MFP calories vs. nutritionist's calories

sfsoccermom2

I am so confused on this subject and any help is appreciated.

MFP has my calories at 1200 and my nutritionist set my calories to 1600. I've been doing the 1200 plus exericse calories because I track on my phone and that's what MFP has me at. But now, I am afraid from what I have been reading, that I can actually stall my weight loss.

Why does MFP put me so low if I could potentially eat more? I have that I want to lose 2lbs. a week and I am in a sedentary job. I do, however, exercise 6 days a week now for at least 30 minutes. 1600 seems like so much. I am eating and not hungry, and sometimes I fnd I have to look for stuff to eat to make at least the 1200.

Should I readjust? I have been losing so far, but am afraid I will not.

bcattoes

What do you do for exercise? Is 1200 + exercise calories really so much less than 1600?

If it were me, I'd follow the nutritionist advice. 1200 is really low if you are eating a well balanced diet. Do you hit your protein and fat goal?

sfsoccermom2

I do at least walking or zumba six days a week. Sometimes, of course, I walk more. I am averaging about 200-350 of exercise. Yes, I hit my goals. Like today, I am already over my protein. It's so hard because I was just diagnosed with diabetes, so I have that thrown into the mix now with the carbs.

rose313

Go with what your nutritionist says, because she knows you, your diabetes, and your needs. MFP is just a tool. You can change MFP's settings to say 1600.

serindipte

Considering how much you show to want to lose, you will easily lose weight at 1600 even without exercise. Follow these links for some great info on both setting your goals and getting healthy.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here

If you aren't already using one, get and use a food scale. Weigh all solids. Measuring cups/spoons are not accurate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

3dogsrunning

First you have to realize that the nutritionist likely used a different formula to come up with their calorie estimate. Usually they will use the TDEE method where they figure your BMR (the calories your body needs just to survive if you were in a coma), then factors in your daily activity level and expected exercise. Then they create a deficit from that.
MFP figures your BMR, then your activity level but does not account for exercise until you log it and eat those calories back.
You can't directly compare the two.

Did you choose sedentary as an activity level on MFP? I realize you have a desk job but few people are truly fit the MFP sedentary goals.

How much do you usually log for exercise? What is your total daily calorie including exercise on MFP?

Even if you burn 200 calories, that will bring you up to 1400 which isn't too far off the 1600. Keep in mind these are all estimates and different formulas have variations. 200 isn't a huge difference (but I am a fan of eating as much as you can and still lose weight).


Do you know what weight loss goal your nutritionist gave you?

1200 does seem very low for you. Usually people get that when they choose a weight loss goal that is too high, but according to your ticker you have 100 lbs left to lose. 2lbs a week should be an ok goal for that.

With the amount of weight you have to lose, you can get away with larger calorie deficits, however, I do prefer to go for the higher goal if it works.

ETA- I see you burn 200 -350 calories - that puts you at 1400-1550 calories if you eat them back (which you say you do), which is fairly close to the nutritionist suggestion.

mumblemagic

I'd go with the nutritionist's advice too - always go for a medical professional's advice over that of forum users

Check with your nutritionist whether that 1600 is net or total - if it's total i.e. including exercise calories, that might make sense with the discrepancy from MFP because MFP expects you to log and eat back exercise, i.e. 1200 net.

sfsoccermom2

I have a call into the nutrionist. Thank you all for your input. This stuff is so overwhelming when just getting started.

geebusuk

Did your nutritionist say you would get 2lb/week loss eating 1600 calories?

If you were to average 460 calories a day exercise, say and eat it back as MFP suggests, that would mean you would be averaging around 1600 calories.

Remember a 1000 calorie deficit or there about, which is what's needed for 2lb/week loss is quite a lot and can be quite hard work for many.

tiffanilaughalot

My nutritionist also said to eat more than 1200 a day. It's hard to get the full nutrition with as little as 1200 calories, ESPECIALLY if you're exercising almost daily. If you're exercising and eating well, eating even more than 1600 a day shouldn't affect your progress.

asciiqwerty

Follow your nutritionist's advice, adjuyst MfP to suit you.

srmchan

MFP has my calories at 1200 and my nutritionist set my calories to 1600. I've been doing the 1200 plus exericse calories because I track on my phone and that's what MFP has me at. But now, I am afraid from what I have been reading, that I can actually stall my weight loss.

I joined a gym recently and had a resting metabolic assessment done on Friday. When I scheduled the assessment, I mentioned I was using MFP to track eating, and he immediately said you're probably not eating enough if you're using MFP's estimates. MFP gave me a budget of 1600 calories per day based on a goal of 2 lbs per week weight loss. The InBody machine at the gym estimated my BMR at 1800-something calories, and the resting metabolic assessment came up with 2200 calories and change for BMR. The nutritionist added 600 calories for sedentary lifestyle calorie burn and then rounded up - 2200-something + 600 = 2800-something rounded up to 2900. Then he subtracted a 500 calorie per day deficit and gave me a 2400 calorie per day target to achieve 1lb per week weight loss. He assigned my macro nutrients at 30% carbs, 40% proteins, and 30% fats. He initially had 40% carbs but I pushed back and negotiated him down since I'm more of a meat eater than a veggie/fruit eater. :-) I asked if I can eat back any calories I'm burning through exercise and he said "not yet, that will come later". I anticipate exercising 4-6 times per week for an average of 700 calories burned per session, so that puts my weight loss at 2 lbs per week.

It seems weird to ramp up to 2400 calories; I'm struggling to each that much after getting used to 1600 calories for the last couple weeks. My trainer and nutritionist assure me it's ok.

Hope that helps.

Sam

_lyndseybrooke_

1.) Look up your TDEE, subtract 20% from it, and see how that number compares to MFP and your nutritionist's advice.

2.) 2 lbs/week is too much. Drop your MFP goal down to .5 lb/week and see what your new calorie limit is. .5-1 lb loss per week is perfectly fine. 2 lbs is the most you should lose in a week, but 2+ lbs per week consistently is too fast.

3.) If you're eating 1200 calories a day and 300 calories back from exercises, you're eating 1500 calories per day. What's so bad about adding another 100?

4.) You said, "I'm already over in protein." So? That's good! The more protein the better. Protein = good. Never worry about going over in that.

5.) Eat 1600 calories per day, don't eat back exercise calories, and see what happens in the next few weeks. If you're losing, keep at it. If you're not, cut 100 calories from your goal each week until you see a loss, but do not go below your BMR (which I'm guessing is higher than 1200).

6.) 1200 calories per day is the bare minimum a woman should be eating. Unless you're bed ridden, you need to eat more.

3dogsrunning

MFP has my calories at 1200 and my nutritionist set my calories to 1600. I've been doing the 1200 plus exericse calories because I track on my phone and that's what MFP has me at. But now, I am afraid from what I have been reading, that I can actually stall my weight loss.

I joined a gym recently and had a resting metabolic assessment done on Friday. When I scheduled the assessment, I mentioned I was using MFP to track eating, and he immediately said you're probably not eating enough if you're using MFP's estimates. MFP gave me a budget of 1600 calories per day based on a goal of 2 lbs per week weight loss. The InBody machine at the gym estimated my BMR at 1800-something calories, and the resting metabolic assessment came up with 2200 calories and change for BMR. The nutritionist added 600 calories for sedentary lifestyle calorie burn and then rounded up - 2200-something + 600 = 2800-something rounded up to 2900. Then he subtracted a 500 calorie per day deficit and gave me a 2400 calorie per day target to achieve 1lb per week weight loss. He assigned my macro nutrients at 30% carbs, 40% proteins, and 30% fats. He initially had 40% carbs but I pushed back and negotiated him down since I'm more of a meat eater than a veggie/fruit eater. :-) I asked if I can eat back any calories I'm burning through exercise and he said "not yet, that will come later". I anticipate exercising 4-6 times per week for an average of 700 calories burned per session, so that puts my weight loss at 2 lbs per week.

It seems weird to ramp up to 2400 calories; I'm struggling to each that much after getting used to 1600 calories for the last couple weeks. My trainer and nutritionist assure me it's ok.

Hope that helps.

Sam

You are comparing two completely different calculations.

