How often do you update your calorie goals?

jlucas210

I've been putting my weights in the check-in screen every week or so, but my daily calorie goals have stayed the same. Through a search in the MFP message boards, it looks like you have to go into goals & update it manually. Is that correct? If so, how often do you update?

NovusDies

You should do it about every 10 pounds. I am primarily a TDEE person so I only use MFP's goal + exercise to crosscheck my eating on occasion.

I see some people say that it does it automatically and others say that it does not. I don't enter my daily weight into MFP so I don't really know how it is supposed to work. If I wait and enter more than a 10 pound loss it prompts me to go back through the set-up.

It could be a difference between using the app and using the website. I primarily use the website.

Jackie9003

I do it every stone lost, or I want to change my rate of loss. I started at 2lb per week, dropped to 1/2lb for a while and am currently on 1.5lb per week.

dhiammarath

I use MFP and tracking to see if I hit my personal range:

TDEE needed to maintain my current weight (This is the point where I am making no changes; neither losing nor gaining. Anything over this, I'm in the true red and going backwards).

TDEE needed to maintain my goal weight (This is the mid-tier number that I aim for. If I can't hit the target of the weekly loss, at least I am eating at the weight I *want* to be vs the weight I *am*).

TDEE needed to maintain my goal of 1lb/week loss. This is the number I try to stay at when I'm hitting the weight loss hard (as I will be doing starting Aug 1st. Being more strict so that this becomes my norm as that's 3 months before Costa Rica).

I fall somewhere between there. So on MFP, I have myself set to sedentary and I have my steps/apple watch/exercise going into MFP, but I don't really worry too much about the daily numbers. I have a separate spreadsheet that I track weekly targets.

Each week, I inspect and adapt. So I don't *really* use MFP's goals except as a loose guideline. When I *did* though, it would prompt me after every 5 or 10 pounds if I wanted to recalibrate my goals. I always said yes, though I didn't know why it wanted me to do that.

Now, I understand why, but now I've moved onto eating in a range. My weight is in a range, so must my eating be as well.

dhiammarath

I should add: I calculate my current weight TDEE's weekly target every week. So I guess you could say I recalculate that one each week, but my target weight's TDEE never changes.

So my numbers look a little like:

WEEK

---

> Jul 1 - Jul 7
Goal (from MFP Digest) ----> 11251
Logged (from MFP Digest) -->12600
Burned (from MFP Digest) --> 2851
TDEE (goal weight)

---

> 12991
TDEE (Current)

---

> 11391
Deficit (Calculated)

---

> 1642. (Current TDEE - Logged + Burned)

I also keep track of my average weight in this spreadsheet based on my trending app/fitbit. This allows me to see at a glance how I do week over week. I like the numbers, so keeping these spreadsheets is sustainable by me. It's 5 minutes every monday morning when I get the MFP weekly digest alert, but might not be enjoyable / sustainable by all! But looking at numbers in a weekly manner ensures that I'm not worried about the daily overages if I'm continually trending in the positive for the week. (I have MFP set up to show me weekly numbers in the app, too).

dhiammarath

I can't edit my post... so them arrows came out funky. Apologies on that!

NovusDies

I use a spreadsheet too. I put the calc in for the TDEE and it updates daily. I do not adjust my eating that often because it only goes down about a calorie a day and trying to be that precise would be ridiculous. However since it goes on a weight projection I can see what my calories will be in 6 months if my activity has not improved and that is a motivator to get my butt in gear too.

The SS also allows me to manage my high and low calorie eating days with a 7 day average which is easier for me too.

NovusDies

I enter my daily weight and calories into my SS. Broken out into columns are my weight tracks. Each track updates with the loss by deficit from the day before so when I enter the new weight I look to see what track I am in within .4 pounds +/-. I don't use trends because I see that every weight is accurate within my range which is 7.8 pounds from my highest track to my lowest track. Unless something really unusual happens my weight normally lines up inside a track. Today I am in track 10 which is one of my lower tracks but not my lowest. Since there is no way I am gaining weight it is very safe to assume I am masking about 1.5 of fat loss at the moment.

Most people should just use a trending app. I don't because I am an analytical person and I hate trends based on 2 points of data (date, weight). Mine uses 3 so as long as my logging is fairly accurate I can map my weight more accurately. I can see my lowest track and know that I will be visiting it at some point because I always do.

That is what I use my daily TDEE for. When I enter my calories there is a cell for deficit. Another cell is for daily weight loss based on the deficit and then the tracks. Beyond that is my deficit to actual comps and my rate of losses which I update once a week.

Where it all began though was tracking my deficit compared to my actual. When the scale was up 2 pounds there is a column that shows me how far off my eating would have had to be for the scale number to be accurate. Within about a month of looking at that number my relationship with the scale was greatly improved and soon after I was able to start weighing daily without the gut punch of an elevated number.

I will freely admit that much of this is overkill but it helps me and it is very easy to maintain. I enter 2 numbers daily then copy and past some stuff each Friday calculating my total weight loss for the week.

Jackie9003

That's some serious number crunching novusdies!
I too have a spreadsheet, with a graph - and 3 apps lol
I love data

tinkerbellang83

I review mine quite regularly as my training changes, some times I can cope with more of a deficit than other times depending on whether my focus is strength training, running or rowing.

merph518

I update mine in the app once in a while. I tend to view my budget in MFP as my upper limit. I prefer eating around 1800 calories, despite having a budget of ~2100. Plus I rarely eat extra when I've burned extra calories via exercise.

jlucas210

Thanks everyone! I've been waiting for my budget in MFP to update as my weight has gone down & so far it hasn't moved, so I figured I needed to do it manually. I just wasn't sure how often I should.

jjlewey

My goal is 2500 calories. MFP says my goal.should be 4100. Using a TDEE calculator online they say somewhere between 4500-5000 is my maintenance. So I guess my answer is I havent updated it in the 3 weeks or so I have been tracking. I dont know if that help you much though lol. Soon after I get a month or so of data I will calculate my specific TDEE and then make adjustments to what I am doing now. For now I feel like 2500ish calories are a good goal.