Is it accurate?

littlegirlwithprettybrowneyes
littlegirlwithprettybrowneyes Posts: 17
in Health and Weight Loss
I think this calculator overestimates the daily calories required to remain at the same weight. What do you think about that?

http://www.cancer.org/healthy/toolsandcalculators/calculators/app/calorie-counter-calculator

Replies

  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
    Well, it's a cancer website, I'm thinking that cancer patients need more calories just to live through the treatment.

    Actually going to the site, I notice that their descriptions for sedentary/lightly active etc. don't quite match up with mine, that can throw the difference.

    Also doesn't ask a person's age. Young growing people need more calories than older folk.

    So not terribly accurate.
  • run2bfree
    run2bfree Posts: 108 Member
    hi there. ok i entered my info and i would say no. it has me at over 2700 calories and that is crazy talk. it is not taking into consideration my height either.. i highly recommend using this:

    http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/


    you can use the different calcs to figure out what is best and even the macros you need... add me as a friend or feel free to email me...

    good luck sweets.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    It might actually be about accurate for me.

    My calorie goal on here is 1510. A 500 calorie deficit from what MFP thinks I burn on a day to day basis without exercise. So I should be losing 1lb per week, but I'm averaging 2lbs per week loss. Since I'm averaging 2lbs per week loss, I'm thinking my maintenance is probably right around the 2500 that the site came up with.
  • littlegirlwithprettybrowneyes
    littlegirlwithprettybrowneyes Posts: 17
    Thanks for the replies guys!

    I've been counting calories for almost 4 years. It helped me to lose a lot but I've always tried to stay around 1200-1400 calories. I've hit several plateaus along the way. When I hit a plateau, I increased exercise (walked/run more) but I could not change my calorie goal. People say that changing your calorie goal is an effective way to get rid of plateaus but I can not do that.

    Now, I hit a plateau again and I want to increase my daily calorie intake. I don't know how many calories I need a day to maintain my current weight.

    Some calculators state that my daily calorie intake should be around 2100 calories but in my cheat periods (not days, but periods :D) I noticed that I can maintain my weight consuming 2500 calories a day (without exercise, just being sedentary)

    I'm really confused about my daily calorie need so I give different calculators a try.
  • littlegirlwithprettybrowneyes
    littlegirlwithprettybrowneyes Posts: 17
    Do you know any accurate calculator?
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    As with any other estimation, the more data you have, the more accurate the result will be. The OP's link only asked for weight and gender (crazy!) but many others ask for much more info. My two favorites:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

    Fat2FitRadio also give you a few BF% calculators in case you don't know your BF% - not sure of their accuracy, maybe try all 3 and use an average?

    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/
  • littlegirlwithprettybrowneyes
    littlegirlwithprettybrowneyes Posts: 17
    Thank you for the suggestion!

    I know my body percentage (which is 27.5%) and fat2fitradio seems pretty accurate because it takes lean body mass into consideration.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    This calculator overestimated my TDEE by over 500 calories. The most accurate way to calculate your TDEE is to use the Katch McArdle equation to find your BMR, then use an activity multiplier to find your TDEE. Here's the equation:

    BMR = (21.6*LBM in Kg) + 370

    You then multiply this result by an activity factor to find your TDEE:

    1.2 = Sedentary (Desk job, and Little Formal Exercise)
    1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Light daily activity AND light exercise 1-3 days a week)
    1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately daily Activity & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
    1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise 6-7 days a week)
    1.9-2.2 = Extremely Active (Athlete in ENDURANCE training or VERY HARD physical job)

    So for example, I am 184 lbs and 18% body fat. So when I convert 184lbs to kg i get 83.5kg. I then multiply this by my Lean Body Mass percentage which is 100%-BF%, so for me it is 82%, or 0.82. So my LBM in kg is 83.5*0.82=68.5

    When I plug this into the equation I get BMR = (21.6*68.5) + 370 = 1850 cals. So my BMR estimate is 1850 cals. To find my TDEE from this I simply multiply it by one of the above activity multipliers. I chose 1.4 for my activity level making my TDEE 2590 calories. I want to cut fat so I'm eating at a 20% deficit, so I eat about 2100 calories a day. Hope that helps
  • littlegirlwithprettybrowneyes
    littlegirlwithprettybrowneyes Posts: 17
    Thanks AGericke, it helped me a lot! That's a very useful formula.

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