Trust the adjusted cal count after hitting goal?

mthomas635
mthomas635 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 22 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I just hit my goal yesterday (psyched!), and noticed that my allowable cal count went up about 380cals per day. So my Qs are, am I correct in that this thing auto adjusted for me to now maintain my goal weight? And can I trust this new number? It seems high! I'm 6'3" tall and lost 1lbs per week over the course of about 3 months(ish). Thx!

Replies

  • kristinels
    kristinels Posts: 315 Member
    Congratulations on reaching your goal! That's fantastic :) I'm wondering why it didn't give you back 500 calories a day. 1 lb per week is supposedly a 3500 calorie per week deficit, or around 500 calories per day. So to maintain, you'd think you'd get those back... Curious to see what others say.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    you have your own data to work with...that is more accurate than any calculator will every be...use your own data.
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
    kristinels wrote: »
    Congratulations on reaching your goal! That's fantastic :) I'm wondering why it didn't give you back 500 calories a day. 1 lb per week is supposedly a 3500 calorie per week deficit, or around 500 calories per day. So to maintain, you'd think you'd get those back... Curious to see what others say.

    If OP hasn't regularly inputted his new weight at each loss, then MFP might be compensating for this. Let's say he wasn't quite at goal yet, but entered into Goal section his new, lower weight. MFP would have lowered his calories. So I think this is 500 calories more, minus 120 perhaps unaccounted for throughout weightloss?

  • myfitnesspale3
    myfitnesspale3 Posts: 276 Member
    why trust when you can weigh yourself.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    If you were recently losing at 1lb/week then it's too low not too high.

    Try it - adjust (custom set goal) if your weight trends up or down over an extended period of time.
  • Pinnacle_IAO
    Pinnacle_IAO Posts: 608 Member
    edited August 2015
    sijomial wrote: »
    If you were recently losing at 1lb/week then it's too low not too high.

    Try it - adjust (custom set goal) if your weight trends up or down over an extended period of time.
    I had to perform some major tweaks in my journey. MFP can't account for our individual metabolism variables, so they spit out average numbers that get most people close.
    Through trial and error, I found my perfect "zone"...and so can you!
    Best of luck :)

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Pinnacle_Fitness wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    If you were recently losing at 1lb/week then it's too low not too high.

    Try it - adjust (custom set goal) if your weight trends up or down over an extended period of time.
    I had to perform some major tweaks in my journey. MFP can't account for our individual metabolism variables, so they spit out average numbers that get most people close.
    Through trial and error, I found my perfect "zone"...and so can you!
    Best of luck :)

    Completely agree - my numbers were always out by about 300 cals/day.
    The other big variable that calculators can't take into account is inaccuracies in food and exercise logging.

    Consistency, trial and error based on actual results over time is the way to go.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    If you were recently losing at 1lb/week then it's too low not too high.

    Try it - adjust (custom set goal) if your weight trends up or down over an extended period of time.

    This. You have to use your data. If you were losing 1 pound per week, then you should up it by 500 calories.

    Anyway. @sijomial taught me all that when i was going into maintenance.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    I manually entered my information and recalculated. It worked fine. Has for 3 years.
  • mk2fit
    mk2fit Posts: 730 Member
    When I hit maintenance, MFP upped my calories from 1200 to 1540. I kept losing a pound a week. I manually upped my calories to 1800 and seem to have settled into maintenance. Congrats and best wishes. By the way, when I upped my exercise, MFP lowered my calories to 1480!?!
  • 5stringjeff
    5stringjeff Posts: 790 Member
    Congrats! I'm 6'4", and one of the nicer things about being taller is having a higher maintenance calorie level!
  • griffinca2
    griffinca2 Posts: 672 Member
    Agree w/above; you will have to experiment on what works for you: cals/macros, etc. I had to adjust mine down for now anyway--kind of trial & error. BTW congrats on reaching your goal!! B)
  • pinkteapot3
    pinkteapot3 Posts: 157 Member
    MFP increased mine from 1,240 to 1,710 when I changed my goal from "lose 1lb a week" to "maintain weight". Four months in, I'm about to try increasing by 100 cals per day as I'm still losing weight, albeit very, very slowly.

    I'd try just trusting the system initially. Do what it says for a couple of months. If your weight has changed slightly, re-evaluate.
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
    nxd10 wrote: »
    I manually entered my information and recalculated. It worked fine. Has for 3 years.

    I with @nxd10!

    Because MFP is for the average person so whether you're taller than the average or shorter (me) MFP may not be the most accurate.

    For example MFP had set my maint cal to 1600 (@45 yo; 4'10") When I ran my TDEE on a separate calculator my maint cal was something like 1498. So essentially blindly following MFP I'd have been consuming more than my body needed which makes no sense at all.

    I annually rerun my TDEE on my bday because as we get older the BMR & TDEE will continue to change (decrease) so I highly recommend getting a second opinion using a separate calculator then use that as a starting point.

    Good luck!
  • rjsnau
    rjsnau Posts: 11 Member
    I am about to hit my goal and looking for advise. My though is to add 100 calories per week until I get an additional 400-500 over my current level and then adjust based on my actual weight fluctuation to hit a balance. My reason for this is to allow my body time to adjust to the higher calories after being restricted for 8 months and to ease into maintenance. I also figure this should help to hopefully lose another 1-2 pounds of fat so I settle right on my goal after I gain back some water weight. Any comments on this? Is this a good way to go vs just adding the calories all at once and not knowing if I am truly gaining weight or if it is just water? I have taken breaks during the past few months and notice I gain 2-4 pounds when I am on a break within a day I am guessing all of which is water.
  • kjurassic
    kjurassic Posts: 571 Member
    Rjsnau, that is exactly what I am going to do. I hit my goal,weight yesterday and maintenence calories seemed quite high to me. I'm going to increase by 100 calorie increments and see how it goes.
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