Calorie Formula - MFP's # Doesn't make sense

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  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
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    Deal with the hunger. Your body will get used to it.

    At your height, 1870 is enough to keep your body healthy, and with your lifestyle being sedentary, you don't need to intake 2603 calories.

    worst advice ever. if you're hungry or tired, it means your body needs more energy. calories = energy.

    the only thing that matters is the TYPE of food you put in your mouth.
  • trojanbb
    trojanbb Posts: 1,297 Member
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    Deal with the hunger. Your body will get used to it.

    At your height, 1870 is enough to keep your body healthy, and with your lifestyle being sedentary, you don't need to intake 2603 calories.

    worst advice ever. if you're hungry or tired, it means your body needs more energy. calories = energy.

    the only thing that matters is the TYPE of food you put in your mouth.

    thats the point. he's trying to lose weight. His body should not be getting enough energy externally.

    The type of food is absolutely irrelevant. Caloric levels matter. This has been proven in hundreds of peer reviewed studies.

    And hunger actually has little to do with the body saying it needs more or less energy. Hunger is hormonal and can be completely independent of being in a state of caloric deficit or surplus
  • tumbafu2
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    HCG drops really helped me. There is no way around the initial carb withdrawal for me but after that, my body was functioning well on a lower calorie count than I had previously been able to be comfortable with. I do not in any way want this to sound like I am advocating the 500 calorie starvation that is usually associated with these drops.

    Dana
  • massagemaven
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    a question. im new to the site.. Ive never seen a theory of "eating back" exercise calories before.. If you go thru and list yourself as highly active. or active. and MFP gives you a calorie goal. shouldn't that be the end of the day number? After exercise and all?
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
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    Deal with the hunger. Your body will get used to it.

    At your height, 1870 is enough to keep your body healthy, and with your lifestyle being sedentary, you don't need to intake 2603 calories.

    worst advice ever. if you're hungry or tired, it means your body needs more energy. calories = energy.

    the only thing that matters is the TYPE of food you put in your mouth.

    thats the point. he's trying to lose weight. His body should not be getting enough energy externally.

    The type of food is absolutely irrelevant. Caloric levels matter. This has been proven in hundreds of peer reviewed studies.

    And hunger actually has little to do with the body saying it needs more or less energy. Hunger is hormonal and can be completely independent of being in a state of caloric deficit or surplus

    pretty much all of this is incorrect. type of food absolutely matters (to hit your macros you can't be eating big macs anyway)

    it's bee scientifically proven that eating natural whole foods that are NOT processed will help you lose weight and fight disease like cancer. end of story.
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
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    a question. im new to the site.. Ive never seen a theory of "eating back" exercise calories before.. If you go thru and list yourself as highly active. or active. and MFP gives you a calorie goal. shouldn't that be the end of the day number? After exercise and all?

    nope! you have to add the calories you burn while exercising to that number, then create a deficit for yourself if you're looking to lose weight (about 500 cal or so)

    so if MFP says you need to eat 2000 cal/day, and you burn 400 exercising, you'd need to eat 2,400 calories to MAINTAIN your weight. If you want to LOSE weight, knock off up to 500 from that 2,400 and you're at 1,900/day.

    That's how you figure it out.

    Personally I just use a BMR calculator instead of whatever MFP's algorithm is.
  • trojanbb
    trojanbb Posts: 1,297 Member
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    Deal with the hunger. Your body will get used to it.

    At your height, 1870 is enough to keep your body healthy, and with your lifestyle being sedentary, you don't need to intake 2603 calories.

    worst advice ever. if you're hungry or tired, it means your body needs more energy. calories = energy.

    the only thing that matters is the TYPE of food you put in your mouth.

    thats the point. he's trying to lose weight. His body should not be getting enough energy externally.

    The type of food is absolutely irrelevant. Caloric levels matter. This has been proven in hundreds of peer reviewed studies.

    And hunger actually has little to do with the body saying it needs more or less energy. Hunger is hormonal and can be completely independent of being in a state of caloric deficit or surplus

    pretty much all of this is incorrect. type of food absolutely matters (to hit your macros you can't be eating big macs anyway)

    it's bee scientifically proven that eating natural whole foods that are NOT processed will help you lose weight and fight disease like cancer. end of story.

    go read some studies. You are 100% wrong.