You set MPF to 2 lbs a week. Your nutritionist put you at a 500 calorie deficit, which is equal to 1lb a week. So if you had selected 1lb a week for MFP, it would put you at 2100 calories compared to the 2400 calories your nutritionist recommended. But MFP expects you to log exercise and eat those calories back so if you were following MFP, you'd actually eat more.

_Resolve_

another vote to follow the nutritionist advice

3dogsrunning

1.) Look up your TDEE, subtract 20% from it, and see how that number compares to MFP and your nutritionist's advice.

2.) 2 lbs/week is too much. Drop your MFP goal down to .5 lb/week and see what your new calorie limit is. .5-1 lb loss per week is perfectly fine. 2 lbs is the most you should lose in a week, but 2+ lbs per week consistently is too fast.

3.) If you're eating 1200 calories a day and 300 calories back from exercises, you're eating 1500 calories per day. What's so bad about adding another 100?

4.) You said, "I'm already over in protein." So? That's good! The more protein the better. Protein = good. Never worry about going over in that.

5.) Eat 1600 calories per day, don't eat back exercise calories, and see what happens in the next few weeks. If you're losing, keep at it. If you're not, cut 100 calories from your goal each week until you see a loss, but do not go below your BMR (which I'm guessing is higher than 1200).

6.) 1200 calories per day is the bare minimum a woman should be eating. Unless you're bed ridden, you need to eat more.

2) According to her ticker she has 100lbs to lose. 2lbs a week is a perfectly reasonable goal for someone with 75lbs or more to lose. .5 lb a week weight loss is extremely conservative.

3) She said she was logging her exercise and eating those calories back.

I do agree 1200 as a base is still low.

ETA - also a vote for nutritionist but from how I read it the nutritionist and MFP with exercise calories are pretty much the same number.

RUNNING_AMOK_1958

Listen to the nutritionist.

_lyndseybrooke_

1.) Look up your TDEE, subtract 20% from it, and see how that number compares to MFP and your nutritionist's advice.

2.) 2 lbs/week is too much. Drop your MFP goal down to .5 lb/week and see what your new calorie limit is. .5-1 lb loss per week is perfectly fine. 2 lbs is the most you should lose in a week, but 2+ lbs per week consistently is too fast.

3.) If you're eating 1200 calories a day and 300 calories back from exercises, you're eating 1500 calories per day. What's so bad about adding another 100?

4.) You said, "I'm already over in protein." So? That's good! The more protein the better. Protein = good. Never worry about going over in that.

5.) Eat 1600 calories per day, don't eat back exercise calories, and see what happens in the next few weeks. If you're losing, keep at it. If you're not, cut 100 calories from your goal each week until you see a loss, but do not go below your BMR (which I'm guessing is higher than 1200).

6.) 1200 calories per day is the bare minimum a woman should be eating. Unless you're bed ridden, you need to eat more.

2) According to her ticker she has 100lbs to lose. 2lbs a week is a perfectly reasonable goal for someone with 75lbs or more to lose. .5 lb a week weight loss is extremely conservative.

3) She said she was logging her exercise and eating those calories back.

I do agree 1200 as a base is still low.

ETA - also a vote for nutritionist but from how I read it the nutritionist and MFP with exercise calories are pretty much the same number.

2. On MFP, putting 2 lb/week almost always gives women a goal of 1200 calories. Changing it to .5 lb/week will make the number go up, even though she still may lose more than that.

3. I know. That's what I said. She's probably already eating nearly 1600 calories if she's eating her exercise calories back.

srmchan

You are comparing two completely different calculations.

You set MPF to 2 lbs a week. Your nutritionist put you at a 500 calorie deficit, which is equal to 1lb a week. So if you had selected 1lb a week for MFP, it would put you at 2100 calories compared to the 2400 calories your nutritionist recommended. But MFP expects you to log exercise and eat those calories back so if you were following MFP, you'd actually eat more.

Excellent point on the different calculations.

The point I wanted to make was that MFP underestimated my basal metabolic rate by ~300-400 calories per day. My nutritionist likes and recommends MFP, but he believes MFP is generally low on BMR calculations. I'm no expert; just reporting what my nutritionist shared.

Sam