So I use livestrong.com to keep track of my calories. I thought I've been doing pretty good lately. Then I see this "show net calories" button. Holy guacamole! That green line is ALL over the place. So I hurried to google real fast to find out what it was, but I'm still kind of confused.

Is it the calories your body has used for fuel, or the calories you've burned, or what?

Should it be all over the place, or should it look a little more organised? It's a bit confusing.

Let me simplify my question: In order to continue losing weight, will I have to know what my net calories are, and how they're used? Or is it something I really don't have to worry about as long as I'm staying under or close to my calorie limit a day and exercising?

To show you guys what's going on I'll provide the actual chart:


Should it look like this? Is it like that because I weigh and record daily? (lol if it is i'm sorry, i'm just silly)


also, keep in mind when it says i'm in the 900s it's because they give me like 200 extra calories when i exercise, i just usually don't use them. at least i think that's what that's from.

I think net calories is calories consumed - calories burned. So, for example, you eat 1700 calories one day and work out, burning 400 calories. Your net calories for the day would be 1300.

Most folks here just track the calories consumed and ignore the net calorie stuff, I think.

I have no idea if the bouncing is good or not. I guess it depends? Many people like to cycle their calories, so I guess that could be seen as cycling, in a way.

@ Bac0s, that's what I thought but I just wanted to be sure. I thought, 'I finally get this stuff-hold on, what's all this then?! Have I missed something ELSE?' haha.

I use Livestrong too and my net calories are all over the place too - especially if I've been tracking my calories burned. The net calories are the calories you consume each day minus the calories you burn from the exercise that you log. I don't pay any attention to my "net" calories at all.

That livestrong.com site said I need to eat 1035 calories per day to lose 1 pound per week.

I'm losing a pound per week eating 2000, averaged over a week. I zigzag a little, most days I'm eating 1850. I don't exercise.

Upshot is, I think that website is whack!