Confused - MyFitnessPal versus USDA

pixiechick8321
pixiechick8321 Posts: 284 Member
edited September 28 in Food and Nutrition
Hi all,

So I track very carefully on the myfitnesspal app....but I really want to just eat the correct recommendations of foods from USDA. However, I noticed that tends to give me a ton more calories.

For example, I took a sample day of food and put it into both -

Myfitnesspal: 1620 calories (ie, 70 OVER my limit)
USDA MyPlate: 1316 - AND I'm still 1.5 oz under my protein limit

So what's going on here? Is the USDA site just too general and thus under estimates? Should I just track food groups, irregardless of calories? (I'm in maintenance mode here)

Basically, a whole week's worth of food run through the MyPlate site results in me being way under every day, both on calories and on meeting the limits - but the same food would be putting me way over if I put it into the app. So what should I do?

And additionally, how am I supposed to accurately know the amount of calories needed to maintain (short of gaining or losing and then adjusting - that takes awhile!) - USDA says 1800 if I'm not active and 2000 if I am (I try to work out 3 times a week for 30m-60m each time). The MyFitnessPal app is giving me 1550 and I have gotten numbers between those at other places (1600, 1623, 1686, etc). What should I go by WITHOUT having a weight fluctuation issue?

Thanks everyone!!

Replies

  • Kristhin
    Kristhin Posts: 442 Member
    The USDA is the department of agriculture, i.e. they are the people who make sure you buy what food they tell you too.
    They're going get you to eat as much as they can, don't trust them. They've been feeding people lies for years and holding
    back research that will let people know the food pyramid is wrong.
    There are worker affidavits of former employees where they were specifically told that their scientific data was not allowed
    to conclude certain things or else said things would never be published.
  • MrsRobertson1005
    MrsRobertson1005 Posts: 552 Member
    wow that it really interesting! I know as far as tracking goes, myfitnesspal is pretty accurate and you can look to make sure the numbers are correct so I'd go with that. I'm curious about the answer to the other part too
  • Barneystinson
    Barneystinson Posts: 1,357 Member
    The USDA overstates needs of both food groups and does little to give information about proper caloric intake.

    I vote MFP.
  • ShinySpork
    ShinySpork Posts: 28 Member
    I'd like to know the answer to this too! I'm in maintenance mode too but my current setup on MFP is NOT resulting in maintenance...
  • cpauscher
    cpauscher Posts: 41
    The new USDA guidelines are 1/4 of your plate is protein, 1/4 carbs/startches and 1/2 fruits and veggies. If you are eating healthy and maintaining your weight and your clothes still fit ok, you're on the right track. Every place you look will have different guidelines. Whatever "diet" you use, just make sure you're getting everything you need to be healthy. Good luck with your journey. Keep up the good work.
    Cathy P.
  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,526 Member
    There are several online calculators out there that will give reccommendations for calorie intake to gain, lose, or maintain. This site will suggest calories for maintenance as well. I think it is in the tools section. I found that the number that My Fitness Pal says is my maintenance number is too high. The number that worked for me is from freedieting.com Just look around online and use several, and then go with the one that seems to be most common. You'll still have to change it after a few weeks, when you have either gained or lost, but it should give you a good starting point.
  • pixiechick8321
    pixiechick8321 Posts: 284 Member
    There are several online calculators out there that will give reccommendations for calorie intake to gain, lose, or maintain. This site will suggest calories for maintenance as well. I think it is in the tools section. I found that the number that My Fitness Pal says is my maintenance number is too high. The number that worked for me is from freedieting.com Just look around online and use several, and then go with the one that seems to be most common. You'll still have to change it after a few weeks, when you have either gained or lost, but it should give you a good starting point.

    Thanks Tiger! I don't really want to have to move around, but it sounds like there's not another option. Right now I've been slowly dropping (went from like 117 to 113.6 a few months ago, now moved to about 112.8 in the last month) and I don't know if it's because I've started working out again or I need to up my calories. I also am trying harder to eat healthier and weigh/measure EVERYTHING (possible anyway) - I guess I could bump up and see if I stop going down/start going up.

    The other tricky thing is that my husband is also working on tracking and watching what he eats. But he's trying to lose weight. So right now he's eating 1600 a day and working out. I'm at 1550 and working out and slowly dropping. But I don't know if my bumping up to 1600 would make sense, or if it would possibly upset him if I eat the same/more...

    Any hints anyone about being on a different "foodstyle" plan then your spouse??
  • enchanted428
    enchanted428 Posts: 8
    funny you just posted this because I compared todays weight watchers journal to todays myfitness journal and there EXACTLY the same! Both Fitness and Weight Watchers want me to eat the same amount of calories! I say stick with this, I personally lost 75 lbs on weight watchers!
  • TAWoody
    TAWoody Posts: 261 Member
    Every site and calorie tracking program is going to be a little different. If you're really serious about it then simply get the results from a few sites and take the average of them all to determine what you should be eating. If you're not as serious about it simply use the site that's easiest to use (probably this one)
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