Why does the “goal” change day to day?
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Hamiltonfamily2018
Posts: 81 Member
I noticed on “nutrition” the goal changes day to day. For instance some days my protein goal say “108” others it say “130” my fat, carbs, sugar- they all change day to day- is it averaging it out for the week or something?
I’m not too concerned. I just focus personally on calories and protein. Just wondering why the app does this.
I’m not too concerned. I just focus personally on calories and protein. Just wondering why the app does this.
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Replies
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MFP has a percentage goal for your macros, so if your calorie goal changes (calorie adjustment from steps or exercise) your macro goals will change too.2
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Do you have an activity tracker synced with MFP? If so this is likely the cause. As your activity increases/decreases, so do your calories and macros.
Logging exercise will do this too.3 -
Ohhhh- gotcha. Dragon that is it then... I saw the calories change but I never eat back since I already have my deficit to my TDEE. BUT I didn’t realize the app does the same with all the macros and such.
Thanks for explaining1 -
Hamiltonfamily2018 wrote: »Ohhhh- gotcha. Dragon that is it then... I saw the calories change but I never eat back since I already have my deficit to my TDEE. BUT I didn’t realize the app does the same with all the macros and such.
Thanks for explaining
Yeah, it's annoying because MFP definitely grants you wayyyy too many calories for activity, and it's a premium / paid feature to turn this off and stick with the same calories number every day.1 -
The_Stargazer wrote: »[quote="Hamiltonfamily2018;c-45720665"
Yeah, it's annoying because MFP definitely grants you wayyyy too many calories for activity, and it's a premium / paid feature to turn this off and stick with the same calories number every day. [/quote]
Stargazer right? I mean it’s no HUGE deal you can see how many you’ve eaten so that’s the biggest thing. Some people love it and swear by it- but I’m here going- “So if you put your calories in for your deficit and have already included things like your TDEE then your workout is already in your deficit you built- you wouldn’t eat back?” IDK maybe I’m the crazy one.
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Stargazer right? I mean it’s no HUGE deal you can see how many you’ve eaten so that’s the biggest thing. Some people love it and swear by it- but I’m here going- “So if you put your calories in for your deficit and have already included things like your TDEE then your workout is already in your deficit you built- you wouldn’t eat back?” IDK maybe I’m the crazy one.
The piece your missing is that MFP isn't a TDEE calculator. Used as designed, exercise is excluded from your activity level and thus unaccounted for...that is why people log exercise and "eat back" those calories...to account for that otherwise unaccounted for activity. If you're using TDEE then you get a higher starting point because exercise would be included in your activity level. So technically, if you're using TDEE...you're "eating back" those calories...it's just that they're included upfront in your calorie target rather than being added on when you log your exercise. It's 6 of 1, half dozen of the other. If I use MFP as designed, I get around 2000 calories to lose 1 Lb per week...on average when I logged my exercise and "ate back" those calories, I would eat around 2300-2500 calories per day depending on the exercise. I use TDEE and eat around 2400 calories total to lose 1 Lb per week...pretty much the same as I was doing when I was logging exercise...it's just that they're included upfront in my calorie target.
Also, your macros change with your calories, because macros are what make up your calories. 1 gram carbohydrate = 4 calories...1 gram of protein = 4 calories...1 gram of dietary fat = 9 calories.4 -
Under your "goals" settings, you can change your macros settings so they aren't based on percentage of calories1
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cwolfman13 wrote: »Stargazer right? I mean it’s no HUGE deal you can see how many you’ve eaten so that’s the biggest thing. Some people love it and swear by it- but I’m here going- “So if you put your calories in for your deficit and have already included things like your TDEE then your workout is already in your deficit you built- you wouldn’t eat back?” IDK maybe I’m the crazy one.
The piece your missing is that MFP isn't a TDEE calculator. Used as designed, exercise is excluded from your activity level and thus unaccounted for...that is why people log exercise and "eat back" those calories...to account for that otherwise unaccounted for activity. If you're using TDEE then you get a higher starting point because exercise would be included in your activity level. So technically, if you're using TDEE...you're "eating back" those calories...it's just that they're included upfront in your calorie target rather than being added on when you log your exercise. It's 6 of 1, half dozen of the other. If I use MFP as designed, I get around 2000 calories to lose 1 Lb per week...on average when I logged my exercise and "ate back" those calories, I would eat around 2300-2500 calories per day depending on the exercise. I use TDEE and eat around 2400 calories total to lose 1 Lb per week...pretty much the same as I was doing when I was logging exercise...it's just that they're included upfront in my calorie target.
Also, your macros change with your calories, because macros are what make up your calories. 1 gram carbohydrate = 4 calories...1 gram of protein = 4 calories...1 gram of dietary fat = 9 calories.
Really sure seems like one to me- it asks daily tasks AND exercise just like any other TDEE calculator
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It also tells me to eat 2,217 calories a day! For .5 weight loss a week I would definitely say I wouldn’t eat back! It would tell me to eat 3,000 a day. Uhhhhh wouldn’t get anywhere with that ???1
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Hamiltonfamily2018 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Stargazer right? I mean it’s no HUGE deal you can see how many you’ve eaten so that’s the biggest thing. Some people love it and swear by it- but I’m here going- “So if you put your calories in for your deficit and have already included things like your TDEE then your workout is already in your deficit you built- you wouldn’t eat back?” IDK maybe I’m the crazy one.
