I think I am doing MFP wrong.. I need help please.

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thoseblueeyes
thoseblueeyes Posts: 812 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,

First of all please don't yell at me that my calories are to low. I think I did this wrong and want to make sure I understand it. So when I first logged into MFP I did the calulator on how much I want to lose per week. I entered my height, weight and age and also my goal weight. MFP said I should be at 1200 calories BUT my BMR is 1,526. I also workout about 5-6 times a week and burn 400-600 calories in an hour depending what I am doing. How many calories should I be eating?

I see a few people that won't be friends with anyone that is only eating 1200 calories but the way I understood it from MFP that I was suppose to eat 1200 to lose 1.5 to 2 LBS a week. Any help to help me understand what everything means would be great.

Thanks for the support and not yelling at me.
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Replies

  • SHERRYLLAC
    SHERRYLLAC Posts: 25 Member
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    I'm sorry, I haven't seen any yelling, crazy. I am looking for support and friends and am still trying to figure out this webist, you're welcome to add me.
    Good luck,
    Sherry
  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
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    You set your goal to 1.5 or 2 pounds per week, that will usually cause unrealisticly low calorie goals
    First change your goal to half or 1 pound per week.
    Add your workouts to the exercise tab every day and eat back most of your exercise calories.
    You will find you can eat about 1500 to 2000 cals per day depending on your exercise
    You shouldn't net below your BMR

    I never yell at this question. It's all good
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    If you've already lost 97lbs - you're doing very well indeed!

    1200 is the MFP default minimum - the "I wont be friends with...." is for those routinely eating way BELOW this, not AT this level.

    And some people (very petite, on a doctor monitored diet) DO manage at such low levels, but in very general terms, 1200 is the lowest you should take in each day.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,454 Member
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    I find that Mfp puts me at 1200 calories unless I only go for 1/2 pound loss a week. I'm a short woman in my 40s and have my activity level as "sedentary" so I can't eat that much unless I exercise. The way MFP works is that you add your exercise under "exercise" and the calories are added in, so if you're doing 600 calories of exercise you'd have a goal of 1800 for that day.
  • GreyEyes21
    GreyEyes21 Posts: 241 Member
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    stick with what you are doing... it is working for you... forget about people who judge you based on your caloric intake. do you feel full? Do you feel healthy? judge yourself and figure it out :) only eat the workout calories if you want to maintain the weight. otherwise you wouldnt have a deficit. I know few people lose weight by eating their workout calories, but it is rare.
  • thoseblueeyes
    thoseblueeyes Posts: 812 Member
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    So If I eat my calories back from exercise I will still lose weight ? I think I understand this now but I will watch it and adjust the program if I need to. Thanks everyone for your help.

    @melainecheeks I lost that 96.8 lol( 97) with Weight Watchers in the last 16 months. I really haven't lost anymore that is why I am trying MVP. I want to know really how many calories I was eating compare to how many points I used.
  • hanneberries
    hanneberries Posts: 119 Member
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    So If I eat my calories back from exercise I will still lose weight ? I think I understand this now but I will watch it and adjust the program if I need to. Thanks everyone for your help.

    @melainecheeks I lost that 96.8 lol( 97) with Weight Watchers in the last 16 months. I really haven't lost anymore that is why I am trying MVP. I want to know really how many calories I was eating compare to how many points I used.

    That is the intention, at least. And I have been. I don't eat back ALL my exercise calories, but I do try.

    MFP already factors in your deficit, so say you're eating at -500 calories of your TDEE. If you burn, say, 300 calories, you're going to be at -800 of your TDEE, meaning that you can eat 300 calories more that day, and still be -500, you know?
  • Farburnfred
    Farburnfred Posts: 333 Member
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    stick with what you are doing... it is working for you... forget about people who judge you based on your caloric intake. do you feel full? Do you feel healthy? judge yourself and figure it out :) only eat the workout calories if you want to maintain the weight. otherwise you wouldnt have a deficit. I know few people lose weight by eating their workout calories, but it is rare.

    Wrong, MFP calculates in a deficit, your exercise calories are more deficit and you need them. Lots of people eat back their exercise calories or at least most of them and loose weight, me included ;) It is a different system to WW and others.
  • AnexRavensong
    AnexRavensong Posts: 262 Member
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    I've only been using MFP for like 3 days now.. but I have already lost weight! O_o I haven't seen the scale go down in months no matter what I did!

    I like that MFP calculates the exercise as calories I can then eat. I make a point to be sure I enter any and ALL exercise I do (thank you Run Keeper) so I know the calories I can eat back. I was sooo reassured when I saw that I could eat more if I exercised (it may be only something small, but it already made me feel much better).

