Setting Your Calorie and Macro Targets

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Replies

  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    This info is awesome! I have been on MFP for 2 years now. I lost 60 lbs in the first 17 months, but I've stalled for the last 7 months. Partly because I will feel like I'm doing everything right and the weight or body fat still won't come off, so I give up and go back to maintenance. I feel sooooooo stuck and like my body won't go down any lower that 157. I'm really ready to lose my last 20 lbs tho. My question is if I use TDEE - 20% to estimate cal intake, do I eat back any exercise cals?

    If you use the TDEE that includes exercise as the option, no you do not. If you use the sedentary/desk job only option, then yes you do.

    Are you weighing all your non-liquid food and logging absolutely everything?
  • Sho_Rowell
    Sho_Rowell Posts: 104 Member
    This info is awesome! I have been on MFP for 2 years now. I lost 60 lbs in the first 17 months, but I've stalled for the last 7 months. Partly because I will feel like I'm doing everything right and the weight or body fat still won't come off, so I give up and go back to maintenance. I feel sooooooo stuck and like my body won't go down any lower that 157. I'm really ready to lose my last 20 lbs tho. My question is if I use TDEE - 20% to estimate cal intake, do I eat back any exercise cals?

    If you use the TDEE that includes exercise as the option, no you do not. If you use the sedentary/desk job only option, then yes you do.

    Are you weighing all your non-liquid food and logging absolutely everything?

    Thank you so much! Got it. I weigh most things... not everything. But that's not a problem; I can get on that right away. So when taking an average of your cal intake over 10 weeks, was that an average of your daily TOTAL cals? or was that an average of your daily NET cals?
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    This info is awesome! I have been on MFP for 2 years now. I lost 60 lbs in the first 17 months, but I've stalled for the last 7 months. Partly because I will feel like I'm doing everything right and the weight or body fat still won't come off, so I give up and go back to maintenance. I feel sooooooo stuck and like my body won't go down any lower that 157. I'm really ready to lose my last 20 lbs tho. My question is if I use TDEE - 20% to estimate cal intake, do I eat back any exercise cals?

    If you use the TDEE that includes exercise as the option, no you do not. If you use the sedentary/desk job only option, then yes you do.

    Are you weighing all your non-liquid food and logging absolutely everything?

    Thank you so much! Got it. I weigh most things... not everything. But that's not a problem; I can get on that right away. So when taking an average of your cal intake over 10 weeks, was that an average of your daily TOTAL cals? or was that an average of your daily NET cals?

    Total gross calories
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    In to refer to this later.
  • helcart01
    helcart01 Posts: 46 Member
    I have only been on mfp for a few weeks. I took the standard settings it gave me ie to lose 1lb a week it created a deficit of 500 cals.

    I have just looked at my macro targets and they are 66:16:18. From all that I have read on here today that seems far too heavy on carbs (although I have no problem sticking to it!)

    I weigh 140lbs and am 5ft 6. I only want to lose about 7lbs. I have calculated my BMR as 1340. Using the Harris Benedict formula for lightly active this gives a TDEE of 1840. I wear a fitbit which shows my daily calories burnt as 1840!

    I now realise that I should probably reduce my deficit to 250 but what should my macro targets be?
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I have only been on mfp for a few weeks. I took the standard settings it gave me ie to lose 1lb a week it created a deficit of 500 cals.

    I have just looked at my macro targets and they are 66:16:18. From all that I have read on here today that seems far too heavy on carbs (although I have no problem sticking to it!)

    I weigh 140lbs and am 5ft 6. I only want to lose about 7lbs. I have calculated my BMR as 1340. Using the Harris Benedict formula for lightly active this gives a TDEE of 1840. I wear a fitbit which shows my daily calories burnt as 1840!

    I now realise that I should probably reduce my deficit to 250 but what should my macro targets be?

    Hi!

    Did you go through the explanations in the original post?
  • helcart01
    helcart01 Posts: 46 Member
    Yes. If I reduce my deficit to 250 and use your calculation it comes out as 43:29:27. However mfp still uses the one I quoted above.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Yes. If I reduce my deficit to 250 and use your calculation it comes out as 43:29:27. However mfp still uses the one I quoted above.

    You can over-ride - it explains how to in the post. You have to set them to the nearest 5% though - so I would set at 45/30/25.
  • helcart01
    helcart01 Posts: 46 Member
    Thanks. Seems much more sensible. Just wondered why mfp's seem so way out.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Thanks. Seems much more sensible. Just wondered why mfp's seem so way out.

    Because they allow you to select more than 1 lb weight loss. Other sites have 2 lb settings, so gotta compete for active user accounts to sell to advertisers.

    If you selected 1 lb, honest about activity level, and really ate back all the MFP estimated exercise calories (even if you think inflated), you likely be in the same level.
    Those slightly inflated values (which aren't in many cases really) would balance out days of eating perhaps a tad too low.
  • cald0nia
    cald0nia Posts: 108 Member
    Bump!
  • Cherbear67
    Cherbear67 Posts: 245 Member
    ok, so let me get this right.. This has been doing my head in.. lol...

    I am 155 and want to be anywhere between 130-135... I mostly sit in my job as I am a Designated Driver but put my activity level to moderately active as I work out anywhere from 3-5 times per week both strength training and usually very intense cardio.. On fat2fit for moderate activity it says I should eat 2184 calories per day..

    Now if I want to lose 1 pound a week I need to say subtract 500 from that which puts me at 1684 for the day whether I work out or not..So when I put in exercise I would put 1 calorie burned instead of what I usually burn and not eat them back.. I hope I got this figured out.. lol...
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    ok, so let me get this right.. This has been doing my head in.. lol...

    I am 155 and want to be anywhere between 130-135... I mostly sit in my job as I am a Designated Driver but put my activity level to moderately active as I work out anywhere from 3-5 times per week both strength training and usually very intense cardio.. On fat2fit for moderate activity it says I should eat 2184 calories per day..

    Now if I want to lose 1 pound a week I need to say subtract 500 from that which puts me at 1684 for the day whether I work out or not..So when I put in exercise I would put 1 calorie burned instead of what I usually burn and not eat them back.. I hope I got this figured out.. lol...

    You got it!
  • Cherbear67
    Cherbear67 Posts: 245 Member

    You got it!

    wooohooo Thanks.. Been trying to figure out another post and people have even tried to tell me.. This was so much simpler to figure out.. Thank you again... :)
  • Is it normal for the TDEE to be higher than what MyFitnessPal recommended? MFP told me 1280, the TDEE was over 1900.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Is it normal for the TDEE to be higher than what MyFitnessPal recommended? MFP told me 1280, the TDEE was over 1900.

    Where are you getting the 1,280 from?
  • That's what MFP gives me when I put in my current weight, goal weight, activity (Lightly active) and my goal (2lb/week).
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    That's what MFP gives me when I put in my current weight, goal weight, activity (Lightly active) and my goal (2lb/week).

    That would be your TDEE excluding exercise and reduced by an amount of up to 1,000 (whatever the reduction was to take you to the MFP minimum of 1,200). Your TDEE includes exercise but is before the deficit.

    As a side note, I would suggest that you set yor weigh loss target to the recommended 1lb per week,
  • Thank you very much for you help. I've been going to the gym(weights/cardio) and watching what I eat closely for the last 3 weeks. I was afraid I was not eating enough and causing more harm than good!
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Thank you very much for you help. I've been going to the gym(weights/cardio) and watching what I eat closely for the last 3 weeks. I was afraid I was not eating enough and causing more harm than good!

    Remember that you should be eating at least some of the exercise calories back if you use MFPs settings (I usually suggest 50 - 75% depending on hunger, energy and results)