Do You Follow MFP’s Calorie Limit?

Cahgetsfit

No. It told me to eat 1200. I can't do that I am starving psycho mess on 1200. I eat at 1700 ish to lose weight and maintain quite happily around 1900-2000.

jjpptt2

Cahgetsfit wrote: »

No. It told me to eat 1200. I can't do that I am starving psycho mess on 1200. I eat at 1700 ish to lose weight and maintain quite happily around 1900-2000.

To be fair though, have you told it you wanted to lose at a less aggressive rate, it would have given you a much different number. So to some extent, you are not following it because you set it up to aggressively. Or is this another neat vs tdee situation?

Cahgetsfit

jjpptt2 wrote: »

To be fair though, have you told it you wanted to lose at a less aggressive rate, it would have given you a much different number. So to some extent, you are not following it because you set it up to aggressively. Or is this another neat vs tdee situation?

That was quite some time ago when I first started to diet. I think I set it to the aggressive option. I did stick to it for 2 months and was doing exercise classes at the gym, but then i derailed badly because was soooooooo starving and the 4 kilos I lost came back on with interest.

So I got a coach. Who told me to never eat less than 1500. And also would increase my calories every time I got starving. By the end I was on 2100 cals and pretty content with life.

kimny72

For those of you saying the MFP calorie goal was too low, do you mean the MFP calorie goal + exercise calories was too low?

Larkspur94

I'm recommended 1200, which is pretty much my bmr. I struggle to get to 1000 each day. Just under it and I get scolded by the site. I pretty much have to either have a meal full of cream and cheese, or have 2 servings. An 8oz rump steak covers 800 but I can't afford nor want that each day. Veggies and a chicken portion just don't have that many cals.
Even when I was eating unhealthy and 17lb heavier, I didn't eat all that much. Didn't track the calories but pretty sure 2 bowls of chocolate cereal and a few biscuits led to the recommended amount here. No wonder I never gained or lost.

As said, I'm aiming for that 1000 each day and losing a pound a week. However, before I started tracking the cals to be that here, I was losing 2 pound a week. Believe my daily total was around 700. Wonder if I should go back to that or stick to the 1000.

mds1207

Because I eat the extra calories "earned" from exercise, I usually have 100 - 200 calories of my daily limit (1720 without exercise) "left on the table" (pun intended...LOL). Being newer at this, I do have a question that I'd appreciate some help with...I've lost 20 lbs so far using MFP (avg. 1.4 lb p/wk); so do I have to do anything to have the system recalculate my calories to continue my goal of 1 lb per week? Thanks in advance for your help. Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

AnnPT77

I started with the MFP calorie estimate, eating back all my (carefully estimated) exercise calories, and lost weight too fast (faster than my target rate in my profile, which was not an insane target for my weight at that point), and started feeling bad (weak, fatigued). So I ate more, and lost just fine anyway.

Based on experience, my maintenance calories are several hundred (20-30%) higher than MFP estimates; I don't know why. (Maybe I just don't behave like a proper 63-year-old li'l ol' lady? ). But I eat based on my experience with my own data, not the MFP estimate.

sheloves89

I just came back to MFP at the end of September. I'm 5'6", female, and live a sedentary lifestyle. I started at 179 lbs and I'm down to 163 lbs as of this morning. I have it set to lose 2 lbs/week, so MFP has me at 1200/day. That's quite low, but I try to stick to it as much as possible, and it's definitely been working for me! The last couple of weeks I've been eating over, closer to 1300-1400/day, but as long as I'm still seeing progress, I'm happy with it. It's a good equilibrium for me, because I'm happy with a bit of leeway over the limit. Historically as soon as I went over I'd say "well to hell with it!" and eat whatever I wanted... which obviously isn't the best strategy. Now I'm happy letting myself go a little bit over. Flexibility is good.

RAinWA

Larkspur94 wrote: »

I'm recommended 1200, which is pretty much my bmr. I struggle to get to 1000 each day. Just under it and I get scolded by the site. I pretty much have to either have a meal full of cream and cheese, or have 2 servings. An 8oz rump steak covers 800 but I can't afford nor want that each day. Veggies and a chicken portion just don't have that many cals.
Even when I was eating unhealthy and 17lb heavier, I didn't eat all that much. Didn't track the calories but pretty sure 2 bowls of chocolate cereal and a few biscuits led to the recommended amount here. No wonder I never gained or lost.

As said, I'm aiming for that 1000 each day and losing a pound a week. However, before I started tracking the cals to be that here, I was losing 2 pound a week. Believe my daily total was around 700. Wonder if I should go back to that or stick to the 1000.

No, you should not go to 700 and, in fact, you shouldn't be eating only 1000. 1200 net is the lowest you should aim for unless you are under really strict medical supervision. If you actually need to lose weight, you can eat more than 1000 calories a day.

