Why even bother coming here?

WarmDontBurn

I don't get some people. MFP has a way of doing things like creating a deficit for you so you lose just by sticking to the calories given. When someone asks for advice about should I eat my exercise calories or should I keep eating below 1200 calories most people chime in (myself included) about how MFP works and why it works. Then come the people that totally doubt MFP and say that it is wrong, it doesn't work for me, there is no proof...etc...Ok they are entitled to their opinions but the site is MFP so why join and be apart of a site you don't agree with? I hate to see the newbies think that it is safe to eat 800 calories and from what I read so does MFP so why is it ok to put down a site that you are on and using?

I just don't get it.

taso42_DELETED

word.

arw3b3

I agree 100%. Although I have a hard time eating back my exercise calories most the time I know that is what I need to do in order to keep my body healthy:)

ccckwalk

It is tough for people to believe in themselves, let alone, believe that a website can help them be healthy. It takes people like us to help those newbies to be healthy in the right way. It does get a little annoying, but nevertheless we must keep trying to help those that are in need. ha, if they use this site long enough they will eventually find faith and figure it out!

misrical

There will always be people that will tell you the sky is purple when you tell them it is blue, its just human nature.
If I see a post I don't agree with I honestly just move on to one that I do instead of turning it into an argument.
Some people don't understand science and chemistry and will fight against anything they don't truly understand.

Spayrroe

lol, I play Everquest2Extended, and their forums are clogged up the same way. There are people always on there complaining about the company that produces the game and what not, saying how terrible it is. I haven't seen anyone bashing on here, but I usually only check out posts that appear in that little box on my home page with the top 5 most recent, and usually only then if the subject sounds neat.

Plain and simple, if you don't like the site, stop using it. I know a friend of mine stopped using it because she found an app she liked better, but she didn't do hate spamming, she just stopped using it.

Ugh! Some people just need to make other people miserable.

fatboypup

yeah this site sucks ...... its only helped me lose 52 since jan 1

kelika71

I've been on both sides of the fence with eating the exercise calories. To answer your question, so you can get it:

When I started out here, I had enough extra weight, that I could carry that deficit without eating the extra calories. It worked for 8 months! Then, things started to stall out on me. But, why did I continue on here when I didn't eat the earned calories? Because I felt MFP had a better set up than the other sites I had tried.

Now, I eat those extra calories...not all the time, but I do what works for me. Everyone is different.

Hope that helps satisfy your curiosity of why someone wouldn't follow "the rules" but continue on here.

PennyRiha

I never eat my exercise calories, and I have lost 70 lbs. It has taken me a year to do it though. I hope you continue on because you will lose if you stick to it!

melsinct

I get what you're saying but bodies aren't a one size fits all deal. I just read a post where the person mentioned the 1200 catch all doesn't work for them because they are under 5 feet tall. Makes sense to me that a 6 foot tall woman and a 4 foot 10" woman don't have the same caloric needs. MFP gives you general info to start with and I trust people know their bodies better than some computer programming on a website. I go by the MFP numbers but I also try to listen to my body.

MyaPapaya75

I think the great thing about MFP is everyone here is trying to do and learn what works best for them..putting down the site I think is wrong if thats the case ..but stating what works for them is perfectly fine even if its not "by the book" thats why we are all here......its just stating what works best for them..I never have really gotten into eating back my exercise calories and I'm fine....sometimes its more than just the calories and tracking that people are here for many are here just for friendships,blogging tracking exercise and forums

suzooz

Just keep gently educating! Some will hear you!

I had a hard time eating back my exercising calories at first, too. Some of us are so anxious to lose weight we don't realize that in the long-term, this is not the best approach. After all, we're starting to exercise, and you want us to eat those back? Do you remember the first time you heard this?

After reading several posts on this topic as well as breaking your plateaus by increasing your caloric intake (What? That can't be right!) I am convinced.

I have also learned to roll with the punches -- the last two days I was so hungry -- didn't go over much on my calorie goals, but just enough to be annoying. Today -- I've not eaten much, but still feel full.

Well -- I've got to go exercise, then eat those calories back.

Thanks for the gentle reminder!

anubis609

Bc0z th3 int3rw3bz iz absuloot!1!!

I like to think it's because they like to be trolled. Sick *kitten*.

