MFP or IIFYM ??
carolgrn
Posts: 657 Member
When I calculate on Mfp It gives me very low calories to eat.
I have heard so many good things about IIFYM - I tried the calculator on there and it suggests to eat a Bunch of calories! I am terrified to think about eating those many calories when I have been struggling to lose weight with the smaller amount of calories that Mfp suggests.
Any help or suggestions?
I have heard so many good things about IIFYM - I tried the calculator on there and it suggests to eat a Bunch of calories! I am terrified to think about eating those many calories when I have been struggling to lose weight with the smaller amount of calories that Mfp suggests.
Any help or suggestions?
0
Replies
-
MFP's goal doesn't include the calories burned from exercise. It's intended for you to log your exercise and eat those calories burned back.
IIFYM, if I recall correctly, does include the calories burned from exercise.
This is one reason why people see big differences between the two, but they are basically two different paths to the same destination.1 -
MFP takes into account how many lbs you want to lose per week. If you select 1lb or more it will give you very low calories. It's more realistic and easier not to burn out if you choice something like 0.5lb.
IIFYM is flexible dieting; more so a way of viewing what you can eat and paying attention to macros not just a specific calorie counting site (I know there is one, but it's playing off of the IIFYM outlook).
I calculated my TDEE/macros myself and compared it to MFP (and a few other sites). I made the adjustments on mfp and use mfp to count track my calories and follow IIFYM/flexible dieting. That has worked for me.
I'm sure there are other people that will comment that will be more helpful than I am.1 -
@janejellyroll is right. Eat back exercise calories with MFP. Calculate exercise calories into your daily total with IIFYM.
So what is right for you?
Do you have a pretty set exercise schedule? If yes, you could do IIFYM. If no, MFP.
I personally chose IIFYM because I don't like trying to guess how many calories I'm going to be eating in a day. It was like trying to hit a moving target. On a day I exercised, 2100 calories. On a day I didn't, 1600. Because I exercise in the evening, that means I had to make up calories at the end of the day. I personally did not like that. With IIFYM, I have a set calorie number to hit every day. It doesn't matter what exercise I did that day. I can pre-log my food and not have to make a lot of adjustments.
Ultimately, @carolgrn, find what works for you. Everyone is different. Good luck!0 -
Two totally different methods. Same destination. But you are having problems with MFP because??? I saw on your profile the progress you had been making on MFP, have you stalled or has it slowed down????
If you are having trouble following MFP, perhaps you need to reassess your calories like logging, and/or eating back too many calories burned from exercise..
I say try it, I am not trying to loose, but I now follow it for a new set of goals, and you might like the set number calorie goal to hit each day.
0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »MFP's goal doesn't include the calories burned from exercise. It's intended for you to log your exercise and eat those calories burned back.
IIFYM, if I recall correctly, does include the calories burned from exercise.
This is one reason why people seem big differences between the two, but they are basically two different paths to the same destination.
This.
The other big difference is if you are asking MFP for 2 lb/week. For example, if your maintenance is 1800 without exercise and you ask MFP for 2 lb/week, you--like most women--will get 1200 (can't go lower).
If your maintenance without exercise is 1800, but you do on average 300 calories of exercise per day, your maintenance on IIFYM will be 2100. Then their formula is -20% (if you take the most aggressive), which for most women is around 1 lb/week (in my example it's a bit less). 2100-210=1890.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »MFP's goal doesn't include the calories burned from exercise. It's intended for you to log your exercise and eat those calories burned back.
IIFYM, if I recall correctly, does include the calories burned from exercise.
This is one reason why people see big differences between the two, but they are basically two different paths to the same destination.
I did not know that MFP includes calories burned from exercise. I don't try to eat back calories burned since there is no 100% guarantee on that number. I got a Polar watch in hopes that I could become more accurate - but since have had many people state that the numbers are not accurate. When I'm having a hard day I do eat calories burned back.
I tried the IIFYM suggestion of "macrotracker.com" - It's extremely hard to log food. Almost all the food I tried to log was not in their system. Nor do they have a good questions area.0 -
Jackie0Marie wrote: »MFP takes into account how many lbs you want to lose per week. If you select 1lb or more it will give you very low calories. It's more realistic and easier not to burn out if you choice something like 0.5lb.
IIFYM is flexible dieting; more so a way of viewing what you can eat and paying attention to macros not just a specific calorie counting site (I know there is one, but it's playing off of the IIFYM outlook).
I calculated my TDEE/macros myself and compared it to MFP (and a few other sites). I made the adjustments on mfp and use mfp to count track my calories and follow IIFYM/flexible dieting. That has worked for me.
I'm sure there are other people that will comment that will be more helpful than I am.
This is one reason I am still trying to research or figure out the way IIFYM works. I did not understand it to be "flexible dieting"
I also calculated TDEE and came up with a large number
I am very confused
I thought the idea was to exercise more calories than are eaten in a day.
0 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »@janejellyroll is right. Eat back exercise calories with MFP. Calculate exercise calories into your daily total with IIFYM.
So what is right for you?
Do you have a pretty set exercise schedule? If yes, you could do IIFYM. If no, MFP.
I personally chose IIFYM because I don't like trying to guess how many calories I'm going to be eating in a day. It was like trying to hit a moving target. On a day I exercised, 2100 calories. On a day I didn't, 1600. Because I exercise in the evening, that means I had to make up calories at the end of the day. I personally did not like that. With IIFYM, I have a set calorie number to hit every day. It doesn't matter what exercise I did that day. I can pre-log my food and not have to make a lot of adjustments.
Ultimately, @carolgrn, find what works for you. Everyone is different. Good luck!
I have my daily exercise set at sedentary since if I am not "working out" in some fashion I am sitting. (I have arthritis at the base of my toes, plantar fascitis(sp?), also recently learned that arthritis in my lower back and hips. My feet usually hurt if I am on them too long.) - When I work out and have expended calories burned I do anywhere from 500 to well over 1,000 calories - - So - I am extremely up and down on exercise numbers.
"I personally chose IIFYM because I don't like trying to guess how many calories I'm going to be eating in a day. It was like trying to hit a moving target. On a day I exercised, 2100 calories. On a day I didn't, 1600. Because I exercise in the evening, that means I had to make up calories at the end of the day." {This totally confuses me}
"With IIFYM, I have a set calorie number to hit every day. It doesn't matter what exercise I did that day." {I have a set calorie number on MFP (I thought everyone does) and I just log whatever exercise I do each day and hope to end up with green numbers at the end of the day.}0 -
Two totally different methods. Same destination. But you are having problems with MFP because??? I saw on your profile the progress you had been making on MFP, have you stalled or has it slowed down????
If you are having trouble following MFP, perhaps you need to reassess your calories like logging, and/or eating back too many calories burned from exercise..
I say try it, I am not trying to loose, but I now follow it for a new set of goals, and you might like the set number calorie goal to hit each day.
I was having great success until Feb and since then I have been fighting to keep weight 175-178lbs (up and down). I thought I would try to reassess my physical profile and see if it made a difference. It did and even though I did not want to save the change - it altered my daily food diary information.
I tried a different area to update and it also made a change to my food diary calories even though I did not want to save the information. Now I'm not sure what system I'm working off of.
I have been working toward a calorie number on MFP and thought the goal was to exercise and always have green numbers at the end of the day.
I no longer have a clue. The more I research this information - the more I get confused and anxious which makes me want to give up. I feel like I get no where when I'm trying to research what to do to make myself better (and I make myself feel worse).0 -
whatever makes it easiest to get the job done.1
-
lemurcat12 wrote: »The other big difference is if you are asking MFP for 2 lb/week. For example, if your maintenance is 1800 without exercise and you ask MFP for 2 lb/week, you--like most women--will get 1200 (can't go lower).
If your maintenance without exercise is 1800, but you do on average 300 calories of exercise per day, your maintenance on IIFYM will be 2100. Then their formula is -20% (if you take the most aggressive), which for most women is around 1 lb/week (in my example it's a bit less). 2100-210=1890.
I have no idea what my maintenance would be. I have researched the various information about "TDEE: (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) = Sum of the above. BMR+EAT+NEAT+TEF" and the message boards multiple attempts to make people understand the "exercise calories back" question. I just seem to be getting more and more confused.0 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »whatever makes it easiest to get the job done.
Right now I'm not getting the job done.
When I work with trainer I do everything including cardio, balance, core, body strength, strength machines, mixes - everything.
When I have calorie burn on my own time, for weeks now has been (called) 'gardening' -What it is doing is burning tons of calories trimming trees including yanking, bending, strength, exertion on all levels (tiring and sweaty!) and some time and been hauling rocks of all sizes and weights (heavy crap! that wears you out and makes you sweat buckets!)
I have eaten gluten free (continually) since Jan 2009. Have 'watched' what I eat for Years and years. Used to eat breakfast then 2 salads and grilled meat a day and walk 3miles on a treadmill. That did absolutely No good. I got no where. Have cut down on dairy to only yogurt and occasional cheese. Take probiotics do cleansings. I eat very little to none of gf pastas and baked items. Drink extremely little alcohol. Increase amount of protein than I used to consume. Almost never eat rice, beans, corn, potatoes.
0 -
Enter your stats into MFP
Sync your polar to MFP
Start by eating back 50% of your exercise calories. Do this for at least 4 weeks.
Make sure you weigh everything you eat with an electronic food scale, then enter it all in your diary honestly and accurately.
My head hurts after reading your posts, you're making this way harder than it should be.1 -
Christine_72 wrote: »Enter your stats into MFP
Sync your polar to MFP
Start by eating back 50% of your exercise calories. Do this for at least 4 weeks.
Make sure you weigh everything you eat with an electronic food scale, then enter it all in your diary honestly and accurately.
My head hurts after reading your posts, you're making this way harder than it should be.
My Polar does not sync to MFP - I use a laptop not a smartphone or tablet
I weigh with a gram/ounces digital scale
Yes - I do feel as though it has become WAY too hard. Suppose to have extra calories burned than the calories that go in your mouth and you lose weight. Except it's not happening that way. - - Hence my researching these various outlets.0 -
No the idea is to eat less than your TDEE or total daily energy expenditure which includes your BMR, daily activity and exercise. It would be ludicrous to exercise at least 1200+ calories a day.
IIFYM goes by TDEE. MFP doesn't include exercise calories unless you sync a device to MFP or add the exercise calories in yourself.
I find it easier to just add in the exercise to MFPs number and then eat around 50% of those exercise calories back (if you use the myfitnesspal exercise database). If you add exercise and the calories from a device such as fitbit, you could eat more of those calories back.
0 -
Carol look up what your BMR is, Basal Metabolic rate. This is how much your body burns just to keep you alive, aka what you would burn lying in bed all day. Mine is 1450 calories, this is before walking one step.
Many people think that if their TDEE is 2000 for example, then they have to burn more than that everyday through exercise to lose weight, which would be pretty much impossible for the average person.1 -
Nope. That's actually a scary thought, since 1 hr cardio session is 400 calories for me if I'm lucky and weight lifting is a lot less. I can't even imagine trying to eat under that.Jackie0Marie wrote: »MFP takes into account how many lbs you want to lose per week. If you select 1lb or more it will give you very low calories. It's more realistic and easier not to burn out if you choice something like 0.5lb.
IIFYM is flexible dieting; more so a way of viewing what you can eat and paying attention to macros not just a specific calorie counting site (I know there is one, but it's playing off of the IIFYM outlook).
I calculated my TDEE/macros myself and compared it to MFP (and a few other sites). I made the adjustments on mfp and use mfp to count track my calories and follow IIFYM/flexible dieting. That has worked for me.
I'm sure there are other people that will comment that will be more helpful than I am.
This is one reason I am still trying to research or figure out the way IIFYM works. I did not understand it to be "flexible dieting"
I also calculated TDEE and came up with a large number
I am very confused
I thought the idea was to exercise more calories than are eaten in a day.
Exercise only accounts for a very small portion of the calories you burn in the day (unless you are exercising for hours a day or training for something).
To lose weight you need to eat less than your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) or all the calories your body burns in a day. Your body burns calories even at rest (BMR) just to keep your heart pumping and other organs functioning properly. Then daily activity burns calories on top of that. After that you have exercise, which for most people will only be a tiny fraction of the calories you burn in a day.
MFP basis your goal off of your BMR (based on stats you input) + activity level selection calories. It then subtracts the deficit you wanted from that number to give you a goal that you will lose weight at WITHOUT exercise. When you exercise, you eat the exercise calories so that you maintain the deficit you selected and your deficit doesn't get to large (to large of a deficit can be hard to sustain, result in lots of lean body mass loss, lead to fatigue and possibly even being hangry a lot).
Basically MFP doesn't give you credit for your workouts until you actually do them. This is a great method for someone who's workouts aren't predictable. This means on days you workout, you eat more than on days you don't.
IIFYM calculator includes exercise. This means it's calorie goal is dependent on you being honest about your daily activity level and honest about your exercise (amount, intensity). It will give you a calorie goal higher than MFP's because it takes into account exercise where MFP does NOT. This gives you a constant goal everyday.
When averaged out (if a reasonable rate of loss was selected on MFP), your MFP calories to consume will come out pretty close to IIFYM's.1 -
Christine_72 wrote: »Carol look up what your BMR is, Basal Metabolic rate. This is how much your body burns just to keep you alive, aka what you would burn lying in bed all day. Mine is 1450 calories, this is before walking one step.
Many people think that if their TDEE is 2000 for example, then they have to burn more than that everyday through exercise to lose weight, which would be pretty much impossible for the average person.
What is a reliable way to determine BMR? Is it with a website or particular calculator? Does alter as weight is lost or gained?0 -
shadow2soul wrote: »Nope. That's actually a scary thought, since 1 hr cardio session is 400 calories for me if I'm lucky and weight lifting is a lot less. I can't even imagine trying to eat under that.
Exercise only accounts for a very small portion of the calories you burn in the day (unless you are exercising for hours a day or training for something).
To lose weight you need to eat less than your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) or all the calories your body burns in a day. Your body burns calories even at rest (BMR) just to keep your heart pumping and other organs functioning properly. Then daily activity burns calories on top of that. After that you have exercise, which for most people will only be a tiny fraction of the calories you burn in a day.
MFP basis your goal off of your BMR (based on stats you input) + activity level selection calories. It then subtracts the deficit you wanted from that number to give you a goal that you will lose weight at WITHOUT exercise. When you exercise, you eat the exercise calories so that you maintain the deficit you selected and your deficit doesn't get to large (to large of a deficit can be hard to sustain, result in lots of lean body mass loss, lead to fatigue and possibly even being hangry a lot).
Basically MFP doesn't give you credit for your workouts until you actually do them. This is a great method for someone who's workouts aren't predictable. This means on days you workout, you eat more than on days you don't.
IIFYM calculator includes exercise. This means it's calorie goal is dependent on you being honest about your daily activity level and honest about your exercise (amount, intensity). It will give you a calorie goal higher than MFP's because it takes into account exercise where MFP does NOT. This gives you a constant goal everyday.
When averaged out (if a reasonable rate of loss was selected on MFP), your MFP calories to consume will come out pretty close to IIFYM's.
After reading this it makes sense that I obviously either mis-spoke, misunderstood, or didn't explain myself well. A better way to explain what I thought was that I eat my calories MFP has designated and tried to have my green finishing number the number of my exercise calories burned for that day.
No matter - this is a very helpful explanation. I was not aware that when you input your daily exercise and the calories change that it was truly for the reason of being food to be eaten.
So - Once I add in exercise for the day how do I determine how many of those calories I should eat?
I input my calories burned from my Polar watch (assuming it is more accurate than MFP)0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »Carol look up what your BMR is, Basal Metabolic rate. This is how much your body burns just to keep you alive, aka what you would burn lying in bed all day. Mine is 1450 calories, this is before walking one step.
Many people think that if their TDEE is 2000 for example, then they have to burn more than that everyday through exercise to lose weight, which would be pretty much impossible for the average person.
What is a reliable way to determine BMR? Is it with a website or particular calculator? Does alter as weight is lost or gained?
It's a calculator, it will give you your TDEE and BMR . This one is popular.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
The most basic explanation on how to lose weight is to eat below your TDEE, but above your BMR.
I simply rely on mfp to give me my calorie goals. My exercise isn't consistent enough day in day out to go with IIFYM/TDEE.
It would help you immensely if you had an activity tracker that synced with mfp, then all you'd need to do is set and forget. Let the program here do the math for you
0 -
IF your polar activity tracker syncs via your pc then it should be syncing via their polar flow service, yes? If so then you should still be able to link your polar account to MFP and it should sync across when you sync your tracker on your pc.0
-
IF your polar activity tracker syncs via your pc then it should be syncing via their polar flow service, yes? If so then you should still be able to link your polar account to MFP and it should sync across when you sync your tracker on your pc.
Scrub that, on further examination it looks like you can only sync via iOS which is mad that they still haven't sorted it all out.
0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »The other big difference is if you are asking MFP for 2 lb/week. For example, if your maintenance is 1800 without exercise and you ask MFP for 2 lb/week, you--like most women--will get 1200 (can't go lower).
If your maintenance without exercise is 1800, but you do on average 300 calories of exercise per day, your maintenance on IIFYM will be 2100. Then their formula is -20% (if you take the most aggressive), which for most women is around 1 lb/week (in my example it's a bit less). 2100-210=1890.
I have no idea what my maintenance would be. I have researched the various information about "TDEE: (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) = Sum of the above. BMR+EAT+NEAT+TEF" and the message boards multiple attempts to make people understand the "exercise calories back" question. I just seem to be getting more and more confused.
What did you tell MFP you want to lose and what is your goal per week? If you get 1200, what do you get with a lower weekly goal (i.e., if that's for 2 lb, what do you get for 1 lb)?
What is your IIFYM number (and am I right that it's a deficit of 20%)?
From these I can tell your maintenance.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »The other big difference is if you are asking MFP for 2 lb/week. For example, if your maintenance is 1800 without exercise and you ask MFP for 2 lb/week, you--like most women--will get 1200 (can't go lower).
If your maintenance without exercise is 1800, but you do on average 300 calories of exercise per day, your maintenance on IIFYM will be 2100. Then their formula is -20% (if you take the most aggressive), which for most women is around 1 lb/week (in my example it's a bit less). 2100-210=1890.
I have no idea what my maintenance would be. I have researched the various information about "TDEE: (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) = Sum of the above. BMR+EAT+NEAT+TEF" and the message boards multiple attempts to make people understand the "exercise calories back" question. I just seem to be getting more and more confused.
What did you tell MFP you want to lose and what is your goal per week? If you get 1200, what do you get with a lower weekly goal (i.e., if that's for 2 lb, what do you get for 1 lb)?
What is your IIFYM number (and am I right that it's a deficit of 20%)?
From these I can tell your maintenance.
It can be 15, 20, or 25% cut, you get to pick. The recommended is a 20% cut I believe.0 -
Listen to your body. Start with the TDEE calculated using IIFYM. Reduce that by 10-20%, depending on how aggressive you want to be. Track your weight. If you're not losing, reduce calories by another 10% and go from there...1
-
lemurcat12 wrote: »What did you tell MFP you want to lose and what is your goal per week? If you get 1200, what do you get with a lower weekly goal (i.e., if that's for 2 lb, what do you get for 1 lb)?
What is your IIFYM number (and am I right that it's a deficit of 20%)?
From these I can tell your maintenance.
1lb is what I set it for which came out to 1240
IIFYM.com website stated at 175lbs - 1400 suggested calories - BMR 1385 - TDEE 17210 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »What did you tell MFP you want to lose and what is your goal per week? If you get 1200, what do you get with a lower weekly goal (i.e., if that's for 2 lb, what do you get for 1 lb)?
What is your IIFYM number (and am I right that it's a deficit of 20%)?
From these I can tell your maintenance.
1lb is what I set it for which came out to 1240
IIFYM.com website stated at 175lbs - 1400 suggested calories - BMR 1385 - TDEE 1721
So what this means is that MFP is estimating that WITHOUT exercise your maintenance is 1740. (Are you in as sedentary?)
It looks like you did not tell IIFYM that you exercise, so it is estimating your maintenance without exercise as 1721 -- pretty much the same.
The difference is that IIFYM usually does 20% (as mentioned by someone else above you can pick a different number if you prefer), and so that's a smaller cut (344 calories vs. 500).
The numbers are essentially the same.
If you are exercising I'd include that in the IIFYM estimate or add it back when you do it on MFP. I used to use TDEE method (basically IIFYM, but a different calculator) to get a goal and then subtract 500.0 -
[/quote]lemurcat12 wrote: »What did you tell MFP you want to lose and what is your goal per week? If you get 1200, what do you get with a lower weekly goal (i.e., if that's for 2 lb, what do you get for 1 lb)?
What is your IIFYM number (and am I right that it's a deficit of 20%)?
From these I can tell your maintenance.
Just requested information again for 174lbs (scale said 173.6lbs mid day prior to workout)
IIFYM.com website stated at 174lbs - 1392 suggested calories - BMR 1381 - TDEE 17170 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »What did you tell MFP you want to lose and what is your goal per week? If you get 1200, what do you get with a lower weekly goal (i.e., if that's for 2 lb, what do you get for 1 lb)?
What is your IIFYM number (and am I right that it's a deficit of 20%)?
From these I can tell your maintenance.
Just requested information from http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
174lbs - 1399 suggested calories - BMR 1457 - TDEE 1749
All these are based on sedentary lifestyle since I normally am. When I do go to the gym or workout it is working my butt off - which I guess means I Do need to eat more on those days that I intense workout.
0 -
Listen to your body. Start with the TDEE calculated using IIFYM. Reduce that by 10-20%, depending on how aggressive you want to be. Track your weight. If you're not losing, reduce calories by another 10% and go from there...
^ what he said
I really think you're overthinking this
It comes down to the fact that you aren't burning more than you consume. Everyone has to experiment some to get to a number that works for them. On top of that you have to be as accurate as possible with your "calories in" since as you mentioned, the "calories out" part of the equation is always a ballpark figure.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions