Why is MFP giving me such a high calorie allotment!
Molly_234
Posts: 89 Member
I'm not complaining, the more I can eat the better but I just want to make sure I'm not over eating. I am 5'2 and 135 pounds with a GW 115. I set my goal to lose .5 pounds a week and that allows me 1400 hundred calories. Today my fit bit earned me 500 calories!! So I have eaten 1600 calories and still have 300 hundred left and it just does not seem like I could possibly eat this much food and still lose weight! When I eat 1200 to 1400 I feel starving and always lead to a binge but at least I was losing. These past two weeks I have not lost any weight I just fluctuated a between .5 and 1lb. I have been over eating but I am really trying to get back on track here but I just find my self obsessing over the numbers and I feel like I am failing. I was even going to fast today to try to make up for the past week of over eating but I couldnt because I feel sick if I dont eat. I just don't understand why it's giving me 1900 calories when I'm so short and work in an office all day long.
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Replies
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Sounds about right to me.
Most folks here only eat back about half their exercise calories to allow for possible overestimates on exercise calorie burns, so don't feel as if you must eat everything you're allocated when you exercise. And I have to wonder if your Fitbit is giving you way bigger numbers than it should. For perspective, when I run my slightly-over-9km daily route, MFP computes that burn at about 740 cal. (I'm a man weighing about 174 lbs.) So unless you're running several miles a day, 500 cal seems a bit much.
Remember that weight loss is not linear, and 2 weeks isn't necessarily enough time to see exact results, and that our weight can fluctuate from day to day for any number of reasons. That 0.5 lbs/week will be an average, not a precise weight loss rate you will see at all times.5 -
You'll have to find your level. I wouldn't eat back all of those exercise calories. I'm 5'10" and 198lbs and I would gain weight on 1900 cals no matter how active I was.4
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Well, as you can already see we are all over the place.
I'm much older and 5'7" and I maintain on 1800 - sedentary. I'm not working, and live in a small place so not much activity at all in the winter.
Other peoples' numbers don't apply to you. Why not try it by trusting your devices? You will be able to adjust in a few weeks if it isn't working. Make small adjustments. Keep good records.
I always ate (and still do) ALL of the exercise calories given to me. So, you see? Your mileage may vary.8 -
EbonyDahlia wrote: »You'll have to find your level. I wouldn't eat back all of those exercise calories. I'm 5'10" and 198lbs and I would gain weight on 1900 cals no matter how active I was.
I'm 4" shorter than you, about your weight, and can easily lose weight on 1900 calories when I'm active.15 -
The Fitbit is likely overestimating those calories. Finish the day with half of the Fitbit calories left and see what happens over a couple of weeks.5
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I'm not complaining, the more I can eat the better but I just want to make sure I'm not over eating. I am 5'2 and 135 pounds with a GW 115. I set my goal to lose .5 pounds a week and that allows me 1400 hundred calories. Today my fit bit earned me 500 calories!! So I have eaten 1600 calories and still have 300 hundred left and it just does not seem like I could possibly eat this much food and still lose weight! When I eat 1200 to 1400 I feel starving and always lead to a binge but at least I was losing. These past two weeks I have not lost any weight I just fluctuated a between .5 and 1lb. I have been over eating but I am really trying to get back on track here but I just find my self obsessing over the numbers and I feel like I am failing. I was even going to fast today to try to make up for the past week of over eating but I couldnt because I feel sick if I dont eat. I just don't understand why it's giving me 1900 calories when I'm so short and work in an office all day long.
The exercise calories in the MFP database are about 25% inflated for me, but I can safely eat back 100% of the exercise calories my Fitbit One gives me.
Please provide details about what your 500 calories were from: Number of steps? Exercise? Duration?
If I exceed my calorie budget one day I don't punish myself the next day; I just consider the next morning a reset and move on.2 -
I'm not complaining, the more I can eat the better but I just want to make sure I'm not over eating. I am 5'2 and 135 pounds with a GW 115. I set my goal to lose .5 pounds a week and that allows me 1400 hundred calories. Today my fit bit earned me 500 calories!! So I have eaten 1600 calories and still have 300 hundred left and it just does not seem like I could possibly eat this much food and still lose weight! When I eat 1200 to 1400 I feel starving and always lead to a binge but at least I was losing. These past two weeks I have not lost any weight I just fluctuated a between .5 and 1lb. I have been over eating but I am really trying to get back on track here but I just find my self obsessing over the numbers and I feel like I am failing. I was even going to fast today to try to make up for the past week of over eating but I couldnt because I feel sick if I dont eat. I just don't understand why it's giving me 1900 calories when I'm so short and work in an office all day long.
