MFP Newbie - Understanding Calorie Goals

MFP said that my Calorie Goal is 1200 calories a day. Is this the maximum amount of calories I should consume and try staying a little under that amount (without it saying I'm eating too few calories), like 50 calories less or so, to be able to lose some weight?

Or is 1200 calories the minimum I am supposed to eat to sustain my body and then how much more should I eat before it'll negatively affect my weight goals??

1200 is the target amount of food for you to eat to achieve the weight loss you dialled in - I suspect 2 lbs (1kg) per week.

It'll be 500 calories per day per (pound per week weight loss) below what MFP thinks you use on a non-exercise day.

If you log exercise calories burned the 1200 will increase accordingly. People here call that "eating back your exercise calories".

You don't need to find a TDEE calculator or all the other carp coming down the line, but if 1200 is too low for you then you either need to dial in a lower loss rate in the Goal Settings or do the exercise to up the food goal.

===================================
Calories Burned
From Normal Daily Activity 1,700 cal/day

Net Calories Consumed*
Your Daily Goal 1,200 cal/day

Daily Calorie Deficit 500 calories
Projected Weight Loss 0.5 kg/week
====================================

MFP has estimated, from the data you gave it, that you burn 1700 calories a day.
It's suggesting that you eat 500 less than that (1200) in order to burn 500 calories a day
500 calories a day is 500 * 7 calories a week (3500 calories)
that comse to 1 pound or roughly 1/2KG a week.

The daily calorie deficit is what you need to "not eat" each day. 500 calories less than you burn.

Is that what you're asking?

Like Tonytoo stated, you will get a lot of differing opinions. I used the MFP calculation and came up with 1460 to lose 2 lbs per week. I sometimes ate my exercise calories back. Using this method, I lost about 30 lbs, but plateaued a couple of weeks ago.

Upon further research, I realized that my BMR was around 2000 calories and my TDEE is about 3000 calories. If I eat below 2000, it can affect hormone levels and impede my ability to maintain lean muscle mass. I recently upped my calories to BMR and do not eat my exercise calories back (I no longer even log them). I am past my plateau and have dropped 5 lbs that my body was stubbornly hanging on to.

Thank you everyone for all the advice! It seems to me that MFP works out your mind as well, because all this gets quite complicated after a while... :laugh:

I think I get it now and will keep tracking my progress.
Please feel free to add me to your friend lists if you want, then we can support each other.

It took me a while to get this.

Basically, if you set your age/height/weight etc, set the activity level to sedentary, set the goal to maintain weight, the results are what your body burns from sitting down at a desk job or home on a couch, driving to and from work, bathroom breaks, and sleeping. That would be your TDEE. Eat this amount in calories to maintain weight. If you do exercises, you MUST log it in MFP. If you want to lose weight do NOT eat the calories back as exercising is creating the deficit for you. If you want to maintain the weight, eat the calories back to replace the calorie deficit.

If you keep it at sedentary and set your goals to lose 1 lb a week, you will see the number from the first setup drop in calories. This means, going through life normally with a desk job as noted above and eating the calories MFP now says (with the deficit) means you are on target to lose weight. Again, if you exercise you MUST log it in MFP and you MUST eat those calories back. If not, you are making the incorporated deficit bigger and cause your body to go into starvation mode.

If you set MFP activity level as lightly or moderately active but have a desk job, again, you eat to the calorie posted. When you exercise you dont have to log it b/c you overestimated your activity level and you are already accounting the exercise burn rate into your every day calorie goals.

Since I have a desk job I set my activity level to sedentary and at first had to maintain weight. I had a calorie count of 2,200 calories. This was for me to understand what my TDEE was.

I then switched it to sedentary and to lose 1 lb a week. My calorie intake was now down to 1,700. The days I didn't exercise I ate close to 1,700. The days I did exercise I logged into MFP and noted my calories burned from my heart rate monitor. I then ate the calories back to get back up to 1,700. Below is an example.

MFP sendentary 1 lb week lose

Days I DID NOT exercise
1,700 caloires = Food eaten 1,700 calories - Exercise calories burned 0 = 1,700 net calories (My goal)

Days I DID exercise
1,700 caloires = Food eaten 2,500 calories - Exercise calories burned 800 = 1,700 net calories (My goal)

Notice in the days I exercise I eat more calories than the days I do not b/c I have to get to my net calorie target.

I find it easier to set my activity level to what I believe I do as if I never worked out, set my goals, and eat what MFP says. Then I log the exercises and again eat with MFP says.

Thank you everyone for all the advice! It seems to me that MFP works out your mind as well, because all this gets quite complicated after a while... :laugh:

I think I get it now and will keep tracking my progress.
Please feel free to add me to your friend lists if you want, then we can support each other.

Basically, if you set your age/height/weight etc, set the activity level to sedentary, set the goal to maintain weight, the results are what your body burns from sitting down at a desk job or home on a couch, driving to and from work, bathroom breaks, and sleeping. That would be your TDEE. Eat this amount in calories to maintain weight. If you do exercises, you MUST log it in MFP. If you want to lose weight do NOT eat the calories back as exercising is creating the deficit for you. If you want to maintain the weight, eat the calories back to replace the calorie deficit.

double post

Thank you everyone for all the advice! It seems to me that MFP works out your mind as well, because all this gets quite complicated after a while... :laugh:

I think I get it now and will keep tracking my progress.
Please feel free to add me to your friend lists if you want, then we can support each other.

Basically, if you set your age/height/weight etc, set the activity level to sedentary, set the goal to maintain weight, the results are what your body burns from sitting down at a desk job or home on a couch, driving to and from work, bathroom breaks, and sleeping. That would be your TDEE. Eat this amount in calories to maintain weight. If you do exercises, you MUST log it in MFP. If you want to lose weight do NOT eat the calories back as exercising is creating the deficit for you. If you want to maintain the weight, eat the calories back to replace the calorie deficit.

This is not correct. I think you're talking BMR, not TDEE. TDEE has activity level INCLUDED in the number and you DON'T log or eat those calories. BMR is the number calories it takes for you to live; for your organs to function without any activity involved.

This is why people get so confused. If you set your goal using MFPs recommendation you are expected to eat your exercise calories. The key is to enter your stats correctly and honestly (i.e. hardly anyone is truly sedentary) and set a realistic weight loss goal (i.e. not 2lbs/week).

If you set the activity level to sedentary that is setting the activity level of your daily life. BMR assumes you can't even get out of bed and you are basically breathing unconscious. That can't be included in MFP b/c the lowest activity level in it is sendentary (and not unconscious ), which assumes you have to get out of bed, take a shower, go to work etc. That's why I stated TDEE is included in basic life actions for working class people. I also compared setting activity level to sedentary and goal to maintain weight in MFP against many TDEE calculators online. They both reflect the same thing.

Link to TDEE calculator I used online
http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

Using MFP takes into account activity level at the bare minimum of functioning in society (sedentary). Anything that can be classified as exercise, even if it's just walking out for an hour purely for exercise (not walking to the grocery store), is NOT taken into account in MFP and must be logged. That's why you always have to eat back the exercise calories.

TDEE = BMR+EAT+NEAT+TEF

i.e. there is no sedentary TDEE.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets