Caloric deficit

lakeitha_d
lakeitha_d Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello

Just wondering if my fitness pal will change my daily calorie amount on its own or do I need to adjust it myself?

Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,881 Member
    Change it why? Because you've lost weight?
    I've found that MFP does not adjust my calorie goal automatically. Every 5 lbs or so I confirm my goal settings to update my calorie goal.
  • ZoneFive
    ZoneFive Posts: 570 Member
    edited October 2020
    Do you mean, after you've lost a certain amount of weight, will MFP adjust your calories downwards to fit? I've haven't had that happen for myself, although I think I heard that MFP is supposed to do so. I go in and adjust my numbers after 5-7 pounds lost, and re-enter the new numbers myself. You'll probably want to do that fairly frequently, because suddenly discovering that you need to subtract 100 calories from your daily total is no fun at all.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    I forgot to do it for AWHILE... and I did it this weekend. I “lost” 150 calories a day. I was very sad indeed... 😔
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,454 Member
    It won't change automatically.

    You would need to go to MY HOME > Goals > View Guided Setup

    Then enter your new weight, check to see if you like your Activity setting and Exercise setting and "Lose X pounds per week," and Save. Then it will update.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    edited October 2020
    MFP will adjust your TDEE it as you lose weight and as you get older, if that's what you mean. It seems to do it all at once, giving you a message when an adjustment is made.

    The formula used by MFP is:

    Mifflin-St Jeor Equation:

    For men:

    BMR = 10W + 6.25H - 5A + 5

    For women:

    BMR = 10W + 6.25H - 5A - 161

    where:

    W is body weight in kg
    H is body height in cm
    A is age in years

    You get your TDEE by multiplying your BMR by an "activity factor" which is anywhere in the range of 1.2 - 2.0, depending on your level of activity (1.2 is for "sedentary").

    You can see that there is a lot of room for error in this estimate and you need to watch you weight to make sure it's working!
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 989 Member
    Maybe it's supposed to but it never knowingly happened for me when I was losing weight. I had to go in to Goals every so often and click Save.

    Having said that, now that I'm in Maintenance, I do sometimes see that my calories change slightly once in a while - presumably picking up from what my latest logged weight is. I still weigh myself every Monday, plus sometimes later in the week as well, and always log my current reading for tracking purposes.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    I have been using MFP for several years and it has NEVER updated on its own.

    OP I would definitely check and make sure it’s updating and if you are losing/gaining with no calorie change, then do what many of us do and update it manually so that it reflects a more accurate calorie goal.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    MFP will adjust your TDEE it as you lose weight and as you get older, if that's what you mean. It seems to do it all at once, giving you a message when an adjustment is made.

    For many people it actually doesn't though, a manual 'update' (confirmation) of the goals is necessary.

    Hmm. Maybe you're right.

    What I experienced when I hit a ~20lb loss (which may also have been my goal weight) was that I got a message saying that my plan was "updating." I suddenly lost 90kcals/day. I also once saw a change as I went through a decade (-50kcals/day).

    It hurts, man, it hurts! (But, it more-or-less works.)
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,881 Member
    Meh, I've lost over 50lbs and not once did my goal adjust automatically, I guess I'm not part of the lucky few :smile:
  • angelaclark22bpr
    angelaclark22bpr Posts: 1 Member
    edited October 2020
    Well, I'm new here so I don't really know how it works everything here yet... All I can say for now is that I am on a weight loss journey and really hope to take it to the finish line this time! Though my goal is not just to lose weight but also to keep a fitness lifestyle afterwards! My friend recommended me this كيتوني affirming that keto diet is much more effective than the calorie deficit one. I had no idea, so I said I would try both of them.. Anyway, I hope i will not give up and that myfitpal will be a great help in this!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Interestingly it will use an adjusted figure based on less weight as it estimates your daily burn, and database entries for exercise. And calculating adjustments when 3rd party tracker is syncing in daily burn figures.

    But it will not adjust your eating goal (it used to wait until 10 lbs lost so it was enough to matter) based on less weight.

    I'll need to remember to notice if it does an age adjustment since that will be less change than 10 lbs lost would cause.

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