My Fitness Pal is really pissing me off

LemonCitron
LemonCitron Posts: 116 Member
edited September 26 in Food and Nutrition
Okay so when I first signed up here it tells me that to lose 1 lb per week I need to eat 1200 calories a day. I change that to .5 a week and it still tells me 1200 a day. Personally I think that is ridiculous and when I tried to do 1200 a day I was always so hungry.

Then my Mom asks me to see how many calories she should be eating. So I look that up for her. And at 1.6 lbs projected loss a week it STILL says 1200 a week.

Me = 5'3" Starting weight 140lbs Goal Weight 120lbs
Mom = 5'6" Starting weight 211lbs Goal Weight 160lbs

Something is not right here people. WHY is it putting everyone at 1200??? This is not normal.

So out of curiosity I went over to SparkPeople and put in my stats. To get to my goal weight of 120lbs by July 8th it's telling me to eat 1500-1800 a day.

What is UP with that???

Does anyone else have experience with both sites? WTH is going on here??
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Replies

  • JanerZzz
    JanerZzz Posts: 276
    no clue, but I want to know.
  • MissTomGettingThin
    MissTomGettingThin Posts: 776 Member
    Mine isn't 1200.
    It was when I wanted to lose more than the recommended but now it's 1430 to lose a pound a week.
    I'm 5 ft 7 and 152lb.
    Maybe check settings and lifestyle.
    I don't think this site is generally at fault.
  • emchamberlain
    emchamberlain Posts: 133 Member
    That's really odd. I'm 5'6" and currently weigh 167, and it gives me 1480 calories/day to lose 1lb/week.
  • Newfiedan
    Newfiedan Posts: 1,517 Member
    Different sites use different formulas I would imagine. My guess would be that mfp does not want to let you go under 1200/day, as a general rule this is not a bad thing. On a diet that is not rich in fruit. veggies and lean meats that is a hard goal to meet. Maybe the difference is the activity level?
  • LoriLou67
    LoriLou67 Posts: 173 Member
    I am curious too, but I think the difference between sites might be the deficit MFP figures in, hence all the hype about eating back the exercise calories. Someone else who is way more articulate and way more knowledgeable will probably explain this better.
  • butterfly_lvr
    butterfly_lvr Posts: 88
    another site just told me I should be eating 1666 and that is after the deficit
  • smcgrath29
    smcgrath29 Posts: 14
    Hmm.. I know mine changes when I adjust how much I set it for exercising, maybe that is where the difference is...??
  • jennlloyd
    jennlloyd Posts: 33 Member
    That is odd. Maybe it is a malfunction. I am 5 foot 3in and I weigh 156 lbs and it has me at over 1400 calories.
  • perrytyra
    perrytyra Posts: 357 Member
    I started at one pound a week and I was 190 pounds. It told me I could eat 1470. When my weight went down to 180 it told me 1410. I changed it to 2 pounds a week and and it says 1200.
  • cher128
    cher128 Posts: 2
    same experience......I want to know that too....
    really like the site otherwise....
  • RajwaJ
    RajwaJ Posts: 191 Member
    Probably to do with activity levels as well. I am very active and to lose 2lb it says 1360 calories or about 1750 for 1lb a week. So not everyone is 1200. That is for people who have a sedate lifestyle. Hope you manage to sort it out.
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
    I'm at 1260 to lose a pound per week. You're not comparing apples to apples. You and your Mom are different height and weight. You're also different ages. You *both* burn different amts of calories just sitting on the couch. MFP can also tell you how much 'fuel' you need each day if you did 0 exercise.
  • anacsitham5
    anacsitham5 Posts: 810 Member
    MFP will never have you go under 1200 calories. You con't lose weight when you go under that as your system will think you are starving.
  • T0RIEELIZABETH
    T0RIEELIZABETH Posts: 376
    I'm 5'2 current weight 160, goal 140. 1lb a week and I'm eating 1510 a day...
  • jordanlell
    jordanlell Posts: 340 Member
    I don't have that problem at all! Maybe you can contact an administrator or something. I'm 5'10" and currently 164 trying to lose 1lb a week, and it gives me 1650.
  • lynnmrut
    lynnmrut Posts: 1
    My opinion is the calories will not go below 1200 regardless of the data entered. From the data I've read, anything under 1200 slows your metabolism and it counter productive.
  • Shawna0101
    Shawna0101 Posts: 76 Member
    Not sure, I filled it out for me at 5'6 starting weight 146 going (hopefully lol) to 130 and I put it at 2lbs a week and it gave me 1200 then after a few weeks I felt I was too hungry so I changed it to .5-1lb a week and it changed to 1320, so not sure why yours is staying at 1200.
  • ZebraHead
    ZebraHead Posts: 15,207 Member
    sorry for your issues. I don't have any help.


    But MFP rocks for me! I am so glad I found it.
  • annabanana05
    annabanana05 Posts: 69
    check your lifestyle and exercise. that could be why it isn't allowing more. when i first started i had 1200 now since i have lost some i changed some of my goals and i can eat 1280.

    also keep in mind what calories are burned during workouts can help you to eat more so your not staying hungry.
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
    It's doing the same thing for me too. I know what my calorie level should be so I did a manual adjustment.
  • Nikkerz620
    Nikkerz620 Posts: 212 Member
    Make sure your using the same activity level.

