Did MFP calculate the right maintenance calories for you?
Armywife04_21
Posts: 60 Member
Was wondering, for those on maintenance, if MFP had you spot on what your calorie allowance should be to maintain your weight? Or was it under or over?
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Replies
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MFP is way way under. It says I should be at 1700 Net. I've been eating on average (according to my spreadsheet) at 2300 Net for a year and a half without gaining.
I guess I fidget way more than I think.
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It was significantly under for me as well. That said, it was perfectly fine as a place to start. #fidgeter4life2
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I honestly haven't found it yet. I've been at "maintainance" since Sept. 25th, and since then, I've lost enough 8lbs. MFP says 1790. But for months after "switching" I couldn't get to 1790, so I kept losing. I find it very hard to stick to that. I'm usually either way under or over.
I'm thinking mine is closer to 2000, but honestly, I haven't been able to consistantly eat at 1 calorie goal every day since. For me, maintainance is weighing every day, recording my weight in Libra and if it stays in a 5-10lb range, I'm good. Sometimes I log and weigh my food, sometimes I instinctively eat. First, when I started in Sept. that range was 147-152. Then I lowered it 145-150. But I'm hanging out around 141, so I'm thinking at this point if the weight has a 14 in it...I'm good. You'll never been "ONE WEIGHT". It's going to go up and down...1 -
I am still trying to get the hang of it. Honestly right after I started maintenance I thought it was absolutely wonderful, as I have said in several posts, but now that it has “set in” sort of speak I am struggling. Idk if you guys deal with this too, but there is a small percentage of me that misses eating whatever I wanted without any regard, just eating without the obsession of looking at the back and counting calories, it has definitely taken some of the joy out of eating. I never eat something without knowing the calories. I am proud of myself for the accomplishment of being the healthiest and the most fit I have ever been in my entire life, but now I’m struggling a little bit. I guess it is more of a realization, as I am in maintenance that this is how life is going to be from now on. Ok pity party over lol11
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Totally understand that.
It does get easier, though. I can go for days without logging because I always do the numbers in my head. Would I have preferred to not have to do this? Yes, but I allowed my inner two year old to run the show as far as eating for too many years and I sort of lost my stop button.
The first two yeas into maintenance after I had lost 70ish pounds was tough in a lot of ways, not the least of which was coming to the same conclusions. There is a grieving period.
With that said, I do still have bingey days every now and then - but when I was 215 pounds that was the norm. Now when I do it I get right back on the scale and get back to regular healthy eating. Like anything, it is a process.11 -
Armywife04_21 wrote: »I am still trying to get the hang of it. Honestly right after I started maintenance I thought it was absolutely wonderful, as I have said in several posts, but now that it has “set in” sort of speak I am struggling. Idk if you guys deal with this too, but there is a small percentage of me that misses eating whatever I wanted without any regard, just eating without the obsession of looking at the back and counting calories, it has definitely taken some of the joy out of eating. I never eat something without knowing the calories. I am proud of myself for the accomplishment of being the healthiest and the most fit I have ever been in my entire life, but now I’m struggling a little bit. I guess it is more of a realization, as I am in maintenance that this is how life is going to be from now on. Ok pity party over lol
I can identify with this feeling. There are days when I like everything I planned to eat, but I still just want to kick my feet and eat whatever I want being conscious of calories. I wouldn't trade my present situation for it, but sometimes I still feel robbed of that old ability to just eat and feel as if it didn't matter at all (it did matter, it was just a few years ago I'd eat and then deal with all the negative feelings later).
But this is my new life. Even if I wanted to, I know too much about calorie counting to be able to go back. And the majority of the time, it's totally worth it.
You should give yourself permission to feel all these feelings, you know? You've done something big and it's okay to have conflicting feelings when you've done something big even when it's an overall positive.
There's stuff I miss about overweight Jane's life, stuff that is never going to come back. As much as I overall hated it, there was fun stuff she did. I've incorporated as much of that fun stuff into my life in as many ways as I can, but I'm never going to completely replicate that life.
