So confused... how many calories?

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Asces
Asces Posts: 182
in Health and Weight Loss
I know this has probably been asked to death, but after some googling I am completely lost.

Is MFP accurate at figuring out how many calories I should be eating every day? I am 224, it is set at 1700 a day (that included the 1.5 pound loss a week).

I always eat back my exercise calories, because the majority on here say that is best.

I want to lose the weight slow in hopes of having less loose skin after this is all done.

Please help me! Thank you.

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    I know this has probably been asked to death, but after some googling I am completely lost.

    Is MFP accurate at figuring out how many calories I should be eating every day? I am 224, it is set at 1700 a day (that included the 1.5 pound loss a week).

    I always eat back my exercise calories, because the majority on here say that is best.

    I want to lose the weight slow in hopes of having less loose skin after this is all done.

    Please help me! Thank you.

    Just like everything else, MFP is an estimate unless you decide to get metabolic testing. I would suggest only eating 75% of MFP's exercise calories as it tends to over estimate. Or what you can do, if you exercise regularly, is include exercise as part of your active level and not worry about eating back the calories.
  • Asces
    Asces Posts: 182
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    I think the biggest issue with sites like this is that you have sooooo many people that have been taught different things, and all that conflicting advice confuses people.

    I have just noticed lots of people on my feed complaining that their calories must not be set right, so I was worried.

    Thanks :)
  • Dauntlessness
    Dauntlessness Posts: 1,489 Member
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    This is another way to calculate it. It seems to be much more accurate :)

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538943-how-to-calculate-calorie-goals-according-to-nrolfw
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    I know this has probably been asked to death, but after some googling I am completely lost.

    Is MFP accurate at figuring out how many calories I should be eating every day? I am 224, it is set at 1700 a day (that included the 1.5 pound loss a week).

    I always eat back my exercise calories, because the majority on here say that is best.

    I want to lose the weight slow in hopes of having less loose skin after this is all done.

    Please help me! Thank you.

    Sound reasonable to me - I started at 204 pounds and lost weight steadily eating 1600ish cals/day net.
    All you can do is give it a try - stick to these numbers for a month and see how that works out for you.
  • Asces
    Asces Posts: 182
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    I have noticed on days when I eat according to MFP, I don't lose weight. But on days when I eat more, I lose. It confuses me so much. Weight loss is something you need to study in university lol.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    I have noticed on days when I eat according to MFP, I don't lose weight. But on days when I eat more, I lose. It confuses me so much. Weight loss is something you need to study in university lol.

    It's probably due to the fact your body needs more nutrition. If you don't eat enough, your body can conserve. You can mitigate this by setting your goal to 1 lb per week and still aim to eat back 75% of your exercise calories.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    I have noticed on days when I eat according to MFP, I don't lose weight. But on days when I eat more, I lose. It confuses me so much. Weight loss is something you need to study in university lol.

    The site's numbers are an estimate. They work fine for me, they might not work fine for you. Use them as a base and experiment.

    Also keep in mind that as you lose weight, you'll probably want to go back through the setup process again and re-set your goals so it recalculates your calories, etc. You've lost 39 pounds (congratulations!), so you're a very different person than when you started your diet.

    Based on your experimental results from the post above, I'd say you've discovered that MFP's calories may be too low for you. Try eating a little more for a week. If you continue to lose weight at a healthy pace, you've found your new calorie level. If you don't, then try bringing it back down and see if that works.

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