What's going on with the calorie calculator on here??!!

GabriellaVioletta
GabriellaVioletta Posts: 37 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Why does MFP minus calories from my steps?? So annoying. The calorie calculator doesn't work like it used to. Even from my workouts. I have my normal daily activity as sedentary as work a desk job. MFP calculates my calories for weight loss as 1200 and then minuses steps! I did 10000 steps the other day and no calories added. Did a workout the other day in Apple Watch, burnt 300 calories and it only added 168. WTF - I exercise to eat more but then continue to remain in a deficit. If I didn't amend myself or know anything about nutrition I would only be getting 900 calories a day instead of 1500-1600 I am due. The system is flawed!!

Replies

  • Marilyn0924
    Marilyn0924 Posts: 797 Member
    It sounds like your tracking devices might not be syncing correctly, or you're adding in the exercise calories on top of the device sync?
    Not knowing how you've set up your devices, can't really know what is happening. Can you provide a little background on that?
  • ashliedelgado
    ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
    What's your activity level set at? That may be why 10k steps didn't adjust anything...

    Also, for example, my activity level is set at lightly active. This morning, I did t25, and my fitbit app said in that time I burned 295 calories. My MFP sync only gave me like an extra 129 or something. That's because at that point, had I stayed inactive, I would have only burned 129 calories more at the end of the day than MFP guessed I would without exercise. However, now that I'm half way through my day, I've gotten something like 500 back, the 295 plus some, because it's a busy day at work.

    As far as eating them back, I'll start with around 150 - half my deliberate exercise calories.
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
    just unsync them. I never sync any of my devices so i can control what i consider exercise to add to my overall calorie goals.

    as for disjointed thought process, the only reason i began walking was to eat more calories. in the long run i am much more active on a regular basis due to healthy practice. whatever works.
  • AnnaStox
    AnnaStox Posts: 3 Member
    I had exactly the same issue with my figures (I have a mi 2 band linked to mfp via Google fit) - it reduced the calories I was allowed whenever I did a reasonable chunk of exercise (either manually added to Google fit, or walking via pedometer attached to Google fit). Someone had suggested it was removing the calories from those I had eaten, but that was not the case.

    The issue seems to have gone away now (otherwise I would post screen grabs), though it isn't syncing exercise calories from Google fit correctly - I suspect it is just moving over those it defines as a 'run' (presumably based on heart rate). I have given up taking any note of the exercise calories burnt via mfp - I just use it to track food then mentally note the exercise calories I have done and easy accordingly. Which is a bit of a pain!
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    JessStallone wrote: »
    Exercising to eat more is a flawed weight loss mentality. I would focus on keeping them separate. Make goals for fitness and goals for food intake.

    You don't understand how MFP works. It sets a goal before purposeful exercise and if someone sets themselves as sedentary but is actually very active they could be dramatically under-eating. As OP says 1200 without any exercise and activity calories leaves them with a really low net.

    OP, have you tried unsyncing and syncing? There definitely sounds to be an issues between the two "talking" to each other. My syncing is working as normal so it wouldn't seem to be an overall issue. Beyond that contact support and see what they say.
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    You do know that by clicking on the adjustment you can see how it got the number, right?
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    I have had to disconnect my accounts then resync before when it started acting wonky
  • Malyssam27
    Malyssam27 Posts: 28 Member
    I had the same problem! Activity level set at sedentary, mfp gave me 16 calories for 12,000 steps. I just changed my setting to active and I know I burn 2500 calories a day so I can eat 1900 or 2000 and still loae
  • KarenSmith2018
    KarenSmith2018 Posts: 302 Member
    The activity tracker periodically through the day makes an assessment of what you'll burn in a day. This number moves across to MFP if the accounts are synced and depending on whether this number is more or less than what MFP states you may see a negative adjustment against the steps. I get negative "step adjustments" right up until 1800 or so even though I've got more than 10,000 by that point (and set to sedentary). After that because I am much more active going to the gym and moving more at home and not set at a desk i generally get a positive adjustment, but not always. If you don't want the negative adjustment turn off negative adjustments. Eat what your apple watch tells you to eat. Look back at past days to gauge your average day calories.
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