We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Goals calculations wrong?

SteveGStar
SteveGStar Posts: 5
edited November 2024 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi guys,

I currently weigh 17st 5lb (245lbs), my lean body weight comes in at 188lbs - my own calculations bring me to 3009 cals per day to maintain weight.

Protein 188g / carbs 393g / fats 75g

____________________

I started using MyFitnessPal and in nutrition goals it only allows me to set:

Protein 188g (25%) / carbs 414g (55%) / fats 67g (20%)... 3009 CALS. If I change the % fields it still goes out of range and never hits the right calculations?

Also if I enter "lose 1lb per week" (goal weight 17st) it drops right down to 2250 cals? Surely this isn't right as anything over 500 cals deficit is going to cause a crazy amount of loss in muscle...

Replies

  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    MFP's calculations don't work for me. Just fiddle with it to find what works for you. E.g. I need more than they think to gain and less than they think to lose :/

    Try out 0.5 lb loss a week and see if it works for you, if it doesn't you can always drop it down.

    Edit: I'd be inclined to up fats a bit, but that's just me - 20% sounds miserable
    I can't get my percentages bang on either, would be better if it went up in 1s and not 5s
  • 5stringjeff
    5stringjeff Posts: 790 Member
    If you're only looking to drop five pounds, you should set your goal to 1/2 pound per week. Or, you could manually decrease your calorie goals by 250 (down to 2759). The macros should then adjust accordingly.
  • philwrightfitness
    philwrightfitness Posts: 122
    Because the 1 pound a week refers to overall weight not fat loss what I did was monitor my calories for a month on a ten percent deficit -300 calories in your case and then calculated my average calories versus actual fat loss then fine tuned the macros to suit, I wouldn't go over a 20 percent or 600 calorie deficit , if you want to minimise fat loss consider a keto diet
  • SteveGStar
    SteveGStar Posts: 5
    Thanks for the replies guys - much appreciated ;)
  • janetbeautiful
    janetbeautiful Posts: 2 Member
    i updated my goal settings but i am several weeks in and all my history is wrong. can i retrofit the new goals to old activity?
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    edited February 2016
    janetbeautiful wrote: »
    i updated my goal settings but i am several weeks in and all my history is wrong. can i retrofit the new goals to old activity?

    You asked the same question in the Getting Started board. I answered it there.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    Try 20/20/60.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories