Net Calories Confusion

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Caution:  

This post may only make sense if you are familiar with the LoseIt app.  

If you are familiar with LoseIt, be sure to look at this app on your phone while reading this post.

In weight loss, I am a BIG believer in logging calories for food and exercise.  This is why I love the LoseIt app.  I feel like a broken record when I talk about this way to log, but have I mentioned how amazing it is?!?!

You would think that logging this way would be pretty straight forward, but the whole "net calories" thing can be kind of confusing.  I hope to help alleviate some of this confusion by answering some frequently asked questions.  Let's hope I don't send you into a deeper state of confusion...

What are net calories?

Net Calories = calories consumed (food/drink) - calories burned (exercise)

For example, I consumed 1434 calories today and exercised 303 calories (1434-303=1131 net calories).

What is the difference between net calories and budgeted calories?

Budgeted calories are how many calories LoseIt recommends in order to lose weight.  Net calories are how many calories you actually consumed minus the calories you burned exercising.

For example:

My budgeted calories:  1224
My net calories = 1131 (because I ate 1434 calories and burned 303)

Should I eat my burned (exercise) calories?

If you log your exercise you are welcome to eat the extra calories you've earned but do not have to.

Just be sure that your net calories do not exceed your budgeted calories.

For example, today my net calories were 1131.  Even though I ate 1434 calories, I am still under my budgeted calories because I burned 303 calories exercising.

If my net calories are equal to my budgeted calories, will I still lose weight?

Yes, you should still lose weight if your net calories and budgeted calories are the same.

When you input your goals, LoseIt already figured a deficit.  So your listed budgeted calories already subtracted the calories needed in order to lose weight.  

For example, my budgeted calories are 1224 to lose weight.  I already know the amount of calories my body needs to maintain weight (around 1500), so LoseIt already made these calculations for weight loss.  If I eat my exercise calories, I am still at a deficit because LoseIt already subtracted the calories I needed to lose weight.    

These calculations are based on age, height, weight, and goals.  

(If you are still reading I am impressed.)

Will I lose weight faster if my net calories are less than my budgeted calories?

Yes, but be sure to never eat less than 1200 budgeted calories.

For example, if I ate my budgeted 1224 calories and burned 500 calories, my net calories would be 724.  Try not to go below 500 net calories or above your budgeted calories for weight loss.  If your daily net calories are above your budgeted calories, you will gain weight.

In other words, (on the LoseIt program) when you exercise you should be able to eat more.  Even if you are trying to lose weight!  But if you choose not to eat your exercise calories, you will lose weight faster.

For me, it is almost impossible to only eat my budgeted calories because with exercise, I end up very hungry.  So I usually end up eating at least half of my exercise calories.

(If you are still reading I am VERY impressed.)

When you say to never go below 1200 calories, does this mean budgeted or net? 

I mean budgeted.  Going below 1200 net calories is still considered nutritious and adequate.

When budgeted caloric intake falls below 1200  (for women) and 1500 (for men), the body reacts as if it is starving and tries to conserve energy.  It will lower your metabolism, conserve calories and fat, and you will not burn calories as quickly.  This is what is called "starvation mode."  It is also extremely difficult to follow a balanced diet and obtain the nutrients that are needed by the body to stay strong, energetic and prevent disease.  This is why is is recommended to never consume less than 1200 or 1500 calories.

(If you are still reading, I am shocked.)

Bottom Line:  Your net caloric daily goal should be between 
500 and your budgeted calories (usually 1200-1500 calories for women) for weight loss.  

For example, my net caloric daily goal:
500-1224 calories

Holy Cow, all this budgeted and net calories talk makes me hungry!  Who knows if I actually cleared anything up.  Let me know if you need more clarification and I can do my best to find an answer that actually makes sense.

Purging the Camera

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Cheerleading has come to an end for the season.

Conference came and went

Our Conference Crepes include:  blueberry pie filling, bananas, lemon juice, powdered sugar, and whipped cream.

The kids earned tokens for listening, taking notes, and answering Dad and Mom's questions.

With lots of junk food to enjoy!

Kinlee loves to help Averie practice the piano

My freezer jam apprentice: 

Four eyes never looked so cute.  Averie's new specs:

Weekly Challenge: Log and Report

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If your weight is not budging one bit  OR you are slowly gaining weight

but you feel like you are doing all. you. can. 

(constantly exercising, reducing your calories, and eating healthy), 

then it is probably time to take a good, long, hard look at your weekly caloric intake.

This happened to me recently and what I found was surprising.

I wanted to skim some fat off my outer layer, my summer pants are a bit tight and I can tell I still have fat to lose since having a baby.