    In regards to BMR, I looked it up (I don't know many of these terms) and found a calculator. I plugged in my info and it says my BMR is 1591. However, MFP has me only having 1450 calories a day, I set my weight to losing 1 lb a week because I thought it sounded reasonable. Is this going to be a problem? I mean, I feel ok overall. Some nights I go to bed a little hungry (I figure my stomach needs to shrink a bit) and previous to MFP I was probably eating about 15k to 18k in calories and my weight was only going up..

    Any advice? I don't want to be starving myself or anything.. but at the same time I have seen the 1450 calories a day actually DO something which is nice considering I had been stuck on a plateau for years and then started gaining -_-
  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
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    I have lost weight consistently over 200 days now, with a few weeks here and there on little mesas (not really plateaus)
    I eat most exercise calories back, never over 1000 deficit for the day no matter how much I burn.
    Mostly 250-500 deficit from TDEE.
  • tryclyn
    tryclyn Posts: 2,414 Member
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    Welcome to the zoo.

    I would start here if you're confused.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • AnexRavensong
    AnexRavensong Posts: 262 Member
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    Read it and it only confuses me further.. I tried to comment on the thread to find out more and Lo' and Behold Locked thread. (How useful).

    I wanted to follow the steps completely but there is no way to edit the settings of MFP as stated in the thread -_- I am also sure I was eating as many calories as I came up with from that before and I never lost weight (and started gaining recently).

    Now I'm doubting everything and wondering what to do. I find it beyond silly that MFP would allow you (or even RECOMMEND) you eat less than your BMR ..
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    Welcome to the zoo.

    I would start here if you're confused.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Props
    Read it and it only confuses me further.. I tried to comment on the thread to find out more and Lo' and Behold Locked thread. (How useful).

    I wanted to follow the steps completely but there is no way to edit the settings of MFP as stated in the thread -_- I am also sure I was eating as many calories as I came up with from that before and I never lost weight (and started gaining recently).

    Now I'm doubting everything and wondering what to do. I find it beyond silly that MFP would allow you (or even RECOMMEND) you eat less than your BMR ..

    OP post stats here and i'll advise.

    Age
    Height
    Weight
    Body fat%
    Occupation
    Workout routine

    The post isnt locked its just continued on to part 2.
  • AnexRavensong
    AnexRavensong Posts: 262 Member
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    It told me it was locked :p I guess I need to look for part 2.
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
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    You can edit the settings by selecting "custom" when you are revising your goals. Work through the steps on the thread and see what that gives you...
  • AnexRavensong
    AnexRavensong Posts: 262 Member
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    I'm usually a tech savvy person. I have no fear of technology and can build computers.. I must really be having a FAIL moment because I find NO such thing.

    Going to settings gives:



    Change password
    Change email address/email preferences
    Change username
    Change time zone
    Update diet/fitness profile
    Diary settings
    Profile privacy settings
    Automatic News Feed update settings
    Facebook/Twitter sharing settings
    Switch to Metric measurements
    Delete account

    Ok so I go to " Update diet/fitness profile" as it seems the closest to what I want to do.

    My only options are to edit what is there:

    Update Your Diet Profile

    To help us update your personalized fitness goals, please update your profile by making any changes to the values below.

    Current Weight: lbs switch to metric (kg)
    Goal Weight: lbs
    Height: feet inches
    Gender:
    Male
    Female
    Date of Birth:

    How would you describe your normal daily activities?

    Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)

    Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesman)

    Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)

    Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)
    How many times a week do you plan on exercising? workouts / week min. / workout

    What is your goal?


    Diary settings don't allow me to adjust values of anything either only what I am tracking. Has the site changed since then?
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/682138-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    If you do the steps correctly on F2F BMR tool youll be adding your age, height, Current weight, Goal weight (make it the same as current to represent TDEE), and sex.

    If you workout 1-2x use light activity
    If you workout 3-5x use moderate
    If you workout 5x or more use very active.

    Subtract 20% from whatever number you choose and edit MFP to reflect that.

    Warning!
    Dont eat back exercise cals because they are factored in.
  • Michellereducf
    Michellereducf Posts: 168 Member
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    MFP has me at 1200 now. I'm trying for only 1 pound a week. I'm also short and sedentary (desk jockey!) so that's why mine is calculated low. Some days I eat more, some days less. As long as you aren't starving or feeling weak you are probably good to go. I would change your weight loss goal to 1 per week and your number should change.
  • AnexRavensong
    AnexRavensong Posts: 262 Member
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    I swear it is what I am trying to do and I can't find the editing tool! xD does it even exist anymore?

    EDIT: OMFG I found the stupid thing in a place I never would have expected it to be..

    Linkage for the slow:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    I swear it is what I am trying to do and I can't find the editing tool! xD does it even exist anymore?
    On to MFP and custom settings.
    To customize MFP you click SETTINGS>GOAL>CHANGE GOAL>CUSTOM>CONTINUE...

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