My calorie goal is too low
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jas0441
Posts: 13 Member
Hello, MyFitnessPal has set my calorie goal as 1040, based upon my age, height, weight, etc. However, because I am not eating 1200 calories a day I cannot access certain features and I am being told I must adjust my calorie goal up to do so. There are a couple of problems with this, firstly, it appears your calorie goal cannot be edited ( I have not found a way to do this) and secondly, the goal of 1040 is totally realistic for me (if I eat 1200 a day, I do not lose weight)! My BMR is 1222 and TDEE is 1446. I have written to Support but have not heard an answer. I am hoping a moderator will give me some advice on what to do. Thank you.
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I'm a bit surprised, it's always been said that MFP doesn't give a calorie goal below 1200 calories for women and 1500 for men, no matter what stats and goals are entered.
There's also the possibility to enter a manual calorie goal, but I haven't used it myself and I'm not sure whether going below 1200 is possible there. If you need technical help for that, it would be good to specify whether you're using the browser-based version of MFP, the Android app or the iPhone app, since explanations will vary.
MFP doesn't monitor the boards (except the one I mention below, and sometimes the technical issues subforum) - it's just fellow users here trying to help
In any case, this limit of 1200 calories has been in place for a long time to avoid encouraging eating disorders - I doubt they're going to change their policy any time soon for a small minority of people for whom it is appropriate to eat that little.
But if you want an answer from people who work for MFP (more specifically, you want to propose this change to MFP), you're better off posting here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/categories/feature-suggestions-and-ideas
To be entirely honest, you probably won't get a clear response, just thanking you for your idea, but you might get lucky and they could take it into account for the future 1 -
Set it manually0
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I have not found a way to adjust it manually that is why I wrote the question.0
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Yes, my impression is that MFP won't give anyone a calorie goal lower than 1200 (1500 for men). My BMR (per MFP's estimate) is 1120 calories.
I can't recall how it estimates my TDEE, it's just been too long and I don't want to reset my carefully manually-set goals to find out.
Well, wait. No, MFP doesn't estimate TDEE. We're supposed to set activity level based on daily life activity (j, ob, home chores) excluding intentional exercise. That's only part of TDEE (BMR + NEAT +TEF, all estimated). Then we're supposed to log exercise when we do some, and eat those calories, too. That would be TDEE, once the exercise calories are added accurately. So, my impression is that the lowest goal it will give a woman is 1200 plus exercise.
But never mind, that wasn't your question.
What features can't you access? I have eaten less than 1200 back at the beginning. That was almost 9 years ago, but the only feature I know of that won't work is the "Close diary" thing. That doesn't do anything magical. All it does is give a person a prediction ("If every day were like today, in 5 weeks you would weigh X"), and post an uninteresting message on their timeline.
If you don't close your diary, nothing horrid happens. I haven't closed my diary in years now, and everything works fine.
If you want there to be a message on your timeline, you can post one manually. (The 5 week prediction is pretty much nonsense on the surface: Every day won't be like today, among other problems.)
What other features are you finding don't work if you eat less than 1200?
It is possible to set calorie goal manually, because I've done it.
In web MFP, it's
My Home > Goals
. . . then click Edit next to Daily Nutrition Goals. That should give you a page to update goals. You may need to click the "Set by . . ." option next to Macronutrients to show you the calorie box as editable. Change it to whatever you want, then click "Save changes". I have no idea whether it will let you change it to less than 1200, because I'm just a regular user like you (not an MFP staffer), and I don't want to mess with my settings and have to fix it all again.
In the phone/tablet app, I'm not sure how to do it, and I can't find it quickly. If nothing else, you can go to the web browser version, and change settings there. There may be a small delay for web and app to sync, but the change should propagate to the app.
Honestly, I wouldn't dream of setting my calorie goal as low as 1200, let alone below, even though my BMR is supposedly 1120. (That's a statistical estimate, not A Truth, which is why I phrase it like that. My BMR (or yours) could be higher or lower than MFP's estimate.) I ate that little at first, but I quickly discovered it wasn't a path of thriving, for me. I wasn't hungry, but eventually got weak and fatigued, learned that I needed to eat more. I understand that your experience is different.
Good luck!2 -
For setting daily calorie goals manually (Iphone, Ipad)
Settings>Profile>Goals>Calories, Carbs, Proteinand Fat Goals>Calories2 -
tomcustombuilder wrote: »For setting daily calorie goals manually (Iphone, Ipad)
Settings>Profile>Goals>Calories, Carbs, Proteinand Fat Goals>Calories
Yes. Unless premium, in which case other settings may apply.1 -
My daily food intake is often slightly below 1200 and I have no problems closing the diary. No complaints from MFP. Maybe because due to age, height, and weight I have a BMR of 837, BMI:20.4 and TDEE 1009. These values were not estimated by MFP but by other online calculators.
I have my daily calories set up at 1200 (I am not exercising much lately due to health limitations, so I don't count exercises calories), but if I close my diary at 1200 the system tells me that I will gain wt., and they are accurate.
I have been in maintenance for 14 years, and I didn't close my diary in the past too often either, and when I did, I used to get a warning if I was under 1200. I think that either MFP changed the system or the change is due to personal demographics.
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Ok, I changed it manually up from 1040 (the MFP default recommendation) to 1200. Thanks for the help. I had to do it on my desktop.
From my experience of years of trying to lose weight and tracking here, I know my own metabolism and unless I average under 1200 a day, I will not lose weight. I have fought with this for too long to be in denial of this. Believe me, I would love to be able to eat that much!
So the MFP suggestion for me of 1040 for my Goal Calories is totally reasonable, they are not wrong. My frustration is the warning I get each time I log under 1200.0 -
tomcustombuilder wrote: »For setting daily calorie goals manually (Iphone, Ipad)
Settings>Profile>Goals>Calories, Carbs, Proteinand Fat Goals>Calories
Yes. Unless premium, in which case other settings may apply.
Does anyone actually HAVE Premium? Us poverty members can use the above process0 -
tomcustombuilder wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »For setting daily calorie goals manually (Iphone, Ipad)
Settings>Profile>Goals>Calories, Carbs, Proteinand Fat Goals>Calories
Yes. Unless premium, in which case other settings may apply.
Does anyone actually HAVE Premium? Us poverty members can use the above process
Yep. I do. Because a few years back the ads which appeared everywhere when UA sold MFP to an investment company meant each page / entry took about 30 seconds to load (lived in rural UK with slow internet and v poor phone signal). So I went premium so that the app could actually be used. Rural internet poverty is defo a thing in England.1 -
tomcustombuilder wrote: »For setting daily calorie goals manually (Iphone, Ipad)
Settings>Profile>Goals>Calories, Carbs, Proteinand Fat Goals>Calories
And in the android app:
More > Goals > 'Calorie, carbs, protein and fat goals' in the category Nutrition Goals > Calories0 -
My daily food intake is often slightly below 1200 and I have no problems closing the diary. No complaints from MFP. Maybe because due to age, height, and weight I have a BMR of 837, BMI:20.4 and TDEE 1009. These values were not estimated by MFP but by other online calculators.
I have my daily calories set up at 1200 (I am not exercising much lately due to health limitations, so I don't count exercises calories), but if I close my diary at 1200 the system tells me that I will gain wt., and they are accurate.
I have been in maintenance for 14 years, and I didn't close my diary in the past too often either, and when I did, I used to get a warning if I was under 1200. I think that either MFP changed the system or the change is due to personal demographics.
I think it's the "slightly below" thing - were you within 100 calories of 1200? The OP is not.0 -
Ok, I changed it manually up from 1040 (the MFP default recommendation) to 1200. Thanks for the help. I had to do it on my desktop.
From my experience of years of trying to lose weight and tracking here, I know my own metabolism and unless I average under 1200 a day, I will not lose weight. I have fought with this for too long to be in denial of this. Believe me, I would love to be able to eat that much!
So the MFP suggestion for me of 1040 for my Goal Calories is totally reasonable, they are not wrong. My frustration is the warning I get each time I log under 1200.
Were you getting 1040 as a goal while on your phone? On desktop, I made a woman 4'5" with a goal weight of 74 pounds and could not get below 1200 calories.
How tall are you and what is your goal weight?
https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change-goals-guided1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »My daily food intake is often slightly below 1200 and I have no problems closing the diary. No complaints from MFP. Maybe because due to age, height, and weight I have a BMR of 837, BMI:20.4 and TDEE 1009. These values were not estimated by MFP but by other online calculators.
I have my daily calories set up at 1200 (I am not exercising much lately due to health limitations, so I don't count exercises calories), but if I close my diary at 1200 the system tells me that I will gain wt., and they are accurate.
I have been in maintenance for 14 years, and I didn't close my diary in the past too often either, and when I did, I used to get a warning if I was under 1200. I think that either MFP changed the system or the change is due to personal demographics.
I think it's the "slightly below" thing - were you within 100 calories of 1200? The OP is not.
