How accurate was calorie MFP's estimate for you? Was it low or high if inaccurate?

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Replies

  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I'm 62, 5'5", weight around 130, sedentary outside of intentional exercise. MFP thinks I'd maintain somewhere around 1400-1500 net. It's really more like 2000 or so net. I don't know why.

    I'm similar. I'm 62,128lbs and 5'3. Mfp set my maintenance at around 1500 but it's closer to 2200. Having said that, I don't know if I might be more active than I think I am - since I started eating back my fitbit calories I've had more success - and whether I'm possibly overestimating my calories as I've stopped weighing everything
  • SummerSkier
    SummerSkier Posts: 5,132 Member
    I turn 60 late this year and I wish I could still run. Knees can't handle it. I tore them up pretty bad one year when I went from not being a runner to running a half marathon. I thought I was going to be one of those skinny old guys you see out running until I started pulling up lame. Surgeon who did my arthroscopic told me if I kept running, I would probably be back to see him. I walk a fair amount. According to my fitness app, I am at 195 miles so far this year.

    You should try a little running if you like again. There is absolutely NO ORTHO OR DOC who will ever tell anyone over 22 that running is ok. They ALL say don't do it. I still do. I tore my meniscus snow skiing in 99 I think. Wasn't really able to get it repaired at that time. I left it. Did min mileage. Started up last July and have been about to do about 28=30 miles per week with no issues. Yeah - at some point my joints will go bad but I figure they are going to anyway. Try C25K and see how far you get? I did not think I would get past 2 miles due to knees but ended up I have been able to consistently do 5K and more. Even 10K plus some days.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    I turn 60 late this year and I wish I could still run. Knees can't handle it. I tore them up pretty bad one year when I went from not being a runner to running a half marathon. I thought I was going to be one of those skinny old guys you see out running until I started pulling up lame. Surgeon who did my arthroscopic told me if I kept running, I would probably be back to see him. I walk a fair amount. According to my fitness app, I am at 195 miles so far this year.

    You should try a little running if you like again. There is absolutely NO ORTHO OR DOC who will ever tell anyone over 22 that running is ok. They ALL say don't do it. I still do. I tore my meniscus snow skiing in 99 I think. Wasn't really able to get it repaired at that time. I left it. Did min mileage. Started up last July and have been about to do about 28=30 miles per week with no issues. Yeah - at some point my joints will go bad but I figure they are going to anyway. Try C25K and see how far you get? I did not think I would get past 2 miles due to knees but ended up I have been able to consistently do 5K and more. Even 10K plus some days.

    My knees might be a little further gone than yours. I used a cane part of last winter because of a flare that took a couple of months to subside (genetic autoimmune complication). I am walking miles and miles on level ground, but stairs are not my friend. With all that walking, my leg muscles are in good enough shape that I wouldn't have any trouble running a 5k if my knees could take the pounding.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    How do your knees react to cycling? Avoiding impact forces is the big thing for my dodgy knees.

    I've got two major knee injuries (and four old but more minor knee injuries...) and can only run a mile or so a week but can cycle 100 miles a week.

    YMMV
    (See what I did there?!)
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    Cycling is better than running, but I tend to get pain and inflammation if I push it, which makes it hard to find groups to ride with. I went to a meetup that was supposed to be "recreational all speeds" but no one else lagged as far as I did after a few miles. I kept up okay to start with, but even without the impact, bending the knees that far that many times in rapid succession takes a toll after a few minutes. I need an electric bicycle. Start with the motor completely off, then do power assist to keep up and finally full power to take me back when it gets too bad. Or I can just walk and stay away from stairs on bad days.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    How do your knees react to cycling? Avoiding impact forces is the big thing for my dodgy knees.

    I've got two major knee injuries (and four old but more minor knee injuries...) and can only run a mile or so a week but can cycle 100 miles a week.

    YMMV
    (See what I did there?!)

    I'm missing those days...way too time constrained at the moment. Things were much easier before my kids started going to school and bringing home homework and projects and playing youth sports that I also feel obligated to help coach...though I do enjoy that.
  • debrakgoogins
    debrakgoogins Posts: 2,033 Member
    edited March 2018
    Mine was low. When I first got here, I was new to everything and trusted the number MFP gave me. I lost weight but I was hungry all the time. It led to me going crazy and eating everything in sight every once in a while. Then, I came to the community and learned a little more about the process. I started using the Scooby Calculator to determine my calorie needs and customized my goals based on that number. Using that calculation, I don't subtract my excercise. It keeps me losing consistently.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    BTW, I got over yesterday's freak out of seeing the scale jump almost 2 pounds. It was back down this morning and I set my goal back to 1900, but I am going to eat back only a small part of my long walk calories. I have an "old guy medical diagnostic" coming up in a few days that mean I am about to be eating very little real food for 3 days or so starting tomorrow, so I will probably get a legit one to two pound drop out of that for a little more cushion.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    quote="CarvedTones;c-41711511"]
    I turn 60 late this year and I wish I could still run. Knees can't handle it. I tore them up pretty bad one year when I went from not being a runner to running a half marathon. I thought I was going to be one of those skinny old guys you see out running until I started pulling up lame. Surgeon who did my arthroscopic told me if I kept running, I would probably be back to see him. I walk a fair amount. According to my fitness app, I am at 195 miles so far this year.

    You should try a little running if you like again. There is absolutely NO ORTHO OR DOC who will ever tell anyone over 22 that running is ok. They ALL say don't do it. I still do. I tore my meniscus snow skiing in 99 I think. Wasn't really able to get it repaired at that time. I left it. Did min mileage. Started up last July and have been about to do about 28=30 miles per week with no issues. Yeah - at some point my joints will go bad but I figure they are going to anyway. Try C25K and see how far you get? I did not think I would get past 2 miles due to knees but ended up I have been able to consistently do 5K and more. Even 10K plus some days.

    My knees might be a little further gone than yours. I used a cane part of last winter because of a flare that took a couple of months to subside (genetic autoimmune complication). I am walking miles and miles on level ground, but stairs are not my friend. With all that walking, my leg muscles are in good enough shape that I wouldn't have any trouble running a 5k if my knees could take the pounding.[/quote]

    FWIW, probably not generalizable, my physical therapy people made amazing improvements in my ability to handle stairs with the torn meniscus: Different muscle engagement.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
    For maintenance:

    Fitness lab RMR = 1,500 + 20% = 1,800
    MFP w/Sedentary and no activity = 2,030

    MFP is 11% too high.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    edited March 2018
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I turn 60 late this year and I wish I could still run. Knees can't handle it. I tore them up pretty bad one year when I went from not being a runner to running a half marathon. I thought I was going to be one of those skinny old guys you see out running until I started pulling up lame. Surgeon who did my arthroscopic told me if I kept running, I would probably be back to see him. I walk a fair amount. According to my fitness app, I am at 195 miles so far this year.

    You should try a little running if you like again. There is absolutely NO ORTHO OR DOC who will ever tell anyone over 22 that running is ok. They ALL say don't do it. I still do. I tore my meniscus snow skiing in 99 I think. Wasn't really able to get it repaired at that time. I left it. Did min mileage. Started up last July and have been about to do about 28=30 miles per week with no issues. Yeah - at some point my joints will go bad but I figure they are going to anyway. Try C25K and see how far you get? I did not think I would get past 2 miles due to knees but ended up I have been able to consistently do 5K and more. Even 10K plus some days.

    My knees might be a little further gone than yours. I used a cane part of last winter because of a flare that took a couple of months to subside (genetic autoimmune complication). I am walking miles and miles on level ground, but stairs are not my friend. With all that walking, my leg muscles are in good enough shape that I wouldn't have any trouble running a 5k if my knees could take the pounding.

    FWIW, probably not generalizable, my physical therapy people made amazing improvements in my ability to handle stairs with the torn meniscus: Different muscle engagement.

    Oops, messed up the quote tags - too late to edit. Corrected in quote in this post, above. Sorry!
  • brooke88z
    brooke88z Posts: 23 Member
    edited March 2018
    I'm 5'9", female, 34 years old with a sedentary lifestyle. MFP gave me 1720 calories /days to maintain 135 lbs. My true number is at least 1800 calories. So MFP was on the low side.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I turn 60 late this year and I wish I could still run. Knees can't handle it. I tore them up pretty bad one year when I went from not being a runner to running a half marathon. I thought I was going to be one of those skinny old guys you see out running until I started pulling up lame. Surgeon who did my arthroscopic told me if I kept running, I would probably be back to see him. I walk a fair amount. According to my fitness app, I am at 195 miles so far this year.