The piece your missing is that MFP isn't a TDEE calculator. Used as designed, exercise is excluded from your activity level and thus unaccounted for...that is why people log exercise and "eat back" those calories...to account for that otherwise unaccounted for activity. If you're using TDEE then you get a higher starting point because exercise would be included in your activity level. So technically, if you're using TDEE...you're "eating back" those calories...it's just that they're included upfront in your calorie target rather than being added on when you log your exercise. It's 6 of 1, half dozen of the other. If I use MFP as designed, I get around 2000 calories to lose 1 Lb per week...on average when I logged my exercise and "ate back" those calories, I would eat around 2300-2500 calories per day depending on the exercise. I use TDEE and eat around 2400 calories total to lose 1 Lb per week...pretty much the same as I was doing when I was logging exercise...it's just that they're included upfront in my calorie target.
Also, your macros change with your calories, because macros are what make up your calories. 1 gram carbohydrate = 4 calories...1 gram of protein = 4 calories...1 gram of dietary fat = 9 calories.
Really sure seems like one to me- it asks daily tasks AND exercise just like any other TDEE calculator
It's badly explained in the setup, but the info regarding exercise doesn't affect your calorie goal at all.3 -
Myfitnesspal is not a TDEE calculator.
Activity setting on here is nothing to do with purposeful exercise. (A TDEE site will mention both activity and exercise frequency in its descriptors.)
The workouts per week setting in your goal set up makes zero difference to your calorie setting - it's just an aspiration like "I will brush my teeth 3 times a day".
If you are getting 2217 cals to lose half a pound it's estimating your maintenance calories (excluding exercise) to be 2467. Without knowing your stats that hard to know if thats a lot or not.
That's pretty similar to my maintenance cals.
What exercise are you doing to earn 700cals?2 -
Myfitnesspal is not a TDEE calculator.
Activity setting on here is nothing to do with purposeful exercise. (A TDEE site will mention both activity and exercise frequency in its descriptors.)
The workouts per week setting in your goal set up makes zero difference to your calorie setting - it's just an aspiration like "I will brush my teeth 3 times a day".
If you are getting 2217 cals to lose half a pound it's estimating your maintenance calories (excluding exercise) to be 2467. Without knowing your stats that hard to know if thats a lot or not.
That's pretty similar to my maintenance cals.
What exercise are you doing to earn 700cals?
Okay gotcha! I’m 173 pound female at 5 foot 6 and put in workout 6 days a week 80 minutes a day to get that number- YES I double checked it said female!
I typically do 60-80 minutes of accelerated cardio/ weight training 5 days a week; I learned this technique from Jim Stoppani and fell in love- one day a week just low impact cardio and one full rest day. Occasionally a walk here or there. I’ve incorporated PE for my kiddos too and we do circuit training 20 minutes a day but it’s VERY low impact and pretty easy. Other then that life is just take the dog out, clean house and do sprints around Costco lol (my fav)
Who knows how many calories I really burn doing all this. Point is I definitely would not want to eat 2,300 daily to accomplish weight loss as the app tells me to AND certainly not more.
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Hamiltonfamily2018 wrote: »Myfitnesspal is not a TDEE calculator.
Activity setting on here is nothing to do with purposeful exercise. (A TDEE site will mention both activity and exercise frequency in its descriptors.)
The workouts per week setting in your goal set up makes zero difference to your calorie setting - it's just an aspiration like "I will brush my teeth 3 times a day".
If you are getting 2217 cals to lose half a pound it's estimating your maintenance calories (excluding exercise) to be 2467. Without knowing your stats that hard to know if thats a lot or not.
That's pretty similar to my maintenance cals.
What exercise are you doing to earn 700cals?
Okay gotcha! I’m 173 pound female at 5 foot 6 and put in workout 6 days a week 80 minutes a day to get that number- YES I double checked it said female!
I typically do 60-80 minutes of accelerated cardio/ weight training 5 days a week; I learned this technique from Jim Stoppani and fell in love- one day a week just low impact cardio and one full rest day. Occasionally a walk here or there. I’ve incorporated PE for my kiddos too and we do circuit training 20 minutes a day but it’s VERY low impact and pretty easy. Other then that life is just take the dog out, clean house and do sprints around Costco lol (my fav)
Who knows how many calories I really burn doing all this. Point is I definitely would not want to eat 2,300 daily to accomplish weight loss as the app tells me to AND certainly not more.
Almost same weight as me then (but I'm much older!). I get 2503 + exercise to maintain.
I lose weight on track with the MyFitnessPal numbers but am fortunate my main exercise can be very accurately estimated unlike yours which is going to be very difficult.
Just to reiterate "workout 6 days a week 80 minutes a day to get that number" this has no bearing on your calorie goal at all. You could put zero workouts or a million and your goal would be the same. I do wish MFP would put some explanatory notes in their as it confuses many people.
