Have you found your maintenance calorie goal to be higher than the calculators?

kgirlhart

Have any of you found that your maintenance calories have turned out to be higher than you expected and higher than what the calculators give you?

I have my fitbit synced to mfp and I try to eat back all of my adjustment. I do like the idea of eating more on days I am more active so I like using the mfp method of a daily goal plus an adjustment for activity. But it seems like I am not eating enough. If I look at my data for the last 3 weeks, according to what I am logging my CI average was 1937 per day. Fitbit shows that my CO averages 1876 per day. That has my CI>CO by about 60 which should have me maintaining not losing. In the last 3 weeks I have lost 2.6 pounds. I raised my calorie goal about a month ago but I am still losing a little over .5 per week. So I guess I need to raise it again. I guess I'm just nervous to increase it too much. I see so many people saying that fitbit overestimates their calories burned, but it seems to be underestimating mine. Anyone else have that problem?

DonM46

Just the opposite. Since November of 2011, I've been about 1800 (1790 to 1805), and my weight is reasonably steady -- just daily fluctuations. MFP says I should be about 2000.
If I followed that, I'd gain a little. Granted, very little, but certainly not static.

TangledThread

Fitbit/MFP underestimates me and I lose on the maintaining mode. The math is looking like I can eat 175 more a day than fitbit gives me. YAY!

cosmonew

Yep, I can eat more than my what MFP tells me. I am still adjusting, I adjust every month, If I am loosing over more than a pound a week on average for the month, I up my calories by 150/200 a day. I love being able to eat more and will be sad when my weight stabilizes. I also track my workout calories and eat those back as well.

fiddletime

When I was in maintenance I found MFP to be right on at 1350.

victoria_1024

Calculators say I should be at 1700 a day so that's where I have mfp set and I do maintain. But I go over my calories often. Sometimes on the weekends I go over by quite a bit. My guess is I should be more in the 2000 range so my 1700 is probably a slight deficit but I keep it there to give me some breathing room.

Gisel2015

I use my body and the results as "my calculator." So far, so good.

rileysowner

kgirlhart wrote: »

Have any of you found that your maintenance calories have turned out to be higher than you expected and higher than what the calculators give you?

I have my fitbit synced to mfp and I try to eat back all of my adjustment. I do like the idea of eating more on days I am more active so I like using the mfp method of a daily goal plus an adjustment for activity. But it seems like I am not eating enough. If I look at my data for the last 3 weeks, according to what I am logging my CI average was 1937 per day. Fitbit shows that my CO averages 1876 per day. That has my CI>CO by about 60 which should have me maintaining not losing. In the last 3 weeks I have lost 2.6 pounds. I raised my calorie goal about a month ago but I am still losing a little over .5 per week. So I guess I need to raise it again. I guess I'm just nervous to increase it too much. I see so many people saying that fitbit overestimates their calories burned, but it seems to be underestimating mine. Anyone else have that problem?

All the calculators are based on averages. That means while they are close, they are not exact. Individuals can be above or below the mean average. You have the joy of being one of those above. If I was in the same situation I would eat more based on the number and re-evaluate in 3-4 week.

kgirlhart

Thanks everyone. I think I am going to start aiming for 2000 per day even if my fitbit says I burn less. It is kind of scary. But I guess I have learned how to lose weight.

Francl27

Calculators are very vague, honestly. Most TDEE calculators only take exercise into account, but not really the intensity of it (it goes from '3-5 hours of moderate exercise' to '5-7 hours of strenuous exercise', for example), and totally ignore daily activity. So it's pretty much impossible to say.

Fitbit at the time was underestimating my daily calories by quite a bit though. I'm getting a new one for Christmas (the charge 2), so we'll see.

Machka9

Have you found your maintenance calorie goal to be higher than the calculators?

Sadly ... no.

The calculators say net 1500 ... and it seems net 1500 is it.

pearso21123

MFP underestimates for me, as well. When I moved to maintenance it gave me ~1600. I ate that for a month and lost weight, so upped my cals to 1700 for a month. Lost weight so upped to 1800 for a month. Lost weight that month, too. Was just about to up to 1900 when I decided to try not counting calories anymore to see if I could maintain like a "normal" person . I suspect I'm eating in the 2000 range currently and am maintaining, but not tracking calories, at least for now.

