Why are calorie counters/apple watch/MFP so off on my maintenance calories?

ilovecoffee01281990
ilovecoffee01281990 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 2024 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I have an apple watch and it calculates that I burn about 1300 a day as my bmr. I usually exercise every day and track my calories through the apple watch. Usually I go for walk, bike, or use the elliptical. Usually I burn about 400-600 extra a day. I track all of this via the apple watch.

Apple health and myfitness pal tell me my maintenance is thus 1700-1900.

When I eat that I lose weight. I weigh and log all my food, even log condiments etc. I have been eating 2100-2500 every day for months and have not gained anything. I could understand if maybe the calculations were a 100 calories off but to be so much off I am afraid to keep eating as much a I do. I am afraid I will randomly gain a ton of weight because where are all those calories going?! lol

I am just wondering if any of you have had the same thing happen in maintenance or have any clue why the numbers are so different.

I am 5'2 100lbs.

Replies

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I'm not sure how accurate Apple watches are. You could have a good metabolism too though, I mean, if my Fitbit was true, I would have gained 5 lbs in the last few months, and I've gained one.. maybe.
  • rower1018
    rower1018 Posts: 11 Member
    Finally, someone else! I think we just have fast metabolisms.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,755 Member
    In my case, I think my age is a factor. Because I'm 60 and mostly sedentary, it assumes a low level of calories (1470 to maintain). However, I exercise every day - two walks every day, runs 5 days a week, gardening, yoga, etc. When I ate to that goal, I continued to lose weight. I increased my daily goal to 1600, eat back all my exercise calories and frequently go over goal, but I have maintained for 6 months within 3 pounds.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,205 Member
    I don't have an Apple watch, I have a fitbit, but it underestimates my maintenance by about 250 calories per day. It was frustrating at first. I lost ~15 pounds lower than my original goal. It sounds like you are eating at maintenance.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,492 Member
    Same thing for me. I have an apple watch but I had a fitbit before and the calculate my maintenance as 1700-1900 a day but I eat 2100-2600 and have been maintaining for 2 years.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,829 Member
    All of these estimators have to be based on large group studies. They peg you at average. But individuals vary a little around the mean. A very, very few outliers may be quite far from the mean - like maybe one in 20 people could be pretty far off, in either direction.

    I don't use a tracker (other than a HRM for intentional exercise, mainly for training purposes). But pretty much all of the calculators put my maintenance calories several hundred (around 25-30%) below what I see in real life. It happens. Maybe you're lucky, too?

    Here's some background:

    https://examine.com/nutrition/does-metabolism-vary-between-two-people/
  • Rusty740
    Rusty740 Posts: 749 Member
    edited August 2017
    All this is confounded by the fact that we don't actually know how many calories we're actually eating. Those underweight tend to overestimate and those overweight tend to underestimate. Some people eat more fibre, some eat more protein. Too many changing variables to be much concerned with.

    But yeah, I have a Garmin Fenix 3HR and I find it's pretty good for calorie estimates.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories