Maintenance Calories Accuracy In MFP

CarvedTones

@LiftHeavyThings27105 I think we get way too hung up in the details sometimes. I definitely do. Being aware of how much and what I am eating, how much exercise I am getting and adjusting either or both depending on what I see on the scale and in the mirror is really what is working. Being off by a few hundred calories every now and then is not what gets me in trouble.

Lillymoo01

Mine are about 250 calories too low. I have put that down to being restless which means I am always moving at least one part of my body. Even when sleeping it is not uncommon for my feet to be moving.

mrsjen1310

Mine was 300 cals per day too low, I changed to "active" which I'm not sure reading the description I actually am...but that's spot on, I've been recording cals (net after taking out exercise cals) for about 4 months now and sure enough if I stay at Active Maintain I do, if I go 4000 cals over I'm up a pound and vice versa, so I've verified it with my own data, which I think in the end is what we all have to do to get the "real" number

mtaratoot

One thing I notice is how it rates bicycling. There are seven entries (leisurely, light, moderate, vigorous, very fast, racing, and BMX/mountain. There are speed ranges related to that. If I ride my Trek Soho (belt-drive commuter bike with a roller brake in the rear and disc on front) for my commute, I am solidly in one of those ranges. If I ride my Trek 420 (old sport-touring bike with rim brakes), I can put out the same effort but go MUCH faster. The database says the faster range oxidizes 20% more calories. But it's not the speed, it's how hard the muscles in my legs are pumping.

I also notice what it assigns to SCUBA diving, and I think it's way high. There's other threads about that. Go figure.

WinoGelato

OP if you were using MFP and tracking calories while you were losing weight why not use those actual numbers to calculate your maintenance cals and see how that compares to the number the system gave you for maintenance?

You can look at your average calorie intake over a period of time and depending on how much weight you were losing and how consistent that was you can add back in (500 cals if losing 1 lb/week) to estimate your TDEE.

AnnPT77

There are several methods of estimating your maintenance calories. This post/thread summarizes several of them:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level

Noreenmarie1234

Mine are quite a bit too low.

CarvedTones

WinoGelato wrote: »

OP if you were using MFP and tracking calories while you were losing weight why not use those actual numbers to calculate your maintenance cals and see how that compares to the number the system gave you for maintenance?

You can look at your average calorie intake over a period of time and depending on how much weight you were losing and how consistent that was you can add back in (500 cals if losing 1 lb/week) to estimate your TDEE.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

There are several methods of estimating your maintenance calories. This post/thread summarizes several of them:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level

I know how to calculate mine. Because my calories were so different than the estimate, I was curious if substantial in accuracy is common. It appears so.

rheddmobile

MFP gives me 1750 to maintain at 150, and I've been losing about half a pound a week at this setting, which is fine since I hope to gradually lose a few more pounds.

I know I don't eat back all my exercise calories sometimes, and I also give myself a double helping of almond butter with breakfast sometimes, and so far my logging inaccuracies have mostly balanced out. If I start seeing results I don't like, I'll tighten up my logging.