MyFitnessPal destroys metabolisms?

astronomicals

Anybody else feel like the calorie recommendations are far too low? I think it's a recipe for hunger and disaster.

jj1973

Fitness pal calculated mine to be the same as Jenny Craig recommended, so ....maybe it's ok?

mgobluetx12

Then adjust them to your liking. Those are just a suggestion. Go to My Home - Goals - Change Goals - Custom. Problem solved. You gotta figure out what the right calories are on your own.

Charz612

I'm not sure, but it seems too low in comparison to the calculations I have done and recommendations in regard to BMR and TDEE. I am trying to figure out if I should alter mine. It's at 1400 and I find that reletively easy to do especially as I eat back all my exercise calories but, I really want to lose weight in the most healthy way possible.

StrongAndHealthyMommy

I think it is OK unless you are planning on no working out at all

Ready2Rock206

If you feel your cals are too low then change them. There are no MFP police that come to your house and force you to only eat 1200 calories. There has to be a point where you are responsible for your own decisions about your body. The key is to educate yourself. There are literally hundreds of threads on how to calculate your #s and how to eat more to lose weight. Be informed - and make your own decisions and don't be scared to alter your calorie goals here if they are not right for you. It's like the people that blindly follow their GPS directions and drive off a cliff or into a lake - technology can only do so much and there has to be a point where our educated minds override it when necessary.

Charz612

Also, I don't feel hungry really and I have been losing weight so as far as that goes it's ok, but I'm not sure it's right.

Charz612

Ready2Rock, I have been questioning if I should change my goals on here. Thanks for that advice, I am going to do it tonight!! Cheers lovely lady!!

astronomicals

Ive done plenty of research and never used the suggested goals. I just wish they would change whatever formula it is that they use. I'm worried about other users hurting their metabolisms or developing EDs. People seem to think that losing weight is the same thing as success. Often its not. Often its a horrible ratio of muscle loss to fat loss.

The best way to start a diet is start your calories high and tweak them down 100 every few weeks until you hit a healthy rate of fat loss. You must ignore the first few weeks due to water fluctuations and what not and women need to take into account that menstrual cycles can effect weight a lot.

MFP needs to fix this. They are misleading people and a lot of people use this software.

CHANGE THE DAMN FORMULA!

astronomicals

If you feel your cals are too low then change them. There are no MFP police that come to your house and force you to only eat 1200 calories. There has to be a point where you are responsible for your own decisions about your body. The key is to educate yourself. There are literally hundreds of threads on how to calculate your #s and how to eat more to lose weight. Be informed - and make your own decisions and don't be scared to alter your calorie goals here if they are not right for you. It's like the people that blindly follow their GPS directions and drive off a cliff or into a lake - technology can only do so much and there has to be a point where our educated minds override it when necessary.

ill just quote this cuz its spot on

wendybird5

If you feel your cals are too low then change them. There are no MFP police that come to your house and force you to only eat 1200 calories. There has to be a point where you are responsible for your own decisions about your body. The key is to educate yourself. There are literally hundreds of threads on how to calculate your #s and how to eat more to lose weight. Be informed - and make your own decisions and don't be scared to alter your calorie goals here if they are not right for you. It's like the people that blindly follow their GPS directions and drive off a cliff or into a lake - technology can only do so much and there has to be a point where our educated minds override it when necessary.

Brilliant!

taunto

Ive done plenty of research and never used the suggested goals. I just wish they would change whatever formula it is that they use. I'm worried about other users hurting their metabolisms or developing EDs. People seem to think that losing weight is the same thing as success. Often its not. Often its a horrible ratio of muscle loss to fat loss.

The best way to start a diet is start your calories high and tweak them down 100 every few weeks until you hit a healthy rate of fat loss. You must ignore the first few weeks due to water fluctuations and what not and women need to take into account that menstrual cycles can effect weight a lot.

MFP needs to fix this. They are misleading people and a lot of people use this software.

CHANGE THE DAMN FORMULA!

well, I was recommended 1750calories. After calculations with my bf% and inches etc I came out to be around 1850. Thats BESIDES my workouts which MFP recommends I eat back the calories. For pretty much everybody around here MFP have been off by only 100-150 calories which is understandable since those recommendations are without measurements. I think you might be doing something wrong there skipper

TDGee

Ive done plenty of research and never used the suggested goals. I just wish they would change whatever formula it is that they use. I'm worried about other users hurting their metabolisms or developing EDs. People seem to think that losing weight is the same thing as success. Often its not. Often its a horrible ratio of muscle loss to fat loss.

The best way to start a diet is start your calories high and tweak them down 100 every few weeks until you hit a healthy rate of fat loss. You must ignore the first few weeks due to water fluctuations and what not and women need to take into account that menstrual cycles can effect weight a lot.

