NET calories

EmbraceTheJourney2012 · January 2012

calories in - calories out = NET calories right? Right.

I set my own calories at 1800, I am currently 5'3" and 241 lbs. and I exercise...

Now I'm looking at some people's journal (hence coming on here wondering) and they have their NET calories at say 800, isn't that so unhealthy? I mean aren't the "standard" minimum for calories in general 1200 calories? So your NET must meet the 1200 calories correct? Why are there so many people on here eating UNDER that number? Am I truly missing something.

I make sure I don't net under 1300 and I try not to net over 2000. It makes me think I'm completely missing something when I see people netting at 800, 500, 200, etc...I mean that's EXTREME WEIGHT LOSS, and EXTREMELY EXTREMELY dangerous...you are NOT losing fat but LOSING the muscles as well, and not to mention the body WILL go into starvation mode and eventually NOT lose a thing with those numbers...

I don't know, but I know that stats like what I've been seeing is so unhealthy and makes me concerned...it did not come ON overnight and it won't go off overnight, this is NOT a race with a "finish line" but life and a "journey"....

Riverofbeauty · January 2012

Yeah, I hate seeing people net really low calories! I make sure to eat back my exercise calories (although I am on maintenance now).

1200 is just a number though and is not exactly "starvation mode" for every single person, some may be higher or lower - if there is such a thing. I think the main thing is that it is hard to get all the nutrients your body needs on such a low calorie day. I understand if there's one low net day every now and then, but I'm not comfortable with it being an everyday thing!

I also think a lot of people don't think about their net cals, and more about their intake, which can sometimes be where they go wrong. I have seen a lot of posts saying they upped their cals and are losing at a faster rate. I think it's all about working it out yourself, and what works for you. Personally I try to eat at least maintenance, and not net below my BMR (although 90% of the time I net maintenance).

schnarfo · January 2012

yup your net cals shouldnt be lower than 1200 ideally if you want to lose weight and about 1500 net if your maintaining (obviously depending on your activity level) in the long term if you continually dip below these on a daily basis your going to be putting yourself at risk and Im not a doctor or a nutritionist but I guess you would risk lowering your metabolism and putting your body into a starvation mode where you would store fat and not burn it like you would want to.

EmbraceTheJourney2012 · January 2012

I was just wondering because I've been seeing a lot of people sooo under and it does concern me but then again I'm not a doctor or a nutritionist, just a food addict that is learning this journey every step of the way as I go too. :happy:

courtgosvener · January 2012

I am so totally confused by this myself. LOL I hear people say "don't eat your exercise calories" and then others that say "eat it" or "eat some" and now that I have my body bugg I can tell what I burn all day every day. Some days 2400 if I am totally being lazy and up to 3000 if I am totally killing it working out. So I adjust to have a 1000 calorie deficit. I just want to lose 2 lbs a week. That is healthy and won't make me insanely starving with hunger and want to binge eat a bag of cookies. I have friends close to my weight 265 to about 200-220 that start with the 1200 calorie base to eat daily. I am like, "you are nuts" . I have a girl I "liked" on facebook who was my starting weight 287 and has lost 118 lbs in 1 year and she is currently 162 and told me last night that she eats 1300 and doesn't adjust to add workout calories. So she burns about 400 calories a day exercising (she shares the burn every day) So she is barely eating her RMR and not eating any extra. Well the thing is she has lost the weight! That's what I want to do..crave to do....IT'S JUST soooooooo confusing to me!!! I don't want to do something wrong and eat too much, but then again if science says you have a deficit of 1000 calories a day for 7 days = 2 lbs then that is what is gonna work!

amonkey9 · January 2012

your not missing anything. I'm one of those with extremely low net calories. It happenened before I joined MFP. I over-corrected my eating habits and now I am struggling to get back up to a healthy number (harder than it looks), I feel like I'm stuffing my face. Do what your doing, it's a lot better than what I am currently doing $:\$

rmsturdy · January 2012

I sometimes go under 1200 but it's because I worked out for a long time. Especially my swim workouts. I find I eat about the same whether I workout or not so I feel like my overall count for the week evens out. But in general, I try to net above 1200.

Pepper2185 · January 2012

You are correct

musicgirl88 · January 2012

I don't eat back my exercise calories, so I never net high. I don't see the point in eating back your exercise calories because when I tried it I gained weight...and I even only ate back half just in case I was over-estimating before I got my HRM. It didn't work for me. People just gotta do what works for them. Weight loss isn't cut and dry when it comes to methods. Yes the basic is calories in/calories out, but how you use that varies from person to person.

PetitePerfection · January 2012

I have a hard time netting above 1200 most days. Sometimes I net much above that, as my goal is 1700. But other days (like yesterday) I net WAY below 1200. Not purposefully, just because I had an awesome workout! I would have had to be constantly shoving my face with food yesterday to net 1200, because I burned 1350!!! The way I see it, as long as you're not consistently significantly under or over, you're fine.

NET calories

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