Not to beat this topic to death, but....

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EEpling89
EEpling89 Posts: 152
in Food and Nutrition
Can someone PLEASE tell me...what is the deal with 1200 calories vs. 1200 NET calories?

About a year and a half ago, I lost 50 pounds. I did it by eating 1200 cal a day and NOT eating back my exercise calories, which meant netting about 600-700 each day. I lost weight easily and quickly. However, I was always STARVING and in turn, gained almost all that weight back. This time around, I have been making sure that I'm NETTING 1200 cal per day. I feel GREAT and I'm rarely ever hungry. However, I've lost THREE POUNDS IN ONE MONTH!!! I work out VIGOROUSLY five days a week. Not going to work for this girl.

So I'm wondering...what is the happy medium here? Something has got to give. HELP!!

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  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,021 Member
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    Not only did you gain all the weight back but with less lean muscle, so you ended up with more actual body fat, which is probably the biggest negative going very low calorie. don't complicate it, eat in a deficit and lose the weight gradually and you may not waste the next 2 years yo-yo dieting like you did the last time.....again.
  • kyt1206
    kyt1206 Posts: 101
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    Can someone PLEASE tell me...what is the deal with 1200 calories vs. 1200 NET calories?

    About a year and a half ago, I lost 50 pounds. I did it by eating 1200 cal a day and NOT eating back my exercise calories, which meant netting about 600-700 each day. I lost weight easily and quickly. However, I was always STARVING and in turn, gained almost all that weight back. This time around, I have been making sure that I'm NETTING 1200 cal per day. I feel GREAT and I'm rarely ever hungry. However, I've lost THREE POUNDS IN ONE MONTH!!! I work out VIGOROUSLY five days a week. Not going to work for this girl.

    So I'm wondering...what is the happy medium here? Something has got to give. HELP!!

    The fact that you gained all your weight back by not netting 1200 calories should have tipped you off. Fast and quick doesn't stick.
  • LovingLisa2012
    LovingLisa2012 Posts: 802 Member
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    from the help section on this site

    We set your nutritional target in Net Calories which we define as:

    Calories Consumed (Food) - Calories Burned (Exercise) = Net Calories

    What that means is that if you exercise, you will be able to eat more for that day. For example, if your Net Calorie goal is 2000 calories, one way to meet that goal is to eat 2,500 calories of food, but then burn 500 calories through exercise.

    Think of your Net Calories like a daily budget of calories to spend. You spend them by eating, and you earn more calories to eat by exercising.
  • LovingLisa2012
    LovingLisa2012 Posts: 802 Member
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    want to add .. on weight watchers you earn points to eat ( workouts = more points)
    so this is no different

    calories and points are basically the same thing in the end ..
  • lizard053
    lizard053 Posts: 2,344 Member
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    I hear you! It's confusing at first. Find out what you BMR is, and use that to guide you with how much to eat. You should aim to eat that many calories, minimum.
    I tried losing weight eating only 1200 calories a day many times. Always gained the weight back. I have better perspective on things, now that I've done it twice. Knowing I have a food allergy definitely helps. But sometimes too few calories is worse than too many! You may actually need more than 1200 calories net, because you're active. Vigorous exercise 5 days a week is a lot of exercise!
  • ajd8663
    ajd8663 Posts: 7
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    The body doesn't like change. 3 lbs for the first month is not terrible. You don't want to drop any lower in net calories. Give it time for your body to adjust. Keep your calories the way they are. What is your macronutrient ratio? Be patient. Remember, a healthy life is a marathon, not a sprint.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    The happy balance you're looking for might mean eating even more calories than you're eating now. First, be sure to have your weekly goal set to one pound a week. For the amount you have to lose, that's ideal, and will probably be more than 1200 calories. Then, eat most of your exercise calories. When you get between 10-15 pounds of your goal, switch it up to a half pound a week. And be sure to get more protein than MFP suggests, either by customizing your goals, or just making a point to go over your daily protein goal.

    As it stands now, you're losing a little less than one pound a week, so you've got nothing to lose by eating a little more... except body fat while keeping your muscle mass.
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
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    This time around, I have been making sure that I'm NETTING 1200 cal per day. I feel GREAT and I'm rarely ever hungry. However, I've lost THREE POUNDS IN ONE MONTH!!! I work out VIGOROUSLY five days a week. Not going to work for this girl.

    If you feel great and are slowly but steadily losing 3/4 of a pound a week, I don't see why you're saying it's not working. Losing like a hare didn't work for you last time. Give the tortoise method a chance! It's more likely to be a transformation to a long-term healthy lifestyle instead of just a yo-yo diet.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,021 Member
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    3 lbs in month is fine, look at the big picture.
  • EEpling89
    EEpling89 Posts: 152
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    Thanks, everyone! I needed some "tough love". LorinaLynn, I love what you said about adjusting to lose one pound a week, since that's basically what I'm losing, anyway. I'm going to try that. :)
  • atx7
    atx7 Posts: 41 Member
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    Looking at your diary, you're netting a lot more than 1200 a day.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Thanks, everyone! I needed some "tough love". LorinaLynn, I love what you said about adjusting to lose one pound a week, since that's basically what I'm losing, anyway. I'm going to try that. :)

    That's what made me switch. :smile: I was set to two pounds a week and the only time I ever lost that much was when I had a 48 hour stomach flu. So I figured I might as well eat a bit more to get the same results. And for the next few weeks, I lost a pound and a half a week, then leveled out to the predicted one pound a week.
  • atx7
    atx7 Posts: 41 Member
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    Looking at your diary, you're netting a lot more than 1200 a day.

    Sorry, that's not true...I misread your entries.

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