BMR or MFP? Conflicting numbers

I looked at your diary and it doesn't appear that you weigh your food so chances are you are eating more than you think.

Then you weren't looking at my diary. With the exception of Easter, I've been pretty religious about weighing everything (except prepackaged stuff that's already weighed).

The two eggs from today don't appear to be logged by weight. Yesterday's log shows oatmeal, sugar, strawberries, cool whip, eggs, and a clementine all logged by cups/spoons (and qty for the clementine) rather than weight.

I know it feels nitpicky, but it really can make a difference. I recently logged a day of my food by measurement and then logged the same food by weight to compare. These were the exact same portions of food measured different ways and the day logged with cups/spoons measurements was over 200 calories less than the one logged by weight. Weighing your food really can make a big difference.

I'm not sure why weighing vs. measuring would make a difference as long as I'm logging it with the correct method used. So if I measure it with a measuring cup I should log that it was measured that way...which is what I'm doing. The two eggs from today are logged by their size (large eggs). Clementines are again all roughly the same size. I also only eat back half my exercise calories for this very reason. It is utterly impossible to completely log everything EXACTLY correctly.

Yes it does...

I have not once had to post help I am not losing weight...ever because I weigh my food...all of it...and before I did I wasn't losing like I should have been either...took me seeing one post

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
to show me the light...I went from 1/2lb a week to 1lb a week and have steadily lost and am almost to goal...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1186508-weighing-food-vs-measuring-wow?hl=Wow&page=4#posts-18526270
and here is another person who found out as well...

Even the chester cheetos popcorn that says 3cups is actually 30grams per the package 5cups = 50grams...look at my diary the only thing else that isn't weighed is the roasted veggies and that's because it's a recipe I created and I know 1 serving = 100g.

You are eating more than you think and if you just don't want to accept it that's fine but you are the one who will not lose the weight not us...

so it's been suggested numerous times in this thread and previous to weigh and log accurately...you insist you do but when it comes right down to it you don't...

Either take the advice given and lose weight or don't and stay the same weight or worse gain up to you.

Also you mentioned being tired - have you thought about iron levels. When I was in my mid-thirties I was having the same issues and have a history of thyroid in my family so I was sure that's what it was - tested it and came back normal, but my iron levels were very low and after about 2 months of being on the iron pills my dr. prescribed I couldn't believe how much energy I had. Never hurts to get everything checked out medically. Also, hormones for us women play a big part in our weight loss/gains.

I'm not sure why weighing vs. measuring would make a difference as long as I'm logging it with the correct method used. So if I measure it with a measuring cup I should log that it was measured that way...which is what I'm doing. The two eggs from today are logged by their size (large eggs). Clementines are again all roughly the same size. I also only eat back half my exercise calories for this very reason. It is utterly impossible to completely log everything EXACTLY correctly.

it can make a huge difference

first entries in the database by "cup" do you know in which country the member lived when it was entered > cos different countries use different cup sizes
also was the food compacted into the cup or was it "loose"?
was the cup full to the brim (levelled) or "heaped"

most of these also apply to spoon sizes

even if you reliably use the same style of cup and spoon how do you know what the user had when they entered it in the database: you don't

the only things that make sense working by volume are liquids in a measuring jug - but even these can work better weighed

i tend to go through phases - of logging more or less accurately, and when i'm not seeing hte losses that i want is exactly the time to be more picky about measuring

ps large eggs are different in different countries - also these are defined as a band of weights in the uk large is 63-73g while in the US large is greater than 2oz
there is a lot of scope for discreppancies here

but the common things that people forget to log are cooking fats and things that they consider either minor (the odd nut) or healthy life fruit

Well I wasn't aware of the 20% difference allowed in the nutrition facts. So that's news to me. Not sure if that's enough to have made a huge difference in my overall diet though. Early April I wasn't tracking proper weight/measurements. I have been for the last two weeks though. I seriously think it's a thyroid issue. It's in my family and I have other symptoms too. I've also been reading some others who've posted about it and have had similar struggles. I'm going to be calling my dr. to have it checked out.

these are anyway only estimates - they are arrived at by either lab based tests of database analysis on a sample
the actual content of any food will vary

so why add an extra layer of estimation by not weighing?

as for the 20% if you're using TDEE -20% then 20% is *nearly* the whole of your deficit
eg: TDEE 2000 - 0.2*2000 = 1600
1600 + 1600*0.2 = 1920 << nearly back to TDEE

I'm not sure why weighing vs. measuring would make a difference as long as I'm logging it with the correct method used. So if I measure it with a measuring cup I should log that it was measured that way...which is what I'm doing. The two eggs from today are logged by their size (large eggs). Clementines are again all roughly the same size. I also only eat back half my exercise calories for this very reason. It is utterly impossible to completely log everything EXACTLY correctly.