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I mean it doesn’t matter- We can talk theory all day. Theory is nothing without results. I eat around 1,800-2,000 a day as I need to and feel satisfied and happy eating literally all food groups, my protein is between 130-180 on average. I workout not to eat more and burn calories but to feel strong and have lots of energy- As I work towards getting my pre-Covid body back this number will change and I will have to tighten my calories a little more by 50-100. Eventually though yes, since I typically am a very active person (until I let myself go last year) my maintenance calories WILL be around 2,000/ 2,200 calories as you mention. I’m well rested producing results and not too concerned on the number MFP is showing . I just find it interesting is all. If you have your calories set and eat back AWESOME! We all have different lifestyles and likes.1
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We all have different lifestyles and likes.
Indeed and not being snarky but we might also have very different logging accuracy which might mean your 2000 and my 2500 cals might be actually be closer than 500!
Who knows? Doesn't really matter as you say, really I'm just clarifying how the tool works for you and other readers as it can lead to confusion.
Consistency of logging is in many ways as important as the numbers themselves.
In reality the goal setup needs to be a safe and reasonable start point from which we can adjust based on long term trends.
Both TDEE methods and the MFP method are perfectly reasonable methods which people can make work for them. If someone likes a same every day goal and has a somewhat regular exercise pattern it wins on simplicity. Personally my exercise varies massively, some exercise needs specific fuelling on the day due to multi-hour duration and I simply prefer an irregular eating pattern.
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Thanks everyone, and thank you Jomial for your thoughtful replies. You definitely seem to be someone that people can learn from. And I always want to be somebody open to learning when it comes to health and fitness. As long as it scientific-based and not some “get fit quick gimmick”
It’s unfortunate that it seems my fitness pal only lets you play with the calculator at the very beginning at sign up. I only have so many emails to really play with it. I do find it refreshing that my fitness pal actually gives me more calories than any other macro calculator I’ve used, AND I have played with A LOT! I mean IDK if it’s a good thing, but At least it’s not giving me 1200 cal like it did many years back. I’d fail at that amount daily and in turn binge at my failure and have the mindset of “I’ll try again Monday.” So IDK- It’s definitely wise to just trust the process and tweak things as need be along the way. Nothing is 100% the only thing you can trust to be 100% is the effort you know you put in.
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You can adjust your goals anytime you want, not just when you sign up, if you want to experiment a bit with your weight loss rate or even simulate being a different weight.1
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You can adjust your goals anytime you want, not just when you sign up, if you want to experiment a bit with your weight loss rate or even simulate being a different weight.
Right I know that- but I just mean to see how MFP sets them up from the get go. So for 1.5 pounds a week at my stats and active it gave me 1,600 calories at one set up.
For active and 80 minutes of exercise at .5 weight loss it gives me 2,217 which is a big difference. Which is why I thought it already took into account the TDEE and why is it adding more calories didn’t make sense. I find it interesting to play with but the calculator only seems to let you do this once. Yes you’re right though you can go in and change it yourself : )
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The difference between 1.5lbs and 0.5 lbs per week should be around 500 extra calories per day, since 1lb of body fat takes a deficit of around 3500 calories.
I say 'should' since I just did a little test in my own settings and the number was a bit higher, but similar enough 🙂1 -
Hamiltonfamily2018 wrote: »You can adjust your goals anytime you want, not just when you sign up, if you want to experiment a bit with your weight loss rate or even simulate being a different weight.
Right I know that- but I just mean to see how MFP sets them up from the get go. So for 1.5 pounds a week at my stats and active it gave me 1,600 calories at one set up.
For active and 80 minutes of exercise at .5 weight loss it gives me 2,217 which is a big difference. Which is why I thought it already took into account the TDEE and why is it adding more calories didn’t make sense. I find it interesting to play with but the calculator only seems to let you do this once. Yes you’re right though you can go in and change it yourself : )
Yeah, in addition to the lb per week, your calorie count might also be unusually high to you because you're telling MFP that outside of purposeful exercise, your daily life/job is active. The 'Active' setting is more about your job and has nothing to do with purposeful exercise.
(I think the Active setting adds about 500 calories to your base calorie goal..I *THINK*. Lol It may be a little more or less than that.)
Your stats are pretty close to mine (5'5", f, 171 lbs), and my activity level is sedentary. I get 15K steps a day and do cardio most of the week, but I am sedentary outside of exercise because I work a desk job. If I choose 1.5 lbs a week, at my sedentary setting MFP gives me 1200 calories (which is the lowest MFP will go and usually a good indicator thay my chosen weight loss rate is too aggressive for my current size.).
A thing some folks on MFP do rather frequently is select Sedentary as their Activity level, and then just let their activity tracker monitor all of their daily activity and sync/ adjust MFP calories accordingly.
For 1 lb a week, I have 1350 calories, but my Fitbit usually adjusts my calorie goal up 700 or so nearly every day, so I end up eating 2000 calories gross for a 1 lb a week loss.
TL;DR, if you set your activity to Sedentary and let your activity tracker do all of the adjustments, you may see your calorie goal be more in line with you're thinking it should be.1
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