MFP needs to fix this. They are misleading people and a lot of people use this software.

CHANGE THE DAMN FORMULA!

Or... you could create your own free website, smartphone app. :flowerforyou:

sissiluv

From what I understand, MFP expects people to do at least 30 minutes of exercise a day and to eat back the calories that exercise burns. That'll usually put a person around the 1500cals a day range, sometimes more depending on the amount of exercise done.
Likewise as previously stated it IS just a suggestion. If anything we need to remind noobies not to sweat it if they eat over 1200 and likewise that 1200 is the absolute lowest a fully grown female should ever eat. TDEE and BMR come in handy for this.

Personally I've been finding that 1270 as a suggestion doesn't feel too bad for me, presuming I spend my day entirely sedentary literally laying down in bed looking for work online.

Personally? I'll admit that the reccomendation has probably toyed with my head a little bit but I was never very healthy in the head to begin with. In the end it's up to me to remind myself of the above and, above all, to do my best to take care of myself.

Bumbeen

I eat 900kcal a day and I have zero hunger. Well except today when I had my cheat meal and I ate over 3000 LOL

norcal_yogi

no. plus it's all adjustable.

metacognition

They're not unique. Most diets set the calories around 1200 for a woman, more if she is breastfeeding. Ediets is around 1200. Weight Watchers is around 1200 and 1300 with their points system. Even my doctor recommended 1200.

I would prefer it if these programs chose long term success over quick results. 1200 is way too low for very heavy people or very active people. MFP is unique because you can eat back your calories. I think WW has this option now, too.

Sarauk2sf

The recommendations are based on the basically same formula's all the other calculators are. People set their expectations too high and activity levels too low. I will say that sedentary is not sedentary and unless you are pretty much not ambulatory, you should not be on this setting and this is not clear.

Oh, and saying it will destroy metabolism is rather an exaggeration. If you set your weight loss goal to the recommended target of 1lb a week, the couple of hundred it may be off will not destroy metabolisms at all.

meshashesha2012

MFP's system works fine as long as people a) eat back their exercise calories and b)are honest about their activity level.

not sure how it's MFPs responsibility to make sure people are doing what they are supposed to do

DopeItUp

Why are the calorie recommendations too low? The calorie recommendations are tied specifically to the settings that YOU put in. And they're limited at 2lbs/week which is a pretty good upper limit. If you have 10lbs to lose and you want to lose 2lbs a week then yes, the recommendation is going to be quite low but that's your own fault, not the application's. If you put in reasonable goals this application will give you reasonable calorie settings. Simple and easy!

pen2u

Find what works for you and do it. Or don't. The rest of us are fine, happy, losing weight and getting fit. Before MFP I talked a lot about needing to watch what I ate, get more exercise, yadda yadda yadda. MFP makes me accountable, gives me support, structure and consistency. I could have continued sitting on my butt yakking about it, but I'd still be 33+ lbs heavier and out of shape. BTW, my diet has slowly changed over the past year and a half as my body awareness has increased. You're not stuck with something that isn't right for you; change it as necessary.

S_U_M_M_E_R

I think the purpose of setting it low is that you're suppose to be encouraged to workout if you want to eat more. I feel like I am eating more with MFP than I was with Weight Watchers. Hard to say, bc WW uses a point system, but I was always hungry with WW and when I went over, I never lost. With MFP I am losing 1 lb a week and not hungry at all. I know that is slow weight loss, but as long as it comes off, I won't be complaining. Especially when I am not hungry.

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

MFP default recommendations both in calories and macros lean more on sedentary people living in US. In my case, I live in a 3rd world country where the vast majority don't own a car and walking, doing back-breaking household chores the old fashioned way are part of our daily lives. In fact I still losing weight on 1600 calories (MFP supposed maintenance settings for lightly active for a 5'2, 123 lbs. 34 years old woman). So I adjusted my settings to very active even if I have a desk job (sedentary). I researched about BMR & TDEE in several sites and found out that my TDEE which was based on my weight, height, age, gender & body fat % is around 2,300 calories plus the fact that I do intense heavy weight lifting and gained almost 10 lbs. of muscles which isn't accounted on MFP's BMR & TDEE calculations since they only based it on your age, gender, body weight and height.

AphelionPDX

I was nervous at first when my suggested calorie intake was 1330. What I have found after the last few weeks though is that if I make healthy food choices, 1330 is not too low at all. Especially on days I work out, I eat back my calories. It's given me even more motivation to work out, because I love to eat!