it can make a huge difference

first entries in the database by "cup" do you know in which country the member lived when it was entered > cos different countries use different cup sizes
also was the food compacted into the cup or was it "loose"?
was the cup full to the brim (levelled) or "heaped"

most of these also apply to spoon sizes

even if you reliably use the same style of cup and spoon how do you know what the user had when they entered it in the database: you don't

the only things that make sense working by volume are liquids in a measuring jug - but even these can work better weighed

i tend to go through phases - of logging more or less accurately, and when i'm not seeing hte losses that i want is exactly the time to be more picky about measuring

ps large eggs are different in different countries - also these are defined as a band of weights in the uk large is 63-73g while in the US large is greater than 2oz
there is a lot of scope for discreppancies here

but the common things that people forget to log are cooking fats and things that they consider either minor (the odd nut) or healthy life fruit

This just sounds ridiculous. Seriously...as I said before there is NO way to be completely accurate in your logging. Especially taking into consideration all your "nitpicking" above. This is why I said I only eat back HALF of my exercise calories. To alot for mis-measurements and overcalculations on burns. I mean according to what your saying it would be impossible for anyone to input anything completely accurately into MFP. Might as well just give up.

No actually this post is ridiculous...seriously...there is a way to be as accurate as you can in your logging and if you aren't willing to put in the little amount of time it takes then well...keep the path you are on...say it's probably your thyroid, go to the doctor find out it probably isn't and give up...

I weigh food all of it...and I have lost almost 50lbs..so don't tell me being accurate is impossible.

*walks away shaking head as people who ask for help who refuse to take the advice of very obviously successful people...*

There is no way to be perfectly accurate. And it doesn't matter if your food intake is accurate if your exercise calories are inaccurate or if you have a hormonal issue that makes the numbers no longer applicable.

I'm not sure why weighing vs. measuring would make a difference as long as I'm logging it with the correct method used. So if I measure it with a measuring cup I should log that it was measured that way...which is what I'm doing. The two eggs from today are logged by their size (large eggs). Clementines are again all roughly the same size. I also only eat back half my exercise calories for this very reason. It is utterly impossible to completely log everything EXACTLY correctly.

it can make a huge difference

first entries in the database by "cup" do you know in which country the member lived when it was entered > cos different countries use different cup sizes
also was the food compacted into the cup or was it "loose"?
was the cup full to the brim (levelled) or "heaped"

most of these also apply to spoon sizes

even if you reliably use the same style of cup and spoon how do you know what the user had when they entered it in the database: you don't

the only things that make sense working by volume are liquids in a measuring jug - but even these can work better weighed

i tend to go through phases - of logging more or less accurately, and when i'm not seeing hte losses that i want is exactly the time to be more picky about measuring

ps large eggs are different in different countries - also these are defined as a band of weights in the uk large is 63-73g while in the US large is greater than 2oz
there is a lot of scope for discreppancies here

but the common things that people forget to log are cooking fats and things that they consider either minor (the odd nut) or healthy life fruit

This just sounds ridiculous. Seriously...as I said before there is NO way to be completely accurate in your logging. Especially taking into consideration all your "nitpicking" above. This is why I said I only eat back HALF of my exercise calories. To alot for mis-measurements and overcalculations on burns. I mean according to what your saying it would be impossible for anyone to input anything completely accurately into MFP. Might as well just give up.

No actually this post is ridiculous...seriously...there is a way to be as accurate as you can in your logging and if you aren't willing to put in the little amount of time it takes then well...keep the path you are on...say it's probably your thyroid, go to the doctor find out it probably isn't and give up...

I weigh food all of it...and I have lost almost 50lbs..so don't tell me being accurate is impossible.

*walks away shaking head as people who ask for help who refuse to take the advice of very obviously successful people...*

I am not REFUSING to take advise from people. My point is that I HAVE been weighing my food and measuring it to the best of MY ability. The biggest "take away" from this for me is the 20% difference in variance on the nutrition labels. That I did NOT know. And NO it's not possible to be "as accurate as you can" according to the other poster who asked questions like "how do you know how the person measured that item when they put it in the database, what is packed..was it loose?" I mean seriously. My original question didn't even have anything to do with my diary...just with the difference between BMR and MFP and that was answered too. Feel free to keep your $.02 to yourself if you can't be cordial *walks away shaking head at the audacity some people have!*

I will just leave this here...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide?hl=Logging+accurately&page=3#posts-19337078

and ironic post is ironic...

It doesn't matter how precise you are with weight vs volume if every other aspect of your diary is a rough estimate. There aren't many foods where the weight vs volume issue is going to be significant enough to be more than background noise compared to the accuracy of figuring out exercise calories, BMR, etc.

It doesn't matter how precise you are with weight vs volume if every other aspect of your diary is a rough estimate. There aren't many foods where the weight vs volume issue is going to be significant enough to be more than background noise compared to the accuracy of figuring out exercise calories, BMR, etc.

BMR is irrelevant. TDEE is the number to be mindful of.

OP states that she only eats half her exercise calories, though her diary doesn't seem to bear that out. The accuracy of logging her food intake has to be fixed first. If she is overestimating on her foods, she is wiping out any calorie deficit, with or without exercise cals. If she is not losing weight, she is not eating at a deficit.