How many of you went with the calorie goal MFP set for you,

wells0707 · February 2012

I went with the MFP settings with great success. If there was a situation where I couldn't weigh my food and count exact calories I did tend to overestimate calories so a to be on the safe side. With exercise I did the opposite and underestimated calories burned if necessary.

Worked for me. I pretty much went on totals, though and didn't bother with the nutrient breakdown.

I wish maintenance were as easy to calculate.

Thats what I do also. I tend to over estimate calories if I don't know. And I don't pay attention to the breakdown. I just try to make the better choice when possible.

ladyraven68 · February 2012

I've stuck to the 1200 recommended for me but have only lost 20 lbs. in 3 months. I was thinking about fasting for a couple days. Has anyone done this? If so, did you lose any wieght only to gain it back after eating again?

ONLY lost 20lbs in 3 months? that's almost 2lb a week which is an excellent loss.

MommyTKD · February 2012

I've been using the settings and eating back "Most" of my exercise calories. In 50 days, I've lost almost 11 pounds. I only put in the standard "1 lb/week loss" goal because I've honestly done other diets where I lost a ton right away and the pounds came back with friends. I think the truth is slow and steady wins the race.

LynneGG · February 2012

bump

silverpen193 · February 2012

I have only just started using this site and had never heard of eating the exercise calories back before. MFP set my target at 1380 cals per day and I usually eat under 1300. Over the last 3 weeks I have steadily increased the amount of calories I am burning through exercise to around 2800 - mostly cardio through a steps workout but some strength training and stretches too. I have not been eating the calories back - partly because I hadnt even considered it. This last few days I have felt really tired and struggled to maintain the intensity of my workouts, despite taking supplements to increase my recovery. Now I am wondering if I am in too much of a deficit. On the other hand, 2800 cals over 7 days is an extra 400 calories a day - 500 if I add in the 100 or so I am not eating now. I am not at all hungry following my plan as it is and dont really want to eat just for the sake of it..
Would appreciate some feedback.

Psufilmgirl · February 2012

I've stuck to the 1200 recommended for me but have only lost 20 lbs. in 3 months. I was thinking about fasting for a couple days. Has anyone done this? If so, did you lose any wieght only to gain it back after eating again?

I just read somewhere, I think it was Women's Health magazine, that fasting is so unhealthy because it messes up your metabolism.

Your weight loss is good! Just keep working at it. Don't starve your body. You will gain the weight back. I did a cleanse once and as soon as you start to eat food again, you gain all the weight right back, and sometimes more.

foremant86 · February 2012

I have.

I started out at 1200 calories(2lb loss per week) and ate back my exercise calories. That worked for a little while then i changed it to 1.5 a week and now i believe i have it set at 1lb a week and i continue to eat my exercise calories.

foremant86 · February 2012

I have only just started using this site and had never heard of eating the exercise calories back before. MFP set my target at 1380 cals per day and I usually eat under 1300. Over the last 3 weeks I have steadily increased the amount of calories I am burning through exercise to around 2800 - mostly cardio through a steps workout but some strength training and stretches too. I have not been eating the calories back - partly because I hadnt even considered it. This last few days I have felt really tired and struggled to maintain the intensity of my workouts, despite taking supplements to increase my recovery. Now I am wondering if I am in too much of a deficit. On the other hand, 2800 cals over 7 days is an extra 400 calories a day - 500 if I add in the 100 or so I am not eating now. I am not at all hungry following my plan as it is and dont really want to eat just for the sake of it..
Would appreciate some feedback.

you're tired and weak yet you claim you're not hungry?

yeah you've created too large of a deficit and your body is not happy with you. eat more!

cynhip · February 2012

Thank you!

schrobecky · February 2012

Ok... so I originally had my calorie goal set the 'light activity' level which put me at something like 1650 calories per day...and after a couple of weeks of that I actually GAINED weight... so looking at it again, I realized my work day is much more on the 'sedentary' side so I changed it, took me down to 1400 per day, and I am back to a few pounds below my starting weight.

