Do You Set Your Calories or Do You Roll with MFP?

merryberry99

When I originally signed up with MFP, I think I selected to lose 1.4 lbs. per week. It set my calorie count at 1260, which has been difficult to stay under. However, I do typically stay under the daily goal due to exercise. This morning I told myself that I'm not losing the weight I want and I'm staying hungry, so I changed it to lose 1 lb. a week, which bumped my calories to a little over 1400. Shortly after making the change, I kicked myself realizing that eating more certainly isn't going to help anything. However, now MFP's suggestion is less than the original 1260...possibly because I've lost some weight since I originally joined. So, all of this got me thinking (obviously) and I thought I'd just see what everyone else prefers:

Do you allow MFP to calculate the calories you consume each day or do you make that decision? What has helped you stay successful with your goal?

vet272

I MFP it although sometimes I feel hungry. My calories got cut after I lost some weight. I had to readjust ingredients to stay on range.

Vailara

I set my own goal, but I've also successfully lost weigh with the MFP system. What has made me successful so far has been realising that I find it difficult to stick to a big deficit, so I keep a smaller deficit. With MFP I went back and forth between 1/1lb and 1lb a week loss and ate my exercise calories back. Now I follow the road map and have a deficit of about 300 which is in between the two. It gives me a slow but steady loss.

Either way, you do end up having less calories the more you lose (which doesn't seem fair - lol!).

ChristinaR720

When I first started, I went with the default calorie amount. I adjusted my calorie goal, as well as my other macros, when I reached my halfway point. I didn't realize how miserable I had been making myself until I started eating more!

norahwynn

I follow what MFP has set for me. Right now I'm at 1200 calories a day, and usually it's pretty easy to stay at or under that daily goal. Obviously, it does help that I usually burn between 400-800 calories a day doing a series of workouts. Those extra calories obviously help!!

startheory

I went with MFP's settings in the beginning, starving off the 1200 calories a day it set. I was miserable! Then reading the forums, and seeing a lot of people losing doing TDEE - 20%, I manually changed my settings to that. It has helped and I'm much happier eating more

minizebu

No, I do not allow MFP to set my calories. I hate the whole MFP net calorie concept in the first place.

I calculate my TDEE less a deficit offline and then customize my calorie goal in the food diary custom settings. I eat to a static number of calories each day. It helps me to plan my meals and keeps me from feeling hostage to MFP's "eat back exercise calories" concept.

In order to avoid MFP adding in calories to my goal, I manually input my exercise using a 1 calorie burn. This keeps me from having to mentally subtract the calories that MFP adds when you use MFP's exercise calorie calculations.

The reason that I report the exercise is to keep myself honest. If I report my exercise activity every day, then I my pals know that I am sticking to my exercise plan. But the 1 calorie burn rate helps me to keep my static calorie goal.

I adjust my calorie goal periodically as I lose weight or when I am changing my average activity level.

F1TCH1K

I set my goals at 1500 calories (40carb/25fat/35protein) because if I at the 1200 from MFP I would be starving & cranky... I eat back my exercise calories.

Littlegurl

I let MFP set it, but I'm not afraid to go over what it sets when I know I've been more active than MFP 'knows'. We only get to choose one setting for how active we are, when some days we are more active than others throughout the day, I can tell when I'm just craving not so good food and when I'm truly hungry. A little it of hunger is good when ur trying to lose, but u shouldn't be hungry all day...

crystalfisher89

When I first started MFP set me at 1350... and I couldn't do it without falling off and binge eating because I was ALWAYS hungry. So I reset it at 1500 calories and ate back some of my calories. After doing that I lost 20 lbs in 4 months. It was a slow weight loss, but to be honest, for me losing 1lbs a week is hella exciting. Now that I am getting closer to my goal weight, I noticed that I could not get off my plateau no matter what. Whether I was working out and burning 1000+calories a day or eating less than my daily intake. It all came down to my net wasn't high enough and I switched to using the TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) method-20% which sets my calories at 1900 for eating everyday, but I slowly upped those calories since I'd been eating so little for a long time. While I haven't see the scale move, I have lost a 1/2" on my thighs and waist (I've just been back at it since June, so not too bad of a loss). I have come to realize the closer you get to your goal, the more you should start eating and eventually you'll end up losing inches. It's okay to not lose weight though.... muscle is heavy and dense. Anyways, I never really let MFP completely guide my calories for eating because I know that in order to be successful in my weight loss, I need to be able to be satisfied and not always hungry. Even if that means a very SLOW weightloss track...

crystalfisher89

Oh I did want to add, I bought a heart rate monitor to track how many calories I burn in a day and my TDEE that showed up on the online calculate my calories and it and my HRM were almost spot on after I wore my HRM for a whole day. Setting me at burning 2500 calories in one day. (FitnessFrog.com has several fitness calculators to check including the tdee and BMR -your minimum needed net calories).

