MyFitnessPal auto calculations

GloriaBJN
GloriaBJN Posts: 78 Member
edited September 2022 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm surprised MFP hasn't recalculated the amount of calories I can eat as I lose weight. I notice the amount of calories burned on the same walk gets less and less as I weigh in at less weight. I used to burn 109 calories for a 20 minute walk and now it's only 105, but my calorie intake allowance hasn't changed. I'm not complaining. I'm still hungry.

Replies

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,913 Member
    How many calories are you eating per day? Assuming you're female and you're only eating 1200 calories then your calories won't get lower because this is the absolute minimum MFP will give you. Also, you should be eating at least a part of your exercise calories back. Why? Say you're eating 1200 calories and you burn 100 calories with exercise. This is the same as only eating 1100 calories. It's too little.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,827 Member
    It does change.

    How much weight have you lost?
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,733 Member
    OP, I think you have to go in and manually recalculate your new calorie goal under my home/goals/view guided set up.
    If that's what you're asking :)
  • GloriaBJN
    GloriaBJN Posts: 78 Member
    edited September 2022
    I started logging Aug 20 and have lost 14 lbs. I have a maximum of 1430 calorie day and usually add an extra 105 calories for walking. I've been eating the extra walking calorie allowances - usually. When I first started I was filling the void with lots of water. I don't need to do that anymore. I just assumed the program would adjust as well as I progress. Don't get me wrong. I'm not anxious to eat less calories unless I'm just not hungry, but the projections on how much I would lose in 5 weeks has lessened, so the algorithms say I'm losing less per week but nothing else has changed, except for my weight.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,780 Member
    Your calorie goal doesn't adjust automatically, unfortunately. If you change your activity level setting and/or desired weight loss rate, and then change them back, you should have an updated calorie goal.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,353 Member
    edited September 2022
    And as you lose, it becomes harder to lose at the same pace til eventually you have to slow the pace down.

    It’s the “reward” for getting healthier, lol. 🤷🏻‍♀️
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    GloriaBJN wrote: »
    I'm surprised MFP hasn't recalculated the amount of calories I can eat as I lose weight. I notice the amount of calories burned on the same walk gets less and less as I weigh in at less weight. I used to burn 109 calories for a 20 minute walk and now it's only 105, but my calorie intake allowance hasn't changed. I'm not complaining. I'm still hungry.

    You are hungry because, as you were told on your other thread, you are losing weight too quickly, which means that you are not eating enough:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10873862/when-should-i-start-a-maintenance-diet/p1

    9kjwnia17qv9.jpg
  • GloriaBJN
    GloriaBJN Posts: 78 Member
    edited September 2022
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    GloriaBJN wrote: »
    I'm surprised MFP hasn't recalculated the amount of calories I can eat as I lose weight. I notice the amount of calories burned on the same walk gets less and less as I weigh in at less weight. I used to burn 109 calories for a 20 minute walk and now it's only 105, but my calorie intake allowance hasn't changed. I'm not complaining. I'm still hungry.

    You are hungry because, as you were told on your other thread, you are losing weight too quickly, which means that you are not eating enough:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10873862/when-should-i-start-a-maintenance-diet/p1

    9kjwnia17qv9.jpg

    Thanks for posting this. If I followed this, I'd eat like nothing though. I have 54 lbs to lose and the mayo clinic suggests I need 1700-1800 to maintain my weight. If I had a 750 calorie deficit I'd be eating like 950 calories a day.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,827 Member
    Is it possible your maintenance estimate is wrong? You've lost 14 pounds in 5 weeks, no doubt some of which is water. However, you say your deficit is about 400 per day, which would amount to 0.8 pounds per week, i.e. 4 pounds in 5 weeks. Either you've lost 10 pounds of water or your maintenance estimate is too low.
  • GloriaBJN
    GloriaBJN Posts: 78 Member
    I would assume the algorithms are factoring in the fact that I'm losing weight at my current calories, right?
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,827 Member
    GloriaBJN wrote: »
    I would assume the algorithms are factoring in the fact that I'm losing weight at my current calories, right?
    Not sure what you mean.

    Firstly, any TDEE calculator is an estimate for an average person.

    Secondly, it's only as accurate as the information as you give it. If you tell it you're sedentary while in fact you're burning hundreds of calories in regular daily activity, then the calculator's maintenance estimate will be too low, resulting in faster than expected weight loss and more hunger.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,118 Member
    GloriaBJN wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    GloriaBJN wrote: »
    I'm surprised MFP hasn't recalculated the amount of calories I can eat as I lose weight. I notice the amount of calories burned on the same walk gets less and less as I weigh in at less weight. I used to burn 109 calories for a 20 minute walk and now it's only 105, but my calorie intake allowance hasn't changed. I'm not complaining. I'm still hungry.

    You are hungry because, as you were told on your other thread, you are losing weight too quickly, which means that you are not eating enough:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10873862/when-should-i-start-a-maintenance-diet/p1

    9kjwnia17qv9.jpg

    Thanks for posting this. If I follr owed this, I'd eat like nothing though. I have 54 lbs to lose and the mayo clinic suggests I need 1700-1800 to maintain my weight. If I had a 750 calorie deficit I'd be eating like 950 calories a day.

    The thing is, you've reported on your other thread (on 9/16, 10+ days ago) that you'd then been here for 22 days, had lost 14 pounds, according to you 0.6 pounds a day.

    That makes your personal experience more relevant, and the Mayo Clinic estimate pretty much irrelevant. If you lose 0.6 pounds a day, that's about a 2100 calorie per day deficit, implying that your current maintenance calories are whatever the average number of calories you've been eating per day are, plus 2100 calories per day.

    I grant that many people see a misleading water weight drop when first losing weight, so appear to be losing fat faster than is really true . . . but your own data is a much better guide than some online statistical so-called calculator (really an estimator, in all cases). That's true even if it's a calculator from a respected source, which I'd consider Mayo Clinic to be.

    Based on your data in your other thread, a 750 calorie deficit would happen if you were eating 1350 more calories than currently.

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