I love the LOSEIT app, but haven't been very consistent with logging on the weekend.  I discovered that this was where I was sabotaging myself.  I finally logged E-VER-Y-THING I ate for an entire week.  Come to find out, even though I was eating very healthy 80% of the time and burning between 2000-2500 calories with exercise, my calories were not "under budget" for the week.  

Last week I was only "under budget" 38 calories.  Which explains why I've struggled to lose even one pound for a long time.  Remember this important factor:

In order to lose 1 pound of fat, we need to be 3000 calories "under budget."

3000 calories=1 pound body fat

It confirmed to me of how easy it can be to gain weight.  Just a few calories here or there can really add up over time.  This can still happen if you are eating healthy and abstaining from sugar, simple carbohydrates, and fattening foods.  

It also made me realize that there is always a REASON why we are not losing the fat, that it really does come down to calories in and calories out for weight loss.  There's nothing magic about weight loss, there isn't a certain food that will help you to lose weight or any other type of method.  

The solution is simple (if we are honest with ourselves).    

And that leads into this week's challenge:

1)  Log your exercise and food for 7 days.  Be VERY specific.

2)  Report to me your percentage of nutrients, percentage of Protein, Carbohydrate, and Fat. (Click on "My Day")

3)  Report "This Week's Calories." It will tell you if you are under or over budget for the week.

4) Log and Report even if you do not want to lose fat, but are interested in maintaining or even gaining.  It will let you know if you are on track.  This is excellent for pregnant and nursing mothers as well. 

I want us all to be honest about what we are consuming.  If you need to log "1 cup Dreyers Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Icecream" (like I did), then so be it!  

Just. Be. Honest.  There is no shame in honesty.

My favorite LOSEIT app features:

It tells you how many calories you specifically need.

It will tell you if you are consuming the correct amount of nutrients (goal should be 20% Protein, 50% Carbohydrate, and less than 30% Fat)

You can scan just about every food you are eating other than fruits and vegetables.

It does all the math for you, gone are the days of logging with a paper and pencil. 

Stamp of Approval

Pin It You may remember my last post with this same title, where I shared a few recipes that earned my stamp of approval.  They are healthy (or healthier), easy, fast, and inexpensive. You can feel good about feeding these meals to your family, they are well-balanced and your kids will eat them because they taste good.  You would be surprised with all the recipes out there in the blogosphere, how hard it is to find recipes that fit this standard.

Today's post is more about being health-ier.  My kids absolutely love what they call "white sauce noodles."  Who doesn't love Fettuccine Alfredo?  Buttery, cheesy, and oh-so-artery clogging.  My go to recipe is delicious, but not at all nutritious.  So I was thrilled when I came across this lighter version.  And believe it or not, it is just as good.  I make a few additions to spruce things up:

Add a pinch of nutmeg (nutmeg is wonderful in Alfredo sauce)
Substitute whole wheat pasta noodles for uncooked fettuccine pasta.  My kids like penne or smaller noodles.
Add some pan-seared or grilled chicken.
I've tried adding vegetables, but they are better left as a side dish.

www.cookingclassy.com

My kids also love stuffed shells or manicotti, they literally cheer when they find out that is what we are having for dinner.  I like this recipe for one reason:  It has spinach.  And spinach is good for you.  Cottage cheese is also good for you, and so are eggs.  For some reason this recipe is more delicious than any other stuffed shell I have tried.  Serve these with a nice side salad and green vegetable and you are golden!  

www.71toes.com

And of course I must add one of my recipes!  They for sure meet the criteria:

{chicken enchilada casserole}

How'd She Do It? Nichole's Weight Loss Journey

Pin It It is my baby sister's birthday day.  I say baby because she truly was my baby sister while I lived at home.  When I left for college, she was 9 years old, and just 11 when I got married.  I hope she doesn't mind that word, I mean it in an endearing way.  And everyone knows I love babies!  haha

But she is definitely not a baby now, she is a wife and mother with a career, she is a grown-up in every sense of the word.  I had always wondered what it would be like to be peers with my sister, and had looked forward to this season of life with her.  It seemed like it would take forever until the day that we were both mothers with a lot in common, but that day is here...and it makes me happy.

Happy birthday sis!  This year is a milestone, you are just as close to 30 as you are 20.  wink, wink.  I sure do Love You!  And am so very proud of all that you have accomplished, both emotionally and physically. 

A while back, I asked Nichole to share her weight loss success story.  She lost those extra pounds the right way, through a lifestyle change of eating right and exercise.  No gimmicks or fads, but a lot of hard work and determination, with a positive support system.  I decided to wait until her birthday to post.  A little gift from me to make her day extra special.  My desire is that her story may reach someone out there in this blogging world, and motivate us all to make a change. 