That doesn't seem high at all...that would put your theoretical non exercise maintenance calories around 1,650.
With a target of 0.5 Lbs per week, it can be very difficult to see what's actually happening when you're looking at the scale as that is easily masked by water and waste.
My wife is 5'2" or 5'3" and exercises regularly (mostly a runner) and she maintains around 2300 calories...but really, you just have to adjust for what you're seeing or not seeing over time...and like I said, 0.5 Lbs per week can easily be masked on the scale from weigh in to weigh in.5 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I'm not complaining, the more I can eat the better but I just want to make sure I'm not over eating. I am 5'2 and 135 pounds with a GW 115. I set my goal to lose .5 pounds a week and that allows me 1400 hundred calories. Today my fit bit earned me 500 calories!! So I have eaten 1600 calories and still have 300 hundred left and it just does not seem like I could possibly eat this much food and still lose weight! When I eat 1200 to 1400 I feel starving and always lead to a binge but at least I was losing. These past two weeks I have not lost any weight I just fluctuated a between .5 and 1lb. I have been over eating but I am really trying to get back on track here but I just find my self obsessing over the numbers and I feel like I am failing. I was even going to fast today to try to make up for the past week of over eating but I couldnt because I feel sick if I dont eat. I just don't understand why it's giving me 1900 calories when I'm so short and work in an office all day long.
The exercise calories in the MFP database are about 25% inflated for me, but I can safely eat back 100% of the exercise calories my Fitbit One gives me.
Please provide details about what your 500 calories were from: Number of steps? Exercise? Duration?
If I exceed my calorie budget one day I don't punish myself the next day; I just consider the next morning a reset and move on.
This is from 7500 steps from my fit bit. I have mfp set to sedentary because my steps vary alot. Then I logged 30 minutes on stationary bike but didn't log any strength training I did.0 -
I'm 4'11" and lose weight eating 1370 calories daily. I've lost about 20lbs in 6 months. Be patient and keep tracking, the restriction and binge cycle is not good and I hope you can break the pattern.1
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kshama2001 wrote: »EbonyDahlia wrote: »You'll have to find your level. I wouldn't eat back all of those exercise calories. I'm 5'10" and 198lbs and I would gain weight on 1900 cals no matter how active I was.
I'm 4" shorter than you, about your weight, and can easily lose weight on 1900 calories when I'm active.
Yep, and I gain. So MFP calorie target is not all that reliable and you need to find your own level. For me, I'm down to 1400 cals a day, and I just barely lose anything. I burn an extra 300 cals a day (900 on the weekends) from exercise, and I don't eat any of them back.1 -
I had the same issue with the fitbit. I was eating back about half the calories it gave me and I was not loosing. So I stopped allowing it to sync with myfitnesspal and now just log my exercise manually.1
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kshama2001 wrote: »I'm not complaining, the more I can eat the better but I just want to make sure I'm not over eating. I am 5'2 and 135 pounds with a GW 115. I set my goal to lose .5 pounds a week and that allows me 1400 hundred calories. Today my fit bit earned me 500 calories!! So I have eaten 1600 calories and still have 300 hundred left and it just does not seem like I could possibly eat this much food and still lose weight! When I eat 1200 to 1400 I feel starving and always lead to a binge but at least I was losing. These past two weeks I have not lost any weight I just fluctuated a between .5 and 1lb. I have been over eating but I am really trying to get back on track here but I just find my self obsessing over the numbers and I feel like I am failing. I was even going to fast today to try to make up for the past week of over eating but I couldnt because I feel sick if I dont eat. I just don't understand why it's giving me 1900 calories when I'm so short and work in an office all day long.
The exercise calories in the MFP database are about 25% inflated for me, but I can safely eat back 100% of the exercise calories my Fitbit One gives me.
Please provide details about what your 500 calories were from: Number of steps? Exercise? Duration?
If I exceed my calorie budget one day I don't punish myself the next day; I just consider the next morning a reset and move on.
This is from 7500 steps from my fit bit. I have mfp set to sedentary because my steps vary alot. Then I logged 30 minutes on stationary bike but didn't log any strength training I did.
Did you log the exercise separately? If yes, you could be double dipping in your exercise calories as the calorie adjustment fitbit sends over to mfp already includes your exercise.
Personally, I don't have my fitbit linked to mfp as I like to log my exercise on mfp and not count daily steps towards my mfp calories.3 -
EbonyDahlia wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »EbonyDahlia wrote: »You'll have to find your level. I wouldn't eat back all of those exercise calories. I'm 5'10" and 198lbs and I would gain weight on 1900 cals no matter how active I was.
I'm 4" shorter than you, about your weight, and can easily lose weight on 1900 calories when I'm active.
Yep, and I gain. So MFP calorie target is not all that reliable and you need to find your own level. For me, I'm down to 1400 cals a day, and I just barely lose anything. I burn an extra 300 cals a day (900 on the weekends) from exercise, and I don't eat any of them back.
Have you ever been to the doctor to get your thyroid checked? I ask because if you're barely losing on 1400 with your stats that's a bit odd to say the least. It's worth checking out if you haven't already.
OP, it may or may not be accurate. Fitbit overestimates for some and underestimates for others. I have a Fitbit as well. I'm 5'3" and 111 pounds. I still lose weight on 2000 calories.
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OP for what it's worth, I'm 5'2 and though I have a desk job so by MFP definitions that's a sedentary activity level. When I first got my FitBit I was still set at sedentary and my FitBit adjustments from 8000-10,000 steps/day were 400-600 cals. It's because I was far more active than MFP estimated me to be, at my stats. I got the good advice on here that that kind of step count isn't really sedentary, so I changed my activity level to lightly active, enabled negative calorie adjustments, got a higher baseline target and then the size of my adjustments went down.
I continued to lose 0.5 lb/week eating 1700-1900 cals and am now in maintenance at 120 lbs . My TDEE is 2200 and my step count averages 15k, I also do circuit training with light weights.
So no, I don't think those numbers feel far off at all. They are very similar to what I experienced and was pleasantly surprised to learn that I could reach my goals while eating that much food.7 -
Maxematics wrote: »EbonyDahlia wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »EbonyDahlia wrote: »You'll have to find your level. I wouldn't eat back all of those exercise calories. I'm 5'10" and 198lbs and I would gain weight on 1900 cals no matter how active I was.
I'm 4" shorter than you, about your weight, and can easily lose weight on 1900 calories when I'm active.
Yep, and I gain. So MFP calorie target is not all that reliable and you need to find your own level. For me, I'm down to 1400 cals a day, and I just barely lose anything. I burn an extra 300 cals a day (900 on the weekends) from exercise, and I don't eat any of them back.
Have you ever been to the doctor to get your thyroid checked? I ask because if you're barely losing on 1400 with your stats that's a bit odd to say the least. It's worth checking out if you haven't already.
OP, it may or may not be accurate. Fitbit overestimates for some and underestimates for others. I have a Fitbit as well. I'm 5'3" and 111 pounds. I still lose weight on 2000 calories.
I did a couple of years ago, but maybe I should go back. It's taken me 4 years to lose 35kg, and almost nothing these days - about 0.2kg a month eating 1700 cals. I've recently dropped it down to 1400.1 -
I only log deliberate exercise (walks and runs or exercise dvds) but not the random steps I take during the day wandering around the house or shopping, etc. I figure they are a part of everyday living, so included in the sedentary activity level. It is easy to get 3-4000 steps without doing any real exercise.5
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How are you figuring your calories in, that is most likely your culprit. Without a lot to lose it will be slower, and logging must be tighter. Are you weighing and choosing correct entries.3
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WinoGelato wrote: »OP for what it's worth, I'm 5'2 and though I have a desk job so by MFP definitions that's a sedentary activity level. When I first got my FitBit I was still set at sedentary and my FitBit adjustments from 8000-10,000 steps/day were 400-600 cals. It's because I was far more active than MFP estimated me to be, at my stats. I got the good advice on here that that kind of step count isn't really sedentary, so I changed my activity level to lightly active, enabled negative calorie adjustments, got a higher baseline target and then the size of my adjustments went down.
I continued to lose 0.5 lb/week eating 1700-1900 cals and am now in maintenance at 120 lbs . My TDEE is 2200 and my step count averages 15k, I also do circuit training with light weights.
