MFP Lowballs your calories?

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xstealth12x
xstealth12x Posts: 43 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been to a couple of other calculators online and am getting some completely different "daily recommended" intake of calories. Not by just a couple hundred, but generally they're off by about a thousand! MPF puts me at approx 2100 cal/day to lose weight to my desired goal but other research says I should be closer to 2800 cal/day to reach my goal. Has anyone else run across similar findings? Any tips on which to go with? I've been hitting MFP goals with relative ease but still eating healthy and going to bed satisfied but if my body is in starvation mode it's gonna slow down the burn.

Help!
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  • Mike523
    Mike523 Posts: 393 Member
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    MFP does not take exercise into consideration until you actually record it in your tracker. So if you set up your goals and said you're going to exercise 5 days per week for an hour per day, MFP ignores that when setting up your calorie target. Only when you actually do the exercise and add it to your tracker does it count toward your calorie goal, increasing it for that day.
  • xstealth12x
    xstealth12x Posts: 43 Member
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    Sure, I see where you're getting at but I mean just the base calories ignoring exercising. You're right though, as you exercise your calorie allowance increases but I'm more focused just on that base calorie starting point for the day.
  • Mike523
    Mike523 Posts: 393 Member
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    But you're comparing the MFP goals calculator (which doesn't count exercise) to other online calculators that most likely DO account for your exercise level in their calculations. That would most likely be why there's a large discrepancy.
  • xstealth12x
    xstealth12x Posts: 43 Member
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    That's a good point. Btw, great job on the 76lbs lost!
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    MFP is, IMHO a much better resource - I love that I can change the parameters on my account to meet the numbers my doctors want me to work with. Im not a true fan of the exercise-calculations to be honest, some of them tend to run a little high in my books... but, at least its an all-in-one comprehensive approach... the reports that you can print up are great - ESPECIALLY when you are working with doctors like I am....
  • xraychick82
    xraychick82 Posts: 10
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    I was going to post about the same topic. I just had abdominal surgery, so I set my exercise level to sedentry until I get the clearance to exercise again. MFP says 1200 and most of the other calculators are set to average at 1,600... so I am confused as I am not working out at the moment.
  • xstealth12x
    xstealth12x Posts: 43 Member
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    xray - Agreed, because the calculators I've found online don't have a metric for workout calories, so that's where the confusion comes in. I don't understand how MFP says I should consume 2000cal/day and other ones say I should consume 2800cal/day to reach the same result from the same point. I've noticed on a day to day basis those days where I've accidently run across extra calories through the day make for a better change the following day more than the days I've eaten less and exercised more.

    cramernh - So you've noticed that MFP has similar calculations to what your doctors have provided you with?
  • xstealth12x
    xstealth12x Posts: 43 Member
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    Hmm... upon further review, I think that Mike may be correct. I've just found a couple different calculators and played with some settings and a lot of them are calculating some sort of extra exercise and not giving just a base maintain rate. Interesting
  • kmp411
    kmp411 Posts: 30 Member
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    MFP is, IMHO a much better resource - I love that I can change the parameters on my account to meet the numbers my doctors want me to work with. Im not a true fan of the exercise-calculations to be honest, some of them tend to run a little high in my books... but, at least its an all-in-one comprehensive approach... the reports that you can print up are great - ESPECIALLY when you are working with doctors like I am....

    I disagree... There are better calc's on the internet to determine caloric intake for weight loss/maintenance. MFP could do a better job with the default settings, Macro's etc...
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    MFP is, IMHO a much better resource - I love that I can change the parameters on my account to meet the numbers my doctors want me to work with. Im not a true fan of the exercise-calculations to be honest, some of them tend to run a little high in my books... but, at least its an all-in-one comprehensive approach... the reports that you can print up are great - ESPECIALLY when you are working with doctors like I am....

    I disagree... There are better calc's on the internet to determine caloric intake for weight loss/maintenance. MFP could do a better job with the default settings, Macro's etc...

