MyFitnessPal is displaying more calories than I have actually eaten?

rmagill550

So I worked out using my macronutrients (4,4,9), and calculated them to be around 1511 or so (can’t remember exactly) but the app is displaying approximately 200 calories more? Why is this? This makes it hard for me to measure my macros accurately.

fitoverfortymom

Did you personally enter the food selections (create your own foods) or choose from the database? If you chose from the database which is user-created, there's a high possibility that the macros for each food you chose isn't spot on.

janejellyroll

You've logged 1,711 calories worth of food today.

MikePTY

I have seen many a food that has wrong macros info that doesn't match the number of calories. The calorie number is likely to be the more accurate one.

MikePTY

Sidenote: if you have actually burned anything close to 1962 calories from exercise you are way under eating.

rmagill550

Hi, thanks for the quick reply. Although I did select the foods from the database, if I work out my own calorie in take (by doing 146g x 4, 149g x 4, and 45g x9) and add them altogether, it does not equal 1711. Also, it isn’t anything to do with decimal points as I also calculated the exact (to 2dp) macros and still it does not add to 1711 calories.

ouryve

Some of the database entries are full of errors, often with values from one column (eg per 100g) being mixed up with another (eg per portion) so you have to be careful.

janejellyroll

rmagill550 wrote: »

Hi, thanks for the quick reply. Although I did select the foods from the database, if I work out my own calorie in take (by doing 146g x 4, 149g x 4, and 45g x9) and add them altogether, it does not equal 1711. Also, it isn’t anything to do with decimal points as I also calculated the exact (to 2dp) macros and still it does not add to 1711 calories.

Sounds like you've gotten some bad database entries then.

rmagill550

Thanks everyone for replying. I’ll check the database entries that I use and see if that is the issue when I get home, I’ll keep you posted.

Also to the concerned user, the 1923 calories are from me wearing a Fitbit all day and act more like a TDEE than just one session of exercise😂

Panini911

k wait - sometimes the math doesn't add up??
I check that the calories that pop up for the food are correct but never check the actual math..

ETA: of from macros, I don't really look at those other than general levels...

ouryve

Also remember that other ingredients have a calorie content, too. A triple vodka, for example, isn't going to add anything to your macros but will add 200 calories. On a more subtle level, vinegar and other flavouring components may have a small calorie content that doesn't necessarily count towards your macros.

janejellyroll

rmagill550 wrote: »

Thanks everyone for replying. I’ll check the database entries that I use and see if that is the issue when I get home, I’ll keep you posted.

Also to the concerned user, the 1923 calories are from me wearing a Fitbit all day and act more like a TDEE than just one session of exercise😂

It's not your TDEE though, that's what the Fitbit sync is adding *on top* of the calories it estimates you need. Depending on how much activity you did, it looks pretty high.

PAV8888

It sure looks as if you've set yourself up as sedentary and it also looks as if you're eating at a rate where a sedentary person would lose weight at a good clip.

Your Fitbit seems to claim that you're anything BUT sedentary. It is, in fact, claiming you're more than "very active".

I realize that there might be discrepancies and bad logging and all that stuff.... but there is also a very very good chance that you're dialing in some very excessive deficits. Well over 50% of TDEE.

You can lose weight fine without engaging in excessive deficits! You might even find the experience to be more sustainable and, more importantly, more educational than losing faster with a larger deficit.

Usually 25% of TDEE while obese and 20% of TDEE when overweight and normal weight are considered good but not excessive deficits.

deannalfisher

Post a screen capture of your foods with macros showing - you can normally find the error