If it helps, make a list of stuff you're happy about and use it when you're feeling down about food/counting/whatever. Here are some of mine: Clothes shopping is just fun now, not a collection of "what ifs" and recriminations for what I ate over the weekend. I wear stuff I never wanted to wear before. My huge collection of fitness milestones from the past three years, none of which would have been possible without shedding some excess weight. I approach visits to the doctor without anxiety about blood test results. I no longer have to "brace myself" when looking at photos I've been tagged in online. Embrace the motivation that works for you! If you notice, vanity is a huge part of mine and I'm okay with that. Vanity is a bad thing when it gets out of control, but it works well for me as the positive motivation I need to stay on track.
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Armywife04_21 wrote: »I am still trying to get the hang of it. Honestly right after I started maintenance I thought it was absolutely wonderful, as I have said in several posts, but now that it has “set in” sort of speak I am struggling. Idk if you guys deal with this too, but there is a small percentage of me that misses eating whatever I wanted without any regard, just eating without the obsession of looking at the back and counting calories, it has definitely taken some of the joy out of eating. I never eat something without knowing the calories. I am proud of myself for the accomplishment of being the healthiest and the most fit I have ever been in my entire life, but now I’m struggling a little bit. I guess it is more of a realization, as I am in maintenance that this is how life is going to be from now on. Ok pity party over lol
I'm just on a temporary break at the moment, but something I've found helps me when I feel like throwing the food scale right out the window is thinking of my "suffering" as a gift to my future self. I'm doing something nice for me by sticking to one slice of pizza, I just don't necessarily get that present right away. I see this as related to the idea of responsibility debt (warning for swears at that link). Some nights, I just don't feel like doing the dishes after dinner. I start talking myself into doing it tomorrow. But then I remember that if I don't clean up now, I'll have twice as much to do tomorrow, and will want to do it even less. So I do Future Me a solid, and spend twenty minutes on the dang dishes. And the next day, I try to remember to thank myself belatedly for the gift of not passing on that buck.14 -
I can't use MFP as a neat system any more. My Fitbit is wacky, so causes me to gain then lose weight even though my net cals look spot on. I do still use it as a food log and just watch my gross cals.
I assume it is rightish about my sedentary maintenance cals, but I am never sedentary so have never tested it.0 -
MFP's number was too low for me too. I think part of that is because I burn more calories in exercise than it gives me, since I do a lot of running on hills. I eat back all my exercise calories. There is also the age issue. Because I am old, I am given fewer calories. I think my metabolism is hotter than the usual 61 year old sedentary female because of the exercise afterburn. In any case, MFP said 1470, I aim at 1600 net, eat more than that at least 3 days a week, log loosely, and am maintaining my weight.4
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Never used MFP to compute my weight loss or maintenance cals.
I used the ave TDEE as measured by various online calculators, which were all HIGH, and then adjusted my intake by trial and error as needed to maintain my weight w/in a range acceptable to me.
When I started, the estimates ranged from 2200 to 2700 a day. Found that 1800-1900 net cals was actually the "right" number for me when I was just lifting on top of my "normal" activity and maintained at 158# (+/- 3#) for a year at this level.
However, now that I'm also rowing 10k meters and burning about 550 cals daily on top of lifting and other activities, I'm maintaining at 2200 gross and 1650 net cal a day at 158# (+/-3#).
Still trying to figure out how I can maintain the same weight on lower net cals but, I weigh myself and log all of my cals daily, and the scale doesn't lie.
At least it hasn't in the past, the only explanation would be an over estimate of cals burned rowing and esting too many of those cals back.
Not an issue since maintenance is my goal and I've been able to do that for over a year but might make a difference if I actually wanted to lose (or gain) weight again.0 -
MFP, and typical TDEE calculators, were way too low. But I knew that would happen, since I lost weight way too fast on the calories they recommended for that, too. (Lost most of my weight eating calories MFP thought would make me maintain or even gain).
Therefore, I'd been working on a personalized maintenance estimate for a while (via data analysis) before I reached goal weight. Then I reverse dieted at the end just for more analysis fodder.
MFP estimates pre-exercise calories for me - 5'5", 62 y/o, female, weight in 120s, sedentary outside of intentional exercise - somewhere in the 1500s, IIRC. It's actually in the low 2000s. Actual TDEE is mid-2000s.
Recommendation: Use your weight loss data from the last weeks of weight loss to estimate maintenance.
Food for thought:
https://examine.com/nutrition/does-metabolism-vary-between-two-people/
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Yes mine is spot on.
MFP tells me to maintain at 1710 and I eat 1710 on average (admittedly very roughly measured) and I maintain my weight.
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It's a massive assumption that people are actually estimating their food, activity and exercise calories accurately enough for the MFP calculated number to be relevant let alone comparable between people.
I simply adjusted based on my rate of weight loss then made small manual goal adjustments as required.
Do give yourself time to adapt mentally and emotionally to maintenance, what is new takes time to become normal and habitual.
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Armywife04_21 wrote: »I am still trying to get the hang of it. Honestly right after I started maintenance I thought it was absolutely wonderful, as I have said in several posts, but now that it has “set in” sort of speak I am struggling. Idk if you guys deal with this too, but there is a small percentage of me that misses eating whatever I wanted without any regard, just eating without the obsession of looking at the back and counting calories, it has definitely taken some of the joy out of eating. I never eat something without knowing the calories. I am proud of myself for the accomplishment of being the healthiest and the most fit I have ever been in my entire life, but now I’m struggling a little bit. I guess it is more of a realization, as I am in maintenance that this is how life is going to be from now on. Ok pity party over lol
yes - this. I have been in maintenance about 3 months now and just lately it has started to feel like I am still on a diet of sorts. I am not hungry or tired and am about at my TDEE (it's actually close to what MFP and Fitbit calculate I think) Anyway, just wanted to let you know you are not alone and your words resonate with how I have been feeling. I do think part of it tho is SAD - the weather has been miserable lately and I injured myself so no running endorphins and grey, cold, windy, drizzly days. I am going to chalk the feelings up to that vs the whole monitoring calories thing for a while... 2 -
SummerSkier wrote: »Armywife04_21 wrote: »I am still trying to get the hang of it. Honestly right after I started maintenance I thought it was absolutely wonderful, as I have said in several posts, but now that it has “set in” sort of speak I am struggling. Idk if you guys deal with this too, but there is a small percentage of me that misses eating whatever I wanted without any regard, just eating without the obsession of looking at the back and counting calories, it has definitely taken some of the joy out of eating. I never eat something without knowing the calories. I am proud of myself for the accomplishment of being the healthiest and the most fit I have ever been in my entire life, but now I’m struggling a little bit. I guess it is more of a realization, as I am in maintenance that this is how life is going to be from now on. Ok pity party over lol
yes - this. I have been in maintenance about 3 months now and just lately it has started to feel like I am still on a diet of sorts. I am not hungry or tired and am about at my TDEE (it's actually close to what MFP and Fitbit calculate I think) Anyway, just wanted to let you know you are not alone and your words resonate with how I have been feeling. I do think part of it tho is SAD - the weather has been miserable lately and I injured myself so no running endorphins and grey, cold, windy, drizzly days. I am going to chalk the feelings up to that vs the whole monitoring calories thing for a while...
I’m glad I’m not the only one!!!!0 -
My maintenance weight is 120lbs and MFP puts me on 1720 calories a day but I think it might be too low, I am now down to 118lbs, so we will see if it stabilizes soon.0
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One more thought....I honestly don’t understand how maintenance works as a whole while eating a lot more calories than before. How can you still lose while eating at 1700 as if you were losing at 1500? What was the point in eating at 1500 all along? Idk, just a thought...0
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Armywife04_21 wrote: »One more thought....I honestly don’t understand how maintenance works as a whole while eating a lot more calories than before. How can you still lose while eating at 1700 as if you were losing at 1500? What was the point in eating at 1500 all along? Idk, just a thought...
