Calories...

[limewave]

Can someone help me out, I cannot figure out where the calculation for "Net Calories" comes from. I've tried googling it, and the explanations I've read I do not understand. I am TERRIBLE at math. What is the basic calculation?

I see the "net calories" on my dailyplate page, but I don't get where it comes from.

[Veronica]

It's the calories you end up with after you factor in the calories you burned through physical activity. I think.

It's not a number that I personally would want to use since I don't think any of the numbers you get from HRM or internet calculators are very accurate. Each human is SO different and we all respond differently to different activities.

But the important thing is to find what works for you.

Veronica

[Catrin]

It's the calories you end up with after you factor in the calories you burned through physical activity. I think.

It's not a number that I personally would want to use since I don't think any of the numbers you get from HRM or internet calculators are very accurate. Each human is SO different and we all respond differently to different activities.

But the important thing is to find what works for you.

Veronica

This was how my nutritionist explained it the other day. I do pay attention to it. It isn't exact, but it gives me a ballpark figure. I have to use some kind of metric,'especially on those days when I exercise or ride for multiple hours.

[limewave]

Okay, so if I'm understanding this correctly:

RMR is approx 1650 calories.
80 min run + 40 min yoga = 1000 calories burned
TOTAL 2650
I ate 1800 worth of food
Net calories are: 2650-1800 = 850

So, to reach the recommended 1200 Net calorie mark I should have eaten 1450 calories instead?

That doesn't seem to make sense to me. I'm showing my poor math skills.

*I agree that HRM overestimate calories burned, so I go with approx 80% of what my garmin tells me for calories burned during a workout.

[jessmarimba]

I don't think it takes RMR into account - that would affect what you want your net calorie goal to be (someone with a higher RMR would need a higher net calorie count, I think). Using your example, it would be

Eat 1800 calories
subract 1000 for yoga and running
___________
Net calories - 800

You would want to eat an addition 400 calories for the net to equal 1200.

[OakLeaf]

That's how I understood it, too.

[Catrin]

Jessmarimba described it the way my nutritionist did, and I like Limewave's approach of assuming 80% of the calories my HRM shows from any particular session. I wish I could afford a power meter, but that would be just another toy to obsess over... If I were younger and interested in racing then perhaps, but neither condition applies