Question on MFP and calories
Tacklewasher
Posts: 7,122 Member
Quick question on the MFP calorie calc.
My NEAT is ~2300 calories. I've got ~40 lbs to lose and am over 200. I could afford to lose 2 lbs a week for a bit.
If I set my weight loss goal to 2 lbs a week, I know MFP will give me 1500 cals. But does it start adding in exercise cals right away? So say I go for a 5K run and burn ~400 calories. Is MFP going to give me 1900 for the day, or will it see that I should be at 2300 + 400 - 1000 = 1700?
Don't worry, I won't be eating 1500. Probably aim for 1800 as a target unless I'm real active. Just curious how MFP works in this case.
*kitten*. Did not mean to put this in the debate side.
Okay, let's debate how MFP works
My NEAT is ~2300 calories. I've got ~40 lbs to lose and am over 200. I could afford to lose 2 lbs a week for a bit.
If I set my weight loss goal to 2 lbs a week, I know MFP will give me 1500 cals. But does it start adding in exercise cals right away? So say I go for a 5K run and burn ~400 calories. Is MFP going to give me 1900 for the day, or will it see that I should be at 2300 + 400 - 1000 = 1700?
Don't worry, I won't be eating 1500. Probably aim for 1800 as a target unless I'm real active. Just curious how MFP works in this case.
*kitten*. Did not mean to put this in the debate side.
Okay, let's debate how MFP works
5
Replies
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Is that math right?
If it's all just addition and subtraction of calories, shouldn't you end up at the same number regardless? Your NEAT is what it is, and that doesn't change. Your weight loss goal is what it is, and that doesn't change. When you figure in the exercise cals shouldn't matter, should it?
What am I missing?
2300 - 1000 = 1300 (not 1500)... 1300 + 400 = 1700
2300 + 400 = 2700... 2700 - 1000 = 17002 -
So, technically to lose 2 lbs per week you would need 1300 calories per day. Which it won't give you because you are male, hence the 1500 calories.
Are your exercise calories automatically linked with your Fitbit or whatever?1 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »So, technically to lose 2 lbs per week you would need 1300 calories per day. Which it won't give you because you are male, hence the 1500 calories.
Ah, that's the part I was missing...0 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »So, technically to lose 2 lbs per week you would need 1300 calories per day. Which it won't give you because you are male, hence the 1500 calories.
Are your exercise calories automatically linked with your Fitbit or whatever?
Garmin, but yes.1 -
I suspect it would give you 1700. I never had my deficit big enough to test your hypothesis.
Are you going to experiment for us, so we know the answer?0 -
I know that if you use the MFP exercise calories, then yes, it will add the full amount to the minimum (in my case 1200). I'm not sure about the adjustment with an external tracker. I suspect it probably won't, because the tracker would account for the 200 calorie difference. At the end of the day, even if it did do that, you are still (theoretically) losing at just over 1.5lb/week, which is better than nothing/gaining.1
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I don't think it's a "smart" calculation. You setup your profile, MFP gives you a goal. It then, secondarily, adjusts that goal based on logged exercise. I'm going all in on 1900.1
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quiksylver296 wrote: »I suspect it would give you 1700. I never had my deficit big enough to test your hypothesis.
Are you going to experiment for us, so we know the answer?
What the hell. I'm back on the bandwagon after the long weekend so I may as well set it to 2 lbs and see what happens. I think it will give me 1900. But I'm not eating under 1800 regardless of what it tells me.
How much you wanna bet on this? Winner picks the loser's avatar for a month?4 -
Yeah it's a dumb tool.
Garmin is probably smarter than the MFP GOAL wizard.
It won't automagically adjust to your alleged "real" NEAT. It goes on what you have in the GOAL.
Of course, what the heck do I know? I've never used a device. I just think MFP goes by your set GOAL calories. You can manually set them to whatever you want, and exercise is deducted from that number. The whole sync thing is above my pay grade.1 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »I suspect it would give you 1700. I never had my deficit big enough to test your hypothesis.
Are you going to experiment for us, so we know the answer?
What the hell. I'm back on the bandwagon after the long weekend so I may as well set it to 2 lbs and see what happens. I think it will give me 1900. But I'm not eating under 1800 regardless of what it tells me.
How much you wanna bet on this? Winner picks the loser's avatar for a month?
I'm in!4 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Quick question on the MFP calorie calc.
