Anyones calories not adding up right?

Chillatics
Chillatics Posts: 1
edited November 7 in Food and Nutrition
Thought I would post a message here to see if anyone here is having a problem, with their calories adding up wrong.

I track my protein fats and carbs to the gram, which should give a total for the day of exactly that number, but it's over 80 calories off?

If your experiencing the same be good to hear from you

Replies

  • Cortelli
    Cortelli Posts: 1,369 Member
    There are rounding errors embedded in everything. 2.5g of fat? Label will show 3g. 4.4g protein? Label will show 4g. But the same labels may have a calorie total that eliminates (reduces) some of those rounding errors - i.e., that 2.5g fat and 4.4g of protein may show up as 40 calories (just off the 40.1). Also, calories are typically rounded to the nearest 5 or 10.
  • SweatLikeDog
    SweatLikeDog Posts: 320 Member
    Macros should add up to total calories in a perfect world, but calories and portion sizes on food labels are rounded off estimates to say the least. The government has all sorts of convoluted loopholes and exceptions for things which need to appear on labels. Take a can of beans for instance - pour out the liquid and weight the beans. Now, take a look at the label and multiply serving size by number of servings in the can - different numbers every time.

    I don't think it makes a practical difference to get the numbers down to the last digit. Take what app gives you as a decent estimate and adjust based on the results you're getting. Keep in mind that your calorie expenditure is probably an even more inaccurate estimate and it varies from day to day.
  • TheCherryMama
    TheCherryMama Posts: 20
    I always keep in mind, that I round food calories up, and take off 25% of my HRM calories just to cover ... it's science, but not an exact science. I just keep an eye on macros keep them with in range. I come out on top with an extra on my deficit. :-)
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    To add to the confusion, MFP rounds the amounts as well. Many times I have entered a food into the database that would have a decimal amount in one of the macros, MFP would round it to a whole number.
  • dvflyer
    dvflyer Posts: 8 Member
    Found this post doing a google search on why MFP calories don't match my calculations. Using 4 calories/gram for Protein and Carbs and 9 calories/ gram for fat, MFP's calorie numbers are consistently lower by 20-40 calories than what I calculate.
  • phoebejeeby
    phoebejeeby Posts: 62 Member
    do you use the website and the app on a mobile device all in the same day? I notice the numbers get weird if I use both in one day.
  • kat77023
    kat77023 Posts: 7
    I have discovered a couple of days when the totals didn't add. I searched each item I had entered for that day, and sure enough, one nutrition label from the database was inaccurate. I corrected it in the database, along with an explanation. With thousands of us using this database, I think that's the only way we can keep it accurate.

    One major problem I had was "salt." I would enter a "dash," only to come back later to find that it had changed itself to a "tbsp" or even a "cup." Yikes!! This happened over and over -- sometimes days later. I finally listed my own "salt" entry, followed by my initials. Problem solved.
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