nomorepizza2

I've been using the calories mfp gave me for 5 months. At first I set it to lose 2 pounds a week. Because I was so big I was allowed around 2000 calories a day. This was great! As time went on it kept lowering the amount I could eat, eventually getting to around 1500, which was torture. Still, I stuck with it and ended up losing a little more than 2 pounds a week so it can work.
Recently, I changed my diet to lose 1 pound a week and now I'm at a very comfortable 1720 calories a day. Scales are still dropping , but more slowly!

cmriverside

With 14 lbs left to lose, you should be eating more. At the low amount you are on right now, no wonder you are having a problem with compliance - you need more FUEL!!

For a female:

If you have 75+ pounds to lose, use the Goal of 2 pounds per week
If you have 40-75 pounds to lose, use the Goal of 1.5 pounds per week
If you have 25-40 pounds to lose, use the Goal of 1 -1.5 pounds per week
If you have 15 -25 pounds to lose, use the Goal 0.5 to 1.0 pounds per
If you have less than 15 pounds to lose, use the Goal of 0.5 pounds per week

If you use the proper settings, you will lose weight and not feel deprived. If you are having huge problems with compliance, you're doing it wrong - in your case, you aren't eating enough.

Here, these will explain much better.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets


Myfitnesspal expects you to add in and eat the extra calories "earned" by exercise, too.

.

BigGuy47

I determine my TDEE at set my calories.

danofthedead1979

When i signed up, i soon adjusted the goals because it set my calorie intake at 1340. which for me just wouldn't work. As far as i am aware you cant input the amount of calories you burn a day/week when you set yourself up, so its target for me was a bit skewed. Anyway, my Resting Metabolic Rate is 1930 and i go gym 3-4 times a week plus play 5-a-side football every tuesday evenings after work. it would be impossible to maintain a 1300 calorie diet a day, unless i wanted to be hungry amd miserable all the time. I have set my calories intake to 2000 a day, just above my Resting Metabolic Rate. i could go lower, but i would just get fed up of not being able to eat any of the naughty tasty stuff, anyways i rarely go over the 2000 threshold, but recently have gone 100-150 calories under anyway. i have adjusted my protein, fat and carb intake to reflect my high protein, low carb diet so my body starts to burn off fat for energy instead of carbs, then if i keep consuming less calories than i burn, my body will burn off the fat i consume and then the excess fat on my body for energy and if the theory holds up, i will start to lose weight and get leaner ready for summer 2023. true story

SusanL222

With 14 lbs left to lose, you should be eating more. At the low amount you are on right now, no wonder you are having a problem with compliance - you need more FUEL!!

For a female:

If you have 75+ pounds to lose, use the Goal of 2 pounds per week
If you have 40-75 pounds to lose, use the Goal of 1.5 pounds per week
If you have 25-40 pounds to lose, use the Goal of 1 -1.5 pounds per week
If you have 15 -25 pounds to lose, use the Goal 0.5 to 1.0 pounds per
If you have less than 15 pounds to lose, use the Goal of 0.5 pounds per week

If you use the proper settings, you will lose weight and not feel deprived. If you are having huge problems with compliance, you're doing it wrong - in your case, you aren't eating enough.

Here, these will explain much better.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets


Myfitnesspal expects you to add in and eat the extra calories "earned" by exercise, too.

.

Bump:flowerforyou:

ucabucca

I set my own based from a start point of MFP but instead of maintaining I was loosing at 1550 and eating all my exercse calories so dietician who has helped me had me set it up to 2,000 for awhile until i regained weight and then we are trying to bump it back down a little so I am at 1800 for base. I hate t being so high when I exercise I am eating around 3,000 which is a lot thanks metabolism for speeding up for some strange reason when I am over 50!

vereenc33

So glad I found this topic. At first I allowed MFP to set my calories which was 1200; I was always hungry and found that I would binge eat. I decided to set my goal at 1500 I use this number as my "high" so I try to stay between 1200-1500. So far this has helped me not be hungry. I just made the change so I will see how this works. According to the previous post I think I am on the right track.

Duck_Puddle

Mfp sets my calorie goal. But I also follow mfp the way it was designed (meaning that I eat my exercise calories). I have a 1200 goal, I consume about 1800 calories a day (or more), but net 1200.

My0WNinspiration

I set my own.

Francl27

MFP's goal is low because you're supposed to eat back the calories you burn with exercise.

I set my own, using the TDEE-20% formula (sort of, as I'm unsure what really applies to me when it comes to activity level)... although I eat closer to MFP most days (with exercise calories). I was just tired of having to use a HRM for everything.