My NEAT is ~2300 calories. I've got ~40 lbs to lose and am over 200. I could afford to lose 2 lbs a week for a bit.
If I set my weight loss goal to 2 lbs a week, I know MFP will give me 1500 cals. But does it start adding in exercise cals right away? So say I go for a 5K run and burn ~400 calories. Is MFP going to give me 1900 for the day, or will it see that I should be at 2300 + 400 - 1000 = 1700?
Don't worry, I won't be eating 1500. Probably aim for 1800 as a target unless I'm real active. Just curious how MFP works in this case.
*kitten*. Did not mean to put this in the debate side.
Okay, let's debate how MFP works
It will give you the 1900. The net calories are set and fixed when you set up the goal (whether or not it meets the % you set) - it won't remember the x% and re-adjust the net calories to lower them where the total calories with exercise would now be above the minimum threshold.0 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »I suspect it would give you 1700. I never had my deficit big enough to test your hypothesis.
Are you going to experiment for us, so we know the answer?
*Kitten*. I meant that it wouldn't adjust to the 1300, which means it would give you 1900. Now I'm gonna have some freaky avatar for a month.
This is what I get for answering pre-coffee.3 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »I suspect it would give you 1700. I never had my deficit big enough to test your hypothesis.
Are you going to experiment for us, so we know the answer?
*Kitten*. I meant that it wouldn't adjust to the 1300, which means it would give you 1900. Now I'm gonna have some freaky avatar for a month.
This is what I get for answering pre-coffee.
This should be good!
2 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »I suspect it would give you 1700. I never had my deficit big enough to test your hypothesis.
Are you going to experiment for us, so we know the answer?
*Kitten*. I meant that it wouldn't adjust to the 1300, which means it would give you 1900. Now I'm gonna have some freaky avatar for a month.
This is what I get for answering pre-coffee.
This should be good!
Maybe I'll have cleavage!3 -
Although you can work around it by selecting a higher activity level, and then those first few hundred exercise calories would have already been accounted for in the minimum threshold net calorie goal.0
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quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »I suspect it would give you 1700. I never had my deficit big enough to test your hypothesis.
Are you going to experiment for us, so we know the answer?
*Kitten*. I meant that it wouldn't adjust to the 1300, which means it would give you 1900. Now I'm gonna have some freaky avatar for a month.
This is what I get for answering pre-coffee.
This should be good!
Maybe I'll have cleavage!
Oh, you'll have cleavage alright.
(to anyone else reading this, it's a bit of a joke between a few of us, not something offensive)6 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »I suspect it would give you 1700. I never had my deficit big enough to test your hypothesis.
Are you going to experiment for us, so we know the answer?
*Kitten*. I meant that it wouldn't adjust to the 1300, which means it would give you 1900. Now I'm gonna have some freaky avatar for a month.
This is what I get for answering pre-coffee.
This should be good!
Maybe I'll have cleavage!
Oh, you'll have cleavage alright.
(to anyone else reading this, it's a bit of a joke between a few of us, not something offensive)
<~~~~Hairy cleavage. This is my punishment for thinking pre-coffee.4 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »I suspect it would give you 1700. I never had my deficit big enough to test your hypothesis.
Are you going to experiment for us, so we know the answer?
*Kitten*. I meant that it wouldn't adjust to the 1300, which means it would give you 1900. Now I'm gonna have some freaky avatar for a month.
This is what I get for answering pre-coffee.
This should be good!
Maybe I'll have cleavage!
Oh, you'll have cleavage alright.
(to anyone else reading this, it's a bit of a joke between a few of us, not something offensive)
<~~~~Hairy cleavage. This is my punishment for thinking pre-coffee.
Mods, can we make this a sticky???3 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »I suspect it would give you 1700. I never had my deficit big enough to test your hypothesis.
Are you going to experiment for us, so we know the answer?
*Kitten*. I meant that it wouldn't adjust to the 1300, which means it would give you 1900. Now I'm gonna have some freaky avatar for a month.
This is what I get for answering pre-coffee.
This should be good!
Maybe I'll have cleavage!
Oh, you'll have cleavage alright.
(to anyone else reading this, it's a bit of a joke between a few of us, not something offensive)
<~~~~Hairy cleavage. This is my punishment for thinking pre-coffee.
Mods, can we make this a sticky???
:laugh:1
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