MFP under calorie goal: not a positive announcement

You can disable that notification to your friends in your Home settings. Then they won't comment on your end of day at all.

This site itself doesn't congratulate you for being under. It's merely a red or green , negative/positive number distinction, as in most accounting software.

What gets me is the "If every day was like today you'd weigh XXXlbs in 5 weeks"... Which isn't true and gives people the mentality that if they eat WAY less they'll lose even more... Dangerous tool if you ask me.

So I'm a little annoyed with MFP and how it announces when you are under your calorie goal when you complete your diary as though it is a good thing.

MFP does not create a positive announcement. It states fact, without commentary: "poopsnacker123 completed his food and exercise diary for 05/09/2012 and was under his calorie goal."

And then the following "way to goes and congrats" that ensue in comments, even for WAY under

That is a problem to address with your friends.

You can disable that notification to your friends in your Home settings. Then they won't comment on your end of day at all.

This site itself doesn't congratulate you for being under. It's merely a red or green , negative/positive number distinction, as in most accounting software.

This is exactly what I did. After having a few days where I would forget to log a meal, or worked out so much I couldn't eat back my calories, and people telling me they were great or awesome days, I did away with that nonsense. I don't comment on diaries anymore because of this.

What gets me is the "If every day was like today you'd weigh XXXlbs in 5 weeks"... Which isn't true and gives people the mentality that if they eat WAY less they'll lose even more... Dangerous tool if you ask me.

^ agreed

So I'm a little annoyed with MFP and how it announces when you are under your calorie goal when you complete your diary as though it is a good thing.

MFP does not create a positive announcement. It states fact, without commentary: "poopsnacker123 completed his food and exercise diary for 05/09/2012 and was under his calorie goal."

And then the following "way to goes and congrats" that ensue in comments, even for WAY under

That is a problem to address with your friends.

Yes.

I stopped logging out for the day. I don't like that either and I'm not a fan of what I'm gonna weigh in 5 weeks. I don't think it's very acurate.

Yeah it is terrible. MFP is TOTALLY encouraging people to eat less and less per day until they eat no calories at all!!

:noway:

It's a goal. Get over it. :yawn:

Try not to be too critical folks. Mike and his team have put together a super site here! And it's FREE! I see some of you with just a few dozen posts. Why bother posting if it's all going to be negative on how this program works? This is a very adult web site for weight loss/gain. By that I mean, there is no prescribed diet. You set your own goals.

Many of us have had great success with MFP. Will it work for everyone? I'm not sure. But you've got to give it a fair shake. Turn off your feeds and just work the program for YOU. We all know that 1,200 calories is minimum. This has been discussed on these boards over and over again.

Just stay focused on your individual goals. This is a great site. It has a tremendous data base of foods and nutrition. There are some great people who you can friend for individual support.

Let it work for you! Good luck with reaching your goals.

yeah i mainly hate when peoplele dont have like a proper dinner...they have a drink or coffee...and people are like 'WELL DONE' and i'm like 'UM NO!' this isnt good at all!

they should look at how close they are to their goal and not assume they've done wel lbecause they're below their goal

They should update so its not red when your 1 calorie over. Instead the writing should be yellow or something like it's telling you your cutting into your deficit but your still eating well. Last night I closed my diary with 1 calorie under my goal sometimes I have 200 left but I try not to go over 200. maybe they can put a note when someone is too low under their goal something like "username123 has completed blah blah blah and is starving themselves under there calorie goal" or something similar. I don't know I tend to mind my own business when it comes to how much and what everyone else is eating unless it's something I would seriously be concerned for their health. If I spend too much time worried about every one else's diary is good or not I won't have time for my own weight loss

all but one of my "friends" are real life friends... I like being able to encourage my friends when they succeed (we are all working at losing weight and have doctors, nutritionist and other specialists watching and helping. We may be in the minority but we are all working to be under our goals (not by much but we prefer it to being over). Because I know this about my IRL friends I will comment and congratulate them when they are under (though we all keep watch to make sure it's only by a small 1-200 calories amount).

I agree with a pp that this is something to address with your friends or just turn off.

Try not to be too critical folks. Mike and his team have put together a super site here! And it's FREE! I see some of you with just a few dozen posts. Why bother posting if it's all going to be negative on how this program works? This is a very adult web site for weight loss/gain. By that I mean, there is no prescribed diet. You set your own goals.

Many of us have had great success with MFP. Will it work for everyone? I'm not sure. But you've got to give it a fair shake. Turn off your feeds and just work the program for YOU. We all know that 1,200 calories is minimum. This has been discussed on these boards over and over again.

Just stay focused on your individual goals. This is a great site. It has a tremendous data base of foods and nutrition. There are some great people who you can friend for individual support.

Let it work for you! Good luck with reaching your goals.

Exactly! I have a hard time complaining about a free tool that has helped me so much! If I didn't like things enough to post in the forum I would probably just find a new site to be on instead!

I really like MFP just like it is! It's free and what you eat is totally up to YOU. I love the way it keeps up with sugar and sodium too. VERY helpful. It works great for me and my friends!

So I'm a little annoyed with MFP and how it announces when you are under your calorie goal when you complete your diary as though it is a good thing. (And then the following "way to goes and congrats" that ensue in comments, even for WAY under)

Isn't the idea to set a correct goal and then try to get as close as possible to that every day, not more than a few hundred calories one way or another?

Now, I am often under my goal (not a good thing for me) but am working hard to correct that. I don't see coming in under as a good thing, whether trying to loose or gain.

Maybe I'm just misunderstanding how people have their target calories set up? Like maybe they have it set to maintenance and then try to go under by 300-500? It just seems like a dangerous way to set it up and and go too low.

I rarely eat the prescribed number of calories because I like to leave a buffer due to possible inaccuraces in calories and contents.