Help with boyfriends logic

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jackslovely
jackslovely Posts: 45 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all! I've been reading through post daily and im sure i have a pretty good understanding of how things work when it comes to activity level and how MFP translate to burned calories that are synced from my UP2.

Now my boyfriend, who is 5'9" and weighs about 180ish has a very active job, he is a car tech and is pretty much running around all day where as i have a desk job and sit for 10 hours a day working. He has his MFP set as sedentary so and then manually changed his calories to 1200.. i know i know the least amount for a male is 1500. I did get on him about this how its not healthy but he likes the pace he is losing so seeing those quick results has him stuck on staying at 1200.

He doesn't have anything synced to MFP but will add exercise of "walking at a brisk pace" for 6 hours and that gives him about 1,100 extra calories, which i know MFP over estimates also.

I tried telling him that since his activity level isn't correct on MFP that he isn't getting a correct amount. Am I right about this?

Also, since he is so active all day, every day, wouldn't his body be used to this activity so would that be part of his usual TDEE?
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Replies

  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    So he then eats 2300?
    Why is he then wrong?
  • jackslovely
    jackslovely Posts: 45 Member
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    Sorry, he doesn't eat any burned calories back. so really only eats 1200 if that
  • johnnylakis
    johnnylakis Posts: 812 Member
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    1,200 is fine for male or female. There are people around the world who eat less
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    jackslovely wrote: »
    Sorry, he doesn't eat any burned calories back. so really only eats 1200 if that

    Well, he's going to crash and burn.
    Or his logging is off and he eats more.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I'm assuming you are dating a fully functioning adult. If that is the case, my opinion is to not spend time worrying or thinking about this. In the long term he will adjust his intake as needed based on results, whether they are exhaustion or hunger or anything else.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    edited March 2016
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    johnnylakis wrote: »
    1,200 is fine for male or female. There are people around the world who eat less

    If he's only eating 1200 but burning about twice as much, he's going to be losing quite a bit of muscle and risking other health issues due to lack of nutrients. So no, it isn't fine.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    I tried telling him that since his activity level isn't correct on MFP that he isn't getting a correct amount. Am I right about this?


    Does it matter? He's a man. Let him fail on his own. Lead by example, live your own life, and offer suggestions and advice if he asks for it. Otherwise, let him make his own mistakes and learn from them.
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
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    You could arguably do it either way... either by setting your lifestyle to active and getting more calories initially, or by setting it to sedentary and then logging exercise. the effect should be more or less the same. But if he is doing the later, then syncing a tracker to MFP would probably be more accurate since i sincerely doubt that he walks at a brisk pace for six hours straight.

    1200 is too low for a man, but since he is probably way overestimating his exercise by calling it straight up walking, its probably balancing out in the end anyways. If he's eating too little, then he will know it soon because he will start losing lean muscle mass, which, in an active job, you will notice quickly, since you will be dragging your tail all day, but since he seems bound and determined to do it his way, just letting him figure it out for himself might be your only option. Men are stubborn like that.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I suspect he doesn't log accurately and he is eating more than he thinks.

    Men do lose faster than women...unless he starts complaining about being tired etc leave him be...

    You can be happy or right you pick.
  • LazSommer
    LazSommer Posts: 1,851 Member
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    People don't learn until they fail or succeed.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    johnnylakis wrote: »
    1,200 is fine for male or female. There are people around the world who eat less

    Absolute and nutritionally incorrect.

    shaking_head_breaking_bad.gif

  • King_Spicy
    King_Spicy Posts: 821 Member
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    I've been eating 1200 (on days if no exercise) calories for the past few weeks. I do eat back calories lost, though. I changed the macro percentages to match a different diet, but I've had tons of energy and find myself waking up easier in the morning than ever. I do indeed lead a sedentary lifestyle though where I sit in a chair for 16 hours out of a day between work and school.

    I would just change it to lightly active for his lifestyle, but other than that, there is nothing horrible about 1200. In general, adult men only need 1200-1300 at a minimum (not calculating in any factors). However, 1800 is probably a more healthy limit.
  • marthall
    marthall Posts: 96 Member
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    My initial thought was 1200 for a Man is not sustainable but If he is happy eating 1200 a day then his main risk is muscle loss due to Catabolism. I try and do some resistance training as this has been shown to be effective at preventing this. Since I try and eat low carb I sometimes find I can eat less without an issue, but this is usually about 1600 per day. I personally would continue with 1200 if I felt ok (not feeling overly tired) and lifted weights.

    Also, do remember that Cal estimates are not particularly accurate, it's as much the mindfulness as the actual numbers that matter.

    Good luck
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    I suspect he doesn't log accurately and he is eating more than he thinks.

    Men do lose faster than women...unless he starts complaining about being tired etc leave him be...

    You can be happy or right you pick.

    Too right.

    I will make mashed potatoes, use the recipe builder, and they will be 200 something calories per serving. My husband will pick a random 120 calorie entry to log it. He gets plenty of calories and still loses. NBD. If he ever stalls and asks for help I will suggest better logging but until then who cares?
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
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    xSPICYx wrote: »
    I've been eating 1200 (on days if no exercise) calories for the past few weeks. I do eat back calories lost, though. I changed the macro percentages to match a different diet, but I've had tons of energy and find myself waking up easier in the morning than ever. I do indeed lead a sedentary lifestyle though where I sit in a chair for 16 hours out of a day between work and school.

    I would just change it to lightly active for his lifestyle, but other than that, there is nothing horrible about 1200. In general, adult men only need 1200-1300 at a minimum (not calculating in any factors). However, 1800 is probably a more healthy limit.

    Are you a hobbit? No? Then 1200 is not enough. 1200 is not enough for me, and I'm female.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    edited March 2016
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    jackslovely wrote: »
    I tried telling him that since his activity level isn't correct on MFP that he isn't getting a correct amount. Am I right about this?

    Yes, you are and it seems like he is under eating. If his diet is particularly tight he may just be able to cover his nutritional bases but it is high unlikely he is getting enough calories.

    As you probably know the way TDEE is normally estimated is to take BMR and apply the relevant activity factor or break it down into (it's been a while since I thought of this so apologies if I miss something out: BMR plus energy cost of digestion plus non exercise daily activity plus exercise. Then from that number (TDEE) you deduct 500 cals a day or so on depending on goals.

    He seems to have bypassed a proportion of TDEE and in particular the energy cost of digestion in coming to his figures (presuming he also does no additional exercise.)

  • jackslovely
    jackslovely Posts: 45 Member
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    Thanks everyone...just wanted to get some feedback.

    Ya'll are great!
  • King_Spicy
    King_Spicy Posts: 821 Member
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    CassidyScaglione wrote: »
    xSPICYx wrote: »
    I've been eating 1200 (on days if no exercise) calories for the past few weeks. I do eat back calories lost, though. I changed the macro percentages to match a different diet, but I've had tons of energy and find myself waking up easier in the morning than ever. I do indeed lead a sedentary lifestyle though where I sit in a chair for 16 hours out of a day between work and school.

    I would just change it to lightly active for his lifestyle, but other than that, there is nothing horrible about 1200. In general, adult men only need 1200-1300 at a minimum (not calculating in any factors). However, 1800 is probably a more healthy limit.

    Are you a hobbit? No? Then 1200 is not enough. 1200 is not enough for me, and I'm female.

    Ew, no. I'm a silvan elf
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    xSPICYx wrote: »
    I've been eating 1200 (on days if no exercise) calories for the past few weeks. I do eat back calories lost, though. I changed the macro percentages to match a different diet, but I've had tons of energy and find myself waking up easier in the morning than ever. I do indeed lead a sedentary lifestyle though where I sit in a chair for 16 hours out of a day between work and school.

    I would just change it to lightly active for his lifestyle, but other than that, there is nothing horrible about 1200. In general, adult men only need 1200-1300 at a minimum (not calculating in any factors). However, 1800 is probably a more healthy limit.

    This is a big NO on the 1200 - 1300 calories for a man.

    Men in general are hardheaded. Today is my 15th anniversary so I think I can say I know this by experience.

    Wait for the crash and burn, wait for the complaints on not having enough energy, having brain fog, tired, perhaps getting cold symptoms, etc... It will happen, it will take a while but it will.

    When this happens you can be RIGHT, but for now, just let it be.
  • AmandaOmega
    AmandaOmega Posts: 70 Member
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    rainbowbow wrote: »
    I tried telling him that since his activity level isn't correct on MFP that he isn't getting a correct amount. Am I right about this?


    Does it matter? He's a man. Let him fail on his own. Lead by example, live your own life, and offer suggestions and advice if he asks for it. Otherwise, let him make his own mistakes and learn from them.

    I have this attitude in general about people. I try to offer advice, but if they don't want it, I'm not going to waste my time trying to persuade them to listen to me. Just let him do what he thinks is right and if it doesn't work, then maybe he'll consider changing what he's doing or asking for your input.

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