S_U_M_M_E_R

Find what works for you and do it. Or don't. The rest of us are fine, happy, losing weight and getting fit. Before MFP I talked a lot about needing to watch what I ate, get more exercise, yadda yadda yadda. MFP makes me accountable, gives me support, structure and consistency. I could have continued sitting on my butt yakking about it, but I'd still be 33+ lbs heavier and out of shape. BTW, my diet has slowly changed over the past year and a half as my body awareness has increased. You're not stuck with something that isn't right for you; change it as necessary.

Well said, this is my story as well!

garystidham1

i think its more about what you choose to eat i have no problem staying under 1400c a day but i eat lots of vegetables and fruit
to fill me up so i dont feel hungry

rfsatar

If you feel your cals are too low then change them. There are no MFP police that come to your house and force you to only eat 1200 calories. There has to be a point where you are responsible for your own decisions about your body. The key is to educate yourself. There are literally hundreds of threads on how to calculate your #s and how to eat more to lose weight. Be informed - and make your own decisions and don't be scared to alter your calorie goals here if they are not right for you. It's like the people that blindly follow their GPS directions and drive off a cliff or into a lake - technology can only do so much and there has to be a point where our educated minds override it when necessary.

This.
I started with the bog standard 1200 and followed the instructions to eat some/most of my exercise cals back (because .... That's the way the site works!!!)
Then when I was ready - I did that research to understand my BMR and TDEE - I read up on eating more to weigh less, and now I have adjusted my MINIMUM to be my BMR and I eat back enough of my exercise cals to hit a TDEE deficit.

It takes a while to get to that point ... But when you do the research and see the results, the sense of satisfaction is fabulous.

Mads1997

Ive done plenty of research and never used the suggested goals. I just wish they would change whatever formula it is that they use. I'm worried about other users hurting their metabolisms or developing EDs. People seem to think that losing weight is the same thing as success. Often its not. Often its a horrible ratio of muscle loss to fat loss.

The best way to start a diet is start your calories high and tweak them down 100 every few weeks until you hit a healthy rate of fat loss. You must ignore the first few weeks due to water fluctuations and what not and women need to take into account that menstrual cycles can effect weight a lot.

MFP needs to fix this. They are misleading people and a lot of people use this software.

CHANGE THE DAMN FORMULA!

You might not have to worry about it much longer, if you continue to be a member after your dummy spit it would be amazing.

EDesq

This stuff is only recommendations. Do your research and set up your own, there's a place for that. Many people come on and don't have a clue as to what to do or how to start. The recommendations gives them a starting place, then it is RESEARCH/Trial and Error.

PikaKnight

MFP is a tool to track your food and exercise. It is up to you to educate yourself on what works for you. To learn about your BMR, TDEE, etc. MFP doesn't tell you that you absolutely have to follow a program. Also, MFP gives you your calorie goals and expects you to eat your exercise calories back.

If you decide to lie about your activity level because you think sedentary will get you there faster - that was your decision.

If you put a 2lb loss when trying to lose 12.5lbs even though you should be at 0.5lbs loss/week..that's your decision.

Best advice - educate yourself. There are ton of resources you can search online for free.


If you want, check out this link by MFPer Heliotsdan - It'll give you a detailed walkthrough (with pictures even) on finding your TDEE and calculating what you should be eating.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Or for a different version to figure out your TDEE, as well as some great advice...check out:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833500-what-do-i-do-common-sense-cliff-notes

Check this out for some tips too...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/844040-raspberry-ketones-for-the-rest-of-us


Also, if you are worried about the calorie intake, I also suggest you read this thread that has numerous people who met their goals and are maintaining. Some for years and they also provide their calorie intake and how often they work out.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/816542-let-s-hear-it-for-maintainenance


For more information about fitness and nutrition, I highly suggest checking out and joining this group: (Read all the stickies. It's great information to know.)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress


For info about your macros (proteins/fats/carbs) - check out this link. It will give you the formula to figure out your #s and also how to custom change them in MFP:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets


For those eating below their BMR (which I think 1200 is below your BMR to be honest), not going to preach at you, but here's something you might want to look at:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/81391-starvation-mode-myths-and-science
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/859495-if-only-i-had-known?page=1#posts-12919931


Yes, this is can all be overwhelming and complicated , but you are more than welcome to ask questions on the post.
One of the things that I have found that has been one of the best methods for me to get fit is to understand fitness. To understand where all these figures, etc come from.

The good thing is once you get the hang of it - it is something you'll be aware of constantly and you'll get a better understanding about your eating habits.

So I HIGHLY suggest making the effort to take every chance to educate yourself. Even if you don't end up going with any of these methods, calculations, etc - at least you understand what they are, where others are coming from, and maybe they will still be able to help you figure out what is best for you.

awisegirl84

I eat 900kcal a day and I have zero hunger. Well except today when I had my cheat meal and I ate over 3000 LOL

Why are you only eating 900 calories a day?? And then binging. That's not helpful advice...or healthy.