Here is her story, in her own words:

When I was asked to tell my success story by my sister, I thought, “Have I really lost that much weight? Do I really look that good?” And then I remembered, Suzette is a nutritionist and has always been in fabulous shape, so when she says I look good, I know I look good! (haha) So here it goes I guess. 

Since I was a child, I have always had those cheeks everyone seemed to want to kiss or grab, and even though I didn’t mind the attention, I hated that kind of attention. I put pressure on myself and was never mistreated or made fun of for my curves by my peers or family, but it was my own self destruction about my weight.

This is my mom and I when I was in Elementary. Look at those cheeks:

I have always been an “athletic” type, so-to-say, playing volleyball and basketball as a young teen, and then competitive cheer leading and dancing as a teen into a young adult. With that, I was extremely active 7 days a week for majority of my growing up years and ate what I wanted when I pleased (mostly junk food and candy because of my sweet tooth) while working out constantly because of all my extracurricular activities and didn’t really have a care in the world when it came to being healthy. I got the active part, but never really understood the living healthy part.

Not only did I have the every day struggle of being a young girl in such a pressured society, but I had my own insecurities to consume my thoughts and distract me from just being a young, beautiful, carefree girl. With life came many obstacles even at such a young age, and at the age of 15, I underwent trauma that no young girl should have to go through. With that trauma, came many more insecurities, and even with support and love of family and friends, I still struggled to find my own self confidence. I ended up battling with a life changing illness of anorexia.

My struggle with anorexia went on for 2 years, off and on, and in that time, I managed to keep myself on a strict diet of water, water, water, lots of working out, and occasional binging of fast food and candy bars at lunchtime in front of my friends. At my worst, I weighed 101 pounds. Yes, I know you are all thinking how sad this story has turned into, but there really is a wonderful moral to all of this.

With my illness, came a crazy rollercoaster of emotions, change, and hurt, yet somehow with all of that, I found strength in myself and in living the right way, which is HEALTHY. Even though my metabolism has really never been the same and I have been battling with my crazy thoughts ever since, I was determined to work hard, look inside myself, and make the most of life. I needed to make a serious change for the better and even though it took me this long, 7 years, I feel that it is BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

It is definitely easier said than done, as we all know, but once I set my mind to it and had unconditional support and back bone of my incredible husband and insanely sweet little baby boy, I felt like I could conquer anything. I had to sincerely look deep inside myself to find the true me and who I wanted to be, which is a healthy, fit, happy, self motivated, funny woman. Then it was only time that would help heal my wounds to become the new me.
SO LONG ANOREXIA, HELLO NEW MAMA!

This is me and my siblings where I weighed a whopping 170 lbs at 5’5”:

 



THis is me pre-pregnancy weighing 166 pounds.

I delivered my beautiful baby boy, Devin, last February 23nd 2012. Prior to my pregnancy, I gained 35 pounds since high school, and with the help of Weight Watchers, I then lost 20 of it. With the stress of trying to get pregnant and running into complications, I gained the weight I had lost back very easily. I am not making excuses, it is just what happened.  Then to top it off, amidst the HUGE miracle and tremendous blessing of becoming pregnant, I then had to go on bed rest at 20 weeks! Life sure wasn’t going to give me a break!

I obviously had to sit on my butt A LOT and gained 50 pounds with my pregnancy. At the end of my term at 34 weeks, I weighed 215 lbs!! No one believes me, but I promise when you look at this picture, you will believe! (haha) The birth of my son was incredible and SO WORTH IT, but I’m not going to lie when I say, I WAS READY TO GET ACTIVE! My husband and Dr had to literally force me to stay down for the 6 weeks post-baby because I was so determined to get my butt in gear finally. As soon as I was given the OK, I kicked it in gear and kept moving. With being a new mother, it was easier to keep moving, but what was a difficult change was the healthy eating.

This was me at my worst at 215 lbs the day I delivered Devin:

And another horrible angle, but any angle was bad at this point (haha):

Most moms choose to breastfeed to help get some weight off, but I didn’t get that choice, so I knew I had to push even harder to get the initial baby weight off. So I started small and diligent and worked my way to longer and harder workouts. I am sure if you are a mother, it is easy to relate to trying to find the time to get in a daily workout, so we make excuses, I have been there! But what I had to do was plan, plan, plan! A great plan is key to success, and I am sure my sister will agree.

I sat down, discussed with my husband, and planned a time 2 days each weeknight after work to take an hour for myself and use Jillian Michael's workout DVDs and Yoga DVDs. We wrote it down to solidify my plan, and I started small. Even though it was only 2 days a week, it was something and it was doable. When we plan and set goals too high, in my own experience, we don’t accomplish what goals we set. So start somewhere small with your workouts and don’t overdue it. I found success more in the small things for a longer period of time then big tasks that become too overwhelming.