Editing to add that I was very careful with tracking and also eating back 100% of my exercise calories.

AnnPT77

The calculators underestimate significantly for me, too. I'm truly sedentary (retired, sedentary hobbies) outside of intentional exercise, but I have to set my MFP activity level to "active" (not just "lightly active") to get a calorie estimate that's even close to aligning with my loss rate.

Most calculators suggest I'd be at around 1500 before exercise to maintain around 120 pounds; I think reality is 2000 or even a bit above, based on experience.

(I don't know why, really, but I've been active for years at reasonably high intensity, even while fat, so at 61 I think I'm probably more muscular than most women my age, so that may be part of it - but only a small part, I'm sure.)

If you look at data from some of the studies, most people cluster close to the mean (i.e., small standard deviation) but the bell curve does have a few folks out in the tails.

nxd10

I did that for a while (I dropped almost 10 pounds lower than my goal over 2 years), but then it came back up. If you're hungry eat a little more. Just watch the scale.

Also, make sure you're not double counting your steps on calories (I was). You're set to sedentary here. Then follow the instructions meticulously to make sure you're getting the right number of steps and not double.

ARGriffy

I certainly don't average my recommended cals. I know I undereat some days but I also know I binge out more than that and alcohol is a factor. My maintaince cals are 1800 ish but I would for sure say I go over that in a week when averaged out. But then again my activity level can vary massively, from a Monday day sat in the office allll day then on my backside at home in the eve, to a Saturday when I spend 15 hours on my feet running the restaurant floor with essentially no food in me. I have discovered that maintenance is a complex beast and over time I learn to listen to my body rather than count cals too much. I've not gained any real life weight in over a year now in fact I sit at the lower end of my range as opposed to the top at the start of the year. Each body is different and in my opinion, it's harder than just breaking down to activity level and CICO!

WinoGelato

The calculators underestimate my TDEE by about 300 or so, but my FitBit has always been a pretty accurate predictor. It estimates my daily burn at around 2200, and I lost weight eating back those cals and have been maintaining for a couple of years. I'm 5'2 and 120.

zyxst

I am the average person TDEE calculators are for. My Fitbit seems to be on target with maintenance/weight loss.

kgirlhart

I thought that my fitbit was pretty accurate. I have had good luck eating back most if not all of my exercise adjustment while losing. I have been trying to maintain for 19 weeks but I have lost about 8 pounds since trying to maintain. My rate of loss is only about .5 per week, but I would really like to level out. About a month ago I switched my activity level from sedentary (I have a desk job and sit a good part of my day) to lightly active. That took me from 1550 to 1710 plus exercise. Then I really tried to eat all of my adjustment for the month. Most days I did. My average intake was about 60 calories higher than what my fitbit showed I burned so I would think that would have me holding pretty steady. I looked at my goals again today. Now since I am down 2.6 pounds since I changed my goal, mfp gives me 1510 for sedentary, 1690 for lightly active and 1930 for active. Most of the TDEE calculators give me about the same numbers if I put in sedentary and then add for exercise. I do exercise usually 6 days per week, but I wouldn't consider my exercise all that intense. I do beginning yoga dvds on weekday mornings (usually about 30 minutes) and I walk about 3 miles per day 6 days a week. I did do C25K recently and have started running on 3 of those day. So I guess 5 days a week I do about an hour and a half of exercise, but yoga is not a big calorie burner. I guess my walks/runs may be burning more than I think. I do walk outdoors at a park and it is pretty hilly. I think I will set to active and see how that goes for a few weeks. Thanks for all your input.

Gamliela

I'm eating more than the mfp setting says is my maintenance. Its closer to what maintenance levels were when I was 5 years younger, which is about 200 more. I'm still not completely stable on calorie intake and my excersize fluctuates too, I eat back th excersize calories. I have lost since beginning maintenance, but only a few pounds.

cwolfman13

When I went to maintenance, I didn't bother with any of these calculators...I had 9+months worth of my own data to work with which is far superior and more accurate than a calculator.

These calculators are simply meant to be a good starting point...that's it...ultimately, your own data and real world results trump all.

