spark people vs MFP

PMcLinn
PMcLinn Posts: 27 Member
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
Just curious, I used to use spark people religiously and lost almost 80lbs. I have gained that all back and am now trying to decide if I like MFP or SP better and which one most suits my current needs and lifestyle. What concerns me is the difference in calories. MFP is allowing 1820 and SP is allowing 1200-1600...that is a HUGE difference. Both are set at sedentary lifestyle, but are set at losing 2lbs/week and both have the exact same weight and height put in...so can anyone tell me why there is such a huge difference?

Replies

  • KHaverstick
    KHaverstick Posts: 308 Member
    I was on sparkpeople years ago, but to be honest I don't remember much about it.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    I've used both. They're pretty similar IMHO. I've found that MFP has a bigger food database, especially for those of us outside the US. Sparkpeople has a lot of cheesy badges and quizzes articles and bells and whistles; I prefer MFP's cleaner interface. But Sparkpeople also has a meal planning feature, which I find useless 'cause I like to plan my own meals, but some people may enjoy.

    Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Pick the one you prefer.

    As for the different calorie goals, I'm honestly not sure why you'd be seeing that. I'd have to test both. In theory, they should be giving you the same calorie goal if you enter the same stats.
  • PMcLinn
    PMcLinn Posts: 27 Member
    right? I haven't used spark people in years, but remembered I liked the community groups, teams, etc. So when I saw such a huge calorie difference I was shocked. I went back and double checked all the settings and sure enough everything matches with MFP.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited February 2015
    PMcLinn wrote: »
    Just curious, I used to use spark people religiously and lost almost 80lbs. I have gained that all back and am now trying to decide if I like MFP or SP better and which one most suits my current needs and lifestyle. What concerns me is the difference in calories. MFP is allowing 1820 and SP is allowing 1200-1600...that is a HUGE difference. Both are set at sedentary lifestyle, but are set at losing 2lbs/week and both have the exact same weight and height put in...so can anyone tell me why there is such a huge difference?

    Double check your stats in MFP...there really shouldn't be much difference. Are you sure you don't have MFP set to "maintain"...that looks like a maintenance number for the average sedentary female.

    Also check gender...1820 is in the neighborhood of a very common number the average male gets to lose about 1 - 2 Lbs per week depending on their starting weight.

    When most females set their goals at 2 lbs per week, pretty much MFP defaults to 1200 net...something is off in your inputs.
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
    I tried sparkpeople, I just didn't mesh well with it.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    I wonder if Sparkpeople is using TDEE instead of NEAT? I haven't been on there in ages and I honestly don't remember.

    OP, when Sparkpeople and MFP asked you how much exercise you planned to do per week, what did you input?
  • PMcLinn
    PMcLinn Posts: 27 Member
    hmm, I just checked my settings for MFP and it was set to female, wanting to lose 2 lbs, height and weight were correct, so I didn't change anything...but for giggles I hit 'update' and it changed it to 1560 calories on MFP. So maybe there was a cookie in my computer that didn't allow it to update last time? interesting, now I am off to delete cookies
  • Cathalain
    Cathalain Posts: 424 Member
    I also used SP for a very long time before I joined here - I'd lost a good deal of my excess weight through that service (but I still have more to take off, ugh).

    I also noticed a HUGE calorie difference - it's much more restrictive there than it is here and sometimes I do wonder if that's the reason I haven't seen as much progress since transitioning.

    I left there mainly because I got fed up with the cluttered, "Myspace"-like design of SP - clumsy interface, graphic-intensive, all of that just doesn't mesh well with my "minimalistic" personality. I like things clean and simple, and MFP does that. I also found that I would come here more often to look up calories for foods, anyway, so it made sense to me.

    They both work, though.
  • PMcLinn
    PMcLinn Posts: 27 Member
    I will most likely stick to MFP, I like their app SO much more, and I mainly use it, but I still make go to SP for recipes, etc. I was just curious about the huge difference in calories, but now that seems to have worked itself out (dang it, I was liking the thought of 1800 calories LOL)
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    PMcLinn wrote: »
    (dang it, I was liking the thought of 1800 calories LOL)

    You can still eat 1800 calories. Just target a more moderate rate of loss -- 1 or 1.5lbs/week instead of 2lbs/week. There's no deadline.