Jillian Michael's ended up being my best friend. She was there in the toughest of times and the best of times. For the next 3 months, she was my greatest advocate besides my family. For 3 months straight, I accomplished my goal of 2 workouts a week, no candy or chocolate , no soda, and no eating after 8 pm. It was a tall order and some days were tougher than others, but I did it and that was an instant boost to my confidence in the weight loss process. Just that little boost in moral made things all the more conceivable.

After 3 months, I weighed 180 lbs and lost 40 of the 50 pounds I gained:

Eating healthy was my biggest challenge by far. Working out is always a task, but choosing the right things to eat is a different ballpark for me. I made the ultimate decision of no candy and no soda because of my love of sweets, but also because I wanted to see if I really needed those treats to satisfy my craving. Turns out, I don’t!  I also was told long ago by my sister that eating after 8 pm is not a wise idea. I decided to put that to the test as well and see if it really makes that much of a difference. I had my doubts at the beginning, as it was EXTREMELY tough to squeeze in dinner before 8 with a family and being a working mom, but I did it and I saw big results. Turns out she was right all along!

As winter came to a close, and summer came quickly, I stepped up my workouts to 3 times a week and at least one of the workouts running outdoors. I have never enjoyed running, but I have also never really been in great shape to run. After one workout with my husband running outdoors, I was hooked. With the great weather, and my baby boy loving his stroller, to get an even better workout, I would push the stroller while running. It sure looks easy, but it is anything but! It is such a great workout for all parts of the body, even the mind. I found myself to think clearer and focus on the end goal of being a M.I.L.F. (haha) It also helped by making it a family activity every week, which eventually led us to run outside twice a week. Running was KEY to my success and finding peace in running was an even greater success.

With the warm weather and beautiful sunshine, I spent majority of my time outdoors last summer. We had a wonderful neighborhood with great friends which made it all the better to stay active. With bikini season around the corner, I found a new self-confidence I had never had. So I set a goal that if I got below my pre-pregnancy weight, I could flaunt it in a new bikini. So sure enough, with more hard work, running, eating whole grains, drinking 48 oz of water a day, and plenty of fruits and vegetables at every meal and snack, within another 3 months, I had lost all my pre-baby weight and then some. I weighed 160 lbs and proud of it!

Look at that tiny waist:

After 6 straight months of losing the weight, eating fruits, grains, veggies, oatmeal, skim milk, and lean meats, I treated myself to soda, fries, and a burger. I’ll admit, it tasted SO greasy and the soda was way too sweet for my taste buds. I never thought I would see the day, but I did and it felt so good. Even though I had met my goal of loosing all the baby weight, I found myself wanting to challenge myself even more.

Soon enough, I started a challenge called “Feeling Great in 8” with my co-workers since I knew that the task of losing 30 more pounds would be an even greater challenge, so I would need all the more support. It was a great start to motivate me and stay on the path to being at my ultimate weight goal of 130 pounds.

The challenge included very strict rules of no eating after 8 pm, drinking 64 oz of water per day, being active for anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes per day, eating at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day, at least 10 “good foods” each day, (whole wheat, skim milk, white cheese, tuna, chicken, fruits & veggies, spinach, almonds, etc.) at least 15 minutes of personal time each day, and journal writing every day. It went by a point system as well and for every “bad food” eaten, you would deduct 2 points per food (not serving.) I also made sure to weigh in only once a week on Saturday mornings. It sounds like a challenge doesn’t it? (haha)

It was one of the toughest regimens I have ever followed for 8 straight weeks! It was so incredible to have such great support and having each other would help us to push one another. I highly recommend following strict rules while teaming up with a friend. I had success and you can too! At the end of the 8 week challenge, I lost another 15 pounds of my 30 lb goal, weighing in at 145 pounds. That was the smallest I had weighed in 6 years and the best part is how I felt, HEALTHY and STRONG.

After all was said and done, a year sped by and before I knew it, I had accomplished an incredible amount. I had not only given life to a son, I had given life to myself. Loosing weight was more than just physical, it was emotional. At the end of a crazy year, with a wedding, a sudden move, husband getting laid off, drastic health scares, and my son’s 1st birthday, I am currently healthy, happy, fit, and emotionally stronger than ever, weighing in at 135 pounds. Life is always a working progress, so BRING IT ON I say.

 

My sister was beautiful before, her curves are to die for.  But now she is seriously a force to be reckoned with...ONE HOT MAMA!!!