Different sites give different calorie needs! Help

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rebekahann09
rebekahann09 Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I use MFP daily to keep track of what I eat. Generally I do not factor in the exercise I do because I do not want to fill those free calories by eating, my goal is to have a calorie deficit, not replace the calories I burned by exercising with food. So anyway, I entered all my info here on MFP and it says my base calorie intake goal is 1200. I've been eating right at or under that daily. However, I go to other sites and enter in my info, with all the same goals and exercise levels, and it tells me by base should be more like 1,300 - 1,400. So I'm confused. What scale should I be using? Even my resting rate is different between sites. So how are we supposed to know what's really accurate and which we should be going off? I'm steadily losing weight and gaining muscle, but I am scared that if my calorie intake is too low, eventually my body will go into starvation mode and I'll stop losing weight. Any suggestions?? Thanks!!

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  • rymincks
    rymincks Posts: 9 Member
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    Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

    I would use this equation to calculate out the BMR yourself and then just customize the calories on your MFP. This is just the base without exercise so if you eat right at this and lets say burn an extra 500 cals a day, you'd lose a pound a week.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    So, I use MFP daily to keep track of what I eat. Generally I do not factor in the exercise I do because I do not want to fill those free calories by eating, my goal is to have a calorie deficit, not replace the calories I burned by exercising with food. So anyway, I entered all my info here on MFP and it says my base calorie intake goal is 1200. I've been eating right at or under that daily. However, I go to other sites and enter in my info, with all the same goals and exercise levels, and it tells me by base should be more like 1,300 - 1,400. So I'm confused. What scale should I be using? Even my resting rate is different between sites. So how are we supposed to know what's really accurate and which we should be going off? I'm steadily losing weight and gaining muscle, but I am scared that if my calorie intake is too low, eventually my body will go into starvation mode and I'll stop losing weight. Any suggestions?? Thanks!!

    First of all MFP gives you a calorie deficit based upon ZERO exercise AND "I want to lose xx pounds per week." If you chose an agressive weight loss goal.....you will get 1200. That's because 1200 is as low as MFP will go. 1200 is "popular"....not necessarily the healthiest.

    Second ....highly UNLIKELY you are gaining muscle. Most people require a calorie SURPLUS to gain muscle. You are at best maintaining muscle......that's why MFP gives you 1200 NET calories .....the extra calories "earned" from exercise are added back to keep you calorie deficit from being too large.

    Large calorie deficit = fat + muscle loss

    Third "Starvation mode" is highly exaggerated. Someone who is anorexic has metabolism issues.....but this is not common place.

    Pick a number....all websites are estimations anyway. The less weight you have to lose....the slower it will come off. Pick a less agressive weight loss goal & the 1200 NET number will increase.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    So, I use MFP daily to keep track of what I eat. Generally I do not factor in the exercise I do because I do not want to fill those free calories by eating, my goal is to have a calorie deficit, not replace the calories I burned by exercising with food. So anyway, I entered all my info here on MFP and it says my base calorie intake goal is 1200. I've been eating right at or under that daily. However, I go to other sites and enter in my info, with all the same goals and exercise levels, and it tells me by base should be more like 1,300 - 1,400. So I'm confused. What scale should I be using? Even my resting rate is different between sites. So how are we supposed to know what's really accurate and which we should be going off? I'm steadily losing weight and gaining muscle, but I am scared that if my calorie intake is too low, eventually my body will go into starvation mode and I'll stop losing weight. Any suggestions?? Thanks!!

    Because MFP assumes no exercise...you're supposed to eat back exercise calories with MFP because your activity level doesn't include an estimate of those calories. Other calculators include an estimate of your exercise calories up front.

    MFP's 1200 NET calories is already a HUGE deficit from maintenance...you don't make it bigger with exercise...it's already built into your diet. The difference in calories you're seeing is the difference between using the NEAT method (MFP) and the TDEE method. If you do it right, it's 6 of 1...example:

    My MFP Net goal to lose one Lb per week was 1850. My exercise was generally in the neighborhood of 300 - 400 calories per session (adjusted for estimation error)...so I grossed about 2100 - 2200 calories per day.

    My TDEE as per other calculators (and includes my exercise estimates up front) is about 2750...with my 20% cut to lose roughly 1 Lb per week, my gross calorie goal was 2200 calories.

    As you can see, 6 of 1...just 2 methods of getting to the same point. You just need to understand the tool you are using...you don't drive screws with a hammer and pound nails with a screwdriver...

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