So no, I don't think those numbers feel far off at all. They are very similar to what I experienced and was pleasantly surprised to learn that I could reach my goals while eating that much food.
Thank you, I will give that a try! I'm not quite as active as you are, but I'm not sedentary like I thought I was. I tried eating 1200 to 1400 for a loss of 1lb a week but It was just not sustainable. So when I changed my goal to .5lbs a week, there was a huge calorie adjustment. Hopefully this will even things out!0 -
Remember if you change your goal in mfp to .5 per week you need to change Fitbit too otherwise the linking of calories will not work correctly.0
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I am 5'1 and I eat at 1750 on the days I do not exercise. On the days I exercise that can range from 1900 to 2,000. I do not count my steps ONLY the time I deliberately am exercising. However, I do think my activity level is higher. I set it to lightly active but I might be more active than that. Any time you make any sudden changes your weight will probably stall until your body gets adjusted. The times where I have added more intense exercise my weight usually stayed the same for two weeks and then dropped down.3
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KWlosingit wrote: »Remember if you change your goal in mfp to .5 per week you need to change Fitbit too otherwise the linking of calories will not work correctly.
Really? I have MFP set to maintain and Fitbit at a 250 calorie deficit.0 -
No the caloric estimates are independent and integration gives you the total calories Fitbit estimated you burned, if you don't mess it up!
Please try logging all your activities on Fitbit and all your food on MFP. This is the cleanest method and ensures absolutely no double dipping.
Note, however, that when you enter an activity on mfp it overwrites what Fitbit detected during the timeframe in question with what you TOLD it (via MFP) that you did in terms of a burn. So MFPs estimate has now "polluted" Fitbit's measurements.
You can **revert** back to what Fitbit detected on its own during the timeframe by logging into Fitbit web, selecting the exercise that was imported from MFP for the timeframe, and deleting it. Fitbit then goes back to what it had measured during the time in question.
Or just log all exercises on Fitbit and food on MFP as i initially suggested to avoid having to deal with all this.
Please start using a trending weight web sites such as trendweight.com which will automagically integrate with Fitbit to get your daily weight. Or a trending weight app like Libra or happy scale.
You cannot judge a 0.5lb a week loss from ground level due to water weight fluctuations.
You just cannot.
You can weigh more 30 days later than you did 30 days before and still be losing at 0.5lbs a week.
I did it while losing at 0.7lbs a week and I am male so no TOM bloat to deal with either.
The goals in Fitbit/MFP just change the advice you receive and your reds and greens.
They don't change the actual number of calories consumed or the number of calories calculated as spent
To everyone suggesting a % of eat back of Fitbit exercise calories you are thinking of that exercise adjustment as something generated by exercise because of the name.
It isn't.
It is just an accounting adjustment to update mfp's tdee guess for the day and transform it into what fitbit detected your tdee to be.
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KWlosingit wrote: »Remember if you change your goal in mfp to .5 per week you need to change Fitbit too otherwise the linking of calories will not work correctly.
Wow I never knew that, that could definitely be a problem!1 -
Don't fast to make up for overeating. Just don't. Unless you are on a specific fasting plan, like intermittent fasting, don't just fast to punish yourself for overeating. Often that can create a fast/binge cycle, and it's just plain not a healthy or sustainable way to lose weight.
You're concerned that you're not losing weight but you just said you're over eating so you've answered your own question. I have similar stats/goals, and eat the same amount as you and have been losing weight slowly but surely for about 2.5 months. But it really took about a month to see the scale move. It all takes patience and attention to what you are logging. It will take much longer if you try to rush the process.
There's only one way to do it, calories in, calories out. It's science. Seems over simplified, but it works. Just focus on that and not going off the plan and using crash diet punishment. There's no need to make yourself miserable over it.3 -
EbonyDahlia wrote: »You'll have to find your level. I wouldn't eat back all of those exercise calories. I'm 5'10" and 198lbs and I would gain weight on 1900 cals no matter how active I was.kshama2001 wrote: »EbonyDahlia wrote: »You'll have to find your level. I wouldn't eat back all of those exercise calories. I'm 5'10" and 198lbs and I would gain weight on 1900 cals no matter how active I was.
I'm 4" shorter than you, about your weight, and can easily lose weight on 1900 calories when I'm active.
