Conflicting advice on MFP's method for calculating calories?

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cliobaci
cliobaci Posts: 4
edited November 2023 in Getting Started
Hello there-

I'm a relatively new user---loving MFP! I also had an introductory meeting with a trainer this morning at my gym. I told her I was using MFP to track calories and how I loved exercising because it gave me more calorie points to work with. She said she also uses MFP to track calories, but said that this "NEAT" method isn't always good---that your body doesn't necessarily work in such a machine-like fashion of calories in/calories burned and that you can't, say, eat a donut and then walk exactly 2 hours to burn it off (making that last example up) and think you're going to lose weight. She also said that 1200 calories per day is too low a baseline for me.

Conflicting advice!

So now I'm confused. I did some calculating online and found that I need about 1600 calories to lose about a pound a week if I'm exercising 3 to 4 times per week and walking each day, which I am. So who do I listen to? The trainer or MFP? It is pretty hard to eat just 1200 calories a day, I have to say. I get that crazy diet mind where I'm obsessed with food. But is that what I should limit myself to on days when I don't exercise? 1500 calories feels very reasonable and 1600 feels almost decadent. But can I only eat that much on days I *do* exercise? Or should I just aim for 1500 per day, regardless of exercise and figure it'll all even out over the course of the week?

Thanks for your help!

Replies

  • cindagrif
    cindagrif Posts: 60 Member
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    I agree with you. It says I should have 1200 calories a day, but when I go to any other website it says 1600 calories. I have been doing the 1200 calories and not losing. So I am wondering if it is to low for me and I need the 1600. It gets very confusing.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    There's no One Way of approaching weight loss - you asked 2 different sources and got 2 different responses, no surprises there.

    I'm inclined to agree with your trainer - while it is basically a "calories in calories out" equation, bodies are more complex than that. Especially if you feel that 1200 is a struggle, I'd go for a range of 1500-1600, dont eat additional exercise calories, and review how that's working for you after a month.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    This is what I do. I set my activity to sedentary, then eat back my exercise calories. HOWEVER. I notice that when I eat back ALL of my exercise calories, I don't lose weight, so I don't trust MFP to calculate exercise calories correctly. I am in the process of getting heart rate moniter up and running, but until then, I am eating back ~ 1/2 what MFP calculates to be my calories burned.

    Yeah. It can get confusing. This seems to work for me.
  • cliobaci
    cliobaci Posts: 4
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    Thanks for your replies. I'm going to aim for 1500-1600 calories per day and continue to exercise and see where I land. It has worked pretty well in the past week...almost 2 pounds lost!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
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    I did some calculating online and found that I need about 1600 calories to lose about a pound a week if I'm exercising 3 to 4 times per week and walking each day, which I am.

    If you do MFP and start at 1200 calories and then had 300-400 exercise calories to eat back, wouldn't that be the same thing?

    When I did MFP my net calorie goal was 1,850 calories. With my exercise (adjusted for estimation error) I was generally grossing around 2100-2200 calories depending on the day and steadily losing that 1 Lb per week on average.

    I switched to the TDEE method simply because my exercise became very routine and consistent and it didn't seem to make much sense to have a base of calories and then add exercise...I was consistent enough to just include exercise in my daily activity level. That made my TDEE about 2,700 calories per day to maintain...I knocked off about 20% to lose rougly 1 lb per week...so my gross calorie intake with the TDEE method was around 2,160 calories per day.

    As you can see, with either method I was grossing roughly the same calories...the only variable was whether I was accounting for exercise before the fact (TDEE) or after the fact (MFP). Really, it should all be about 6 of 1 half dozen of the other if you're doing it right.
  • glreim21
    glreim21 Posts: 206 Member
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    I set my calories for maintain and I use my exercise to create a deficit. If you are not going to eat back your exercise calories then start at a higher calorie goal. The app has built in a calorie deficit assuming you are going to eat back your exercise calories that you entered went you set up your profile. It is just personal preference as to what method you chose.
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