Understanding Apple Health and MyFitnessPal TDEE

annajellema

Hi there,
I have some confusion that I expect stems from problems with the sync between my apple watch and MFP (I've read that a lot of people have issues with this). I am hoping to get some guidance about my daily calorie goal, and any help would really be appreciated.

My activity: sedentary lifestyle during lockdown with 1 hour of exercise per day (~30 mins run, ~30 mins weights).
My goal: steady fat loss (0.5 pounds a week).

I understand that to lose 1/2 a pound of fat per week, you need to create a 250 calorie deficit per day. My confusion lies in what number I should subtract 250 from.

Before downloading MFP, I was working off of the data given by my phone/AW, which is as follows:
- Average Resting Energy 1715 kcals
- Average Active Energy 688 kcals
∴ av. TDEE of 2403.

I thought it would be appropriate to subtract 250 from 2403 (ie. eat about 2150 a day), but recently I decided to try MFP. It gives me a calorie goal of 1710 (presumably estimating a TDEE of around 1950), and I 'earn' about 150 extra calories via the Apple Watch calorie adjustment every day. (This is always the same no matter how much exercise I do, which really confuses me but isn't the point of this post.)

So which is correct? ~2150 (AW) or ~1850 kcal/day (MFP) to get to my goal? Am I calculating something wrong?
I have a historically bad relationship with food and would like to avoid 'experimenting' if possible. Help! Thanks!

MelanieCN77

Apple and MFP have your resting about the same, it's everything else that is the problem and it's just due to how MFP and Apple Health don't play well together. Current solution is to disconnect MFP and Health, and use a third app called Pacer to pass the info between the two (so Pacer connects to Health, MFP connects to Pacer) and your numbers should start making some sense again.

FWIW I think the AW overestimates a tiny bit so buckle in and be patient with your small margins. See how you go and you can lop another 100 cals off if you end up not losing as expected in a couple of weeks.

panda4153

This is just my experience but my AW is pretty spot on. I spent months tracking my TDEE from AW and my calorie intake using scale to weigh and measure everything. I lost or gained within less then half a pound a month of what I would have expected to with that math.

For me MFP seems to underestimate my burn, and I do have my activity settings set to the appropriate amount based on their recommendations. If I stick to hair MFP numbers I lose faster then expected, or gain slower.

All of these things are in the end just estimates and it takes a little time to dial in what is accurate for you. The Pacer App suggestion is a great one. I would suggest you could also try either going with 250 deficit off of your AW or sticking with MFP give it 6-8 weeks. Watch your results and then tweak based on what is actually happening with your body.