Calories

debteach12

I don't eat my calorie allowance and sometimes after I complete my diary it says that I will lose weight in 5 weeks but other times it says that I'm going to gain weight? Does anyone know why that happens and how I can regulate it?

taziarj

That is just MFP telling you what you will weigh in 5 weeks if you eat the same amount of calories that you ate today each day for the next five weeks. If you are over maintenance, the number will be higher than your current weight. If you eat in a deficit, the weight will be lower than your current weight.

debteach12

So how do I know how many calories to eat if it's always different?

AliNouveau

It's not really accurate you'd have to eat the exact same diet and workout exactly the same every day to achieve that. I only ever got a higher amount in five weeks when I went over calories for the day.

Eat what mfp suggests you should eat and you'll do fine

Seffell

I think what the OP is asking is why if they always eat below their goal calories, sometimes mfp predicts they will gain in 5 weeks and others that they will lose.

My answer is: must be a bug if it does that.

TavistockToad

debteach12 wrote: »

I don't eat my calorie allowance and sometimes after I complete my diary it says that I will lose weight in 5 weeks but other times it says that I'm going to gain weight? Does anyone know why that happens and how I can regulate it?

Aside from the weight loss prediction question, why would you not eat to your calorie goal?

debteach12

I don't eat my calorie goal because it's high and I feel full before I get to my goal.

StaceyO444

Are you following your macros? More processed food, more carbs and fat = more bioavailable calories. Meaning, if you're at your calorie goal but it's all processed carbs and fats, you're at less of a deficit than if your calories are lean proteins and vegetables.

RAinWA

StaceyO444 wrote: »

Are you following your macros? More processed food, more carbs and fat = more bioavailable calories. Meaning, if you're at your calorie goal but it's all processed carbs and fats, you're at less of a deficit than if your calories are lean proteins and vegetables.

That doesn't make sense. A calorie from a cookie is the same as a calorie from kale, it's just a unit of measurement.

ETA: (because it cut off the rest) you will feel better eating food that gives you the correct amount of protein, fat, etc. but it doesn't change the fact that a deficit is all that matters for weight loss.