    I cut on ice cream and whey for crying out loud.

    Body composition is almost only about macros. Law of thermodynamics is simple stuff.

    it's never once been proven that natural whole foods are more efficient for weight loss than other foods. Cancer is a whole nother story, not sure why you added that in as it has nothing to do with weight loss. Remember the twinky diet study? yeah, it's science.

    Oh and what part of the rest is wrong? That to cut weight you should NOT be getting all your calories externally? That hunger is hormonal? Come on man. Hell, your calorie calculations calculations above even completely echoed what I said. It's about the numbers, not what types of foods those numbers came from.
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
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    go read some studies. You are 100% wrong.

    I cut on ice cream and whey for crying out loud.

    Body composition is almost only about macros. Law of thermodynamics is simple stuff.

    it's never once been proven that natural whole foods are more efficient for weight loss than other foods. Cancer is a whole nother story, not sure why you added that in as it has nothing to do with weight loss. Remember the twinky diet study? yeah, it's science.

    Oh and what part of the rest is wrong? That to cut weight you should NOT be getting all your calories externally? That hunger is hormonal? Come on man. Hell, your calorie calculations calculations above even completely echoed what I said. It's about the numbers, not what types of foods those numbers came from.

    I'll give you that your first point was correct - glossed over that initially, but the rest sounds like you regurgitating what you read in your PT certification textbook, perpetuated by the american medical machine that wants to keep people sick.

    believe what you want man, you've got that right. I personally feel that by eating natural whole foods your body will be healthier in the long run than if you don't. Google The China Study. :)
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Deal with the hunger. Your body will get used to it.

    At your height, 1870 is enough to keep your body healthy, and with your lifestyle being sedentary, you don't need to intake 2603 calories.

    Not this.

    I've never gone hungry in almost 40 lbs lost. You just need to work on finding the right calorie goal and choosing the right foods to keep you full.

    Figure out your BMR and your TDEE. Eat halfway between the two. Oh and stick to just one calculator. They don't all use the same formula. I'd stick with MFP's calculations and see how that goes.
  • diddyk
    diddyk Posts: 269 Member
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    If you're doing heavy cardio - are you eating your exercise calories? That might have something to do with the hunger. Eat the calories burnt, the deficit is included in the calculation.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    So In order for me to maintain my weight my caloric intake should be 3124 a day. (U.S. D.O.H. formula: see below) I have seen some folks in the forums talk about taking this caloric intake and dropping it by 500 or by 20%. A 20% reduction brings it down to 2603 but MFP gives me a goal of 1870 at these settings:

    Weight: 292
    Height: 5'11"
    Age: 32
    Sedentary

    -2lbs/wk

    -100lb goal

    I have started doing heavy cardio and yoga and I am freaking hungry all of the time even after a big meal or snacks or whatever. I have gone over my caloric intake goal for MFP twice in the last week but still way below the USDOH formula calculations. I have seen minimal weight loss but I am miserably hungry all day and I don't want to splurge anymore. I'd like to get it under control. Need advice on getting the hunger under control and someone to explain the huge discrepancy I am seeing in the caloric intake calculations. I am confused at the numbers and am worried that i am doing more harm than good.

    US DOH formula:
    BMR = 66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

    Sedentary Caloric Intake = BMR * 20%

    Eat at 2600. MFP has been wrong for me this whole time. I keep losing weight 3x as fast as MFP says I will on the "You will weigh XXX pounds in 5 weeks" message.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Deal with the hunger. Your body will get used to it.

    That would mean a slowing metabolism, which is seriously counterproductive.


    No it wont.

    There is the HUGE MYTH on MFP that a large deficit slows the metabolism. Research does not support this. The slowing in the metabolism is only significant at VERY low levels. Not 1800 Calories for a man.

    Personally, I'd eat around 2200 if I was him. And yes, suck it up and deal with the hunger. Or making adjustments to your life to get your hormonal response optimal. Hunger is hormonal.