I'm 6" shorter than EbonyDahlia, weigh 13 pounds less, and lose weight at 1900 calories when I'm not active.2 -
I'm not complaining, the more I can eat the better but I just want to make sure I'm not over eating. I am 5'2 and 135 pounds with a GW 115. I set my goal to lose .5 pounds a week and that allows me 1400 hundred calories. Today my fit bit earned me 500 calories!! So I have eaten 1600 calories and still have 300 hundred left and it just does not seem like I could possibly eat this much food and still lose weight! When I eat 1200 to 1400 I feel starving and always lead to a binge but at least I was losing. These past two weeks I have not lost any weight I just fluctuated a between .5 and 1lb. I have been over eating but I am really trying to get back on track here but I just find my self obsessing over the numbers and I feel like I am failing. I was even going to fast today to try to make up for the past week of over eating but I couldnt because I feel sick if I dont eat. I just don't understand why it's giving me 1900 calories when I'm so short and work in an office all day long.
OP, what does this mean? That you fluctuate between a loss of .5 lb and a loss of 1 lb? If so, what is the problem? You set it to lose .5 lbs a week, and you're fluctuating up to 1 lb down in 2 weeks? It sounds like you're right on schedule.
Also if you're binging and overeating, it sounds like you're eating more than the 1400 lbs you say is your goal for losing .5 lb a week, so why would you expect more than a 1 lb loss in 2 weeks?
And MFP isn't giving you 1900 calories; your FitBit is. Do you have it synched with MFP, with negative calorie adjustments enabled?1 -
You'll lose some of the Fitbit adjustment calories during the night, so give yourself a 200 calorie buffer anyway.
How much you can eat depends completely on your activity though. With how much I move, I could lose easily on 2100 calories, for example... and I'm not even overweight.0 -
You'll lose some of the Fitbit adjustment calories during the night, so give yourself a 200 calorie buffer anyway.
When sitting on the couch, or sleeping) and with negative adjustments enabled you lose:
B / 1440 * F * M
M = number of minutes of inactivity (to midnight when final reconciliation between MFP & Fitbit TDEE takes place)
B = MFP BMR = http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator
F = activity factor difference and depends on your MFP activity setting.
= 0.25 for sedentary
= 0.4 for lightly active
= 0.6 for active
= 0.8 for very active1 -
You'll lose some of the Fitbit adjustment calories during the night, so give yourself a 200 calorie buffer anyway.
When sitting on the couch, or sleeping) and with negative adjustments enabled you lose:
B / 1440 * F * M
M = number of minutes of inactivity (to midnight when final reconciliation between MFP & Fitbit TDEE takes place)
B = MFP BMR = http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator
F = activity factor difference and depends on your MFP activity setting.
= 0.25 for sedentary
= 0.4 for lightly active
= 0.6 for active
= 0.8 for very active
MFP is annoying that way, but if you check your Fitbit and look at 'calories left' it will be accurate.0 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »I'm not complaining, the more I can eat the better but I just want to make sure I'm not over eating. I am 5'2 and 135 pounds with a GW 115. I set my goal to lose .5 pounds a week and that allows me 1400 hundred calories. Today my fit bit earned me 500 calories!! So I have eaten 1600 calories and still have 300 hundred left and it just does not seem like I could possibly eat this much food and still lose weight! When I eat 1200 to 1400 I feel starving and always lead to a binge but at least I was losing. These past two weeks I have not lost any weight I just fluctuated a between .5 and 1lb. I have been over eating but I am really trying to get back on track here but I just find my self obsessing over the numbers and I feel like I am failing. I was even going to fast today to try to make up for the past week of over eating but I couldnt because I feel sick if I dont eat. I just don't understand why it's giving me 1900 calories when I'm so short and work in an office all day long.
OP, what does this mean? That you fluctuate between a loss of .5 lb and a loss of 1 lb? If so, what is the problem? You set it to lose .5 lbs a week, and you're fluctuating up to 1 lb down in 2 weeks? It sounds like you're right on schedule.
Also if you're binging and overeating, it sounds like you're eating more than the 1400 lbs you say is your goal for losing .5 lb a week, so why would you expect more than a 1 lb loss in 2 weeks?
And MFP isn't giving you 1900 calories; your FitBit is. Do you have it synched with MFP, with negative calorie adjustments enabled?
Yes I recently change my activity level from sedentary to lightly active with negative adjustments. It gave me 1600 calories and I already have a positive calorie adjustment of 200 calories!! I am so confused!0
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