In maintenance you are not trying to lose weight, but rather maintain your weight. So you no longer have to eat at a deficit and can eat up to your TDEE. Calculating your TDEE is not a perfect science, however, as described above. So some people may still be eating in a deficit and lose weight, albeit not as fast as when they had a larger deficit.1 -
Mfp maintenance is way too low for me. It gives me 1430 sedentary and 1860 for active. I typically eat about 2100 calories per day. I think I am finally maintaining, but I have been trying to maintain for 17 months and have lost ~15 pounds during that time.0
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I just keep adding 100 every other week or so and watch the trend on fitbit or moving avg on happy scale. Then I set my calories in MFP and don't worry about exercise. I am using a TDEE spreadsheet also.0
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Armywife04_21 wrote: »One more thought....I honestly don’t understand how maintenance works as a whole while eating a lot more calories than before. How can you still lose while eating at 1700 as if you were losing at 1500? What was the point in eating at 1500 all along? Idk, just a thought...
That's why you look at your personal results after about 6 weeks eating at a deficit.
If you're losing faster than expected at the calorie target MFP gave you, you're probably going to maintain at a higher level than MFP estimates. (A small fraction of people may lose at the expected rate but still have a higher maintenance, perhaps: Anecdotally, it seems like some people's NEAT may up/down regulate more automatically, invisibly (to them), and dramatically in response to calorie consumption changes).
If your NEAT for maintenance is 2000 in real life, eating 1500 net will result in about a pound a week loss, and eating 1700 net will result in losing something over half a pound weekly, approximately. It's just the math.
This is one reason you see people here saying things like "s/he who eats the most calories and loses, wins" and "you may not have to eat 1200 even if MFP says so".
It's possible that you could've accomplished all your weight loss at 1700, just a bit more slowly.
The calorie target "calculators" (like the one built into MFP) don't really calculate (with precision), they estimate. Individuals vary from estimates, sometimes by a surprising amount, in either direction.
I posted this before, above. I'm going to post it again. Read it; It's insight-producing:
https://examine.com/nutrition/does-metabolism-vary-between-two-people/
Edited: missing word = unclarity.4 -
This thread should be stickied!! This has some awesome recounts for maintainers!1
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Armywife04_21 wrote: »My maintenance weight is 120lbs and MFP puts me on 1720 calories a day but I think it might be too low, I am now down to 118lbs, so we will see if it stabilizes soon.
I'm 45, 5"8 and 160lbs, and MFP gives me 1770 to maintain at sedentary. Your number sounds way too low.0 -
It's a massive assumption that people are actually estimating their food, activity and exercise calories accurately enough for the MFP calculated number to be relevant let alone comparable between people.
I simply adjusted based on my rate of weight loss then made small manual goal adjustments as required.
Do give yourself time to adapt mentally and emotionally to maintenance, what is new takes time to become normal and habitual.
Well, yes, that is true.
however, when I say the calorie calculation is spot on, I mean the 1710 that I think I eat does maintain my weight.
Just like the 1460 that I thought I ate did lose weight.
Now it is possible my number is wrong and I actually eat more or less than I think or burn off more or less than I think (or am different height or age or gender than I think I am
) - and it is certainly true that my 1710 is measured very roughly - but point is that the number MFP tells me to eat and the number I think I eat or that I measure roughly that I eat do tally up.
The number is still relevant.
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It was WAY under for weight loss. I lost too much weight too fast when I was strict on 1200-1400 daily. Now, with my new found activity level, It seems I can maintain at 2000-2300 daily and stay within 2-4 pounds of my weight.0
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I’m 158 cm, sedentary and 53 kg and MFP only gives me 1390 for maintenance— seems very low to me0
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Christine_72 wrote: »Armywife04_21 wrote: »My maintenance weight is 120lbs and MFP puts me on 1720 calories a day but I think it might be too low, I am now down to 118lbs, so we will see if it stabilizes soon.