Also, maintenance isn't really a specific number...people get all wrapped up in that, and it's just not the case...your maintenance calories are going to be variable. Further, if you're like me, maintenance is always going to be in flux..I'm a lot more active in the warmer months than I am the colder months (both in terms of general activity and exercise)...when I'm training for an event, I'm working harder than if I'm just working out, etc...my maintenance can vary anywhere from 2800 - 3500 calories per day depending on the season and what's going on.

I dumped these calculators long ago and haven't logged in years...I just monitor my weight...if I'm trending down, I know I need to eat more and I can pretty easily do the math there based on what I'm losing...if I'm trending up, I just cut back on some things here and there (usually beer during the week) and things settle back down.

Use your own data...monitor your weight regularly...make adjustments as necessary.

kgirlhart

My data seems to suggest that my maintenance calories are around 2000 - 2300 or so. I switched my goal to active so it shows 1930, but I am going to try to hit at least 2000 everyday even if that says I am over my goal. And I will eat back all of my adjustment. I just think I might be getting negative adjustments. But even if I do I will try to hit 2000. I knew maintenance would be a range, not just a specific weight. I just didn't expect to still be losing after 4 months of trying to maintain.

WinoGelato

kgirlhart wrote: »

My data seems to suggest that my maintenance calories are around 2000 - 2300 or so. I switched my goal to active so it shows 1930, but I am going to try to hit at least 2000 everyday even if that says I am over my goal. And I will eat back all of my adjustment. I just think I might be getting negative adjustments. But even if I do I will try to hit 2000. I knew maintenance would be a range, not just a specific weight. I just didn't expect to still be losing after 4 months of trying to maintain.

It's not the worst problem to have... especially going into the Holidays... you just have to work with the data to figure it out.

When I first got my FitBit I was set at sedentary on MFP because I thought thats what you're supposed to be set at when you have an office job. At the time I was averaging 10k steps/day and getting big exercise adjustments on MFP. I got good advice on these forums that no matter what your job is, 10ksteps/day isn't sedentary, and so I changed it to lightly active and got a bump in my base cals and lower exercise adjustments. I liked that because I felt it was more representative of my true purposeful "exercise" vs just the steps I get in daily activity. Now I average 14k steps/ day and am set at active. My base maintenance cals from MFP are 1830 (NEAT) and my FitBit estimates I burn 2200, so I tend to get 300 or so from exercise every day.

If you just changed the activity setting, I would probably give it a few weeks for the two systems to work together properly. I would increase your cals as you've suggested above and I bet the weight loss slows and levels off.

Transitioning to maintenance is an adjustment in mindset and calories and may require ongoing calibration of both.

pathawes6881

My maintenance was apparently 2800 and I lost 2lbs a week over two weeks. I put activity up to very active and got 3200kcal which seems to be about right now, but have yet to weigh after a week at this so may go up in calories again. I do have an active job, carpenter, and powerlifting training heavy four times a week which helps burn calories. So fitness pal can be way off.

cwolfman13

kgirlhart wrote: »

My data seems to suggest that my maintenance calories are around 2000 - 2300 or so. I switched my goal to active so it shows 1930, but I am going to try to hit at least 2000 everyday even if that says I am over my goal. And I will eat back all of my adjustment. I just think I might be getting negative adjustments. But even if I do I will try to hit 2000. I knew maintenance would be a range, not just a specific weight. I just didn't expect to still be losing after 4 months of trying to maintain.

Things could be worse...

I don't know what your stats are, but my wife is 5'2" on a good day...she runs 3-5 miles 3-4 days per week and lifts once per week and pretty easily maintains on 2200 - 2300 calories...so it wouldn't be crazy.

kgirlhart

WinoGelato wrote: »

kgirlhart wrote: »

My data seems to suggest that my maintenance calories are around 2000 - 2300 or so. I switched my goal to active so it shows 1930, but I am going to try to hit at least 2000 everyday even if that says I am over my goal. And I will eat back all of my adjustment. I just think I might be getting negative adjustments. But even if I do I will try to hit 2000. I knew maintenance would be a range, not just a specific weight. I just didn't expect to still be losing after 4 months of trying to maintain.

It's not the worst problem to have... especially going into the Holidays... you just have to work with the data to figure it out.