And I'll indulge them. Twisted *kitten*. :drinker:

clearly_ninja

I agree that mfp has set up a really good system and I usually eat back my exercise calories as much as possible. Butttt I do think that for some people 1200 is maybe too many calories. I'm only 4'11" and my bmr is only 1256 so i'm not creating a great deal of a deficit without exercising. So yeah 1200 is good for the majority but for us small people it might need tweaking a slight bit.

pandafoo

i think the one thing that most mfp-ers have in common is they want to lose weight. however, whether they want to lose weight in a healthy way is a completely different matter. so they are the types to eat 800 calories a day, work out like crazy, then complain why the scale isn't budging.

we can do our best to share the science behind the importance of eating back exercise calories, or we can describe why strength training is so important to prevent muscle loss, etc... but some of these people will not care. they will probably just listen to the things that confirm what they believe, and discount anything that goes against their ideologies.

honestly, it's very sad to see many people on here do whatever it takes, even at the risk of their own health, to just see the numbers go down. but maybe the longer they're on here and see insights or advice shared by the mfp community, they will pick up knowledge that will motivate/empower them to lose weight in a healthy manner. it's definitely a journey tho. before i joined mfp, i prob wouldn't have thought eating exercise calories makes sense. but after being hammered by the concept multiple times, i'm a firm believer in it. other people have their own paces for learning - and let's try to be patient with them. as for those who are the naysayers and don't respond to logic or common sense, it's better to leave them be.

WarmDontBurn

Ok just to clarify I don't have a problem with people adjusting things to make it suitable given that they have had time to try what MFP suggests. I get everyone is different and therefore the rules don't apply to everyone. My problem is the people that say MFP doesn't work, starvation mode is a myth etc stuff like that. If it doesn't work or you aren't happy move on then don't sit here and complain about it not being "right".

mssugarca

word.

to your mom...


sorry couldnt help it

skylar1907

Actually, MFP does a great job of taking your height, current weight & average day into account to set your caloric goal. I know this because a friend of mine and I are both on this site. Same height, different weights & average day activity - and MFP lets me eat more calories because my body needs them to function.

The 1200 comes from the standards the government will tout - you should eat a minimum of 1200 calories a day. Whether you are 4'11" or 6'ft (which happens to be my height). Without that 'standard' I have no doubt medical individuals would be unhappy with MFP... but, I would say take the caloric goal MFP calculates for you - don't starve your body by eating too few calories!

audjrey

I can't speak for those 'other' people you are talking about, but would like to share something I've discovered about myself. Maybe it applies to these 'other' people, maybe it doesn't. Who knows. Anyway, here goes ...

I am a 45 year female with a body mass index of approximately 21%. And regardless of whether or not I eat 800, 1200, 1500, or 2000 calories, I never lose or gain. My inches barely budge. I workout 6-7 days a week and under a healthy amount of body fat I have rock hard muscles, muscles that seldom, if ever truly show because of that healthy amount of extra body fat.

That said, MFP truly doesn't work for me, at least not when it comes to fat loss - at least not yet. It might take me a year of doing this before my body decides to change one way or the other. However, how MFP does work for me, is that in tracking overall values (protein, fat, carbs, sugar etc) I've been able to recognize a) I wasn't eating enough protein, thus was always sore after workouts - remedied now that I've upped my protein values, and b) I was eating too few calories, which could be why I have no fat loss (slowed metabolism due to 'starvation mode').

I say this to help you understand that not everyone is patient with their own progress. In fact, most people I've ever known want almost instant results, usually related to some fashion item, a wedding, vacation, new job, new boyfriend, new girlfriend, etc.

It's the ones who really want to lose the weight once and for all, who've struggled many, many years that seem to give MFP the best shot. And it's these people for whom this program actually works. These people have come to understand, or are deeply in the process of understanding that their old habits just don't work anymore and that this new habit yields result with PATIENCE and PERSEVERANCE.

As for the ones who are on here and bitterly complain that it's not working for them, well, you only get out of a thing what you put into it. That's all I can say. Thus, if they aren't putting into it what the program asks, they have reaped their reward.

I know it can be frustrating to see people who put down something that obviously works for so many others, probably because you know they are impeding their own progress while blaming it on the system. Yet to some degree, we all do this. Maybe not with MFP, but with other areas of our lives. Forgive the ignorant, stubborn, and blind and hope one day they too will get it. Perhaps then you can let go of your own frustrations towards them and have greater inner peace.

LittleMissVintage

I agree with ccckwalk. Being a newbie not so long ago I looked up to the people who had been here longer. I didn't believe in myself but I never bashed the site. I asked some dumb questions and still some people answered. I respect them for that. I don't like saying anything about new people because they simply may not know better. It's kinda like school.... The teachers are there to help the unknowing students and the students are there to learn from their teachers and peers, so as a community we should be informing and kind to those who don't understand and not resentful twoards someone we barely know yet.

Donn581

LOL, nice.... Congrats, no thanks to MFP