I can't trust MFP caloric recommendations
sifmole
Posts: 10 Member
So, I've been looking at other calculators and messing around with current weights, goal weights, and loss per week goals on MFP. I feel like I can't trust MFPs caloric intake recommendations for weight loss.
For instance -- MFP says at 243 lbs with a goal of 200, I should eat 1500 calories to lose 1.9 lbs per week. I change my weight to 150 lbs with a goal of 120 .... and it says the same thing --1500 calories-- to lose .8 lbs per week
Then I tell MFP I am 3ft tall, 150 lbs and goal weight of 100 and guess the number? 1500 calories to lose 0.4 per week.
Does MFP never supply a caloric intake recommendation of less than 1500 calories? If so, then that would mean that anybody who had their numbers put in to target a 2lb per week loss is not being told the caloric intake required to meet that goal and they may not even realize that.
Can anybody correct me on what I am seeing?
For instance -- MFP says at 243 lbs with a goal of 200, I should eat 1500 calories to lose 1.9 lbs per week. I change my weight to 150 lbs with a goal of 120 .... and it says the same thing --1500 calories-- to lose .8 lbs per week
Then I tell MFP I am 3ft tall, 150 lbs and goal weight of 100 and guess the number? 1500 calories to lose 0.4 per week.
Does MFP never supply a caloric intake recommendation of less than 1500 calories? If so, then that would mean that anybody who had their numbers put in to target a 2lb per week loss is not being told the caloric intake required to meet that goal and they may not even realize that.
Can anybody correct me on what I am seeing?
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Replies
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If you're a man, you will never get a goal of less than 1,500. This is to prevent people from getting a goal that is too low.
Not everyone can safely lose 2 pounds a week.21 -
janejellyroll wrote: »If you're a man, you will never get a goal of less than 1,500. This is to prevent people from getting a goal that is too low.
Not everyone can safely lose 2 pounds a week.
This.5 -
MFP set my calorie goal at 1200 to lose 1 lb a week0
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janejellyroll wrote: »If you're a man, you will never get a goal of less than 1,500. This is to prevent people from getting a goal that is too low.
Not everyone can safely lose 2 pounds a week.
Yep, and if you're a woman it will never give a recommendation below 1,200.7 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Not everyone can safely lose 2 pounds a week.
YUP! The cut off is 1500 for men and 1200 for women. I'm in the same boat, I can't loose more than a pound a week without sacrificing basic nutrition. There's nothing wrong with slow and steady loss, gives the skin time to tighten up as you loose anyways.
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And just to be clear, when you are given 1200 or 1500, you may or may not be able to achieve that particular weekly weight loss goal on that. So if you are expecting to lose 2 lbs/week, you may well be disappointed, but that's because to lose that much for you would require an unsafe deficit.6
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janejellyroll wrote: »If you're a man, you will never get a goal of less than 1,500. This is to prevent people from getting a goal that is too low.
Not everyone can safely lose 2 pounds a week.
Ok. That matches what I am seeing in behavior. But really? At 243 lbs 5' 7" and "obese" I can't safely lose 2 lbs a week? My doctor and dietician tell me I should be targeting 2 lbs a week. Guess I will have to use MFP for tracking and use a modified goal.
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I knew the 1200 for women, didn't realize it was 1500 for men though. Wish I was a man right about now.8
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janejellyroll wrote: »If you're a man, you will never get a goal of less than 1,500. This is to prevent people from getting a goal that is too low.
Not everyone can safely lose 2 pounds a week.
Ok. That matches what I am seeing in behavior. But really? At 243 lbs 5' 7" and "obese" I can't safely lose 2 lbs a week? My doctor and dietician tell me I should be targeting 2 lbs a week. Guess I will have to use MFP for tracking and use a modified goal.
