Accurate calculation of calorie goal (MFP seems way off)

SnuggleSmacks

Indeed, the calculators all start with population averages for metabolic rate....and not everyone is average. It's a bell curve, and we all fall at different places on that curve for lots of different reasons, like body composition (how much fat or muscle your body has) and genetics. So you and I could be the exact same height and weight, and even have the same measurements, but still have different calorie requirements.

The best thing to do is just pick a method and track it carefully for a few weeks, and see where you are. Keep in mind that a pound of flesh is 3500 calories...so if you pick a method and you're supposed to have a 500 calorie deficit each day, that's 3500 cals each week, so by the end of 4 weeks you should have lost 4 pounds. Keep in mind also that water weight can fluctuate quite a bit, which is why you should track for weeks before you decide on an adjustment. Things that effect water weight include normal hormonal fluctuations (especially for women), sodium and carb intake, and exercise (we retain water for muscle repair). So bearing those things in mind, after 4 weeks, adjust the amount you're eating up or down by 100 or 200 calories according to your results. Lather, rinse, repeat.

threnjen

OP: I used to use that calculator in my toolset, where I would use several calculators then average them. But that particular calculator always estimates 150-200 over what every other calculator estimates. I am to where I do not have far to go and every calorie counts, so that 200 difference is pretty big.

I like these three and they all return answers within 20 calories of each other for every activity setting:

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/
http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

Cortelli

Just chiming in to add that I gave that estimator a whirl and it overestimated my TDEE by about 280 calories (based on detailed actual results and decent logging during my own loss / maintenance / gain periods).

Machka9

xandralaw wrote: »

So I enter my weight, height, gender and goal as well as my sedentary life style and MFP sets my goal at 1200 cals!? That seems insane... it most certainly isn't something I can maintain so is setting me up for failure.
...

So what gives???

Quite a few of us are on 1200 cals.

It's not that hard. It just requires careful thought, planning, reading, research, weighing of foods and portions ... you can't just reach for any old food like you could in the old days. You've got to check everything first to see whether you can or cannot have it. And you've got to make wise choices.

And if you want to eat more ... exercise.

I've been there for 44 days and have lost 7 kg.

I may increase my calorie limit a little bit in a few weeks because I'm getting closer to my goal, but I'll see. For right now, the increased exercise I'm doing gives me the flexibility I want.

Machka9

xandralaw wrote: »

So I enter my weight, height, gender and goal as well as my sedentary life style and MFP sets my goal at 1200 cals!? That seems insane... it most certainly isn't something I can maintain so is setting me up for failure.
...

So what gives???

The other question is, what is your goal?

I've got mine set to 0.5 kg/week, which is fairly agressive (1.1 lb/week). You could go for half that. It will take longer, and you might not see any results at all for the first week or 10 days, but you should still get there in the end.


Oh ... I just read through the posts. I thought my 1.1 lb/week was fairly agressive. I see you want to lose 2 lb/week. I'd say that's way too agressive. Drop it down to 1 lb/week.

I know you've got 40 lb to lose, but if you put your goal down to 1 lb/week, you could be there in 40 weeks. Less than a year. And if you started exercising (i.e. taking those kids out for long walks in the evening in the summer) you might lose a little bit faster than 1 lb/week.

xandralaw

First - thank you to all that have posted - this has been so helpful to me in understanding how to reason with all of this and how to set attainable goals.

I guess I didn't realize how long this was really going to take and that setting that 2lb/week goal was what was making that 1200 so low. I agree going with 1 lb/wk will be more manageable and I will try to add exercise in too. I need to remind myself that it needs to be about sustainability this time, not a quick fix.

oh and @Machka9 - perhaps it isn't that hard for you to eat 1200 and that is awesome - but for some it is extremely hard. I am a binge eater coming off of 5 months of binge eating and gaining 40 lbs. Eating 1200 cals a day is less than a third of what I was eating last week - a third! But yes, adding exercise will allow me to eat more, so I will work on that. This is a huge lifestyle change for me so I'm still taking baby steps and trying to learn to not punish myself for every food I do (or don't) put in my mouth.

Question: I have readjusted my goal to 1lb and it did increase my calories to 1440 with zero exercise. So if I do exercise, and stay at 1440, then I lose more than 1lb? vs If I do exercise, but eat my exercise calories, I'll stay at only losing 1 lb? Right?

grandmothercharlie

If I were to say 0 activity like you did, mine shows just about the same numbers as MFP.

999tigger

xandralaw wrote: »

Mr_Knight wrote: »

xandralaw wrote: »

This link is a very accurate BMI calculator...

How did you decide that is a "very accurate" calculator?

Fair question - I have no idea how I "decided" that - I am pretty easily influenced right now and am just trying to collect data. 1200 cals a day feels like a guaranteed failure to me so I was relieved to find something that said different. That is as honest as I can get.

