Going by what MFP tells you to consume? Trustworthy?

emobarbie7
emobarbie7 Posts: 75 Member
edited January 9 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I am trying to learn how to maintain my weight after losing a little bit too much. I am 5ft 0 and have lost a total of aprox 30 lbs in less than a year without exercise. I am a professional pet stylist which has me on my feet for at least 7 hrs a day, lifting dogs, and constantly moving. I try to stay active even if it means cleaning the house or going to the mall to get off the couch. MFP says to eat aprox 1530 a day to maintain but I feel like that is alot, so I try to stay around the 1400 goal a day. Does everyone try to stick with what MFP tells you? How accurate is it?

Replies

  • MidwestAngel
    MidwestAngel Posts: 1,897 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    Use this to calculate your TDEE and eat close to it for maintenance. I'm eating 1750 a day to lose weight, so 1530 is not too much to maintain, in fact depending on your TDEE, you might still lose.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,979 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    Use this to calculate your TDEE and eat close to it for maintenance. I'm eating 1750 a day to lose weight, so 1530 is not too much to maintain, in fact depending on your TDEE, you might still lose.

    Yep, I would HUGELY recommend cross-checking the MFP #'s with some calculations of your own. It's hard to say for certain, but it sure feels like most people who come up with their own numbers find that the MFP #'s were off, sometimes by a lot. This was certainly the case for me.
  • emobarbie7
    emobarbie7 Posts: 75 Member
    I just tried the TDEE and on a slower day of work it says aprox 1637, my BMR is at 1236
  • tiffd1000
    tiffd1000 Posts: 93 Member
    I don't. MFP says I should eat 1220 a day.. I go in between 1200-1500.

    I did a Bod Pod which uses whole body densitometry to determine body composition (fat vs. lean). That reading and the fitness expert told me that I should be eating no less than 1400 a day and thats basically if I laid in bed all day.. obviously I don't do that so I should be eating around 1600 a day with my lifestyle. MFP is just a baseline .. it doesn't take everything into consideration with giving you your calorie total
  • MidwestAngel
    MidwestAngel Posts: 1,897 Member
    I just tried the TDEE and on a slower day of work it says aprox 1637, my BMR is at 1236

    I would go by what you came up with for your TDEE for a while and see what happens. You can always adjust in a month or so if you are not getting the results you want.
  • foleyshirley
    foleyshirley Posts: 1,043 Member
    I just tried the TDEE and on a slower day of work it says aprox 1637, my BMR is at 1236

    Maintenance can be hard. Try your TDEE for a few weeks and re-evaluate. If you lose, up your calories and try again. If you gain, lower it a bit. But make sure to give it tome to take normal fluctuations into account. You may have to tweak this depending on your activity level. The only way to know is to try it; all these calculators give you an approximation. Good luck. I can't wait to be where you are.
  • mrsricta
    mrsricta Posts: 88 Member
    I have noticed with most people on MFP that the recommended calories are far too low! If you are trying to lose you can start by going 20% below TDEE, if trying to maintain I would stick with TDEE especially if you are active. I think a lot of people (myself included) are scared to eat too many calories and anything above 1200 sounds SO HIGH but in reality it's not!
  • emobarbie7
    emobarbie7 Posts: 75 Member
    it is scary. I was talking with my sister about it today, I know I can't/shouldn't/don't need to lose anymore weight, I need to gain a couple lbs back, but its scary allowing yourself to gain weight after all you did to lose weight. Avoiding losing weight is one thing, but trying to make yourself gain without overdoing it is harder
  • cosmic0074
    cosmic0074 Posts: 91 Member
    I don't listen to MFP, and instead looked for suggestions and tweaked my intake to find out where I needed to be at.
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