My Fitness Pal is really pissing me off

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  • Homer3D
    Homer3D Posts: 318
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    From what I can tell, MFP uses the simple math of 3500 calories = 1 lbs. So to lose 2 lbs of week, you need to create a 7000 calorie deficit per week. MFP then “guesses” what your body would normally burn on its own. Age/weight/height/gender = Basal Metabolic Rate. For me that is about 1900 calories a day.

    Now here is where it gets tricky. Using that math, to lose 2 lbs a week I have to create a 1000 calorie deficit a day for 7 days. Well if my BMR is 1900 calories a day, I have to have a net caloric intake of only 900 calories a day. Either only eat 900 calories of food, or work out enough to bring it back down to 900.

    So why does my MFP say 1200 is the net goal for the day? Well, that’s because 1200 calories daily is the recommended minimum for safe and healthy weight loss. This is because 1200 calories will generally provide an adequate nutritional intake for most individuals, yet still allows the reduction of calories to the level that most dieters require in order to lose weight. If MFP enter 900 calories for me (or anyone) they would probably be sued when we all pass out on the tread mill or drop dead from lack of nutrition.

    So they reason your MFP settings say 1200 calories is because the amount of weight you are asking to lose for the amount of time you are asking to lose it exceeds the “safe” net caloric limit based on your BMR.
  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
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    You've gotten most of the answers already.

    MFP uses a different formula to calculate BMR than many sites do. So that's one difference.

    Yes, MFP sets 1200 as theminimum calorie floor because the WHO has advised that it's almost impossible for the average womanto meet nutritional goals on fewer calories.

    MFP also factors in your calorie deficit BEFORE any exercise. Your activity level is meant torepresent your workday, not any purposeful exercise. that's why MFP adds those exercise calories back to yoru daily goal. Many other sites assume that you will perform any planned exercise and factors those calories into your daily goals whether you actually perform the exercise or not.

    And as some others have pointed out, MFP will recalculate your calories whenever you lose ten pounds.

    If you don't like MFP's calorie or nutrient goals, you can customize them.
  • LemonCitron
    LemonCitron Posts: 116 Member
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    I think a few of you are misunderstanding me.

    I don't want to go under 1200 calories. I think 1200 is low as it is. I set my calories to 1400.

    But why is it telling my mom that she should eat 1200 too? certainly she can eat more than 1200 and still lose weight?

    I don't know.
  • bates
    bates Posts: 122
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    This site's formula for calculating maintenance sucks hard. I do mine manually
  • emilytgs24
    emilytgs24 Posts: 90 Member
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    change it to sedentary and then log and eat your exercise calories...
  • Homer3D
    Homer3D Posts: 318
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    I think a few of you are misunderstanding me.

    I don't want to go under 1200 calories. I think 1200 is low as it is. I set my calories to 1400.

    But why is it telling my mom that she should eat 1200 too? certainly she can eat more than 1200 and still lose weight?

    I don't know.

    Oh I see. So I looked up what your BMR should be with the details you have. It came to 1411.45. I think the issue you are running into is because 5'3 @ 134 lbs is pretty much an ideal weight. So there isn't much more MFP can tell you to lose more weight. To loose half a pound a week, you would have to create a 250 calorie deficit. And that would put you under your safe limit of 1200. So if you want to eat more, you will need to work out more. And as odd as it sounds, you are at the point where you need to eat more to lose more weight.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    Did you set it to "lose 2 pounds per week"? I'm pretty sure for MOST females it will set it to 1200 if you set it to lose 2 pounds per week. I set it my own way using this site...

    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

    I find it to be pretty darn accurate. It gave me the correct maintenance calories spot on.
  • butterfly_lvr
    butterfly_lvr Posts: 88
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    Did you set it to "lose 2 pounds per week"? I'm pretty sure for MOST females it will set it to 1200 if you set it to lose 2 pounds per week. I set it my own way using this site...

    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

    I find it to be pretty darn accurate. It gave me the correct maintenance calories spot on.

    I just actually found that site a little bit ago while doing some searching and I have changed my MFP (at least temporarily) to the numbers I got from there. I seem to be majorly stuck where I am right now so will try this for a week and see what happens; figure I can always go back and let MFP figure it for me
  • petithamu
    petithamu Posts: 582 Member
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    I'm glad you posted this because I'm confused about this, too. I checked on 'My Calorie Counter' and it says I should be eating around 1672kcal and that's after a 500kcal deficit. I just changed my fitness status on MFP trying out different selection, from choosing sedentary to very active and they all give me a 1200kcal allowance. I'm starting to think 1200 may be too little because I am hungry all the time!

