Lost weight so recalculated the daily goal by it went up

Merkavar

hey

so I set my goal to maintain and then back to lose 1kg a week and it added 2000 kj to the daily goal

Is it likely I have been wrong for 2 months, having a lower target? Or has something gone wrong with the calculation?

PAV8888

Hey, hello!👋 haven't seen you post for a while!

Sometime in late 2024 / early 2025 MFP changed the physical activity factor multipliers for each activity label.

F.e. the lowest activity level (known as sedentary when I first joined) changed from 1.25 * Mifflin to 1.4*, IIRC.

This may affect estimation refreshes.

Merkavar

Yeah, trying to get back on the wagon, so back here again :D

see I am sure I set my goals a few times at the start of May

so I don’t think map changing setting months or years ago should be the issue.

normally when I start (restart, re-restart) tracking I will update my weight and update my goal so it recalculates the daily target.

Maybe there is an upper limit where mfp doesn’t calculate the same and I have dropped below that with recent weight loss?

Using other calculators and guides it seems the number mfp gave the other day is accurate, and the new number is 2000kj too high

PAV8888

Bugs are not unknown?🤣

In any case your own results over a few weeks are always a better guide than the initial guess. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I'm going to assume you don't use a connected tracker/device. If you do (and negative adjustments are on and manual exercise logging doesn't override) then the TDEE value at the end of day will be equal to what the tracker/device came up with anyway, regardless of starting point.

Merkavar

yeah not currently using a tracker

Looking to get one actually, which would solve this issue.

cmriverside

Check/re-check your height.

AnnPT77

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48688422#Comment_48688422

If you've been at this logging and loss thing for at least 4-6 weeks, use your own data to estimate your calorie needs. That'll typically give a person a more on-target personalized calorie needs estimate than any calculator or fitness tracker. You do need a solid food logging and weight-change record for that much time, though.

Multiply the pounds you've lost over that time period by 3500 (or kilos lost by 7700). Add up the calories you've eaten over the same time period. Add the weight-lost calories to the eaten calories. Divide by the number of days in the time period. That's your personalized estimate of TDEE. Knock off calories to create a deficit, and use that to set your goal. That works.

I wouldn't count on a tracker to solve the issue, necessarily. It will help a lot of people, sure. But trackers just spit out estimates based on population averages - somewhat personalized, nuanced estimates, I admit. But estimates nonetheless, not measurements of calorie burn. Not every individual is average.

My good brand/model tracker - one that estimates reasonably closely for others who've commented here - is off by about 500 or so calories daily for me, compared with nearly 10 years of logging experience. Most people are close to the tracker estimates - that's how statistical estimates work, right? It's rare, but possible, to be hundreds of calories off.

I'm in maintenance. If my tracker were correct, and I'd eating what I've logged, I should've gained around 50 pounds or a bit more over the past year. It thinks I've averaged 1631 calories burned daily over that past year. I've eaten 1850 plus exercise calories, 2100-2200 most of the time, plus a few bigger indulgent days. This time last year, I weighed 1.9 pounds more than I do today, so I've actually lost a tiny bit of weight. Trackers aren't perfect.

Best wishes!

Merkavar

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48689027#Comment_48689027

yeah everything is an estimate, just confused why my estimate increased by 2000kj or 500 calories after losing weight

cmriverside

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48689949#Comment_48689949

If you changed your Activity Level on the Goal page then the calories increase by 250 for every jump up in the Activity Level setting.

AnnPT77

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48689949#Comment_48689949

I understand that.

What I'm suggesting is that - if you wish - you can set your calorie goal manually based on your history, and ignore what MFP recommends. That will generally be more accurate because more personalized.

I admit, I'm biased: MFP is so crazy far off for me that I haven't used its estimates since the few weeks trial period about ten years ago when I figured out that if I followed its estimate, I'd be crazy-far under-eating, to the detriment of my health. I know that's unusual, to be many hundreds of calories off daily.

But the estimates being somewhat off, high or low, isn't all that unusual. Personal history tells a more reliable story.

Merkavar

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48690020#Comment_48690020

Yeah I change it and change it back, to make it recalculate. Since it doesnt seem to do that automatically.

It probably should do it automatically right? Or atleast ask you after losing 10KG or after 6 months?

cmriverside

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48691634#Comment_48691634

It won't prompt you or change calories when you lose weight unless you go into Goals - and that's when it's working correctly. Apparently there are Goal calorie bugs right now? Not sure, I'm not having a problem.