    You should try a little running if you like again. There is absolutely NO ORTHO OR DOC who will ever tell anyone over 22 that running is ok. They ALL say don't do it. I still do. I tore my meniscus snow skiing in 99 I think. Wasn't really able to get it repaired at that time. I left it. Did min mileage. Started up last July and have been about to do about 28=30 miles per week with no issues. Yeah - at some point my joints will go bad but I figure they are going to anyway. Try C25K and see how far you get? I did not think I would get past 2 miles due to knees but ended up I have been able to consistently do 5K and more. Even 10K plus some days.

    My knees might be a little further gone than yours. I used a cane part of last winter because of a flare that took a couple of months to subside (genetic autoimmune complication). I am walking miles and miles on level ground, but stairs are not my friend. With all that walking, my leg muscles are in good enough shape that I wouldn't have any trouble running a 5k if my knees could take the pounding.

    FWIW, probably not generalizable, my physical therapy people made amazing improvements in my ability to handle stairs with the torn meniscus: Different muscle engagement.

    Oops, messed up the quote tags - too late to edit. Corrected in quote in this post, above. Sorry!

    I had pretty good PT also, after the knee operation and after the flare that had me using the cane. I don't think I would walk as much if I hadn't rehabbed the knees. I can do a flight of stairs, maybe two, on good days. I can still do them on bad days, it just hurts. On really bad days, it hurts too much to do them. Those days are more about arthritic inflammation in the joint than muscle engagement.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    I turn 60 late this year and I wish I could still run. Knees can't handle it. I tore them up pretty bad one year when I went from not being a runner to running a half marathon. I thought I was going to be one of those skinny old guys you see out running until I started pulling up lame. Surgeon who did my arthroscopic told me if I kept running, I would probably be back to see him. I walk a fair amount. According to my fitness app, I am at 195 miles so far this year.

    You should try a little running if you like again. There is absolutely NO ORTHO OR DOC who will ever tell anyone over 22 that running is ok. They ALL say don't do it. I still do. I tore my meniscus snow skiing in 99 I think. Wasn't really able to get it repaired at that time. I left it. Did min mileage. Started up last July and have been about to do about 28=30 miles per week with no issues. Yeah - at some point my joints will go bad but I figure they are going to anyway. Try C25K and see how far you get? I did not think I would get past 2 miles due to knees but ended up I have been able to consistently do 5K and more. Even 10K plus some days.

    My knees might be a little further gone than yours. I used a cane part of last winter because of a flare that took a couple of months to subside (genetic autoimmune complication). I am walking miles and miles on level ground, but stairs are not my friend. With all that walking, my leg muscles are in good enough shape that I wouldn't have any trouble running a 5k if my knees could take the pounding.

    FWIW, probably not generalizable, my physical therapy people made amazing improvements in my ability to handle stairs with the torn meniscus: Different muscle engagement.

    Oops, messed up the quote tags - too late to edit. Corrected in quote in this post, above. Sorry!

    I had pretty good PT also, after the knee operation and after the flare that had me using the cane. I don't think I would walk as much if I hadn't rehabbed the knees. I can do a flight of stairs, maybe two, on good days. I can still do them on bad days, it just hurts. On really bad days, it hurts too much to do them. Those days are more about arthritic inflammation in the joint than muscle engagement.

    Different conditions have different effects, so don't take what follows as arguing with you about your situation at all, but your response makes me realize I didn't express myself even remotely clearly. What I meant was that the PT folks taught me ways to engage the muscles differently, which materially reduced stress on the joint: Not so much a matter of rehab, but rather technique. My rowing double partner is in a situation that sounds more like yours: Arthritis makes stairs a problem, no matter what. Sympathies!
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    I also question the accuracy of MFP calculator. I have had my rmr done at the University of Florida. It is lower than what mfp would state. If I ate back my exercise calories, I would be gaining like a mad man!
  • smitra0
    smitra0 Posts: 2 Member
    It's way too low, I eat close to 4000 Kcal a day, I do one hour of running a day at a fast pace and I weigh about 54 kg.