Honestly if you know you cant manage 1200, then simply dont set yourself such an agressive target. The responsibility is yours at what level you set it. If you cant sustain its pointless. If you did some exercise you could eat more and get healthier.

Calcculators are just estimates. You need to know the thoery behind them and just montor what you are doing against what you should expect v what actually happens. Adjust as needed.

Need to eat more one week? Eat more but do exercise or just accept youll be a little slower that week, the aim is to keep being consistent and making steps to reach goal.

Just becayse you set the goal at 1lb a week doesnt mean you cnat try harder or that you cant lose moe than that in a week.

enterdanger

Xandra. We have almost the exact same stats. I'm 5'4" (on a good day) and I'm 188 (was at 223) It took me a whole year to lose those 35lbs but I wasn't miserable. I ate at 1440 for the beginning and I didn't starve as long as I made good choices.

Then I found that if I exercise I can eat those calories back. I stalled for awhile so a couple weeks ago I set myself to 1200 calories. I love to eat so now I run for an hour most nights and get like an extra 600 calories which I eat back. 1800 with exercise is better than 1200 with no exercise, in my opinion. I lost nearly 3lbs last week. (pretty sure at least a lb of that was water weight, but I'll take it)

Feel free to look at my food diary. It's public.

StaciMarie1974

Gut reactions are good. Yours told you 1200ish was not reasonable. Rather than start something that would be doomed to failure, you started asking questions.

This will likely take trial and error - and that's ok. A simple start: program MFP for 1 pound per week loss, eat at that level, and if/when you factor in exercise choose whether or not you need to eat additional. Choose this based on how you feel. If you're energetic, feeling good then don't eat extra. If you feel you need the extra to fuel the workouts, then listen to your body cues. Or if you don't really need the extra calories on a daily basis, but have a day where you feel you need more, then that is fine also. (The 3 approaches are none, all or some.)

Whatever you try, assuming its reasonable and you don't have any reasons for concern, give it 6-8 weeks then reassess. You don't want to change things up too often, because then you can't really tell what works and what doesn't. Reasons for concern would be things like lack of energy, hair/skin health and such.

AliceDark

xandralaw wrote: »

First - thank you to all that have posted - this has been so helpful to me in understanding how to reason with all of this and how to set attainable goals.

I guess I didn't realize how long this was really going to take and that setting that 2lb/week goal was what was making that 1200 so low. I agree going with 1 lb/wk will be more manageable and I will try to add exercise in too. I need to remind myself that it needs to be about sustainability this time, not a quick fix.

oh and @Machka9 - perhaps it isn't that hard for you to eat 1200 and that is awesome - but for some it is extremely hard. I am a binge eater coming off of 5 months of binge eating and gaining 40 lbs. Eating 1200 cals a day is less than a third of what I was eating last week - a third! But yes, adding exercise will allow me to eat more, so I will work on that. This is a huge lifestyle change for me so I'm still taking baby steps and trying to learn to not punish myself for every food I do (or don't) put in my mouth.

Question: I have readjusted my goal to 1lb and it did increase my calories to 1440 with zero exercise. So if I do exercise, and stay at 1440, then I lose more than 1lb? vs If I do exercise, but eat my exercise calories, I'll stay at only losing 1 lb? Right?

Yes, lots of people are on 1200 calories, but they are not you. Don't ever let someone make you feel bad for what you can/can't (or will/won't) do. 1200 calories sounds like punishment to me. I'm lighter than you are, and last year when I was cutting I wouldn't go below 1500 (because that's the point at which my BF can't take the hangry anymore and will start throwing food at me like I'm a junkyard dog).

The point of weight loss isn't to take your calories down to the bare minimum and white-knuckle through it as long as you can stand it. In fact, considering you have a binge eating history, this is the LAST thing you want to do. Being too restrictive is likely to trigger binges, so you'll be setting yourself up for a binge/restrict roller coaster.

If MFP gives you 1440 calories to lose 1 pound per week without exercise, try that out for 4 weeks and see how it works. It's just an estimate, so your body may respond differently. Try to be as consistent as possible over the 4 weeks, because weight loss isn't linear and you may not lose anything for the first few weeks and then see a bigger drop, or you may see a big loss initially and then nothing for awhile afterward. It's the average over time that matters, not any one week in isolation.

Yes, if you eat 1440 and then exercise, you'll probably lose more than 1 pound. (Keep in mind that MFP tends to over-estimate exercise calories, so a lot of people recommend eating back 50%-75% instead of all your exercise calories). I would be careful with this, at least in the beginning, because you don't want to take yourself too low and trigger a binge. I would maybe even set MFP to lose 0.5 pounds per week for the first 4 weeks and give yourself time to ease into it. You can always increase your goal and lose more as you go, but don't burn yourself out right in the beginning.

xandralaw

@jessvolpe I want you to read this. Hopefully this shows up in your notifications somehow...