is 2000, then you're adding an extra activity to that which burns a further 400-600, meaning you're day's burn is 2400-2600, and you should eat between 1400-1600 in order to stay exact with the diet. But the calorie burn's are only estimates, and if you feel healthy eating 1200 on workout days, then that's fine, I do martial arts, which according to this burns around 1684 for 2 hours, and there's no way I'd be able to eat that much extra.
  • davidpm
    davidpm Posts: 208 Member
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    okay so pretty much my net is suppose to be 1200 .. but if im working out at 7:00 at night .. its hard for me to just put something in my mouth to make up those calories with out feeling gross with myself .

    I'd plan ahead. You typically burn between 200 and 700 calories depending on the length and intensity of your workout. Aim to hit or go over before you work out, then your workout will bring you back even.
  • curlyclo
    curlyclo Posts: 243 Member
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    okay so pretty much my net is suppose to be 1200 .. but if im working out at 7:00 at night .. its hard for me to just put something in my mouth to make up those calories with out feeling gross with myself .

    Understandable. You don't have to make up for ALL of them, but try eating/drinking something small at least, cuz you don't wanna be too far under.
  • curlyclo
    curlyclo Posts: 243 Member
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    okay so pretty much my net is suppose to be 1200 .. but if im working out at 7:00 at night .. its hard for me to just put something in my mouth to make up those calories with out feeling gross with myself .

    I'd plan ahead. You typically burn between 200 and 700 calories depending on the length and intensity of your workout. Aim to hit or go over before you work out, then your workout will bring you back even.

    Good idea!
  • vanessa194
    vanessa194 Posts: 77 Member
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    From the friends I have who have lost upwards of 70 lbs, the key is to take your sedentary caloric burn and give yourself about a 500 deficit, in order to lose weight. That should be your caloric goal each day. Dont go below that. You should really never go below 1200, for anyone, because then you are not eating enough. If your body doesn't have enough calories going in, it will think it's starving and hold onto the calories/fat that it has. So, you are right that it could be impeding your weight loss. If you add exercise to the mix, your net can be below the 1200, or 1360 in your case. You should try to replenish some of those calories burned, if possible. But I dont believe it's necessary. Calories are basically fuel for your body to live. Another factor that is really key is protein. You want to make sure you use it to your advantage, for sure. Where did you find out your caloric burns/deficit numbers? I didn't get mine from here...just knew it from a fitness evaluation I had done. If you would like to know how much protein you should have daily, I can help you out with that. Hope this helped answer some of your questions/concerns. :)
    i click on my goals and it has my deficit there already ..
  • vanessa194
    vanessa194 Posts: 77 Member
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    thanks everyone for the insight im going to have to kick my breakfast and lunch up a notch ..
  • curlyclo
    curlyclo Posts: 243 Member
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    From the friends I have who have lost upwards of 70 lbs, the key is to take your sedentary caloric burn and give yourself about a 500 deficit, in order to lose weight. That should be your caloric goal each day. Dont go below that. You should really never go below 1200, for anyone, because then you are not eating enough. If your body doesn't have enough calories going in, it will think it's starving and hold onto the calories/fat that it has. So, you are right that it could be impeding your weight loss. If you add exercise to the mix, your net can be below the 1200, or 1360 in your case. You should try to replenish some of those calories burned, if possible. But I dont believe it's necessary. Calories are basically fuel for your body to live. Another factor that is really key is protein. You want to make sure you use it to your advantage, for sure. Where did you find out your caloric burns/deficit numbers? I didn't get mine from here...just knew it from a fitness evaluation I had done. If you would like to know how much protein you should have daily, I can help you out with that. Hope this helped answer some of your questions/concerns. :)
    i click on my goals and it has my deficit there already ..

    It calculates it for you automatically and thats how it comes up with your calorie goal.
  • vanessa194
    vanessa194 Posts: 77 Member
    Options
    From the friends I have who have lost upwards of 70 lbs, the key is to take your sedentary caloric burn and give yourself about a 500 deficit, in order to lose weight. That should be your caloric goal each day. Dont go below that. You should really never go below 1200, for anyone, because then you are not eating enough. If your body doesn't have enough calories going in, it will think it's starving and hold onto the calories/fat that it has. So, you are right that it could be impeding your weight loss. If you add exercise to the mix, your net can be below the 1200, or 1360 in your case. You should try to replenish some of those calories burned, if possible. But I dont believe it's necessary. Calories are basically fuel for your body to live. Another factor that is really key is protein. You want to make sure you use it to your advantage, for sure. Where did you find out your caloric burns/deficit numbers? I didn't get mine from here...just knew it from a fitness evaluation I had done. If you would like to know how much protein you should have daily, I can help you out with that. Hope this helped answer some of your questions/concerns. :)
    also i eat tons of protein mainly eggs and chicken most of the day .
  • danyeljoy
    danyeljoy Posts: 2
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    Gotcha...lol. I guess I didn't utilize that part because I already knew what my goals were to be. Haha. & that's great! I love chicken, tuna and eggs to jam pack the protein. Greek yogurt is also a good source of protein and pretty low cal. It's one of my go-to snacks.
  • GibsonDarlin
    GibsonDarlin Posts: 202 Member
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    I'm having the same problem. I eat my 1200 everyday, I do cardio everyday 60 minutes on the elliptical, thats 600+ calories burned. Weight training 3x a week . I eat fairly well, but I need to eat more veggies and my fat, carbs, and protein are well within range. I've only been doing this for 2 months, lost 15 lbs. However 3 weeks ago I showed no weight loss, then the next week 5 lbs lost and this week nothing again. I know that it could be water weight or muscle transformation. I have 65 lbs to lose, so there is fat to burn. Trying to do what I need to make it work!! Since my stomach has shrunk I eat less and fill up quickly. And I drink almost nothing by water!

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