MFP recalculating daily calories...

rosiorama
rosiorama Posts: 300 Member
edited February 2019 in Getting Started
Today (like almost every other day) I weighed myself when I got up and logged my weight on mfp. My weight went down from yesterday’s 174.4 to 174.2. I then went to my food diary page and saw that my calories had changed from yesterday’s 1880 to 1610!

I thought that jump in calories seemed a little extreme so I did a google search and read that it doesn’t update calories when you log your weigh-in through progress -it will only update calories if you input weigh-ins through the goals page. (The post I read was from 2017)

So I reentered my weight through the goals page and now my calorie allotment for today is 1830. What gives?

1880 -> 1610 -> 1830

I was playing around with my activity level last night, but put it back to “lightly active” and it resettled at the expected 1880 calorie allotment.

Do I add my weight to the goals page from now on? I’ll admit the sudden jump to 1610 had me quite sad.

Apologies is this is posted in the wrong section, but I didn’t know where else to put it.

Replies

  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    For years and years I have double, triple and quadruple checked calories, macros and what have you. But I am still obese - now I trust MFP and their calculations. I have also noticed changes in calories but so far I am sticking to what they suggest, there are so many success stories - as long as I am healthy, happy and lose some weight I am going to be all right.
  • HokieBrad
    HokieBrad Posts: 1,670 Member
    I use to obsess with the calories and their adjustments and it drove me nuts. I then had a friend show me an alternate way to log my intake that has made it so much easier (at least for me) to continue to have success. Instead of trying to stick to a 1880 calories a day (or whatever your particular number is) I record my TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) then subtract my daily intake to get my daily deficit. My goal is to have at least a 500 calorie deficit daily and/or 3500 calorie deficit weekly. 3500 is the "magic" number which equates to approximately a 1 lb. loss. There are a few ways to measure your TDEE. I personally use my Apple Watch/Phone Health App. It gives me Active Energy +Resting Energy. I get my intake from logging everything in MFP. Here is how yesterday looked for me: TDEE=4,188 (2,964+1,224). Intake: 2,625 cal. So, 4,188-2625=1,563 def for the day. I log everything in a spreadsheet which allows me to track my scale weight, caloric deficit and overall success. I started measuring this way on Janaury 1 of this year and so far I have lost almost 15 lbs. This is double my goal of 1 lb a week so I am very happy with the results I have seen since switching to this method. I also don't feel locked in to a certain amount of calories per day. Hope this helps.
  • lafayettenana
    lafayettenana Posts: 79 Member
    HokieBrad I think that is a great approach. I was successful for about a year and a half losing weight this way too and it helped me change my eating habits. Then I reached a plateau. I think the calories I was burning was lower as my body worked to hold on to my current weight. Harder to lose after that.
  • OneRatGirl
    OneRatGirl Posts: 124 Member
    My 1st few days it was about 100 calories lower than it then went to for my weight, all I did was change my goal weight, not my current weight, activity or loss. I think it sometimes glitches a bit, that's my best guess. Not as extreme as yours, I'm not sure what causes it either. Not a very helpful post, just "mine went wonky too"

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