Some MFP Basics
ladyhawk00
Posts: 2,457 Member
Determining Settings & Goals
So, you’ve entered your info, chosen your goals, and MFP has given you a daily cal goal. Is it right? For this to work, these numbers must all be accurate and realistic. A general guideline for determining loss per week goal:
20 lbs or less to lose: .5 lb loss per week
20 - 50 lbs to lose: 1 lb loss per week
50 – 75 lbs to lose: 1.5 lb loss per week
75 lbs or more to lose: 2 lb loss per week
Obviously, some people will fall outside these parameters. Some will lose a little faster or slower or need a higher or lower loss goal. MFP promotes healthy weight loss, not only in actual calories in – calories out, but in changing your eating habits. Choosing too high of a loss goal usually ends up backfiring and leaves you feeling deprived, and does not teach you to eat healthy amounts of healthy food. I’ll talk more about this further on.
BMR (go to Tools) is your Basal Metabolic Rate – the number of calories you burn each day to keep breathing, as if you were in a coma. MFP then adds the number of calories you burn in daily living, your Daily Activity Level. Daily Activity Level is intended to include your daily activity at home, and your job – not purposeful exercise. If you are unsure of your activity level, or it is irregular, it’s usually best to choose the lower of two choices. These are not exact, perfect numbers, but for most people they are a good starting point and can be trusted to set up your initial plan. Remember also that you will need to adjust and recalculate these numbers as you lose weight and become more active.
These two numbers together, give you your maintenance calories – what you would eat to maintain your current weight. You can see this number under Goals.
Deficit
MFP generates a BUILT IN CALORIE DEFICIT to allow for weight loss, regardless of exercise.
This is different than many calorie counters/weight loss programs, or the way that many trainers set up a plan. These other plans usually take your “intended exercise” and use that to create a deficit, keeping your daily cal goal static. Therefore, with other plans, you would not replace calories you burn through exercise. MFP is different and you CANNOT compare them, unless you’re prepared to do some calculations to get apples vs. apples and not apples vs. oranges.
MFP is designed to have you log purposeful exercise each day, as you complete it, and for you to EAT THOSE ADDITIONAL CALORIES. This helps keep you more accountable, motivated and prompts support (all those WTG’s on your status go a long way.) If you do not replace the calories added for exercise, you make your deficit larger than you (presumably) intended. A larger deficit will not necessarily provide for faster weight loss – it will likely lead to feelings of deprivation, binges, irregular blood sugar levels, poor nutrition and bad eating habits - and is one of the key reasons why people give up or regain weight.
This plan only works, however, if your calorie intake and burns are accurate. Weigh/measure your food, and use the most accurate exercise burn numbers you can. The numbers in the food/exercise database are not always correct, or not always correct for YOU – be realistic and get the best numbers available to you. Go from there and don’t stress over it.
MFP does not allow for a guided daily cal goal below 1200. This number was provided by WHO as the lower limit for the average woman to receive adequate nutrition each day. The lower limit for men is 1500 calories. Unless you are much smaller than average, or are under the care of a professional who has provided a specific diet, attempting a regular intake lower than this is asking for trouble.
Starving/Not Hungry?
One of the most important aspects of this plan is that it helps you retrain your body and your mind to recognize healthy eating habits. This includes eating healthy foods and a healthy AMOUNT of food. If you are here, you likely have bad eating habits. Bad eating habits are not simply eating too much. Skipping meals, eating too little, eating irregularly, and eating the wrong ratio of macros (protein/fat/carb) are all habits that will contribute to an unhealthy weight.
MFP is a tool to help your body and mind to recognize how much you should be eating, how often, and what kinds of food. In the beginning, you may feel starving. Or you may not feel hungry at all. You should not necessarily trust either of these feelings. If you have abused your body, it has adapted to your bad habits and no longer gives you cues for a healthy intake. Aim for your daily cal goal, and give your body time to adjust to these changes. It may take days or weeks for your body to adapt to a healthy intake of healthy food. You didn’t learn your bad habits overnight, and you won’t fix them overnight.
There is no easy out, no quick fix. If you go about your weight loss in an unhealthy manner, you will end up unhealthy.