Only by 60 calories.0 -
Doubtful you'll ever be within 60 calories IRL. Most people are off by 40% a day with total calories when all the smoke clears with incorrect counting and tracking and food labels being off as much as 20-25%kshama2001 wrote: »My daily food intake is often slightly below 1200 and I have no problems closing the diary. No complaints from MFP. Maybe because due to age, height, and weight I have a BMR of 837, BMI:20.4 and TDEE 1009. These values were not estimated by MFP but by other online calculators.
I have my daily calories set up at 1200 (I am not exercising much lately due to health limitations, so I don't count exercises calories), but if I close my diary at 1200 the system tells me that I will gain wt., and they are accurate.
I have been in maintenance for 14 years, and I didn't close my diary in the past too often either, and when I did, I used to get a warning if I was under 1200. I think that either MFP changed the system or the change is due to personal demographics.
I think it's the "slightly below" thing - were you within 100 calories of 1200? The OP is not.
Only by 60 calories.
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tomcustombuilder wrote: »
Doubtful you'll ever be within 60 calories IRL. Most people are off by 40% a day with total calories when all the smoke clears with incorrect counting and tracking and food labels being off as much as 20-255kshama2001 wrote: »My daily food intake is often slightly below 1200 and I have no problems closing the diary. No complaints from MFP. Maybe because due to age, height, and weight I have a BMR of 837, BMI:20.4 and TDEE 1009. These values were not estimated by MFP but by other online calculators.
I have my daily calories set up at 1200 (I am not exercising much lately due to health limitations, so I don't count exercises calories), but if I close my diary at 1200 the system tells me that I will gain wt., and they are accurate.
I have been in maintenance for 14 years, and I didn't close my diary in the past too often either, and when I did, I used to get a warning if I was under 1200. I think that either MFP changed the system or the change is due to personal demographics.
I think it's the "slightly below" thing - were you within 100 calories of 1200? The OP is not.
Only by 60 calories.
You're not wrong.
But . . . this post is about circumstances under which MFP will give the "too low calories" message. For that, it doesn't matter how many calories are in the food, it matters how many calories the person logs, even if the calorie number is crazy wrong.0 -
Right? However it's important for people to acknowledge how inaccurate their counting really is that's why calorie counting is such a crap shoot. Inaccurate MFP data, not logging everything including liquid calories, not logging every day, not logging that quick teaspoon of peanut butter.....tomcustombuilder wrote: »
Doubtful you'll ever be within 60 calories IRL. Most people are off by 40% a day with total calories when all the smoke clears with incorrect counting and tracking and food labels being off as much as 20-255kshama2001 wrote: »My daily food intake is often slightly below 1200 and I have no problems closing the diary. No complaints from MFP. Maybe because due to age, height, and weight I have a BMR of 837, BMI:20.4 and TDEE 1009. These values were not estimated by MFP but by other online calculators.
I have my daily calories set up at 1200 (I am not exercising much lately due to health limitations, so I don't count exercises calories), but if I close my diary at 1200 the system tells me that I will gain wt., and they are accurate.
I have been in maintenance for 14 years, and I didn't close my diary in the past too often either, and when I did, I used to get a warning if I was under 1200. I think that either MFP changed the system or the change is due to personal demographics.
I think it's the "slightly below" thing - were you within 100 calories of 1200? The OP is not.
Only by 60 calories.
You're not wrong.
But . . . this post is about circumstances under which MFP will give the "too low calories" message. For that, it doesn't matter how many calories are in the food, it matters how many calories the person logs, even if the calorie number is crazy wrong.
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Ok, I changed it manually up from 1040 (the MFP default recommendation) to 1200. Thanks for the help. I had to do it on my desktop.
From my experience of years of trying to lose weight and tracking here, I know my own metabolism and unless I average under 1200 a day, I will not lose weight. I have fought with this for too long to be in denial of this. Believe me, I would love to be able to eat that much!
So the MFP suggestion for me of 1040 for my Goal Calories is totally reasonable, they are not wrong. My frustration is the warning I get each time I log under 1200.
Most people who don't like the warning simply don't hit complete on their diary. You can't get rid of the warning unless you add in fake calories to bring it up to 1200. Generally I would not suggest doing this, of course. It either will give you the warning and no (typically wrong) estimate of how much you'll weigh in 5 weeks or, by adding fake info, the estimate will be even more wrong. At that point you can ask, why bother hitting complete?1 -
Hi, I went in and adjusted my macros and it put me at 1200 a day but I consistently take in around 1000+. And it always lets me complete my diary
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