How to get the correct calorie deficit

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Replies

  • RiseHigher
    RiseHigher Posts: 64 Member
    Oh btw to have a 3,000 calorie day would only be a 13 mile run for me. That is if I were sedentary the rest of the day. Sometimes I do home renovation projects too, which then obviously would add even more, as that is definitely not sedentary LOL.
  • RiseHigher
    RiseHigher Posts: 64 Member
    ravenstar I know right?!?! I had my BMR tested because I was using a FitBit and was starving all the time. My metabolism is a bit faster than average and the FitBit formula based on age, weight etc was too low for me. Then here the calories output is too high. So people need to know what works for them. I keep historical charts as part of my training logs and one is weight. From the metabolism test I took, as well as my charting past weight loss (or gain) I know what good ranges are for me.

    The other thing is I am a big believer in visualization as well. It is really hard for me to eat within a limit when I have a website telling me I need to still eat 300 more calories every time I log in to post food etc., when that is not reality. That's why I like Suein AZ's suggestion quite a bit, that won't happen.

    And, just as another tidbit of information, if I go into Settings and change my activity level outside of exercise from "sedentary" to "lightly active" or even "active" it still puts my baseline calories at 1200-1250 a day, and then says I will lose the 1.5 lbs/wk, instead of the 0.8 lbs/wk if I choose sedentary. If there was some reason it would think that was not safe - it would not do that apparently. It just considers that I will be burning more calories throughout the day with my job, etc. So what difference does it make if I burn the calories through exercise or an active job? The only difference is that their calculation is in err in that it stops considering the deficit once it does the activity level calculation - which isn't correct in all cases.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    RiseHigher wrote: »
    So I just eat until I have 276 calories left to eat for the day and so be it. I don't see any other way of correcting this besides changing my height/weight/age, which would then most likely mess up the calories I burned exercising as well.

    The 1200 floor is badly implemented, as you have discovered. The solution is to dial in the calorie goal you want without the 1200 minimum using Custom goal setting. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_custom
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    I think because MFP calculates your activities through daily activities, such as work into your deficit and the exercises you do otherwise gets added back. so if you put sedentary,they calculate that into your deficit,any other extra calories burned is put back, I know if I put sedentary it puts my calories at like 1300 which is too low for me.but if I put lightly active which I am it gives me close to enough calories(I had to make some manual changes though).it should give you a higher level of calories though for the other settings.
  • RiseHigher
    RiseHigher Posts: 64 Member
    Yarwell, thank you! I need to leave to coach a run session but will check this out when I return!
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    edited June 2015
    RiseHigher wrote: »
    I want to lose 1.5 lbs per week. I am 5 ft 4 female, 43 years old, 138 lbs, sedentary but I run 6-10 miles a day, longer on the weekends. My BMR as measured in a lab is 1395 calories per day.

    The smaller you are, the more slowly you lose. That's just the way the human body works. A healthy, sustainable loss is .5 lb. per week for every 25 lbs. you're overweight. You cannot lose 1.5 lbs. per week at your size.

    Set your goal to .5 lb. per week, and be patient: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    Your calorie goal is activity level minus deficit. When you log your exercise, you will be given more calories to eat.

    Please read the Sexypants post. It will help you understand how MFP works: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    RiseHigher, you probably have a higher than average bmr because you ARE an athlete/have an athletic body. I'd imagine that translates to a lower % of body fat compared to the 'average' woman of your height/weight.

    For what its worth, I had a good run session tonight. Feel a little like I'm restarting from 0 except I know I'm ahead of where I started last November. :)
  • RiseHigher
    RiseHigher Posts: 64 Member
    editorgrrrl... I just did read the link, it's kind of hilarious because how is that person not saying EXACTLY what I have said I am doing. 1% of bodyfat per week? Check a couple of posts back where I said I'm doing just that... for me that would be 1.4 lbs per week LOL. TDEE?? Again check back, I am already calculating that. Calorie deficit 20-30%? Again check back on what I already wrote... Exercise? Uhhhmmmmm... think I got that covered......

    In sum, thanks for those who posted helpful information. No one knows my body better than myself. If I "can't" lose 1.5 lbs per week at my size, how could I have already been doing it and so far lost 5.5 lbs of fat/gained 1.5 lbs of lean mass that way, while increasing my base run training. Hmmm.

