Bodyfat Importance

fatty2sixpack

Should I be trying to find out what my bodyfat percentage is to get a more accurate number of calories I should eat a day?

LessCookiess

Not important at all MyFitnessPal will provide you with the calories you should eat.

sijomial

Nope.

StealthHealth

Nope- It's just a number and of little importance in practice. As @xchocolategirl states - with a correctly set up profile in MFP you're good to go.

rainbowbow

overall body weight will determine the number of calories you need to eat each day.

It might be helpful to know your bodyfat to determine your optimal protein needs, but even then, most individuals reach their protein requirements without this information and without effort.

LivingtheLeanDream

body fat % wont tell you how much you can eat per day.
Plug your stats in to MFP with the amount you would like to lose per week and it will give you the amount calories to eat to achieve that loss.

trigden1991

The mirror and scales will tell you a lot more than a bodyfat percentage.

jemhh

Nope. Save your money.

I'd use a calculator like the one at mytdee.com to calculate a suggested calorie level for losing weight, eat that number of calories for 3-4 weeks, and then adjust up/down based on results. You could use the MFP-provided goal but I'm not really a fan of it at this point. Regardless, keep in mind that every calorie calculator number you get is going to be an estimate based on a formula. That estimate is your starting point, it's not a set in stone guaranteed number.

Best of luck to you.