    Should I change my calories to 1672kcal like My Calorie Counter says? This is the link:

    http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/Calorie_Calculator.asp#
  • fatlass70
    fatlass70 Posts: 136 Member
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    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.

    this works for me too - knowing I can 'earn' extra calories does make me get of the sofa and go and do something. I also am drinking MUCH more water which I find is making me less hungry. Don't get me wrong I still have 'hungry' days but generally i'm finding that by changing my habits regarding exercise and water and choosing the foods I eat with a little more care (i am eating less 'empty' calories and so am fuller), I am seeing results and 1200 cals is now enough.

    Good luck on your journey and getting this figured out.
  • katekrise
    katekrise Posts: 178 Member
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    I'm 5ft 4in and allowed 1370 calories per day. I weigh 141 lbs. and have lost 19 lbs so far. It has been working for me.
  • Walking2Lose
    Walking2Lose Posts: 69 Member
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    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??

    I have experience with both sites. I've been on Spark People for a couple of years now and I love it! As for the calorie intake, I agree there is a difference. On SP it tells me I should eat 1200-1550 cals a day and on here it tells me to eat 1200 calories a day. Which I think is really hard to do. But on MFP...if you work out they add the calories that you burned to your calories for the day so you can actually eat more. So maybe that is how it makes up for it. For example, I burned about 270 calories today doing my workout and when I plugged that into MFP it added 270 calories to my 1200 calories...so I had a total of 1470 calories to eat...So..maybe that is how they are doing it different than SP.

    I hope why I said helped, though I am sure it didn't. But don't give up. I just think each site is set up differently. I did plug in a different weight to see if it changed and it did change...to 1350 calories.

    good luck!
  • Happyoceangirl
    Happyoceangirl Posts: 1,993 Member
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    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.

    I had this problem too, and trying to eat 1200 was very frustrating, even with eating the 400 or so exercise calories on top of that. It just really didn't seem like enough EVER and made me cranky. Im 5'4 (and a half) for reference and right now about 131. I initially had my activity level set at sedentary because my lifestyle didn't seem all that active with the exception of daily exercise. And youre not supposed to factor "exercise" into activity level on mfp because you "earn" extra calories for that. Eventually I bumped it up to lightly active because I realized that I have gradually worked more activity into how I live ( parking farther away nd walking, little stuff like that). It still didn't affect the base number of calories MFP gave me. I still was stuck with 1200 and pissy about it.

    Then I came across a thread where someone pointed out that when you exercise regularly, your basal metabolic rate is going to be higher than if you truly were sedentary. With that, the more muscle mass you have, the more calories your body burns at rest. This isnt factored into the process MFP uses to set your intake goals. Thinking this way, I changed my activity level to "very active" even though all I do is a max of an hour of exercise a day, with some days off. The new base amount suggested by MFP is 1400 a day. This seems MUCH better all the way around, and I am continuing to lose.


    Good luck!
  • bstamps12
    bstamps12 Posts: 1,184
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    Part of it is that you are so little anyways. Starting at 140 is different from starting at 200. It is a lot easier to lose 1 lb/week (at least at the beginning) if you start bigger rather than at 140. I am going to totally revamp my goals & setting when I get to 140 because my body will be so different than when I started close to 160.

    Look at what smiles4miles said....maybe your lifestyle isn't sedentary according to MFP standards...
  • Janeta58
    Janeta58 Posts: 59 Member
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    I am 6 feet tall and weigh 185. For sedentary lifestyle, my caloric intake for 1 pound loss/week is 1430.:smile:
  • NYCDutchess
    NYCDutchess Posts: 622 Member
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    I went to my gym and got my BMI read, I'm 5'2 129lbs my daily calories should be 1260.

    MFP gave me 1200 so it's pretty on point. Of course if I'm working out more...

    Anyway, 1500-1800 calories are a lot of calories unless you are working out. IF your trying to LOOSE weight.

    Also, if you're eating well and frequently 1200 is really not hard to do, and if you go over or know you will, you get a good workout in.

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