How do they calculate daily calorie allotment?

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Allegi32
Allegi32 Posts: 302 Member
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm just curious because MFP has me at 1380 calories/day. I'm 5'8" and 224. However, I am a former athlete and while I am certainly "fat," I do have quite a bit of muscle on me still. My basal metabolic rate is 1790. Adding in moderate activity (I am pretty active daily) puts me at about 3000 calories, give or take, for my daily rate. Eating 1380 calories would give me a calorie deficit of 1620 calories!

I have always lost well on 1700 calories, and that's what I'm sticking to now. I exercise for an hour, 6 days/week. It just seems like 1380 calories, even if I didn't exercise, would be way too little.

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  • Allegi32
    Allegi32 Posts: 302 Member
    bump....anyone?
  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
    I'm just curious because MFP has me at 1380 calories/day. I'm 5'8" and 224. However, I am a former athlete and while I am certainly "fat," I do have quite a bit of muscle on me still. My basal metabolic rate is 1790. Adding in moderate activity (I am pretty active daily) puts me at about 3000 calories, give or take, for my daily rate. Eating 1380 calories would give me a calorie deficit of 1620 calories!

    I have always lost well on 1700 calories, and that's what I'm sticking to now. I exercise for an hour, 6 days/week. It just seems like 1380 calories, even if I didn't exercise, would be way too little.

    If you go to your Goals page, you can see how MFP calculated your calorie goals.
  • bizco
    bizco Posts: 1,949 Member
    Check your lifestyle setting. Is it set at "active"?
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,159 Member
    I'm also 5'8" and was recently at your weight (I'm now 206). I'm also quite muscular and have a large body frame.

    I think the MFP numbers are guidelines based on what works for a majority of people. YOU know your body best. If you feel good and are losing a healthy amount of weight on 1700, then go with that. If you start hitting a bad plateau or start gaining, you could tweak it a little. It's not an easy answer, but you have to find what works best for your body. Sometimes I'll try pieces of advice I hear from others for a couple weeks. If I don't see any good results, I'll stop it. It's kind of trial by error sometimes with dieting. Good luck!
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