Net Calories Help....

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themsbauer
themsbauer Posts: 38 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey guys! I am just curious what net calories should be at? After eating today and working out (burned 755 cal) my net calories are at about 250. I am not sure if this is bad or not but I dont see the point in eating back exercise calories that I worked so hard to burn off!

I have heard some people say that it dosent metter what my net calories are...and then some people say that it does. Please help?

Replies

  • atjays
    atjays Posts: 798 Member
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    I'd eat back at least half of your exercise calories. You won't be as hungry and you need those nutrients to repair the muscles from exercise. I usually try to eat all of mine, works for me
  • yluuuu
    yluuuu Posts: 21 Member
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    I don't always eat all of my exercise calories, but I always eat most of them.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    You are correct that there is a lot of debate about this.

    In general, MFP has already given you a deficit when they recommended calories. If you've burned off 750 and have 250 net, you're already eating under the goal they recommended before taking exercise into account at all.

    The benefits of eating exercise calories include:
    a) Maintaining the deficit set by the site. In general, the site won't let you go over 2 lbs/week loss. More than that is not usually considered healthy, except for the extremely obese (which, pardon me, your picture certainly doesn't look like you're in.)
    b) Making it easier to stick with an eating plan long-term. I looked at your diary, and it looks like this to me -- thursday/friday extremely under, saturday a bit under, sunday/monday one restaurant meal and over (was that all? or did it just upset you to track the rest?), then today a large deficit again. Going back a few more weeks (as you didn't track for a while) to the end of February, I see the same under/over/over pattern. I also see your posts and logging are very intermittent. This makes it seem (REALLY not trying to be snarky here, and I could be wrong -- you could be tracking elsewhere) as if you start out with brilliant intentions, and after a bit the caloric deficit catches up with you and you crash out and give up. Giving yourself more slack (by allowing yourself to eat those calories that you EARNED by your hard work) will probably make it easier to stick with it. After all, who loses more weight? The person who patiently loses half a pound per week on a consistent basis, or the person who loses 2 lbs one week and gains it back the next?

    Again, if my post is completely off the mark please forgive me. But many of my friends in real life do this, and it makes me feel sad for them that they aren't experiencing the success they want.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    Lol...

    Whats your BMR?
  • themsbauer
    themsbauer Posts: 38 Member
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    You are correct that there is a lot of debate about this.

    In general, MFP has already given you a deficit when they recommended calories. If you've burned off 750 and have 250 net, you're already eating under the goal they recommended before taking exercise into account at all.

    The benefits of eating exercise calories include:
    a) Maintaining the deficit set by the site. In general, the site won't let you go over 2 lbs/week loss. More than that is not usually considered healthy, except for the extremely obese (which, pardon me, your picture certainly doesn't look like you're in.)
    b) Making it easier to stick with an eating plan long-term. I looked at your diary, and it looks like this to me -- thursday/friday extremely under, saturday a bit under, sunday/monday one restaurant meal and over (was that all? or did it just upset you to track the rest?), then today a large deficit again. Going back a few more weeks (as you didn't track for a while) to the end of February, I see the same under/over/over pattern. I also see your posts and logging are very intermittent. This makes it seem (REALLY not trying to be snarky here, and I could be wrong -- you could be tracking elsewhere) as if you start out with brilliant intentions, and after a bit the caloric deficit catches up with you and you crash out and give up. Giving yourself more slack (by allowing yourself to eat those calories that you EARNED by your hard work) will probably make it easier to stick with it. After all, who loses more weight? The person who patiently loses half a pound per week on a consistent basis, or the person who loses 2 lbs one week and gains it back the next?

    Again, if my post is completely off the mark please forgive me. But many of my friends in real life do this, and it makes me feel sad for them that they aren't experiencing the success they want.

    You werent snarky at all. I do notice that I am up and down with my food. Some days it hit exacly my goal, some days I am way under and some I am over. And yes for that day with the restaraunt meal...that was all I had. And I have slacked off with the tracking in the past couple of months. I only recently got back into tracking everyday. Obiously with all my over under I prolly wont lose any weight at all. All I can do is workout my hardest and get advise from lovely people such as yourself. Any tips and advice is always appreciated. :)
  • Pepper2185
    Pepper2185 Posts: 994 Member
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    If you are netting 250 calories in a day, that means you have given your body 250 calories to exist on that day.

    Do you think your body can sustain itself and all of its functions on 250 calories per day?
  • dovesgate
    dovesgate Posts: 894 Member
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    It really isn't necessary to work yourself so hard you only have 250 net calories. It can be counterproductive to not eat enough then eat barely enough.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

    The sexiest women here are healthy, fit, AND eat their food. Not all of us can lose at a pace of 2lbs per week. If you only want to lose 40ish pounds you probably need to only lose 1lb per week. No, it isn't fast but it is safer than what you are currently doing. You're also not going to develop an ED or regain the weight you lose if you do this moderately.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits
  • misskerouac
    misskerouac Posts: 2,242 Member
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    I suggest eating some back, As mentioned above you want to make this a lifestyle not a "diet", something you can sustain and not feel deprived. If you don't want to eat more quantity-wise look at eating more calorie dense foods (but healthy; avocados, nut butters) so that your net doesn't end up being so low.
  • stefkhan
    stefkhan Posts: 27 Member
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    I think it really depends on the person, but I try not eat back the calories from exercise. I actually wish MFP didn't net the calories.
  • Newfiedan
    Newfiedan Posts: 1,517 Member
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    The whole net calories you see on your home page is basically food-exercise cals burnt. When you joined mfp and put in your info and goals it spit out a cal allowance, what mfp does (and I wish they would make this clearer) is that the cal deficit required to shed that weight is built into your daily allowance without any exercise at all. So right off the get go you do not need to workout to shed that weight this is why you get to eat back the exercise cals and still shed that weight. If you are obese then yes you can get away with not eating them back safely, the problem comes in when you are leaner, the body will tend to shed just as much lean mass as fat in a severe cal deficit, it will not do so right away but it will occur. I had this happen to me when I hit 10% bodyfat, the point at which that happens will vary greatly based on the person of course. But that is how mfp is setup and the reasoning behind why you get to eat them back and still shed the fat. By eating them back you are giving your body fuel to feed the muscles for recovery as well burn some fat, so eating them back if you ask me is a good thing for sure.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Hey guys! I am just curious what net calories should be at? After eating today and working out (burned 755 cal) my net calories are at about 250. I am not sure if this is bad or not but I dont see the point in eating back exercise calories that I worked so hard to burn off!

    I have heard some people say that it dosent metter what my net calories are...and then some people say that it does. Please help?

    MFP - Tools - BMR Calc

    You should NET at your BMR or slightly above.

    Unless you want to slow your metabolism down.

    If the daily goal is below your BMR, you selected too aggressive a weekly weight loss goal, unknowingly.

    Change that at MFP - Settings - Diet/Fitness Profile to 1lb wk.

    You can still lose more than 1 lb, by increasing your non-exercise daily activity. That which the deficit is taking from already.

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