Myfitnesspal Daily Calorie intake VS Beachbody\Harris-Benedict equation Calorie intake

mikescrill1

Hey all,

I'm confused as to what calorie intake is the correct number I want to follow for fat loss... what Myfitnesspal suggests or the Beachbody\Harris-Benedict equation.

Myfitnesspal suggests 1570 calories a day - I am choosing sedentary for normal daily activity but selecting 6 days a week @ 45 min for amount of exercise. This seems accurate to me as I work at my desk all day but workout hard in the evening.

Beachbody\Harris-Benedict equation suggests 2334 calories a day - 5-6 hrs a week of strenuous exercise a week and 20% calorie reduction (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/). If I lower the strenuous exercise to 3-5 hours (which might be best for those weeks I can't work out as much, I got kids :-), then the calories are 2097.

Either way, this is a 500-800 calorie discrepancy between the two services and I really am confused. Who is right? I have been at the 1570 mark for a bit now and don't feel like I'm bonking out on my workouts, but I'm worried that I'm not giving my body enough fuel to produce the proper gains of weight loss and muscle gain (mostly weight loss as muscle gain requires a surplus of calories, not a deficit, I know this).

Can anyone add any insight? I don't want to start adding back weight by going with the higher numbers, but lots of research online is pointing me in that direction over the calorie intake as suggested by MFP.

Thanks for the assist.

Jules_farmgirl

If I am reading correctly your MFP is only going by the NEAT method meaning that what ever exercise you do, it is meant for you to eat back your exercise calories. (most eat half of what MFP estimates). So that 1570/day would increase if you burnt 600cals exercising, as you would eat this back.

The other method is using your TDEE and taking into account the exercise and overall calorie burn for the day.

Neither is incorrect, it just depends what method works the best for you to follow.

TR0berts

Yeah, what Jules said.

StaciMarie1974

The MFP 1570 is actually 1570 + what you burn during workouts. What do you burn during the 5-6 hours of strenous exercise?

zyxst

MFP doesn't include exercise in it's calculations. When it asks how many times a week will you exercise, that's more for you to keep track than for adding calories to your goal.

For fun, set your activity goal to moderate and see what MFP spits out at you. I bet it's not far off H-B/Scooby.

cwolfman13

mikescrill1 wrote: »

Hey all,

I'm confused as to what calorie intake is the correct number I want to follow for fat loss... what Myfitnesspal suggests or the Beachbody\Harris-Benedict equation.

Myfitnesspal suggests 1570 calories a day - I am choosing sedentary for normal daily activity but selecting 6 days a week @ 45 min for amount of exercise. This seems accurate to me as I work at my desk all day but workout hard in the evening.

Beachbody\Harris-Benedict equation suggests 2334 calories a day - 5-6 hrs a week of strenuous exercise a week and 20% calorie reduction (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/). If I lower the strenuous exercise to 3-5 hours (which might be best for those weeks I can't work out as much, I got kids :-), then the calories are 2097.

Either way, this is a 500-800 calorie discrepancy between the two services and I really am confused. Who is right? I have been at the 1570 mark for a bit now and don't feel like I'm bonking out on my workouts, but I'm worried that I'm not giving my body enough fuel to produce the proper gains of weight loss and muscle gain (mostly weight loss as muscle gain requires a surplus of calories, not a deficit, I know this).

Can anyone add any insight? I don't want to start adding back weight by going with the higher numbers, but lots of research online is pointing me in that direction over the calorie intake as suggested by MFP.

Thanks for the assist.

Your exercise goals with MFP have ZERO bearing on your calorie targets...they are only for you...MFP doesn't believe you that you will do them, so it doesn't utilize any of those inputs in calculating your calorie targets. MFP uses your day to day activity level only...you account for that exercise you said you were going to do by logging it and then getting additional calories to "eat back"

The other calculator you're looking at is a TDEE calculator which is going to include all activity, including exercise in your activity level...since exercise is included, calorie amounts are higher.

Done correctly, the methods are basically 6 of 1.

Also, I'm guessing with MFP you chose 2 Lbs per week rate of loss goal...do the math...my guess is that a 20% reduction from your TDEE calculator is less than a 2 Lb per week rate of loss...it's probably closer to 1 Lb per week...in that regard you have to compare apples to apples and you're comparing apples to potatoes.