My fitness pal- is it messed up?

josh_hebert · September 2019

If I log 1200 or lower it won't allow me.
If I eat my maintenance calories at 1500 and burn 600 of through exercise that equals to 900. When I submit then... It works... Is this a loophole too but more calories in a healthy way? Or is this a mess up on my fitness pal.

nighthawk584 · September 2019

pretty much on the daily

BarbaraHelen2013 · September 2019

It’s not messed up, it’s just the way it’s been programmed.

Seems the food diary is separate from the exercise adjustment bit. Really not in the least bit important though.

Closing out your diary does nothing except post to your feed that you clicked a button. Serves no purpose other than that, I’m sure there a lot of people here who never close out their diary, I know I don’t.

josh_hebert · September 2019

I close out my day because it shows me a visual representation of where I will be if I keep up the pace. So when I see that with exercise I can drop it lower that 1200 can and it shows me my goal weight sooner... It makes me want to do that more... But if it's harmful... Yaaa *kitten* that noise.

kshama2001 · September 2019

Sure, you can lose weight sooner. But what are the consequences? As a male, you should not be netting less than 1500 calories per day. Read this and mentally substitute 'man' for 'woman' and '1500' for '1200': https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/

Do you want to reach your goal weight only to have lost a lot of muscle along with fat?

What Are the Risks of Rapid Weight Loss?

Rapid weight loss creates physical demands on the body. Possible serious risks include:

Gallstones, which occur in 12% to 25% of people losing large amounts of weight over several months
Dehydration, which can be avoided by drinking plenty of fluids
Malnutrition, usually from not eating enough protein for weeks at a time
Electrolyte imbalances, which rarely can be life threatening

Other side effects of rapid weight loss include:

Headaches
Irritability
Fatigue
Dizziness
Constipation
Menstrual irregularities
Hair loss
Muscle loss

MikePTY · September 2019

This is not a bug, but the way MFP has been programmed. It will not let men eat less than 1200 gross calories and close out their diaries. It does not apply to net calories. One can debate the wisdom of that, but that is how it is set up.

As a male, you really should target at least 1500 calories plus a reasonable estimate of your exercise calories, at a minimum. This isn't a race to the finish line. Rapid weight loss has a lot of the negative negative effects mentioned above. One particular one to bone in on is muscle loss. If you don't give your body enough calories to sustain a reasonable deficit, it is more likely to burn muscle to make up some of that energy. Then even when you do lose weight, you may not like how you look, and feel you are "skinny fat".

Plus, if you try drastic deficits, you are less likely to develop the skills to keep the weight off when you lose it. That's how people end up "yoyo dieting" and keep losing and gaining the same weight over and over again.

cwolfman13 · September 2019

Slight tangent...but you're a male. There's no way your maintenance is 1500 calories. 1500 calories is the the recommended lower limit for weight loss for a sedentary (no exercise) male. A male has zero business eating 1200 calories per day unless he's under a doctor's supervision.

MikePTY · September 2019

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Slight tangent...but you're a male. There's no way your maintenance is 1500 calories. 1500 calories is the the recommended lower limit for weight loss for a sedentary (no exercise) male. A male has zero business eating 1200 calories per day unless he's under a doctor's supervision.

Yup. I missed the maintenance part. A sedentary 40 year old, 5'2, 135 male would still a 1750 calorie maintenance. An average height, overweight male who does moderate exercise likely has a TDEE of at least.

Glotia1963 · September 2019

when on the food diary is there any way to put in carbs from a recipe with out putting in all the ingredients? The recipe tells the net carbs..

My fitness pal- is it messed up?

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