    Notice Sexypants ALSO says: "Be aware of the exercise calorie model that MFP uses if you choose to use MFP's default method. Exercise expenditures are often over-stated so you may wish to eat back a set percentage of those calories, such as 50% for starters."

    StaciMarie1974, I do normally have a decently low bodyfat... but not right now LOL Also I am running a lot slower than normal and I feel heavy running down the street... but at this point I am thankful that I can run at all! Keep going. We are so lucky to be able to MOVE :)
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    I'm 5'2" & 46, and was even heavier than you when I started. I think you're setting yourself up for failure by attempting to eat at a 750-calorie deficit.

    You're 100% entitled to disagree, but there's no reason to get snarky about it.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    RiseHigher wrote: »
    ravenstar I know right?!?! I had my BMR tested because I was using a FitBit and was starving all the time. My metabolism is a bit faster than average and the FitBit formula based on age, weight etc was too low for me. Then here the calories output is too high. So people need to know what works for them. I keep historical charts as part of my training logs and one is weight. From the metabolism test I took, as well as my charting past weight loss (or gain) I know what good ranges are for me.

    If you still have the Fitbit, you could adjust the height to get the base BMR to be closer to reality for you. That's providing it doesn't bother you that height and bmi will be off.
  • RiseHigher
    RiseHigher Posts: 64 Member
    edited June 2015
    editorgrrl, I at one time was very sick with illnesses doctors told me I'd never get over. I did get over them, and also lost the 50 lbs the whole experience caused me to gain as well. So I'm not getting snarky, but I do know my body and weight loss, in addition to having been a former trainer as well as coaching others to lose 100+ lbs as well. I think that putting "can'ts" on people is dangerous to the more impressionable.

    shadow2soul, Thank you! I do still have the FitBit, if I changed the height on my FitBit, wouldn't the exercise calorie calculations be off?
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited June 2015
    RiseHigher wrote: »
    editorgrrl, I at one time was very sick with illnesses doctors told me I'd never get over. I did get over them, and also lost the 50 lbs the whole experience caused me to gain as well. So I'm not getting snarky, but I do know my body and weight loss, in addition to having been a former trainer as well as coaching others to lose 100+ lbs as well. I think that putting "can'ts" on people is dangerous to the more impressionable.

    shadow2soul, Thank you! I do still have the FitBit, if I changed the height on my FitBit, wouldn't the exercise calorie calculations be off?

    Hard to say without actually testing it. I'd say its worth a try. Chances are if you burn more at rest then the average person with your stats the exercise calories are already slightly off.

    The basic Fitbit's underestimate my calorie burn by about 200-250 a day the last time I used one (have the Surge model now and it's much closer to my actual calorie burn). This for me meant I could set MFP to 1lb per week loss, eat all of my fitbit adjustments, and lose right around 1.5 lbs per week. Now I just have MFP set to 1 lb per week loss and Fitbit set to 1.5lb's per week. This gives me a little bit of a range to work with if I'm extra hungry one day.

    edit: This gives me an idea. I still have the zip laying around here somewhere. Maybe I should set up another Fitbit account and where it one day along with my Surge to compare the burn. Then I can try messing with the settings and see what it would take to get them to come out to about the same calorie burn.
  • RiseHigher
    RiseHigher Posts: 64 Member
    I have a FitBit One. I did get a Surge, thinking the calorie calculations would be better, but it was almost the same (yes, I did go through a few days where I wore THREE trackers - tried a Xiaomi MiBand too LOL). With the FitBit... I lost weight, sure, but like literally 5 lbs in 4-5 days and I would be like AAAAAAHHHHH NOOOO MORE!!

    I'm going to play around with a few things on the site and see. I actually like the FitBit website and didn't mind anything about it, except the too low calories. I even think I set it for less of a calorie deficit but it was still off. I dunno. I tried it twice and each time swore to my friends I'd not use it again, haha.
  • RiseHigher
    RiseHigher Posts: 64 Member
    edited June 2015
    Bahahaha I just logged onto FitBit to check it out, I forgot that it is connected to MFP because I use an Aria scale. FitBit is set to a 1.5 lb per week loss, yet I ran 9 miles today and it said I should have eaten just 1350 calories. BAHHHH yep it's going to need some work...

    My calculation of my TDEE today put me at around 1850 calories for the same deficit. MFP put me at 2128.