    Also, if you exercise, log your exercise and you'll earn more calories to eat back to stay at your deficit.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    edited February 2015
    I like the community here better, it's more active and easier to interact with.
  • nilbogger
    nilbogger Posts: 870 Member
    I remember the database being smaller and the forums being a little cornier. Like, people writing things like DS, DH, DD, etc. I liked the recipe section, though.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    I've used both. The numbers aren't that different for me.
    I find MFP easier and it has been more effective for me. I prefer the community here.
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
    The only thing that I liked about SparkPeople was that they have a calorie range instead of a set goal. What I didn't like when I used it was how inflated my FitBit calories seemed and there is no negative calorie option with it.

    I also think that MFP's format is a lot more organized and less cluttered making it easier to use.
  • Shy_Yogi
    Shy_Yogi Posts: 101 Member
    I've used both (and a few others, too)...and have found myself always returning to MFP. I started on here when it was just a plain webpage. I really like the simplicity of it...all the other bells and whistles gets in the way.
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
    I have a sp account. I stopped using it a week after I signed up. I prefer mfp. It's easier to work with, imo
  • JPW1990
    JPW1990 Posts: 2,424 Member
    I don't use the default recommendations from either site, because I think they're equally inaccurate. I have mine set to values I calculated based on a lot more info than they use, and override the defaults.

    As for comparing the sites, MFP is better if you just want bare basics, calories, fat, protein, carbs (net carbs if you use the 3rd party script to add that column). I have to keep track of iron, sodium, D and C, and I have up to a 40% discrepancy on iron and sodium between the two if I use things I don't enter myself. Higher on C, D isn't even an option here. Both databases are filled with bad entries, but the good entries on SP have more useful info than the good entries on MFP.

    TL;DR: use either site to track, but don't rely on their pre-entered info for anything, whether it's your goals or your tracking info.
  • ruggedshutter
    ruggedshutter Posts: 389 Member
    edited February 2015
    PMcLinn wrote: »
    ...now I am off to delete cookies

    I enjoy deleting cookies too...nom nom nom ;) BTW, I created an SP account and it's range hits the same here. I think it's using NEAT because there is an option for it to calculate your calories without exercise. Perhaps it uses both depending upon what options you use.
  • KHaverstick
    KHaverstick Posts: 308 Member
    Out of curiosity, I went back to look at my sparkpeople account. Blast from the past! I joined in Jan of 2006. I remember all the points you could get for doing various things. What do you do with all those points?
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,096 Member
    PMcLinn wrote: »
    hmm, I just checked my settings for MFP and it was set to female, wanting to lose 2 lbs, height and weight were correct, so I didn't change anything...but for giggles I hit 'update' and it changed it to 1560 calories on MFP. So maybe there was a cookie in my computer that didn't allow it to update last time? interesting, now I am off to delete cookies
    Wait! You can have cookies if they fit your macros. :D
  • FenTiger89
    FenTiger89 Posts: 49 Member
    edited February 2015
    I've tried SP and WW online, and MFP beats them both hands down. SP was way too 'busy' for me; I found all the badges and articles very distracting, which in turn made me not want to log in. WW online was okay in terms of logging in and tracking, but the forums/community were SO catty and b*tchy. Kind of takes away from the whole idea of supporting each other.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    If I remember right sparkpeople now defaults to the TDEE method that would explain the calorie difference.
  • determined24girl
    determined24girl Posts: 382 Member
    I signed up for SP in 2009, logged for one day and quit. lol There's way to much going on on SP. It was interesting going back and checking my stats though.
  • stormyview
    stormyview Posts: 81 Member
    I log on sparkpeople but read the forums here. I tried tracking using mfp, but it was harder for me to use for that purpose. At this point, I have tons of recipes and foods I've entered at SP, so tracking there just works better for me.
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