    Im not complaining about default settings like you are.... my note said "can change the parameters on my account to meet the numbers my doctors want me to work with"

    Clearly MFP being considered by real healthcare professionals says alot to me.... and it works
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    The bottom line is that different calculators/methods use different assumptions, different formulas, etc as the basis for their recommendations.

    You have to pick ONE and stick with that ONE. If you try to take aspects of one method and mix them with pieces of another you're bound to run into problems.

    Use MFP or don't... but don't mix it with pieces of other methods.
  • DoreenDC
    DoreenDC Posts: 17 Member
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    I just noticed that as well.....they dropped me to 1200, saying thats an average of 1.8 lbs a week.....that's insane, I will lose an easy 6 lbs/week.....

    I'm a personal trainer just looking to start counting calories instead of all these high protein low carb diets, I'm burnt out on them and my weight isn't moving anymore.....

    I'm fine with the 1200, I can do that......but I'm just very surprised with their calculations....they are definitely off a bit. In order to lose, I should be up more so between 1800-2000
  • DoreenDC
    DoreenDC Posts: 17 Member
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    And you should focus on just that.....leave the workout calories OUT!!!!!

    :)
    Doreen
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    I like that the calculation has the deficit built in whether I exercise or not. I have mine set on sedentary so that if I do exercise I know I can eat more calories, but if I don't exercise it doesn't give me a false sense of how many calories I can eat.

    That said, calorie intakes are always just estimates and have to be adjusted if they aren't working. If MFP's seems low for you then you can set it higher.
  • 714rah714
    714rah714 Posts: 759 Member
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    You can always manually change your calories to meet your specific needs/goals, not a problem.
  • jenniebean1680
    jenniebean1680 Posts: 351 Member
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    I think people aren't aware of what "NET" means. People post this literally multiple times a day. This site says you should NET whatever calories it gives you.

    So if your number is 1200, and you burn 800 through exercise, you need to be eating 2000 to lose.

    MFP should have some sort of note about that. These threads only show how confused people are.
  • thatgirl125
    thatgirl125 Posts: 294 Member
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    for me MFP and other calculators are right around the same point for me.
    I am only 4' 11" and MFP says to have 1200 calories a day, and I looked up other ones and the most one had told me to eat was 1285/1358 (right around there).
  • EMagineBeingEMazing
    EMagineBeingEMazing Posts: 76
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    That said, calorie intakes are always just estimates and have to be adjusted if they aren't working. If MFP's seems low for you then you can set it higher.

    exactly. It's all an estimate, since everyone's body works differently. So find what works for you. :)
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    I just noticed that as well.....they dropped me to 1200, saying thats an average of 1.8 lbs a week.....that's insane, I will lose an easy 6 lbs/week.....

    I'm a personal trainer just looking to start counting calories instead of all these high protein low carb diets, I'm burnt out on them and my weight isn't moving anymore.....

    I'm fine with the 1200, I can do that......but I'm just very surprised with their calculations....they are definitely off a bit. In order to lose, I should be up more so between 1800-2000
    And you should focus on just that.....leave the workout calories OUT!!!!!

    :)
    Doreen

    Again, I think you're confusing the matter. MFP is setup to eat back exercise cals. So MFP suggests 1200 cals per day PLUS whatever cals you burn working out. Eat your 1200 cals, then burn 500 cals working out, eat those 500 cals and you're at the 1700 cals total for the day that you think you should be at.
  • Mom0fTwo
    Mom0fTwo Posts: 326 Member
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    i find that on the days that i just do the 1200 cals with no exercise that i am starving, so recently i have been bumping it up by about 200 cals a day when i dont exercise and i have lost another 2 lbs, it was just an experiment but it works for me, when i do exercise i eat back all of it plus maybe an extra 100 cals and in the last 2 days have lost .5 lbs so i am thinking that it is too low for me, maybe try experimenting :)

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