I've spot checked the food calorie estimates for MFP foods, against the packages and most seem accurate... although if there is more than one entry for basically the same thing and one is higher, I will usually pick the higher one to be on the safe side (as annoying as that is)..

I exercise with a heart rate monitor watch (recommend the Mio watch it was like 20 bucks on woot.com and does a great job) which calculates the burn based on your profile of height weight age etc. That all seems pretty accurate too...

Now my question is... WHY THE HECK AM I NOT LOSING WEIGHT!???

I have hit a plateau and it's making me crazy... body fat is changing for the better, but the scale is going no where... (GRRRR).... So, have some patience if you are not seeing the scale move right away, all the healthy changes at once are bound to turn fat to muscle which actually weighs more than fat.

silverpen193 · February 2012

I'm not claiming I am not hungry, I am not hungry. On any day where I am hungry, I do eat more calories and then go back to the target the next day.

Scorpioangel · February 2012

I went with my own calorie goal and ratios for my needs. I think MFP set my calories way too low!

Verito52 · February 2012

I cant ever seem to reach my ideal calories. I am a tutor and a sub. so finding something to eat that wont tottally kill me is hard. Any ideas of how to even reach 1200. i swear i eat an okay breakfast and snack on carrots and stuff like that but i can never seem to reach 1200. help!!

MissMaryMac33 · February 2012

I cant ever seem to reach my ideal calories. I am a tutor and a sub. so finding something to eat that wont tottally kill me is hard. Any ideas of how to even reach 1200. i swear i eat an okay breakfast and snack on carrots and stuff like that but i can never seem to reach 1200. help!!

Snack on something else.... almonds, greek yogurt, string cheese... or add in some protein shakes if you can't get in enough calories. Starving yourself is not a good thing either.

MissMaryMac33 · February 2012

Ok... so I originally had my calorie goal set the 'light activity' level which put me at something like 1650 calories per day...and after a couple of weeks of that I actually GAINED weight... so looking at it again, I realized my work day is much more on the 'sedentary' side so I changed it, took me down to 1400 per day, and I am back to a few pounds below my starting weight.

I've spot checked the food calorie estimates for MFP foods, against the packages and most seem accurate... although if there is more than one entry for basically the same thing and one is higher, I will usually pick the higher one to be on the safe side (as annoying as that is)..

I exercise with a heart rate monitor watch (recommend the Mio watch it was like 20 bucks on woot.com and does a great job) which calculates the burn based on your profile of height weight age etc. That all seems pretty accurate too...

Now my question is... WHY THE HECK AM I NOT LOSING WEIGHT!??? I have hit a plateau and it's making me crazy... body fat is changing for the better, but the scale is going no where... (GRRRR).... So, have some patience if you are not seeing the scale move right away, all the healthy changes at once are bound to turn fat to muscle which actually weighs more than fat.

Unless that mio has a chest strap, its not accurate. If you're eating back your exercise calories but your mio is OVER estimating, then you're probably overeatting. For a 20$ buck watch you get what you pay for... I tried that at first and its not worth it.

cryingwolfeblog · February 2012

I have, and it has been so far so good. I recently raised it and found that I had way too many calories left over, so I went back to the suggested amount.

Sepheriel · February 2012

I had a nutritionist tell me that it all depends on the individual. One person might lose 4 pounds a week on 1200 calories while another person doesn't lose at all. Her philosophy was to start a diet at about 1600 calories and if there's no weight loss the first week to cut calories by 100/day for the next week. I was supposed to lower my calories by 100/day (for a week's time) until I found the number that worked for me to lose about 2 pounds a week.

stingrayinfl · February 2012

Do what works. I signed up for MFP for a reason and that was to count my cals and lose weight. It worked. I am within 4 pounds of where I want to be. I used to go by the exact number of cals that mfp stated. I now eat 1,500 to 1,800 cals a day. I burn a minum of 1,000 cals 6 days a week with exercise. Adjustments can be made to any program. For those who complains about mfp might consider trying something else to lose their weight.