Help me understand how MFP sets calorie targets

T_Ciku

I just joined MFP this month and I'm having a bit of trouble understanding how it sets calorie limits. My daily calorie target is 1200. Let's say I exercise and burn 200 calories today. I understand that the 200 calories I'm burning are coming out of the 1200, and that's why I need to eat them back otherwise I get the starvation mode warning.

What I don't understand then is if what I said above is correct, then it should remain at 1200. Like I said, the 200 calories I've burnt have obviously come out of the calories I eat for the day, which is 1200. So I now have 1000 calories left. Then I eat back the 200 and voila, back to 1200.
But MFP adds the 200 to my 1200 and tells me my goal for the day is 1400. Someone please explain? I feel like there's something very obvious that I'm missing here.

AbsolutelyAnnie

Think of it in terms of money. You want to end the day with $1200 in the bank. MINIMUM. You start the day at zero. Each calorie you eat is a dollar added to the bank. Each calorie you burn with exercise is a dollar spent.

When you burn 200 calories, you are spending $200 dollars. To get that money back you need to eat 200 calories, that's why MFP adds that amount to your daily goals to make sure you get that money back. Otherwise you end up with less than $1200 in the bank.

As a newbie, these articles are WELL worth the time it takes to read them. Best of luck.

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/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide?hl=Logging+accurately

T_Ciku

Thank you so much! That really, really helped.

erickirb

essentially eating 1200 with no exercise is the same as eating 1400 but burning 200 from exercise. both leave 1200 calories for your body to live off of.

1200-0 = 1400-200, so if you only ate 1200 but burned 200, that leaves 1000 for your body to live on. For most even 1200 is too low.

brianpperkins

MFP uses net NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) calories. Roughly that equals your BMR (basal metabolic rate .. simply the calories required to keep you alive even in a coma) and calories expended from routine daily activity but not that from deliberate working out.

If your body burns 2000 NEAT calories per day (a nice round example number) based on MFP's calculations (age, current weight, activity level, etc) then MFP sets that as your maintenance level. It then takes your weekly weight loss goal and subtracts that from your maintenance calories .... 500 calorie deficit per day per pound of weekly weight loss goal. If your goal is one pound per week it comes out to 2000-500=1500 per day. The goal is net calories, not calories grossed. With a 1500 NEAT calorie goal there is zero exercise included. To maintain that net level, any extra caloric deficit created needs balancing by eating back those calories otherwise your net intake goals are not met.

A few common errors here are setting weekly loss goals too high for the amount left to lose. The two pound per week goal is for those with a lot, usually triple digits, to lose. The weekly goal should drop as the target weight approaches with 1/2 pound per week as a reasonable goal for that last ten or twenty pounds. Trying to lose it all fast, especially with a smaller amount to lose, is not necessarily a safe or healthy option. Another common error is overestimating exercise burns while underestimating caloric intake.