Will MFP adjust my calorie will Intake?

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I've lost 24 lbs and reached goal gradually on 1200 daily calories (which I think was originally set by MFP). Now on maintenance, I expected my calorie need to be adjusted, but no, it's still at 1200.
Will MFP suggest new daily cals or must I find it by trial and error (elderly sedentary female maintaining at 136 lbs.)?

Replies

  • areallycoolstory
    areallycoolstory Posts: 1,680 Member
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    congratulations on reaching your goal:-) that is a wonderful accomplishment. have you tried going into settings, scrolling to the bottom of the page, and changing your goal from losing to maintaining? best of luck going forward:-)
  • scottishagate
    scottishagate Posts: 12 Member
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    Thanks for praise. With MFP and Fitbit, it's been relatively easy. And yes, I already changed My Goal from Losing to Maintaining. But calories not changed up.
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
    edited February 2016
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    If you are 5' tall, then MFP probably assumes that is your number based on your age and weight. What you can always do is manually increase your daily goal by 50 calories every week and see if you are still maintaining.

    *Edited to include sedentary
  • scottishagate
    scottishagate Posts: 12 Member
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    I checked my declared height, it was wrongly set at 5'7". Corrected to 5'6", maybe that triggered MFP! As calories need now shows 1360. I will try that for a week or two, and see what happens.
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
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    I checked my declared height, it was wrongly set at 5'7". Corrected to 5'6", maybe that triggered MFP! As calories need now shows 1360. I will try that for a week or two, and see what happens.

    Sounds about right. Just remember, MFP gives you a starting point. Only you will truly know what you maintenance value is over time. Seeing that you have a fitbit, that might know much better than MFP.
  • scottishagate
    scottishagate Posts: 12 Member
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    I don't understand the Fitbit numbers, somehow they are set to dynamc - keep changing during the day which I find confusing. And FB is still showing 1200 in the phone app. Maybe that will finally change via syncing -although fully synced already on today's cals consumed and exercise.
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
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    I don't understand the Fitbit numbers, somehow they are set to dynamc - keep changing during the day which I find confusing. And FB is still showing 1200 in the phone app. Maybe that will finally change via syncing -although fully synced already on today's cals consumed and exercise.

    The fitbit numbers can be a little confusing for me too (I just look at the calories left number to figure out what I need to eat to stay in maintenance or my steps).

    The weekly/monthly reports are more important to me. I'm not sure exactly how to see it in the app but on the web you can look at your profile and it shows the average burn for the last 30 days. That will become a good representation of your maintenance number or what you might hear in the forums as your TDEE. You probably already get the fitbit weekly report that shows what your daily average is for last week. However, if you do things differently week over week that number may not be as good of a representation.

  • scottishagate
    scottishagate Posts: 12 Member
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    That was a good pointer! I found the average calorie intake on the app. Dashboard - click on calories - click the open square icon at the right. Shows a bar graph of average calories for 1 week, 1 month, 3 months and 1 year. Super display of trends that will really help.
  • scottishagate
    scottishagate Posts: 12 Member
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    But that is CALORIES CONSUMED, you mentioned BURN - where is that displayed?
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
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    That was a good pointer! I found the average calorie intake on the app. Dashboard - click on calories - click the open square icon at the right. Shows a bar graph of average calories for 1 week, 1 month, 3 months and 1 year. Super display of trends that will really help.

    You taught me something new. I didn't realize it showed the daily average in the corner because it only displays the 1st number of my ipad and not the full number. I click calories burned on my dashboard and followed your instructions and I saw the number. Do you have a calories burned on yours? I am guessing you have an android? I can take a look at my android backup phone if you aren't able to find it to see what you see.
  • scottishagate
    scottishagate Posts: 12 Member
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    Thanks I realise now, the Dashboard says "Calories BURNED, and those graphs are for expenditure. So if my weight is stable, I must keep my intake around that number. Very grateful!
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
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    Thanks I realise now, the Dashboard says "Calories BURNED, and those graphs are for expenditure. So if my weight is stable, I must keep my intake around that number. Very grateful!

    No problem, enjoy maintenance
  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
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    Its relative easy to know approx. your maintaining level.

    Look at your 2 to 3 months weight loss.
    Every pound lost is 3500 calories

    Example you ate 1200 daily the last 2 months.
    You lost those months 4 pounds....
    This means you ate 14000 less in 2 months what your maintaining level approx is.
    2 months is 60 days so you ate 233 calories under maintaining level ( 14000 divided by 60 days)

    Makes 1200 calories normally plus 233 calories = 1433 maintaining......Remember this is always an estimation.
    And i just took some numbers now. And this is without exercise.


    So for you it is take the total days of your calculation your loss and your calorie intake and do the math :) But upping it slowly is good and see where it ends It took me some time ( weeks with every time i upped) to find out.
    Last time i thought after 4 weeks oke its around here somewhere and i lost a whole pound again lol.
    When that happens i wait a bit with upping the calories to see if the range stays there or not.
    When it stays there and slowly it is going down i up again and weight for weeks.

    So it is the same game only you can eat more ;)
    Congratulations and good luck maintaining!

    95069916.png
  • scottishagate
    scottishagate Posts: 12 Member
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    Thanks for the numbers, it's the first time the'yve been explained so clearly! Now to look at my weight loss and do the math, loss has been slow so I suspect it won't take much to nudge me back in the wrong direction :-)