    The 1200 is without exercise... if you exercise you get more calories to eat.

    I have done all different site and they all are about the same.
    It all depends what they are focusing on.

    MFP isn't very specific for activity level.
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
    I'm 5'5" and 175 and I get 1370 per day here. The difference in calories at Sparkpeople is that their site ASSUMES you will be working out, so you have a range of calories you can eat. What I love about MFP is that I can "earn" more calories by working out and it really keeps me motivated to get out and exercise every day.
  • keith0373
    keith0373 Posts: 2,154 Member
    No reason to be angry, it is just math. You are already in a normal BMI range and for your height and weight you should be eating about 1700 calories a day. To lose a lb a week, it is subtracting 500 a day from that. It assumes that 1lb=3500 calories. 7x500=3500. I would recommend setting it to 1/2 lb a week, which should allow for about 1450 calories a day and work towards getting used to 1200 from there. Also any exercise you do can be added to the number. You use a hrm, so your numbers will be fairly accurate.

    Here is a good calculator for you.

    http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

    I took some educated guesses and I put in
    5'3 140
    31 Waist
    13 neck
    38 hips for you and it has you at 24.9 BMI and 30.9% body fat. Both are in the normal range for someone your height.
  • staciekins
    staciekins Posts: 453 Member
    Make sure you have your current weight/goal weight, height, gender, DOB, lifestyles, and projected exercise set correctly.
    I am female, 182 lb with a goal weight of 135, 5'5", and don't do anything dureing the day (sedentary) cause I have a desk job, and plan on working out 5 days/week for 45 min each and set my goal to lose 2 lbs/week, so it has my deficit at 1200. If I change it to less loss per week, my cals go up. Maybe you just need to reset it?
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    mine is 1430 for 2lb/week loss. im 5'6 and weigh 257.. activity level is at sedentary
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    make sure you didn't choose sedentary. Always choose 1 higher than you "think" you should choose, because they tend to estimate way low here. I have mine set to very active and eat 1600 a day at 5'2", 106 lbs.

    Set it to lightly active and 1/2 lb a week and see what it says. Also make sure you have your height and weight right in the system, that could screw it up.
  • steffilily
    steffilily Posts: 149
    Go to "My Home", click on "goals" Look at where it says "from normal daily activities". It should show the number of calories you burn in a 24 hour period. If you want to lose 1 pound, that is 3500 calories a week you need to get rid of (500 a day). Subtract 500 from your "normal daily acitivites calorie". If it's less than 1200, then MFP will put you at 1200. For .5 lbs loss a week, subtract 250.

    If you'd like to lose 1 or .5 pounds, then burn more calories to match that 250 or 500 calorie deficit.

    Make sense?
  • superjae5
    superjae5 Posts: 64 Member
    Maybe there's an error? For me it's 1310 per day (I'm 5'8"). They want you to eat less than the calories you'd consume lying in bed all day doing nothing. For me that's 1400 (just a normal day at work they said was 1700). I can't remember where I found the 1700 after a quick look, but you can see the other number if you go under tools and select BMR. I think as long as you consume less than that you'll continue to lose weight.

    As for advice, yeah, even for me, 1310 is a pretty low number. I would pick one meal where you have something super low calorie. For me, I had 1 packet of the Quaker Oats instant oatmeal, which is around 170 calories. The oatmeal sticks with me long enough to get me through lunch (I'm also a heavy gum chewer to pass the time between meals. Also, drinking a lot of water will keep you feeling full). If you can consume a 200 calorie or less meal that still leaves you with 500 calories for the other 2 meals, more filling.

    Obviously I don't know your eating habits, but avoid soda and fast food like the plague. Even regular restaurant food. They're super high cal. Don't know if you like fish, but it's often 1/2 if not 1/4 the calories of beef, chicken, or pork. You can often eat the same amount of fish but get 1/2 the calories and get full.

    Another thing is eating raw fruits and veggies inbetween meals to stay full. I have a friend doing Weight Watchers and she says raw fruits and veggies (so no dip, no fruit canned in syrup, etc.) doesn't count against her on the point system. They have some calories, but I'd bet if you ate those inbetween meals, they wouldn't affect your goals to lose weight negatively.

    Honestly you can probably lose weight doing a 1500 cal diet, but it will be more slow. Just in case you didn't realize, if you exercise you can eat those calories. So if you're limited to 1200 and you burn 500 exercising you get to eat 1700 total for that day.

    Best of luck. Maybe you can start with a 1300 calorie diet for a couple of weeks and see how that works for you? Everyone's different, so it may take some experimentation.
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,728 Member
    Sparkpeople doesn't give you extra calories for working out. Whatever you told it you did for working out is how it gets that range. Here, the number it gives you has nothing to do with how much you say you workout. You add your workout calories after you workout.
  • LemonCitron
    LemonCitron Posts: 116 Member
    Both of us are Sedentary and then I have 5 days a week exercise for her and 6 days a week for me. I really don't want to change, I love the database here and the people (you guys are the BEST), but most people here are at 1200, which is ridiculous.

    Personally I upped my calories to 1400 but I'm kind of considering trying over there for a while... But their food database looks like it sucks. lol.
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