Some MFP Basics

Determining Settings & Goals

So, you’ve entered your info, chosen your goals, and MFP has given you a daily cal goal. Is it right? For this to work, these numbers must all be accurate and realistic. A general guideline for determining loss per week goal:

20 lbs or less to lose: .5 lb loss per week
20 - 50 lbs to lose: 1 lb loss per week
50 – 75 lbs to lose: 1.5 lb loss per week
75 lbs or more to lose: 2 lb loss per week

Obviously, some people will fall outside these parameters. Some will lose a little faster or slower or need a higher or lower loss goal. MFP promotes healthy weight loss, not only in actual calories in – calories out, but in changing your eating habits. Choosing too high of a loss goal usually ends up backfiring and leaves you feeling deprived, and does not teach you to eat healthy amounts of healthy food. I’ll talk more about this further on.

BMR (go to Tools) is your Basal Metabolic Rate – the number of calories you burn each day to keep breathing, as if you were in a coma. MFP then adds the number of calories you burn in daily living, your Daily Activity Level. Daily Activity Level is intended to include your daily activity at home, and your job – not purposeful exercise. If you are unsure of your activity level, or it is irregular, it’s usually best to choose the lower of two choices. These are not exact, perfect numbers, but for most people they are a good starting point and can be trusted to set up your initial plan. Remember also that you will need to adjust and recalculate these numbers as you lose weight and become more active.

These two numbers together, give you your maintenance calories – what you would eat to maintain your current weight. You can see this number under Goals.

Deficit

MFP generates a BUILT IN CALORIE DEFICIT to allow for weight loss, regardless of exercise.

This is different than many calorie counters/weight loss programs, or the way that many trainers set up a plan. These other plans usually take your “intended exercise” and use that to create a deficit, keeping your daily cal goal static. Therefore, with other plans, you would not replace calories you burn through exercise. MFP is different and you CANNOT compare them, unless you’re prepared to do some calculations to get apples vs. apples and not apples vs. oranges.

MFP is designed to have you log purposeful exercise each day, as you complete it, and for you to EAT THOSE ADDITIONAL CALORIES. This helps keep you more accountable, motivated and prompts support (all those WTG’s on your status go a long way.) If you do not replace the calories added for exercise, you make your deficit larger than you (presumably) intended. A larger deficit will not necessarily provide for faster weight loss – it will likely lead to feelings of deprivation, binges, irregular blood sugar levels, poor nutrition and bad eating habits - and is one of the key reasons why people give up or regain weight.

This plan only works, however, if your calorie intake and burns are accurate. Weigh/measure your food, and use the most accurate exercise burn numbers you can. The numbers in the food/exercise database are not always correct, or not always correct for YOU – be realistic and get the best numbers available to you. Go from there and don’t stress over it.

MFP does not allow for a guided daily cal goal below 1200. This number was provided by WHO as the lower limit for the average woman to receive adequate nutrition each day. The lower limit for men is 1500 calories. Unless you are much smaller than average, or are under the care of a professional who has provided a specific diet, attempting a regular intake lower than this is asking for trouble.

Starving/Not Hungry?

One of the most important aspects of this plan is that it helps you retrain your body and your mind to recognize healthy eating habits. This includes eating healthy foods and a healthy AMOUNT of food. If you are here, you likely have bad eating habits. Bad eating habits are not simply eating too much. Skipping meals, eating too little, eating irregularly, and eating the wrong ratio of macros (protein/fat/carb) are all habits that will contribute to an unhealthy weight.

MFP is a tool to help your body and mind to recognize how much you should be eating, how often, and what kinds of food. In the beginning, you may feel starving. Or you may not feel hungry at all. You should not necessarily trust either of these feelings. If you have abused your body, it has adapted to your bad habits and no longer gives you cues for a healthy intake. Aim for your daily cal goal, and give your body time to adjust to these changes. It may take days or weeks for your body to adapt to a healthy intake of healthy food. You didn’t learn your bad habits overnight, and you won’t fix them overnight.

There is no easy out, no quick fix. If you go about your weight loss in an unhealthy manner, you will end up unhealthy.

Dedication, Focus, and Motivation – and above all Patience and Persistence – are what will make you successful. Best wishes to all!


*Disclaimer – These are my opinions, based on my own research here on MFP and the knowledge I’ve gleaned from my nutritional education, and research in scientific literature. I’m not an expert, but I believe I’ve learned a lot from those who are.