Last Updated on August 15, 2023 by Michael Brockbank
So, I am trying a new type of diet for myself. This is an experimental thing, but has merit for being successful. My Net 600 diet consists of restricting myself to 600 net calories every day. Now, this is different from total calories. The end result should be my body burning twice as I consume. Here is the breakdown of how it’s possible.
What is Net 600?
The basis for this diet plan is to use MyFitnessPal to record food intake as well as exercise. This is because MyFitnessPal gives you net calories as well as total count.
Net calories are the foods you eat minus your physical activity. The more active you are, the more you can “afford” to eat. This means that if I get up and walk around like I normally do, I can still eat more than 1000 calories worth of food and still be physically OK.
Because I use a Fitbit Charge 2, the recording of actual calories I burn in a day is better than guessing. As the Fitbit records my activity and heart rate, it sends the data to MyFitnessPal. The app then adjusts the calorie count and displays what I can still eat without going over my goal.
Why Do a Net 600 Diet?
I work and play sitting at my desk. This means I don’t get a lot of physical activity as it is. Although I try to get up and do a 10 to 15 minute short workout a few times throughout the day, it’s still not enough to really burn through the fat.
Net 600 keeps the intake down and forces me to make better decisions when eating. For instance, I can get the same number of calories from a bowl full of fruit versus a snack-sized Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Which one is going to fill my stomach more?
Another aspect of focusing on 600 calories is how much the body will burn in the meantime. On a test run last week, I was burning roughly twice as much as I ate. Even though I actually consumed more than 1300 calories, I wound up burning off more than 3000. That’s nearly 1/2 a pound of weight.
How to Begin My Net 600 Calorie Diet
If you’re interested in trying this, keep in mind that everyone has a different physiology. What will work for me might not work well for you. It’s the same when considering any diet. So if you have difficulty trying to keep under 600 calories, stop. Don’t put yourself in danger.
Problems include things like low blood pressure, dizziness, extreme exhaustion and irritability. Be logical with any diet.
Using Fitbit and MyFitnessPal
Like I mentioned earlier, the Net 600 diet is based on using Fitbit and MyFitnessPal. However, it may be possible to simply use MyFitnessPal as long as you enter your exercises in the system. Of course, the calorie burn in MyFitnessPal is more of a rough estimate and may not be all that accurate depending on your body type.
Fitbit can be a bit expensive for those who don’t have the money for a monitor system. However, MyFitnessPal is free to use and works with Android, iOS and virtually any web browser.
When it comes to Fitbit, I really don’t put much emphasis on steps. I keep close tabs on my heart rate and the time I spend in fat-burn and cardio zones of the system. This means higher levels of continued activity.
The Exercise Routines
Because I work and play at my desk, I often break my routines up in 15-minute increments about four or more times per day. Mostly this is because I have knee problems and need to get up after an hour and a half to stretch.
Normally, I’ll walk for about 10 minutes at about three to four miles per hour. Then, I add a bit of body-weight and cable exercise including a set of:
- Lying leg raises
- Push-ups
- 45-pound resistance band curls
- Standing Toe Touch
- Planks
I try to keep myself moving for another five minutes doing any of these exercises and more. Then, I go back to work.
Depending on the intensity, I can accumulate an extra 700 calories worth of food throughout the entire day. While sometimes my snacks consist of something heavy in carbs and sugars, I do like to delve into a bowl of mixed fruit.
The Food I’ll Eat
I usually try to keep my meals to 300 calories max. For example, my breakfast is usually two eggs and sausage links for a total of 227 calories and a ton of protein. Then, I’ll have a Progresso soup of maybe a Lean Cuisine for lunch for around 300 calories.
This means I’ll need to keep semi-active throughout the day if I want enough calories to afford dinner or maybe a snack of some kind. But like I said before, my 15-minute breaks from work are usually all I need to get in enough physical movement.
Now, a Net 600 calorie diet doesn’t mean you can fill up on chocolate and cupcakes and expect to remain healthy. A lot of people don’t believe calorie counting diets work because it is really easy to still eat terrible while keeping under a certain goal.
To get calories to work correctly, you need to make better choices regarding what you eat. In this aspect, you need to stay motivated and have a certain level of determination to meet your nutritional requirements.
I am a believer in being able to eat almost anything you want as long as it’s in moderation. So, this means I really don’t have a specific dietary food plan in mind. It’s all about eating well and making good choices. Sure, I’ll have a few pieces of chocolate here and there. But I’ll offset it with other nutritionally-rich foods.
Facing My Biggest Problems
The most important part of the Net 600 experiment is addressing my biggest issues when it comes to eating. Late at night, I have a penchant for snacking…usually on terrible foods. However, I’ve noticed I snack far less if I spend my evenings being active in some way.
For instance, I’ll often binge-watch Netflix or YouTube. It’s during these moments that I eat the most. However, I snack very little if I am playing a game, blogging or writing my novel.
Identifying your weak points is often difficult. A lot of us will do something purely out of habit without realizing it. But when you do identify those issues, you need to take steps to correct them. Otherwise, you’ll never reach your goals.
Going All Out This Time
I am getting back into YouTube and making this Net 600 thing work. Don’t worry, I’ll stop if I feel that I am not getting enough food or feel weak. However, I have a good feeling that this will work – at least for me. If I can maintain this process, I should weigh nearly 200 pounds by Christmas.
Theoretically, I should drop about 3.4 pounds per week while doing this. I guess we’ll see how it goes.
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