Aren't Calories Here a Little Too Low?

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veggiehottie
veggiehottie Posts: 590 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all... Do any of you know a lot about nutrition,? I am just concerned that the cals that MFP suggests are really low... What I mean by that, is that it suggests about 400 less than what I figure my BMR to be. Other online weight loss calorie calculators suggest more than MFP, and I am really starving by the end of a day if I stick to the recommended amount of cals. I am just curious...
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  • samantha_ashley
    samantha_ashley Posts: 7 Member
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    i'm curious about this as well! i've heard SO much conflicting info lately.
  • Plentiful_Tentacles
    Plentiful_Tentacles Posts: 115
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    I think it's due to the fact that once you fill in your weight goal, it gives you the macros and calorie intake to maintain your desired body weight. So, if you just started dieting for weight loss using MFP and seem to be really hungry after eating the suggested amount, I'd say just go back to maintenance for your current weight, and decrease your daily caloric intake slowly so you get used to it. Does that make sense?
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    MFP doesn't take your BMR into consideration. So if you tell it you want to lose 2 lbs/week, it will bring your calorie goal down to 1000 calories under your TDEE (or to its minimum of 1200 calories) regardless of what that might actually do to your body.

    You can set it manually or aim for 1lb/week or even .5 lbs/week so that your caloric goal is, in fact, over your BMR.
  • Plentiful_Tentacles
    Plentiful_Tentacles Posts: 115
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    MFP doesn't take your BMR into consideration. So if you tell it you want to lose 2 lbs/week, it will bring your calorie goal down to 1000 calories under your TDEE (or to its minimum of 1200 calories) regardless of what that might actually do to your body.

    You can set it manually or aim for 1lb/week or even .5 lbs/week so that your caloric goal is, in fact, over your BMR.

    I never knew that, how do you do it?
  • econut2000
    econut2000 Posts: 395 Member
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    Check out the eat more to weigh less group....they have the calcs to figure out your TDEE and such. Then manually change your goals. My Home/Goals/Change Goals

    Good luck
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    The additional consideration is that MFP is going to expect you to eat back all calories burned during exercise.
  • annabellj
    annabellj Posts: 1,337 Member
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    MFP doesn't take your BMR into consideration. So if you tell it you want to lose 2 lbs/week, it will bring your calorie goal down to 1000 calories under your TDEE (or to its minimum of 1200 calories) regardless of what that might actually do to your body.

    You can set it manually or aim for 1lb/week or even .5 lbs/week so that your caloric goal is, in fact, over your BMR.

    I never knew that, how do you do it?
    go to settings, then diary profile, then you can change it to only lose 1/2 lb a wk. it will automatically update your cals. pm me if you have any questions!
  • janlee_001
    janlee_001 Posts: 309 Member
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    I've gotten that impression too based on my own profiles. Just sleeping/sitting all day would burn off morn than the 1200 I would be a allowed to consume. Then if I actually were to move around during the day and excercise 1200 cals would not be enough.
  • EmilyTwist1
    EmilyTwist1 Posts: 206 Member
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    I do think that MFP estimates are too low, at least for me. I'm maintaining, and MFP says I should eat 1800 (around 2100 with exercise). However, for the past month I've been averaging 3000 calories a day, and I've actually lost weight. If I lose another five pounds, I may go up to 3500.
  • mccbabe1
    mccbabe1 Posts: 737 Member
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    Hi all... Do any of you know a lot about nutrition,? I am just concerned that the cals that MFP suggests are really low... What I mean by that, is that it suggests about 400 less than what I figure my BMR to be. Other online weight loss calorie calculators suggest more than MFP, and I am really starving by the end of a day if I stick to the recommended amount of cals. I am just curious...

    did you do the 'recomended' one pound a week loss?? or did you choose 2#'s a week...
    when i first started i chose the 2#'s a wk and only got 1200 cals a day.. i upped it to 1 1/2 # a wk after almost a mo and got 1380 and now upped it again to 1480.. cuz my bmr is about 200 more then that now.. plus i exercise and only eat half my exercise cals back.. (done this the last wk or so so i will see what the scale says friday...
  • kmhenry84
    kmhenry84 Posts: 96 Member
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    Mine is set at 1200, and I don't mind them being that low, but don't fret if I go over by 100. Some days its hard for me to eat up that high because I'll have mostly veggies.

    I also don't up my calorie intake, because I'm sure there are times that I underestimate what I have, and don't want to over do it on that alone.
  • mccbabe1
    mccbabe1 Posts: 737 Member
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    MFP doesn't take your BMR into consideration. So if you tell it you want to lose 2 lbs/week, it will bring your calorie goal down to 1000 calories under your TDEE (or to its minimum of 1200 calories) regardless of what that might actually do to your body.

    You can set it manually or aim for 1lb/week or even .5 lbs/week so that your caloric goal is, in fact, over your BMR.

    I never knew that, how do you do it?
    go to settings, then diary profile, then you can change it to only lose 1/2 lb a wk. it will automatically update your cals. pm me if you have any questions!

    good info!!!... im a lil confused by it all as far as cals/bmr too.. why would i want it to be at my bmr# or lil over??... i dont want to 'exist' on the cals i need to eat to exist at the wt I am now!! lol... i wanna be smaller....so....
    :indifferent:
  • EmilyTwist1
    EmilyTwist1 Posts: 206 Member
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    MFP doesn't take your BMR into consideration. So if you tell it you want to lose 2 lbs/week, it will bring your calorie goal down to 1000 calories under your TDEE (or to its minimum of 1200 calories) regardless of what that might actually do to your body.

    You can set it manually or aim for 1lb/week or even .5 lbs/week so that your caloric goal is, in fact, over your BMR.

    I never knew that, how do you do it?
    go to settings, then diary profile, then you can change it to only lose 1/2 lb a wk. it will automatically update your cals. pm me if you have any questions!

    good info!!!... im a lil confused by it all as far as cals/bmr too.. why would i want it to be at my bmr# or lil over??... i dont want to 'exist' on the cals i need to eat to exist at the wt I am now!! lol... i wanna be smaller....so....
    :indifferent:

    BMR is the calories you need to live if you were in a coma. It just covers your basic bodily functions, like breathing, heart beating and such. If you move around at all (walking around the house, cleaning, showers, work, etc.) you burn more calories than is covered by your BMR. Eating at or a little above your BMR ensures that your body has enough energy to continue functioning normally.
  • PodWif
    PodWif Posts: 16
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    When I first started on here I was set to just over 1200 and I was hungry all the time. Granted I was eating so much more then that before so it made sense that I would be hungry when I was now learning what a true portion size was and trying to take in less then I was burning (so I could lose all the past excess). I am pretty religious though about eating back all my excerise calories and counting all excerise bc I had my activity level set at sedentary for the days where I didn't do anything. After the first month or so I wasn't nearly as hungry as my body adapted and I had great results getting the weight off and keeping it off. So to me it seemed low at the beginning but it worked.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
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    Other website and programs are different because they assume exercise is part of the deal. MFP does not assume exercise. You have to burn to earn. So, the more you exercise, the more you can eat. Some women eat 1800 cals a day or more because they burn it in exercise.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    besides the eating back your calorie thing, i find that MFP underestimated my BMR by about 400 calories, that's a lot, that's almost a meal!
  • jacqui1612
    jacqui1612 Posts: 128 Member
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    All I am going to post is a link to another post. I suggest you read it. It is really good.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
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    Everyone has different caloric requirements. It's best to see a dietitian to figure out what yours are. I wouldn't be surprised if MFP sets it on the low end. They want people to lose weight with their app, after all.
  • Elise_healthy4life
    Elise_healthy4life Posts: 182 Member
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    I found out what my BMR was and I eat that now and when I exercise I eat at least half of them back, I ate at the 1250cal mark for a good eight months and ate my exercise cals back but it was not enough for my body because my hair started falling out and I missed that TOM, I now believe in the eat more to weigh less, and even though I'm eating more I'm still getting good losses :)
  • tami101
    tami101 Posts: 617 Member
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    I think MFP sets them lower because they will add your exercise calories in. Most other sites have the exercise calories already added into the daily goal. (So I have read, I personally have not checked this information out) Livestrong, for example had my daily goal set at 2450! I prefer MFP's method because I don't always get the chance to exercise (life happens) plus I like the opportunity to "earn" more calories. It works for me! =)

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