Dedication, Focus, and Motivation – and above all Patience and Persistence – are what will make you successful. Best wishes to all!
*Disclaimer – These are my opinions, based on my own research here on MFP and the knowledge I’ve gleaned from my nutritional education, and research in scientific literature. I’m not an expert, but I believe I’ve learned a lot from those who are.
So, you’ve entered your info, chosen your goals, and MFP has given you a daily cal goal. Is it right? For this to work, these numbers must all be accurate and realistic. A general guideline for determining loss per week goal:
20 lbs or less to lose: .5 lb loss per week
20 - 50 lbs to lose: 1 lb loss per week
50 – 75 lbs to lose: 1.5 lb loss per week
75 lbs or more to lose: 2 lb loss per week
Obviously, some people will fall outside these parameters. Some will lose a little faster or slower or need a higher or lower loss goal. MFP promotes healthy weight loss, not only in actual calories in – calories out, but in changing your eating habits. Choosing too high of a loss goal usually ends up backfiring and leaves you feeling deprived, and does not teach you to eat healthy amounts of healthy food. I’ll talk more about this further on.
BMR (go to Tools) is your Basal Metabolic Rate – the number of calories you burn each day to keep breathing, as if you were in a coma. MFP then adds the number of calories you burn in daily living, your Daily Activity Level. Daily Activity Level is intended to include your daily activity at home, and your job – not purposeful exercise. If you are unsure of your activity level, or it is irregular, it’s usually best to choose the lower of two choices. These are not exact, perfect numbers, but for most people they are a good starting point and can be trusted to set up your initial plan. Remember also that you will need to adjust and recalculate these numbers as you lose weight and become more active.
These two numbers together, give you your maintenance calories – what you would eat to maintain your current weight. You can see this number under Goals.
Deficit
MFP generates a BUILT IN CALORIE DEFICIT to allow for weight loss, regardless of exercise.
This is different than many calorie counters/weight loss programs, or the way that many trainers set up a plan. These other plans usually take your “intended exercise” and use that to create a deficit, keeping your daily cal goal static. Therefore, with other plans, you would not replace calories you burn through exercise. MFP is different and you CANNOT compare them, unless you’re prepared to do some calculations to get apples vs. apples and not apples vs. oranges.
MFP is designed to have you log purposeful exercise each day, as you complete it, and for you to EAT THOSE ADDITIONAL CALORIES. This helps keep you more accountable, motivated and prompts support (all those WTG’s on your status go a long way.) If you do not replace the calories added for exercise, you make your deficit larger than you (presumably) intended. A larger deficit will not necessarily provide for faster weight loss – it will likely lead to feelings of deprivation, binges, irregular blood sugar levels, poor nutrition and bad eating habits - and is one of the key reasons why people give up or regain weight.
This plan only works, however, if your calorie intake and burns are accurate. Weigh/measure your food, and use the most accurate exercise burn numbers you can. The numbers in the food/exercise database are not always correct, or not always correct for YOU – be realistic and get the best numbers available to you. Go from there and don’t stress over it.
MFP does not allow for a guided daily cal goal below 1200. This number was provided by WHO as the lower limit for the average woman to receive adequate nutrition each day. The lower limit for men is 1500 calories. Unless you are much smaller than average, or are under the care of a professional who has provided a specific diet, attempting a regular intake lower than this is asking for trouble.
Starving/Not Hungry?
One of the most important aspects of this plan is that it helps you retrain your body and your mind to recognize healthy eating habits. This includes eating healthy foods and a healthy AMOUNT of food. If you are here, you likely have bad eating habits. Bad eating habits are not simply eating too much. Skipping meals, eating too little, eating irregularly, and eating the wrong ratio of macros (protein/fat/carb) are all habits that will contribute to an unhealthy weight.
MFP is a tool to help your body and mind to recognize how much you should be eating, how often, and what kinds of food. In the beginning, you may feel starving. Or you may not feel hungry at all. You should not necessarily trust either of these feelings. If you have abused your body, it has adapted to your bad habits and no longer gives you cues for a healthy intake. Aim for your daily cal goal, and give your body time to adjust to these changes. It may take days or weeks for your body to adapt to a healthy intake of healthy food. You didn’t learn your bad habits overnight, and you won’t fix them overnight.