If your doctor and RD have given you a custom goal, modifying your calorie goal is always an option. Since MFP has no way of knowing if someone is dieting under medical supervision, the 1,500 target for men is to protect them from liability and to keep people who aren't dieting under medical supervision from hurting themselves.5 -
what is your goal weight? if its less than 100lbs, then no, 2lbs a week isn't really a good goal - 1-1.5 would be more appropriate
maybe start with a small goal (say 220lbs) with a 1lb a week weight loss, and then when you hit that adjust your goal0 -
interesting
I set my daily calorie intake based on my BMR and intend to increase activity levels to create the calorie deficit
as I get lighter by BMR will drop and I'll have to lower my calorie intake to maintain weight loss
the actual weight loss I achieve will be the outcome of my plan not the objective
i.e I accept the weight loss I get from the process, rather than setting a desired weight loss rate0 -
Also, when comparing calculators, you want to be aware that some take exercise into account, and some (like MFP) do not. So MFP intends for you to eat back at least part of any calories earned through exercise.1
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Must also be noted the MFP goal is BEFORE exercise.2
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janejellyroll wrote: »If you're a man, you will never get a goal of less than 1,500. This is to prevent people from getting a goal that is too low.
Not everyone can safely lose 2 pounds a week.
Ok. That matches what I am seeing in behavior. But really? At 243 lbs 5' 7" and "obese" I can't safely lose 2 lbs a week? My doctor and dietician tell me I should be targeting 2 lbs a week. Guess I will have to use MFP for tracking and use a modified goal.
If I toss your numbers into a BMR calc, (assuming an age of 35), I get a BMR of ~2200. Add to that a sedentary bump of 20% and I see ~2650. To get to 2 lb per week loss, you'd be at 1650 before exercise.
Something isn't adding up with the numbers.
Anyway, the short answer is to add exercise and only eat part of those calories back.0 -
Trying to set a weight per week doesn't always work well. Consistency always works best, more than low calories. All you need is 300 or so under your maintenance consistently to lose body fat. If you do that and give it 30-90 days of consistency you will see results. Focus on the food scale not the body weight scale. It WILL work, in fact it works if you never again stepped on the body weight scale. The food scale is your friend along with steady slow consistency.3
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janejellyroll wrote: »If you're a man, you will never get a goal of less than 1,500. This is to prevent people from getting a goal that is too low.
Not everyone can safely lose 2 pounds a week.
Ok. That matches what I am seeing in behavior. But really? At 243 lbs 5' 7" and "obese" I can't safely lose 2 lbs a week? My doctor and dietician tell me I should be targeting 2 lbs a week. Guess I will have to use MFP for tracking and use a modified goal.
In that case, 1500 sounds like it probably is the 2 lb/week goal. It would mean you have a TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) of 2500 calories, before exercise.2 -
I'm female, 5'7, starting weight 270 lb and when I had it set to 2lb a week loss my goal was 1300 when my activity level was sedentary, and I was losing the 2 lb a week as expected. So 1500 isn't unreasonable to assume for a man to lose 2lb a week. Try it for a few weeks and see 0
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californiagirl2012 wrote: »Trying to set a weight per week doesn't always work well. Consistency always works best, more than low calories. All you need is 300 or so under your maintenance consistently to lose body fat. If you do that and give it 30-90 days of consistency you will see results. Focus on the food scale not the body weight scale. It WILL work, in fact it works if you never again stepped on the body weight scale. The food scale is your friend along with steady slow consistency.
I'm all for going slow but a 300 kcal deficit would mean 12 weeks to lose 1 lb. Only good if you don't have a lot to lose.
ETA: Assuming you meant 300 a week. Which now I read it again is probably not what you meant. I'll shut up
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1500 seems about right to me for someone your size to lose 2 lbs a week for now. Later it will result in a slower loss.
As you lose weight you will need less calories to lose and maintain your weight unless you increase your activity level. MFP won't give you a calorie goal less than the minimum recommended calories for your stated gender.
With MFP you don't account for exercise in your calorie goal just your daily activity level. You are then supposed to log exercise and eat some of the extra calories.
You can manually set a calorie goal if you think some other calculator is better or your doctor recommends a different amount for you.
I found the calorie goal MFP gave me to lose 1 lb a week starting out resulted in losing 1 lb per week so I would say you should at least try what it recommends for a month or two before dismissing it as untrustworthy.
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