Are the MyFitnessPal calorie and weight projections actually accurate?

purpletunic · October 2016

I'm on a 1200 calorie plan. I am 55 calories over that in food for the day. Before I added the food that put me over, it was saying in 5 weeks I'd weigh 146 lbs (down from 155). After adding the food (gluten free animal cookies) it projected my weight in 5 weeks as 150 lbs. That seems a little high for consuming only 1255 calories.... Any thoughts?

Chef_Barbell · October 2016

If you eat the same exact way every day, yes.

usmcmp · October 2016

Those predictions are not really that accurate overall. Most people are so inaccurate with counting calories that it ends up being less.

patpatepat · October 2016

Hi, dear!

I don't know if I understood well your point, but let's try..

First point is to remember that to lose or gain weight is not related only with calories, it's a combination between carbs, protein, fat.. if you eat 1255 calories with a high percent of fat, probably your weight will increase more than if you balance carbs, protein and fat, for example.

Second is to take care about the food in Mfp's system you choose to include in your diary, some values are not that accurate, I've been noticing since the beginning that some people upload just the calories of the food, not the other values (like carbs, protein..).

And for the last, take care about eat less than you need of each group of nutrition, it can slow down your metabolism and make you lose less weight than you want (:

Anyway, to eat healthy is a challenge, 1200 calories is a small value, but not impossible. Just search about low calories and healthy recipes and have fun building your meals!

The secret is to balance!

Good luck, hope I had helped!

kiss, pat.

aliem · October 2016

I agree. That does not seem right. That's less than 2000 calories over 5 weeks (55 calories*7 days*5 weeks). That's not 4 pounds. However, I have not found the you will weigh X amount in 5 weeks very accurate. It is an estimate and probably the least accurate of the estimates on the site. It can't factor in water weight, muscle or fat gain/loss. In general, it takes a net loss of 3500 calories to lose a pound. But if you eat less salty foods, you might retain less water and see a huge loss. Alternatively, you could work out a bunch and gain some muscle, which weighs more than fat. So you would see less loss on the scale, but more loss in inches. Bodies are complicated. If you are eating in a deficit, you will get there eventually.

akf2000 · October 2016

I always think of that complete diary > weight projection thing as a bit of fun, never bothered myself about it for a single minute.

AJF230 · October 2016

I went and got my base metabolic rate tested, and it was 200kcal per day lower than MFP thought it would be. So I just recalibrated my daily goals. I need to drop fat and not weight, at this point. So I'm working things differently now.

RoxieDawn · October 2016

Yes when you added that last bit of calories for the day, that 5 week projection went down as in 5 weeks essentially those extra calories would add up and equal less of loss than planed.

That 5 week thing -- not accurate at all.

Blondieee00 · October 2016

Wildly inaccurate for me... It says I won't even lose 5 lbs until november...and I'm more or less on a track to lose 3lbs per week... It doesn't realize for the 1200 calorie suggestion that some people just naturally burn way more calories than others...I'm taller than 95% of women at 5'9" and so I burn more. I also have well under 20% bf which puts my burn much higher... I just use the website here as a tool..but I definitely don't strictly follow it. I seem to be doing okay

JeromeBarry1 · October 2016

Five weeks ago my food diary ended with promising I'd weigh 183.6 today. Today I actually weigh 193.2. So, no.

markrgeary1 · October 2016

It's a projection based on how many calories you ate at the time you press the button compared to how many MFP thinks you burn.

It's not accurate at all.

crzycatlady1 · October 2016

For me personally I don't find MFPs calorie recommendation to be accurate in itself, let alone their projections. Now that I'm back in a short weight loss period I entered my stats here and it put me at 1,200 calories before exercise, for a 1lb week loss. Another site put me at 1,389 calories before exercise, for 1lb loss. I'm following the other site's calorie recommendation and I'm down 1.5lbs this week (with exercise factored in I'm eating around 1,500 calories). I'm going to stick with the higher calories

linda45ll837h · October 2016

I am 69 and eating 1200 cal a day walk 1mile in 22 mintues once a day is that enough calories for me to lose weight. trying fitness pal because i can not afford weightwatchers anymore please suggest

Aaron_K123 · October 2016

patpatepat wrote: »

Hi, dear!

I don't know if I understood well your point, but let's try..

First point is to remember that to lose or gain weight is not related only with calories, it's a combination between carbs, protein, fat.. if you eat 1255 calories with a high percent of fat, probably your weight will increase more than if you balance carbs, protein and fat, for example.

Second is to take care about the food in Mfp's system you choose to include in your diary, some values are not that accurate, I've been noticing since the beginning that some people upload just the calories of the food, not the other values (like carbs, protein..).

And for the last, take care about eat less than you need of each group of nutrition, it can slow down your metabolism and make you lose less weight than you want (:

Anyway, to eat healthy is a challenge, 1200 calories is a small value, but not impossible. Just search about low calories and healthy recipes and have fun building your meals!

The secret is to balance!

Good luck, hope I had helped!

kiss, pat.

This is wrong. Weight gain and loss is only about calories in and out and has nothing to do with macro balance. Macro balance is about getting sufficient nutrition and can aid in your feeling satiated for a given amount of calories....but you don't get fatter by eating fat (unless you are in caloric surplus), that is wrong.

newheavensearth · October 2016

I know those numbers are off but just seeing them help. A gain tells me to stop playing around. A good loss tells me I'm doing something right.

Evamutt · October 2016

the projection isn't real accurate, sometime i lose more, sometime i lose less, but i'm loosing!

ogtmama · October 2016

It's as accurate as your logging.

Red_Pill · October 2016

Forget about the "in x amount of weeks you'll be this" do you really thing an app can accurately calculate such feats with pin point precision? Not to sound like I'm going on a rant but my advice would be to just eat at the calorie count you've set up, use http://www.iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ if you don't trust mfp, and just watch the weight drop weekly without buying into what the app says you'll lose in x amount of weeks. It's less hassle.

duddysdad · October 2016

Not really. I always lose much faster than what it projects. I think I have a medical problem, because I can eat at a 1k daily deficit and lose 3-4 pounds per week consistently. I suspect an over-active thyroid, but my insurance will only pay for blood work every six months so it will be a while before I know.

JDixon852019 · October 2016

Don't put a lot of stock in the projections. Some weeks your body is going to fight you.

Are the MyFitnessPal calorie and weight projections actually accurate?

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