There is no easy out, no quick fix. If you go about your weight loss in an unhealthy manner, you will end up unhealthy.
Dedication, Focus, and Motivation – and above all Patience and Persistence – are what will make you successful. Best wishes to all!
*Disclaimer – These are my opinions, based on my own research here on MFP and the knowledge I’ve gleaned from my nutritional education, and research in scientific literature. I’m not an expert, but I believe I’ve learned a lot from those who are.
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Replies
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Great post as usual, ladyhawk!! Thanks for putting this out there and I hope it becomes a "sticky" post.0
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Thanks for the quick reminder...0
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Great Post
I've been trusting this Website/Iphone App for 10 months or so. And It has helped me So very much I have got family an friends to join in with me. Setting Goals has never been Easier.
Bump Bump 0 -
Hello. When I set up my profile, I put in everything correctly. I work out 6-7 days a week for at least an hour and that I only want to lose .5lb per week and not more than 7lbs total.... it figured for me to eat only 1290 calories a day. That seems very low. I had figured that 1400 would be more reasonable. I am 32 years old, 4'11" and 115lbs. Does anyone else agree that it seems too low for someone who exercises as much as I do. I am a SAHM and some days are crazy while others are more relaxed, so I put lightly active to balance it out.0
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Hello. When I set up my profile, I put in everything correctly. I work out 6-7 days a week for at least an hour and that I only want to lose .5lb per week and not more than 7lbs total.... it figured for me to eat only 1290 calories a day. That seems very low. I had figured that 1400 would be more reasonable. I am 32 years old, 4'11" and 115lbs. Does anyone else agree that it seems too low for someone who exercises as much as I do. I am a SAHM and some days are crazy while others are more relaxed, so I put lightly active to balance it out.
It may or may not be too low - that's very dependent on your activity level ASIDE from exercise. Notice that when you log exercise, MFP adds calories to your daily goal to compensate. So if you're exercising 6-7 days a week, your daily goal will be higher than the 1290 on days you exercise.
With as little as you want to lose, you may do better at using the maintenance setting and subtracting 100-200 cals from that each day (either manually inputting cal goal, or just doing the math in your head). What you're really trying to accomplish is to tone up and build muscle - so you don't necessarily want/need to be in a "weight loss" mode.
To lose that "last 10 lbs" it's often necessary to be even more exact with logging intake and exercise, so if you don't have an HRM, you may want to get one. And it can take a lot of time, and some trial/error to get the numbers right. Stay with it! :flowerforyou:0 -
Thanks for this, ladyhawk! I always enjoy your positive posts 0
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thanks for the help!0
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Yes, I just got a heart monitor and I am very exact in my food diary. I measure everything. Maybe I should do as you said and just list it as maintenance and manually remove 200 calories per day. Thanks for your help!0
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Yes, I just got a heart monitor and I am very exact in my food diary. I measure everything. Maybe I should do as you said and just list it as maintenance and manually remove 200 calories per day. Thanks for your help!
I would try it and see. Just make sure to give it time. And don't fall into the trap of eating too little - when you have very little to lose, your body will be trying hard to hold on to that "cushion" and needs to feel confident there will be plenty of fuel coming in (especially if you're working out a lot.) Good luck with it!0 -
At the risk of sounding like a total nube and asking a question that has been asked a million times,.. I am hoping this one lingering confusion of mine could be cleared up. I understand that the site calculates your BMR and whatnot. Love it. My question is, does this include things like, cooking dinner and walking around your house while you do laundry? Or do I need to log in my cooking time as well. So far, I have been since I generally cook for about 3-4 hours a day. (I do a lot of baking for a large group in my house). But It's part of my daily activity as well. So opinions here? Thank you for clearing this up. I want to be accurate as possible and log appropriately so I don't run into a snag later on down the line. I love this site!0
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At the risk of sounding like a total nube and asking a question that has been asked a million times,.. I am hoping this one lingering confusion of mine could be cleared up. I understand that the site calculates your BMR and whatnot. Love it. My question is, does this include things like, cooking dinner and walking around your house while you do laundry? Or do I need to log in my cooking time as well. So far, I have been since I generally cook for about 3-4 hours a day. (I do a lot of baking for a large group in my house). But It's part of my daily activity as well. So opinions here? Thank you for clearing this up. I want to be accurate as possible and log appropriately so I don't run into a snag later on down the line. I love this site!
Things like cooking and other household chores should usually be included in your daily activity level (ie sedentary, active). If you spend a large part of your day on your feet doing these things, you probably want to be at lightly active (or higher, depending on your other activities), rather than sedentary. Because these are things that generally aren't going to raise your Heart Rate a lot, and because you are accustomed to them, you wouldn't be burning much. They are regular enough to be included on a daily basis without having to log them. That said, if you have a marathon 6 hour cooking session, when your activity level is set at sedentary, that's something you might log. Does that help?0 -
Yes! Thank you, LadyHawk. I shall log appropriately now. I appreciate it!
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Excellent post Ladyhawk - Very well written 0
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Great advice! It's taken me 3 months to lose weight that I put on over the last 3 years. I've got more to lose but the habits I am forming using MFP are life changing. It seems to be slow but sure and I have full confidence in this website......my baggy clothes are wonderful proof!0
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This should be made a sticky for all the newbies.
Great post0 -
Thanks for the positive feedback! :bigsmile:0
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Great post and thanks for the info0
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I appreciate the post!0
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Thank you so much. You cleared up my questions! 0
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Harmless self bump 0
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Great post! I think a lot of people could benefit from reading it as it answers many common questions.0
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Thanks! :flowerforyou:0
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ladyhawk, you are such an asset to this site. I love reading your thoughtful and caring posts.0
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You're far too kind, Katschi. Thank you. :blushing:0
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Bump me? Pretty please? 0
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I have less than 10lbs to lose, is it okay for my goal to be a lb a week? Or am I going to, pardon my french, screw myself over in the long run?0
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I have less than 10lbs to lose, is it okay for my goal to be a lb a week? Or am I going to, pardon my french, screw myself over in the long run?
Without knowing much about you or your habits, it's hard to say, but yes, I would say that's too aggressive IMO. Two things will likely occur - you won't lose that quickly, and get discouraged. And you may end up losing muscle, rather than fat. The body (especially for women) prefers to have a cushion. So it's especially important to "coax" those last 10 lbs off, by going slow and focusing on strengthening and increasing muscle tone.
Don't get too focused on the number on the scale - make sure you're measuring. I would recommend at least dropping down to 1/2 lb and see how that goes. And make sure you're eating most/all of your exercise cals. When you are relatively lean, the only way to get the body to be comfortable burning fat is to let it KNOW it will have enough fuel. So you need a very small deficit, and lots of strength training. Good luck to you!0 -
*sigh* I really wish more of the "I'm not hungry" folks would read this - and heed. Why is it easy to understand that "listening to your body" when it tells you to eat 5 donuts is foolish... But NOT understand that listening when it tells you to eat 500 cals in a day is JUST as foolish?
:sad:0 -
*sigh* I really wish more of the "I'm not hungry" folks would read this - and heed. Why is it easy to understand that "listening to your body" when it tells you to eat 5 donuts is foolish... But NOT understand that listening when it tells you to eat 500 cals in a day is JUST as foolish?
:sad:
I agree 100%. I eat on schedule (every 3 hours) and don't "wait" until I "feel" hungry. Funny how I don't have trouble cleaning my plate. Weird.0 -
*sigh* I really wish more of the "I'm not hungry" folks would read this - and heed. Why is it easy to understand that "listening to your body" when it tells you to eat 5 donuts is foolish... But NOT understand that listening when it tells you to eat 500 cals in a day is JUST as foolish?
:sad:
I agree 100%. I eat on schedule (every 3 hours) and don't "wait" until I "feel" hungry. Funny how I don't have trouble cleaning my plate. Weird.
You're a peach, Neo :bigsmile:0
This discussion has been closed.
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