Calorie Goal

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sydneypink23
sydneypink23 Posts: 27 Member
edited March 2020 in Food and Nutrition
Hi all, do you adjust your calorie goal as your weight goes down?

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Yes. As you get smaller, your body requires less energy. So if you want to stay in a deficit over time, you'll need to adjust your calorie goal to reflect your lower weight.
  • ladyzherra
    ladyzherra Posts: 438 Member
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    I agree with @janejellyroll
  • sydneypink23
    sydneypink23 Posts: 27 Member
    edited March 2020
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    Thank you! When I first started this app, I was 170 but ended up using the Noom app for awhile. I ended up dropping down to 165 and my deficit was around 1500 calories a day (I used an equation I found on Healthline). But, after looking at different calorie deficit calculators online, the goal I was getting online was around 1700. My fitness pal says my goal is now 1870 - I’m 5’5, currently 162lbs, 25 years old, and I’m active/workout 5-6 days a week. I’m assuming my fitness pal is correct, I’m just confused!
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    sydneypink23 wrote: »
    Thank you! When I first started this app, I was 170 but ended up using the Noom app for awhile. I ended up dropping down to 165 and my deficit was around 1500 calories a day (I used an equation I found on Healthline). But, after looking at different calorie deficit calculators online, the deficit I was getting online was around 1700. My fitness pal says my deficit is now 1870 - I’m 5’5, currently 162lbs, 25 years old, and I’m active/workout 5-6 days a week. I’m assuming my fitness pal is correct, I’m just confused!

    It can be confusing because different online calculators will use different inputs and formulas to determine your calorie goal. The best approach is to pick one source, stick with that for a reasonable amount of time, observe your real life results, and then make adjustments from there.

    One thing to call out: MFP is designed so that you don't use your workouts to determine your activity level. You pick your activity level based on your everyday, non-exercise activity, and then log your workouts on top of that to "earn" additional calories. So take that into account.

    I will say that I have personally found MFP to be very accurate in estimating a deficit for me and there are other people here who have had the same experience. There are also people here who have had to adjust their MFP numbers or who have had success using other online sources to determine their goals.

    So the confusion is understandable!
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,282 Member
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    I'm confused, are you talking about your deficit (difference between your maintenance calories and actual calories) or are you talking about your daily calorie goal?

    Your daily deficit determines your rate of loss, for example: 500 calories = 1lb weight loss per week. Obese people can set a higher weight loss rate than people who have little to lose, to limit loss of lean tissue.

    Your daily calorie goal should also go down as you lose weight, as a smaller body needs less calories, even while keeping the same weight loss rate. This is supposed to happen automatically, but sometimes you need to re-enter your stats into MFP to 'force' an update of your daily calorie goal.
    By the way: on MFP, your daily calorie doesn't take into account exercise, so exercising will cause your calorie goal to increase. While other online calculators use TDEE (total calories including exercise) so that number will be different than the base calorie goal MFP gives you.
  • sydneypink23
    sydneypink23 Posts: 27 Member
    edited March 2020
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    sydneypink23 wrote: »
    Thank you! When I first started this app, I was 170 but ended up using the Noom app for awhile. I ended up dropping down to 165 and my deficit was around 1500 calories a day (I used an equation I found on Healthline). But, after looking at different calorie deficit calculators online, the deficit I was getting online was around 1700. My fitness pal says my deficit is now 1870 - I’m 5’5, currently 162lbs, 25 years old, and I’m active/workout 5-6 days a week. I’m assuming my fitness pal is correct, I’m just confused!

    It can be confusing because different online calculators will use different inputs and formulas to determine your calorie goal. The best approach is to pick one source, stick with that for a reasonable amount of time, observe your real life results, and then make adjustments from there.

    One thing to call out: MFP is designed so that you don't use your workouts to determine your activity level. You pick your activity level based on your everyday, non-exercise activity, and then log your workouts on top of that to "earn" additional calories. So take that into account.

    I will say that I have personally found MFP to be very accurate in estimating a deficit for me and there are other people here who have had the same experience. There are also people here who have had to adjust their MFP numbers or who have had success using other online sources to determine their goals.

    So the confusion is understandable!

    Thank you for the tip!! I might have to go in and adjust my activity level! How do you determine that?
  • sydneypink23
    sydneypink23 Posts: 27 Member
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    Lietchi wrote: »
    I'm confused, are you talking about your deficit (difference between your maintenance calories and actual calories) or are you talking about your daily calorie goal?

    Your daily deficit determines your rate of loss, for example: 500 calories = 1lb weight loss per week. Obese people can set a higher weight loss rate than people who have little to lose, to limit loss of lean tissue.

    Your daily calorie goal should also go down as you lose weight, as a smaller body needs less calories, even while keeping the same weight loss rate. This is supposed to happen automatically, but sometimes you need to re-enter your stats into MFP to 'force' an update of your daily calorie goal.
    By the way: on MFP, your daily calorie doesn't take into account exercise, so exercising will cause your calorie goal to increase. While other online calculators use TDEE (total calories including exercise) so that number will be different than the base calorie goal MFP gives you.

    Yes, sorry my daily calorie goal!
  • dblair27
    dblair27 Posts: 64 Member
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    I use premium and have my calories set by day, so I re-evaluate every five pounds or so. I take my weekly allotment and break it out depending on whether I plan to exercise. I exercise on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, so I allot myself fewer calories on those days because I earn some through exercise. I take those calories and add them to Fridays and Sundays... days when I don't exercise and tend to splurge. Usually I can tell when it's not working for me anymore - hit a plateau, feeling fuller than usual. I play it by ear. No longer overweight, though, so the pounds are coming off much more slowly!
  • MichelleMcKeeRN
    MichelleMcKeeRN Posts: 450 Member
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    I have my calories set to 1495. I have about 10 pounds to lose. I won’t adjust my calories until I hit my goal weight in which I will start adjusting up until I am at maintenance. I realize I will lose weight quicker at first and than weight loss will slow due to not reducing calories as I go. Hope that helps!

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