You don't eat under your BMR, you eat under your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). You are under eating and that is unhealthy.

patrickaa5

I'm not sure how many calories MFP suggests. Early on I manually changed the calories to 1,600. How do I update that back to see what MFP suggests? I can't seem to get it to go back to the MFP suggestion.

WinoGelato

Larkspur94 wrote: »

I'm recommended 1200, which is pretty much my bmr. I struggle to get to 1000 each day. Just under it and I get scolded by the site. I pretty much have to either have a meal full of cream and cheese, or have 2 servings. An 8oz rump steak covers 800 but I can't afford nor want that each day. Veggies and a chicken portion just don't have that many cals.
Even when I was eating unhealthy and 17lb heavier, I didn't eat all that much. Didn't track the calories but pretty sure 2 bowls of chocolate cereal and a few biscuits led to the recommended amount here. No wonder I never gained or lost.

As said, I'm aiming for that 1000 each day and losing a pound a week. However, before I started tracking the cals to be that here, I was losing 2 pound a week. Believe my daily total was around 700. Wonder if I should go back to that or stick to the 1000.

No you shouldn’t go to 700 cals/day that’s a VLCD and not at all healthy.

You didn’t get to the point of needing to lose weight by not being able to eat more than 1000 calories.

Are you doing OMAD? You mention a steak for 800 calories - what about breakfast and lunch? What about starches? Why do you feel you can’t eat chocolate cereal or biscuits anymore?

How much weight do you have to lose?

MikePTY

frenchy807 wrote: »

Hi All!

This seems like an “obvious” question, but I am wondering if any of you strictly follow MFP’s calorie limit or do you set your own? For example, my calorie limit says I should eat 1600 calories, but I tend to eat around 2,000 because 1600 just seems so low. Just curious if anyone else does this or if they strictly stay at what MFP suggests?? Thanks!!

I think a lot of people seem to think of their MFP goal as some sort of magic number generated by some fancy supercomputer or something, when in reality it is just simple mathematics. MFP calculates your calorie goal in 3 simple steps.

1. It calculates your BMR for you using your height, weight, age, and gender.
2. It takes your BMR and multiples it by the activity level you select.
3. It then subtracts (or adds) the number of calories you would need to burn each day to meet your weekly loss/gain target.


That is it. The goal is a net goal, so if you do exercise that is not accounted for in your activity level, you are expected to eat the calories back, to maintain the deficit you have set as your goal.

For those finding the MFP target too low, I think one of two things is usually happening: 1. You set your weight loss goal too aggressively. Many people seem to think 2 pounds is the default when in reality, they would be better suited to target a slower weight loss, especially if they don't have a lot of fat to lose. 2. You are underestimating your activity level. I think most people default to sedentary, when some may actually be more active than that.

However if you have a good handle on your targeted loss and activity level, I think the calorie targets are pretty good.

For me, BMR for a 5'11", 227 pound, 32 year old male according to MFP's calculations is 1992 calories per day. Using the sedentary level activity multiplier (1.25), that puts my daily calorie burn at 2490. I am about 50 pounds above "normal" BMI, so I've targeted 1.5 pounds per week of loss, which works out to 750 calories per day. 2490-750 = 1740, which is my net calorie goal.

I then exercise 4-6 times per week and burn 300-600 calories per exercise, which I try to eat back. That gives me most days a food target of between 2050 and 2400, which I feel usually is a good amount for both weight loss and sufficient nutrition.

kami3006

MikePTY wrote: »

frenchy807 wrote: »

Hi All!

This seems like an “obvious” question, but I am wondering if any of you strictly follow MFP’s calorie limit or do you set your own? For example, my calorie limit says I should eat 1600 calories, but I tend to eat around 2,000 because 1600 just seems so low. Just curious if anyone else does this or if they strictly stay at what MFP suggests?? Thanks!!

I think a lot of people seem to think of their MFP goal as some sort of magic number generated by some fancy supercomputer or something, when in reality it is just simple mathematics. MFP calculates your calorie goal in 3 simple steps.

1. It calculates your BMR for you using your height, weight, age, and gender.
2. It takes your BMR and multiples it by the activity level you select.
3. It then subtracts (or adds) the number of calories you would need to burn each day to meet your weekly loss/gain target.


That is it. The goal is a net goal, so if you do exercise that is not accounted for in your activity level, you are expected to eat the calories back, to maintain the deficit you have set as your goal.

For those finding the MFP target too low, I think one of two things is usually happening: 1. You set your weight loss goal too aggressively. Many people seem to think 2 pounds is the default when in reality, they would be better suited to target a slower weight loss, especially if they don't have a lot of fat to lose. 2. You are underestimating your activity level. I think most people default to sedentary, when some may actually be more active than that.