    There's no reason to be hungry in life. In addition to slowing the metabolism, it can also lead to binges.
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
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    Eat at 2600. MFP has been wrong for me this whole time. I keep losing weight 3x as fast as MFP says I will on the "You will weigh XXX pounds in 5 weeks" message.

    that message is BS, everyone's body works differently. ignore it.
  • Topher1978
    Topher1978 Posts: 975 Member
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    6 ft just below 250, and I am set at 1650 calories by MFP. It seems about right, and when I work out, I earn more calories. This can sometimes allow me to eat near 3000 calories when I get a good workout in! MFP's calculations seem pretty good from this end...
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    I've never gone hungry in almost 40 lbs lost. You just need to work on finding the right calorie goal and choosing the right foods to keep you full.

    Just say no! (to starving yourself)
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Eat at 2600. MFP has been wrong for me this whole time. I keep losing weight 3x as fast as MFP says I will on the "You will weigh XXX pounds in 5 weeks" message.

    that message is BS, everyone's body works differently. ignore it.

    tumblr_me63d0Lrhz1qejdyl.gif
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Read this thread and go through Dan's calculations:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Running your numbers, it shows your BMR at 2569. Plug in your activity level (if you're doing heavy cardio and yoga you're not sedentary) and that will give your TDEE. Using "Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 times/week), your TDEE would be around 3982. Take a 20% cut from that and that leaves you with 3185 calories per day (3982 x 0.8). Eat at that level and don't eat back exercise calories.

    ^^^ This is what helped me find the range of calories that keeps me with the right deficit to consistently lose without feeling hungry or sluggish.

    Helloitsdan's a smart guy.
  • sixout
    sixout Posts: 3,128 Member
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    Deal with the hunger. Your body will get used to it.

    A better answer would be HOW to deal with the hunger. Perhaps OP isn't getting enough protein and fiber? Or maybe he needs to drink more water?

    Responses like this are not helpful; they're solely judgemental and holier-than-thou. Being hungry all the time is one of the main reasons people give up, so it's better to help them work through it than to tell them to "deal". I'm all for tough love, but that was just stupid.

    So my opinion on the matter is stupid? Sweet.

    I eat less calories than that, and am only slightly shorter. I've been losing weight like a champ. Why? Because I dealt with hunger. Hunger eases as your body adjusts to lower calorie intake. The entire point of a diet is to be calorie deficient. So yes, you will be hungry. Yes you will have to deal.

    But hey, I'm just stupid with my silly idea that has made me lose quiet a bit of weight.
  • sixout
    sixout Posts: 3,128 Member
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    Deal with the hunger. Your body will get used to it.

    That would mean a slowing metabolism, which is seriously counterproductive.


    No it wont.

    There is the HUGE MYTH on MFP that a large deficit slows the metabolism. Research does not support this. The slowing in the metabolism is only significant at VERY low levels. Not 1800 Calories for a man.

    Personally, I'd eat around 2200 if I was him. And yes, suck it up and deal with the hunger. Or making adjustments to your life to get your hormonal response optimal. Hunger is hormonal.

    Exactly.

    Your body has to adjust to lower caloric intake. If you don't get hungry at the beginning of your diet, then what's the point of a diet? Your body is SUPPOSED to be craving more, because you're USED to more. Food can become like a drug.
  • CoachReddy
    CoachReddy Posts: 3,949 Member
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    Deal with the hunger. Your body will get used to it.

    A better answer would be HOW to deal with the hunger. Perhaps OP isn't getting enough protein and fiber? Or maybe he needs to drink more water?

    Responses like this are not helpful; they're solely judgemental and holier-than-thou. Being hungry all the time is one of the main reasons people give up, so it's better to help them work through it than to tell them to "deal". I'm all for tough love, but that was just stupid.

    So my opinion on the matter is stupid? Sweet.

    I eat less calories than that, and am only slightly shorter. I've been losing weight like a champ. Why? Because I dealt with hunger. Hunger eases as your body adjusts to lower calorie intake. The entire point of a diet is to be calorie deficient. So yes, you will be hungry. Yes you will have to deal.

    But hey, I'm just stupid with my silly idea that has made me lose quiet a bit of weight.

    "i eat less calories than that"

    fewer. fewer is the correct word usage.

    plus you need to take a chill pill. :)