When I first got my FitBit I was set at sedentary on MFP because I thought thats what you're supposed to be set at when you have an office job. At the time I was averaging 10k steps/day and getting big exercise adjustments on MFP. I got good advice on these forums that no matter what your job is, 10ksteps/day isn't sedentary, and so I changed it to lightly active and got a bump in my base cals and lower exercise adjustments. I liked that because I felt it was more representative of my true purposeful "exercise" vs just the steps I get in daily activity. Now I average 14k steps/ day and am set at active. My base maintenance cals from MFP are 1830 (NEAT) and my FitBit estimates I burn 2200, so I tend to get 300 or so from exercise every day.

If you just changed the activity setting, I would probably give it a few weeks for the two systems to work together properly. I would increase your cals as you've suggested above and I bet the weight loss slows and levels off.

Transitioning to maintenance is an adjustment in mindset and calories and may require ongoing calibration of both.

This makes a lot of sense to me. I guess I just had not realized that I am not sedentary even though I do have a desk job. It is hard to change how you perceive yourself. I never thought of myself as active, but I guess I am. I think it has also been frustrating to me because I am getting a lot of people telling me lately that I don't need to lose any more weight. I haven't actually been trying to lose any weight since the end of July. I guess they mean well, but it makes me more frustrated.

pathawes6881

Others peoples "helpful"suggestions that you don't need to lose more weight can sometimes be a subconscious desire for you to stop so they don't feel as bad about not achieving there goals. I've seen a lot of meat eaters try to sabotage someone who's become vegetarian or drinkers trying to persuade someone who's stopped drinking for this reason. Don't be disheartened by others comments that you should stop. It's ok to have a break for a bit if you want but it's up to you. So long as you stay healthy. Good luck

WinoGelato

pathawes6881 wrote: »

Others peoples "helpful"suggestions that you don't need to lose more weight can sometimes be a subconscious desire for you to stop so they don't feel as bad about not achieving there goals. I've seen a lot of meat eaters try to sabotage someone who's become vegetarian or drinkers trying to persuade someone who's stopped drinking for this reason. Don't be disheartened by others comments that you should stop. It's ok to have a break for a bit if you want but it's up to you. So long as you stay healthy. Good luck

OP said she was ready to move to maintenance... she's actively trying to stop losing.

WinoGelato

kgirlhart wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

kgirlhart wrote: »

My data seems to suggest that my maintenance calories are around 2000 - 2300 or so. I switched my goal to active so it shows 1930, but I am going to try to hit at least 2000 everyday even if that says I am over my goal. And I will eat back all of my adjustment. I just think I might be getting negative adjustments. But even if I do I will try to hit 2000. I knew maintenance would be a range, not just a specific weight. I just didn't expect to still be losing after 4 months of trying to maintain.

It's not the worst problem to have... especially going into the Holidays... you just have to work with the data to figure it out.

When I first got my FitBit I was set at sedentary on MFP because I thought thats what you're supposed to be set at when you have an office job. At the time I was averaging 10k steps/day and getting big exercise adjustments on MFP. I got good advice on these forums that no matter what your job is, 10ksteps/day isn't sedentary, and so I changed it to lightly active and got a bump in my base cals and lower exercise adjustments. I liked that because I felt it was more representative of my true purposeful "exercise" vs just the steps I get in daily activity. Now I average 14k steps/ day and am set at active. My base maintenance cals from MFP are 1830 (NEAT) and my FitBit estimates I burn 2200, so I tend to get 300 or so from exercise every day.

If you just changed the activity setting, I would probably give it a few weeks for the two systems to work together properly. I would increase your cals as you've suggested above and I bet the weight loss slows and levels off.

Transitioning to maintenance is an adjustment in mindset and calories and may require ongoing calibration of both.

This makes a lot of sense to me. I guess I just had not realized that I am not sedentary even though I do have a desk job. It is hard to change how you perceive yourself. I never thought of myself as active, but I guess I am. I think it has also been frustrating to me because I am getting a lot of people telling me lately that I don't need to lose any more weight. I haven't actually been trying to lose any weight since the end of July. I guess they mean well, but it makes me more frustrated.

Well and for me, at one point, I was sedentary, and those calculators were probably right. I've worked over the last 3.5 years to become more active every day, so that I now have a much higher NEAT and a higher TDEE than I did even before I lost >30 lbs. I eat more calories and more food now than I did before I lost the weight.... which is why I always try to inform people who feel that being a petite female over a certain age with a desk job is a guarantee of having to eat 1200 to lose and maintaining at 1600 or less... activity level makes a huge difference.