However if you have a good handle on your targeted loss and activity level, I think the calorie targets are pretty good.

For me, BMR for a 5'11", 227 pound, 32 year old male according to MFP's calculations is 1992 calories per day. Using the sedentary level activity multiplier (1.25), that puts my daily calorie burn at 2490. I am about 50 pounds above "normal" BMI, so I've targeted 1.5 pounds per week of loss, which works out to 750 calories per day. 2490-750 = 1740, which is my net calorie goal.

I then exercise 4-6 times per week and burn 300-600 calories per exercise, which I try to eat back. That gives me most days a food target of between 2050 and 2400, which I feel usually is a good amount for both weight loss and sufficient nutrition.

This is all true but it's also just an estimator based on one formula and will be off for some people even with the setting as close to accurate as possible. Same with any other formula.

And that's okay. Starting points are just that.

MsBaz2018

mds1207 wrote: »

Because I eat the extra calories "earned" from exercise, I usually have 100 - 200 calories of my daily limit (1720 without exercise) "left on the table" (pun intended...LOL). Being newer at this, I do have a question that I'd appreciate some help with...I've lost 20 lbs so far using MFP (avg. 1.4 lb p/wk); so do I have to do anything to have the system recalculate my calories to continue my goal of 1 lb per week? Thanks in advance for your help. Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

@mds2017 @patrickaa5

If you are using the Android app you click on Goals, chose the weekly goal and it will ask you whether you want to recalculate. If you are doing that put your current weight too as it will give you a calorie goal based on how much you currently weigh.

On PC go to Goals also and look for the link on that screen.

janejellyroll

Cahgetsfit wrote: »

jjpptt2 wrote: »

To be fair though, have you told it you wanted to lose at a less aggressive rate, it would have given you a much different number. So to some extent, you are not following it because you set it up to aggressively. Or is this another neat vs tdee situation?

That was quite some time ago when I first started to diet. I think I set it to the aggressive option. I did stick to it for 2 months and was doing exercise classes at the gym, but then i derailed badly because was soooooooo starving and the 4 kilos I lost came back on with interest.

So I got a coach. Who told me to never eat less than 1500. And also would increase my calories every time I got starving. By the end I was on 2100 cals and pretty content with life.

Too many people think that MFP's calorie goals are too low when they're the ones choosing goals that are too aggressive for their current weight and not eating back exercise calories.

0somuchbetter0

I use it as a guide but I'm not strict about it. MFP way overestimates how much I'm burning with exercise, so I try not to eat my exercise calories back, but sometimes I do a little. I'm averaging a loss of 5-6 lbs a month, so whatever I'm doing it's working for me.

shunggie

When I rejoined MFP this spring I went thru the process and the goal was 1600 calories for a 1 pound a week loss. I knew from personal experience that was too high and manually set it at 1500. Wasn't losing a pound a week. Talked to my doctor, he said I could easily do 1200 a day. I know I can do 1200 a day, I've done it before but I also know how I was and how difficult it was to maintain. I travel for work about 3 weeks a month, a diet that restrictive is more difficult than I'm willing to do. I reset my goal to 1400 and have been losing approximately a pound a week. Still feels slow like molasses but it's something I can maintain easily even when I'm on the road. Now if we could get restaurants to STOP using so much sodium in everything my life would be better.

Aaron_K123

Honestly I find the very phrasing of this question odd. MFP is a diary to track calories. I don't do what my diary tells me to do, I use my diary as a means of logging and tracking what I am already planning on doing. So I guess the answer is yes, I try to stick to the calorie goals that I myself set. MFP also has some calculators but again I don't follow calculators, I use calculators. MFP doesn't give you a personalized calorie limit, MFP gives you a tool to use and the results that tool gives you is totally based on how you choose to use that tool. So I guess to try to answer the question with my own phrasing, yes I follow my own calorie plan that I happened to use this website's diary and calculator as part of. If I choose to not follow my own plan then presumably that is because I have decided to change the plan.

I think people who view MFP as just a tool to keep track of the information they are tracking will have a better view of it than people who expect MFP to someohow know exactly how many calories they need to eat to lose X amount of weight in X number of days.

Running2Fit

MFP gives me 1200 calories (I’m 5’, set to lose 1 lb a week) not including any calories I add back from exercise. I aim for somewhere between 1200-1300 unless it’s a run day and then I can add around 200ish to that number.

I’m actually losing closer to 1.5 lbs a week so I could eat more (I guess more than I already do because I’m almost always over 1200) than MFP says but I’m happy with being between 1200-1300. It’s not hard for me, I don’t feel deprived or hungry.

hesn92

I use MFP's target. Some people use calculators to figure out their estimated TDEE and then just eat a steady amount each day which works too. I like using MFP target because I have my fitbit linked and it's just easy.