    Maybe I'll wear the FitBit for a few days and see where it has me as far as calories per day versus what I calculate. Then, I can make adjustments to the deficit or BMR. I did like the interface when I was using it. I returned the Surge in the month I had it as the calorie calc wasn't better for me, but might try it again. I wish it had an "idle alert" for if you're sitting down too long. I want to avoid "sedentary runner" syndrome. It sounds silly because I can run twice a day but still. Walking five minutes of every hour isn't so overtaxing and is good for you.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,329 Member
    edited June 2015
    RiseHigher wrote: »
    @Charlie I am normally a well-conditioned athlete who was injured. So being back into my sport I am going to gain back the lean mass that I lost (thank goodness). I am also in between an ecto-mesomorph, if you are familiar with that, meaning I can gain mass easier than average. My body is really just going back to it's normal status quo rather than trying to build for the sake of building. I only do strength work that supports and counterbalances my running. Normally I tend to eat a higher carb diet (carbs... not sugar) because I am an endurance athlete. However when cutting weight, many of the calories I tend to cut are carbs, simply because the body needs protein to support lean mass and fat to support recovery as well as the endocrine system, especially in women. I do not low carb. Cutting carbs for me means going down to 50% carb, 25% protein, 25% fat. I also calorie cycle, which tends to maintain lean mass a bit better, in my opinion, than simply dieting for weeks upon weeks.

    Again, I want to emphasize that I am only eating 1200 on the days I do not workout, which aren't that often, maybe once a week. When people start getting into 1000++ calorie deficits especially with not exercising they will lose lean mass.

    Ehm no! Those somatypes don't exist. They were invented in the 1940s by a pyschologist who tried to fit bodytype to things such as intelligence, morals and future achievements. That's eugenics, the same stuff the nazis did to justify blond, blue-eyed people versus others - and it's complete quack. Seriously, it's based on racism, anti-Semitism and sexism. According to the inventor of those somatypes, by saying you're between ecto- and mesomorph you're saying your ancious-introvert and direct-dominant. I could add something on criminal history, intelligence and race here but I think you might be offended.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,329 Member
    edited June 2015
    double post
  • RiseHigher
    RiseHigher Posts: 64 Member
    Yirara, I am not saying I fit into the entire definition of somatypes but I do feel they have some accuracy as far as the predominance of slow/fast twitch muscle fibers and athletics. Look at Arnold Schwarzenegger versus elite marathoner Meb Keflezighi, as an example. So you're telling me that they and everyone else has the same division of muscle type, fat-burning mitochondria and genetic traits? Call it what you want... funny viewpoint to have. have fun

  • RiseHigher
    RiseHigher Posts: 64 Member
    Aaaaanyway - So today I wore my FitBit One and my Garmin 910XT for a 7.5ish mile run. The Garmin 910XT by heart rate said I burned 636 calories.

    FitBit bombed out - I did have it set to record the interval of the run, but afterwards when I synced it with my phone, probably because I hadn't used it in a while, it reset all the numbers to zero. However when I manually entered the activity, it said I had burned 627 calories.

    Entering the same run workout into MFP gave 746 calories.

    I used the same technique for a previous 10 mile run , FitBit (manually entered) and Garmin give me similar values (around 871 calories) while MFP says 1036.

    So it seems to me that MFP overcalculates exercise, and the gross amount grows larger as the distance/time increases. I'll have to think of a new strategy...
  • Jod1eC
    Jod1eC Posts: 35 Member
    Hi everyone I have read through all the posts and think you may all be able to help me. I have been training and dieting for months but weight has only gone up week by week. I was following ww and have now joined mfp to try something new.
    In terms of training I will do:
    Monday:body pump
    Tuesday 2xspin classes
    Wed rest
    Thursday: body pump and combat
    Friday: rest
    Saturday: either circuits or cycle 30miles ish

    Any hints or tips on my calorie intake and what I should do with exercise calories would be mucho appreciated,
    Please explain in simple terms as I am new to all this and do not understand lots of the abbreviations.
    Thanks in advance
  • RiseHigher
    RiseHigher Posts: 64 Member
    JodieCabrera: How much are you eating now? How did you figure that number? Are you measuring and tracking your food? To be totally honest if someone's weight is going up usually their calorie intake is too high.