I've also had those comments, even though I haven't actively lost weight in over a year. Part of it is that I now am finally getting new clothes that fit me better, so that people can really see how different my body is. It hasn't changed in the last year, but the baggy clothes masked it so people now are like "whoa, you aren't still trying to lose, are you?". I am not even at the low end of my BMI, but I've hit a very comfortable range of calories and scale weight and don't really want to eat at a deficit anymore. Maybe after the first of the year, it might be fun to be the weight I was going into college, not the weight I came out of college...

pathawes6881

WinoGelato wrote: »

pathawes6881 wrote: »

Others peoples "helpful"suggestions that you don't need to lose more weight can sometimes be a subconscious desire for you to stop so they don't feel as bad about not achieving there goals. I've seen a lot of meat eaters try to sabotage someone who's become vegetarian or drinkers trying to persuade someone who's stopped drinking for this reason. Don't be disheartened by others comments that you should stop. It's ok to have a break for a bit if you want but it's up to you. So long as you stay healthy. Good luck

OP said she was ready to move to maintenance... she's actively trying to stop losing.

My bad. Sorry

born_of_fire74

Most TDEE's recommend ~2000 cal but I maintain at 1700. Sad panda.

kgirlhart

WinoGelato wrote: »

kgirlhart wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

kgirlhart wrote: »

My data seems to suggest that my maintenance calories are around 2000 - 2300 or so. I switched my goal to active so it shows 1930, but I am going to try to hit at least 2000 everyday even if that says I am over my goal. And I will eat back all of my adjustment. I just think I might be getting negative adjustments. But even if I do I will try to hit 2000. I knew maintenance would be a range, not just a specific weight. I just didn't expect to still be losing after 4 months of trying to maintain.

It's not the worst problem to have... especially going into the Holidays... you just have to work with the data to figure it out.

When I first got my FitBit I was set at sedentary on MFP because I thought thats what you're supposed to be set at when you have an office job. At the time I was averaging 10k steps/day and getting big exercise adjustments on MFP. I got good advice on these forums that no matter what your job is, 10ksteps/day isn't sedentary, and so I changed it to lightly active and got a bump in my base cals and lower exercise adjustments. I liked that because I felt it was more representative of my true purposeful "exercise" vs just the steps I get in daily activity. Now I average 14k steps/ day and am set at active. My base maintenance cals from MFP are 1830 (NEAT) and my FitBit estimates I burn 2200, so I tend to get 300 or so from exercise every day.

If you just changed the activity setting, I would probably give it a few weeks for the two systems to work together properly. I would increase your cals as you've suggested above and I bet the weight loss slows and levels off.

Transitioning to maintenance is an adjustment in mindset and calories and may require ongoing calibration of both.

This makes a lot of sense to me. I guess I just had not realized that I am not sedentary even though I do have a desk job. It is hard to change how you perceive yourself. I never thought of myself as active, but I guess I am. I think it has also been frustrating to me because I am getting a lot of people telling me lately that I don't need to lose any more weight. I haven't actually been trying to lose any weight since the end of July. I guess they mean well, but it makes me more frustrated.

Well and for me, at one point, I was sedentary, and those calculators were probably right. I've worked over the last 3.5 years to become more active every day, so that I now have a much higher NEAT and a higher TDEE than I did even before I lost >30 lbs. I eat more calories and more food now than I did before I lost the weight.... which is why I always try to inform people who feel that being a petite female over a certain age with a desk job is a guarantee of having to eat 1200 to lose and maintaining at 1600 or less... activity level makes a huge difference.

I've also had those comments, even though I haven't actively lost weight in over a year. Part of it is that I now am finally getting new clothes that fit me better, so that people can really see how different my body is. It hasn't changed in the last year, but the baggy clothes masked it so people now are like "whoa, you aren't still trying to lose, are you?". I am not even at the low end of my BMI, but I've hit a very comfortable range of calories and scale weight and don't really want to eat at a deficit anymore. Maybe after the first of the year, it might be fun to be the weight I was going into college, not the weight I came out of college...

I really am a lot more active now. I guess I didn't realize it would make such a difference. And I had not thought of the clothes angle. I did recently get some new clothes that actually fit.