Do you use mfp calorie calculations or no?

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annmarie_gilman
annmarie_gilman Posts: 6
in Food and Nutrition
I'm new to this whole calorie counting thing, so I'm a tad confused. Do you use mpf calculations for calories? Eating around 1400 calories on days I'm working out doesn't seem enough to me.. maybe I'm missing something

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Are you logging your exercise? MFP is designed to eat back your exercise calories. The calories given for exercise may be exaggerated, so many people eat back just a portion (like 50-75% of their calories).
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    Are you logging your workouts and eating 50-75% back? If not that might be your "missing" piece.

    MFP gives me 1490 before exercise. Once my Fitbit adjustments (exercise + any extra activity MFP didn't account for already) get factored in, my total calorie intake ends up averaging out to be around 2000 calories.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    What did you choose for a weight loss goal? Most people choose 2 lb/week, simply because Hey, who wouldn't want to lose 2 lbs per week. But if you don't have a lot to lose, that may be entirely too agressive.
  • jennismagic
    jennismagic Posts: 243 Member
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    I'm wondering the same thing. I just changed my activity level, and MFP put me at 1,930 calories without exercise. I was barely able to eat the 1680 I started out with. It doesn't seem right.
  • annmarie_gilman
    annmarie_gilman Posts: 6
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    shadow2soul wrote: »
    Are you logging your workouts and eating 50-75% back? If not that might be your "missing" piece.

    MFP gives me 1490 before exercise. Once my Fitbit adjustments (exercise + any extra activity MFP didn't account for already) get factored in, my total calorie intake ends up averaging out to be around 2000 calories.

    Okay I didn't realize you eat back some of the calories you burn. Thanks for explaining!

  • annmarie_gilman
    annmarie_gilman Posts: 6
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    ceoverturf wrote: »
    What did you choose for a weight loss goal? Most people choose 2 lb/week, simply because Hey, who wouldn't want to lose 2 lbs per week. But if you don't have a lot to lose, that may be entirely too agressive.

    I chose 1 lb/wk because I'm just losing about 20 lbs.

  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    Glad you figured out the "eating back exercise calories" part.

    Also, back to the more general question of MFP calculations...many find the general activity levels are off on MFP and almost always erring on the side of less active.

    Using myself, for example...based on years of daily logging (while weighing and measuring) and consistent weigh-ins...I determined that despite having a totally sedentary desk job, I needed to set my activity level at "active" for the numbers to work...and this is *still* while eating back exercise calories.

    The important takeaway from all this is to set what seems like a reasonable calorie goal, accurately measure it by weighing and measuring as appropriate, consistently hit it for a sufficient period of time (say, 4-6 weeks), *and then evaluate your progress*. If you're losing too quickly/are struggling to adhere to the plan, then bump up your daily target. If you're not losing quickly enough/feel like you can handle a slightly higher deficit, then knock your daily target down a little. Then repeat the whole process over again...and again...and again...until you reach your goal (and then even after you reach your goal).

    TL;DR - more important than having the "correct" numbers is having numbers you can consistently hit...and then reevaluating your progress and making the necessary adjustments.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    annmarie_gilman wrote: »
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    What did you choose for a weight loss goal? Most people choose 2 lb/week, simply because Hey, who wouldn't want to lose 2 lbs per week. But if you don't have a lot to lose, that may be entirely too agressive.

    I chose 1 lb/wk because I'm just losing about 20 lbs.

    OK that sounds pretty good...although it's not going to be too much further down the road until even that might be too aggressive.

    Are you comfortable sharing your height and current weight? We could then get a better idea if the 1400 sounds resonable or not.

    Otherwise, yeah, be sure you're adding at least a portion of your exercise calories like others have pointed out.
  • annmarie_gilman
    annmarie_gilman Posts: 6
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    jofjltncb6 wrote: »
    Glad you figured out the "eating back exercise calories" part.

    Also, back to the more general question of MFP calculations...many find the general activity levels are off on MFP and almost always erring on the side of less active.

    Using myself, for example...based on years of daily logging (while weighing and measuring) and consistent weigh-ins...I determined that despite having a totally sedentary desk job, I needed to set my activity level at "active" for the numbers to work...and this is *still* while eating back exercise calories.

    The important takeaway from all this is to set what seems like a reasonable calorie goal, accurately measure it by weighing and measuring as appropriate, consistently hit it for a sufficient period of time (say, 4-6 weeks), *and then evaluate your progress*. If you're losing too quickly/are struggling to adhere to the plan, then bump up your daily target. If you're not losing quickly enough/feel like you can handle a slightly higher deficit, then knock your daily target down a little. Then repeat the whole process over again...and again...and again...until you reach your goal (and then even after you reach your goal).

    TL;DR - more important than having the "correct" numbers is having numbers you can consistently hit...and then reevaluating your progress and making the necessary adjustments.

    Thanks for the advice! I think I'm going to bump them up a bit and see if these numbers work and if not adjust as needed.

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