MFP Calorie Goal Too High?

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Replies

  • Love4fitnesslove4food2
    Love4fitnesslove4food2 Posts: 711 Member
    I cannot fathom why a 5'7 male would be so insistent on getting to 140 pounds. I'm sorry, I'm just rather confused.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    Ok,

    I'll try to explain this.

    The 1.9 multiplier that you have in your original calculation represents a highly level of activity. It includes all your walking.
    Therefore, if you want to base it on that. MFP is correct to give you about 2800 calories. You would then not eat back your walking calories.

    If you set that correctly and add the fitbit on (and configure it correctly) it will tell you when your day has shown walking in excess of 2800 calories. It shouldn't be giving you 4000 unless you are doing some very extreme walks.

    If you want to log manually your walking put MFP at sedentary (1.2 multiplier) and then log the 2000 cals of walks. Make sure you subtract the baseline calories as those are already calculated in (about a third per hour of walking is just BMR).

    Hope that helps.
  • bluetalonuk
    bluetalonuk Posts: 15
    With that much walking everyday you should be able to eat 3500 calories a day and maintain your weight. I don't see 20 -25 miles a day. I get the 10 miles to and from work, but 13 miles at work. Fitbit is over exaggerating the distance.

    Fitbit logs 5 miles verified by GPS into work. 5 mile "walk" takes me 90 mins. So 13 miles in 8 hrs is a walk in the park (excuse the pun)
  • bluetalonuk
    bluetalonuk Posts: 15
    It shouldn't be giving you 4000 unless you are doing some very extreme walks.

    How about 10 miles at 4-6 mph + 13 miles at 3 mph. extreme enough for 2000 cals??
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,654 Member
    I cannot fathom why a 5'7 male would be so insistent on getting to 140 pounds. I'm sorry, I'm just rather confused.

    Because that is a BMI of 22. perfectly normal for the average male.
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,654 Member
    There is also the theory that your body gets used to a certain activity over time and becomes more efficient. This would mean that someone who is used to walking 25 miles per day wouldn't burn as many calories as someone at the same height and weight, who just started walking that amount. In this case, the FitBit would be giving you more calories than you are actually burning.

    Again, that would bring you back to trial and error, which you are doing.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
    OP, why don't you open your diary so we can see what you eat and your exercise calories, then we might be able to better advice you.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    It shouldn't be giving you 4000 unless you are doing some very extreme walks.

    How about 10 miles at 4-6 mph + 13 miles at 3 mph. extreme enough for 2000 cals??
    How do you get 4-6 mph? 90 minutes to walk 5 miles is 3.3 mph.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    It shouldn't be giving you 4000 unless you are doing some very extreme walks.

    How about 10 miles at 4-6 mph + 13 miles at 3 mph. extreme enough for 2000 cals??
    How do you get 4-6 mph? 90 minutes to walk 5 miles is 3.3 mph.

    I assumed he was mixing up KPH with MPH, 4-6 KPH = 2.5-3.8 MPH

    Also OP, since you walk that much all the time you will be more efficient at doing so, therefore burn less calories than any calculator would assume. The more you do something the "better" you get at it, and you don't use as much energy to do the same thing. I think the 2800 or so would be more reasonable than the fitbit for this reason.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    It shouldn't be giving you 4000 unless you are doing some very extreme walks.

    How about 10 miles at 4-6 mph + 13 miles at 3 mph. extreme enough for 2000 cals??
    How do you get 4-6 mph? 90 minutes to walk 5 miles is 3.3 mph.

    It is still about 2000 cals (plus or minus 100) for a guy of his weight.
    Given the amount of time, he is failing to subtract the basal amount (calories already included in MFP just for being "there") which are somewhere around 700-900.

    With 23 miles of walking - it should not be more than 2900-3300.
  • mistyloveslife
    mistyloveslife Posts: 111 Member
    You're male and 145 pounds? What height?

    He says 5' 7". This seems insane to me...
  • bluetalonuk
    bluetalonuk Posts: 15
    How do you get 4-6 mph? 90 minutes to walk 5 miles is 3.3 mph.

    Traffic lights :)

    I log all my walks on runkeeper and that logs each mile along the time taken - My mile times vary between 10-15 mins / mile so that's 6mph (for 10 min mile) and 4 mph (for 15 min mile) - so smarty I am walking at the stated pace
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    How do you get 4-6 mph? 90 minutes to walk 5 miles is 3.3 mph.

    Traffic lights :)

    I log all my walks on runkeeper and that logs each mile along the time taken - My mile times vary between 10-15 mins / mile so that's 6mph (for 10 min mile) and 4 mph (for 15 min mile) - so smarty I am walking at the stated pace

    I am doubting that you are walking at 6mph, that is a jog for most and a run for some. Are you sure you don't have it set in Kms?
  • DebbieLyn63
    DebbieLyn63 Posts: 2,654 Member
    You're male and 145 pounds? What height?

    He says 5' 7". This seems insane to me...

    My 30 yo son in law is 5'7" and 110 lbs. THAT is insane. 145 is completely normal for the average male who isn't into bodybuilding.
    My husband is 45, 5'8" and his optimal cycling 'race weight' goal is 150. He is around 160 now that it is off season and has his winter coat.
    Not every man is 6 ft tall and weighs 200 lbs.

    ETA Dan, of the Road map plan, is around this height and only weighs around 135.
  • fougamou
    fougamou Posts: 200 Member
    Personally, I am confused. You have a Fitbit and your primary sources of exercise is steps, which is what Fitbit calculates best. Why not go with the assumption that the Fitbit Calorie burn is daily calorie burn, try it for a while and see if it is correct?


    I think you are overthinking this.

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