The MFP goals wizard and you (YES you!)

lotusfromthemud

bumping for the after work crowd.

iluvsparkles

The man knows what he is talking about.

amelia_atlantic

That reminds me of the other little thing I don't like.

When you are at a deficit, and you go over the calories MFP alots you for the day, you ARE NOT overeating, you are just reducing your deficit. Until you go over your maintenance calories, you did NOT over eat. Remember that, it's a small but important distinction.

If you feel like you need to eat a little more today (for whatever reason), well, go for it (but still try to eat healthy). It's not going to hinder you unless you massively over eat (and even then, you're talking tenths of pounds usually, insignificant in the grand scheme).

That's definitely a reality check! Thanks!

terraskye

Thank you for posting this...Sometimes because I can only see myself through my eyes I think that i need to drastically cut calories to make a difference...I see myself as large and I probably always will.

I will make "slow and steady" my mantra and I will try and eat more healthy calories on the days I do mega workouts and I will not starve myself....


Hugs!! You are wonderful

Fiona

SHBoss1673

The man knows what he is talking about.

can you tell that to my wife please.

princessleia1980

Yeah this whole thing stumped me for a while when I first joined here. I only wanted to lose 1lb a week, but I can't take 500 cals from a day without going below my BMR so am having to take half of that and lose 0.5lbs a week instead!
Slow and steady wins the race!

LisaKC

Thanks for this post. I needed to be reminded of this today. :drinker:

navstar

That reminds me of the other little thing I don't like.

When you are at a deficit, and you go over the calories MFP alots you for the day, you ARE NOT overeating, you are just reducing your deficit. Until you go over your maintenance calories, you did NOT over eat. Remember that, it's a small but important distinction.

If you feel like you need to eat a little more today (for whatever reason), well, go for it (but still try to eat healthy). It's not going to hinder you unless you massively over eat (and even then, you're talking tenths of pounds usually, insignificant in the grand scheme).

I've printed this off and put it on my fridge!!

thank you for the reality check!

onyxlibra7

Bump

h_eloise86

Thanks for posting this.
I've been having problems with eating everything I should.
I always eat at least 1,200 but i'm doing P90X and I am awful about eating even half of the calories I earn doing it.
I'm going to work harder and doing this completely right
Thanks again!!

RushinBruisette

Agreed!!! Well said!! :drinker:

LainMac

I can honestly say "Not me!" My first two weeks using MFP diary, I've been 98 percent honest. Went over "calories" between 15 and 200ish, and still ended up with a 4 loss in two weeks.

One day I was starving, starving, starving, when I realized that I done a bunch of yard work the day before and hadn't add those calories back.

So I am guilty of not drink enough water. And I'm kind of confused about how to properly figure my activity level and exercise level (for example laundry for me is two flights of stairs ~ one up, one down), but man I do eat my designated calories.

arewethereyet

So one thing that I think people miss about MFP is the fact that the goals calculator is a "dumb" calculator. In other words, it doesn't care about what your numbers are in relation to what a healthy deficit is. The only governor it has is a 1200 calorie floor.

In other words, If you tell MFP you want to lose 2 lbs a week when you go through the goals wizard, it'll give you a 1000 calorie deficit (unless that 1000 calorie deficit brings you below 1200). It doesn't care whether you only have 12 lbs to lose and 1000 calories is NOT right for you, it'll still do it. It doesn't care that a 1000 calorie deficit will be unhealthy for you, and it doesn't care that you don't know this, it'll still try to get you there if you tell it to.

So I say this, before you decide to lose "as much as I can as fast as I can" really try to research into what a healthy weight loss SHOULD be for you, and stop being so impatient. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right! Take your time, and DAMN IT be HAPPY with yourself for making good decisions, and stop worrying so much about a 1 lb weight loss!

Mookz0r

That reminds me of the other little thing I don't like.

When you are at a deficit, and you go over the calories MFP alots you for the day, you ARE NOT overeating, you are just reducing your deficit. Until you go over your maintenance calories, you did NOT over eat. Remember that, it's a small but important distinction.

If you feel like you need to eat a little more today (for whatever reason), well, go for it (but still try to eat healthy). It's not going to hinder you unless you massively over eat (and even then, you're talking tenths of pounds usually, insignificant in the grand scheme).

So true. It's been raised in the suggestions forum already, but I really feel there's a need for MFP to show a goal RANGE of calories - maybe 100 above and below your target, so that it doesn't change to a horrid, negative, "dangerous" red as soon as you eat 1 calorie over your goal.

recipe4success

I had to tell MFP that I want to lose 1 lb a week to get reasonable numbers (i.e. goal calories 1750 each day)! With the number it gave me, i'm losing more than 2 lbs/week...so i probably should up my calories even more. The numbers are just a guideline, not gospel.