I'm 45, 5"8 and 160lbs, and MFP gives me 1770 to maintain at sedentary. Your number sounds way too low.
I’m only 5’2 though, but I do think it is still too low for how active I am. I run 13-15 miles total a week and do weight training too, so I will probably be upping my calories soon.0 -
Armywife, I think it gives you your BMR as a baseline and then adds to it for your activity. So 1720 does sound correct ballpark, but you would get additional added for your workouts etc.
I am only a hair under 5'2" but maintaining at a lower weight than you are. I am currently doing about 1850 per day total. MFP says 1200 to maintain. So, yeah, it might be low but it gives me about 600 for exercise from my fitbit link.. I think you just need to keep adding slowly and watching your weight to see where you are. For me it was easier to slowly add and monitor to the rate of loss than to just add a whole bunch at one time. I am learning that maintenance is not a set # all the time as typically we are never just stagnant but either gaining or losing. So, the goal is to just set the range and make adjustments as the moving avg changes. It takes at least 2 weeks to see what sort of effect is going on. More if you are having menstral cycles too.
And I think everyone is different in how they approach maintaining too. I like the monthly maintenance thread over in that group as I learn a lot from folks who have been maintaining for a lot longer. Right now at 13 weeks in for me it is still pretty new to,and I am only sure of ONE THING. For me personally I need to LOG and WEIGH daily. The #s and the exercise may change but as long as I don't close my eyes and pretend I don't need to do those 2 things, I think I can prevent a big YO swing up again. And yes, it would be nice if I could just eat and not worry about anything, but apparently I can learn at 59 that if I do that, I will end up heavy again as I have over the past 44 yrs. I pride myself that I am an excellent weight loser. I have done it so often that I could do it with my eyes closed. This maintaining thing tho? WOW. Never happened before. All brand new. Kind of fun to learn tho.
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SummerSkier wrote: »Armywife, I think it gives you your BMR as a baseline and then adds to it for your activity. So 1720 does sound correct ballpark, but you would get additional added for your workouts etc.
I am only a hair under 5'2" but maintaining at a lower weight than you are. I am currently doing about 1850 per day total. MFP says 1200 to maintain. So, yeah, it might be low but it gives me about 600 for exercise from my fitbit link.. I think you just need to keep adding slowly and watching your weight to see where you are. For me it was easier to slowly add and monitor to the rate of loss than to just add a whole bunch at one time. I am learning that maintenance is not a set # all the time as typically we are never just stagnant but either gaining or losing. So, the goal is to just set the range and make adjustments as the moving avg changes. It takes at least 2 weeks to see what sort of effect is going on. More if you are having menstral cycles too.
And I think everyone is different in how they approach maintaining too. I like the monthly maintenance thread over in that group as I learn a lot from folks who have been maintaining for a lot longer. Right now at 13 weeks in for me it is still pretty new to,and I am only sure of ONE THING. For me personally I need to LOG and WEIGH daily. The #s and the exercise may change but as long as I don't close my eyes and pretend I don't need to do those 2 things, I think I can prevent a big YO swing up again. And yes, it would be nice if I could just eat and not worry about anything, but apparently I can learn at 59 that if I do that, I will end up heavy again as I have over the past 44 yrs. I pride myself that I am an excellent weight loser. I have done it so often that I could do it with my eyes closed. This maintaining thing tho? WOW. Never happened before. All brand new. Kind of fun to learn tho.
It is definitely a learning experience, this is a lifestyle that takes a lot of getting used to. I do like the ability of eating more though! One thing for me is that I never have eaten my exercise calories, maybe that is what I need to add! It can be a scary step to do so! (For me anyway)...0
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