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Calorie-counting

MFP vs. Fatsecret - Just how many calories can I have!!

15 replies

LuckyAugust · 15/03/2014 16:35

Hoping someone can help me. Pondering on which plan I should be following. My sister in law loves MFP but I'm not so keen on it (a few of my foods I've entered have had wrong calorie details). I do like the Fatsecret app though and find it easy to use and accurate for foods. The only problem as far as I'm aware is the amount of calories this app recommends I should have daily if I want to lose weight - 2000. After following the plan strictly - even going under by a few hundred points some days I've hardly lost anything. Being honest as well I am a big eater and have been eating well over 2000 calories a day prior to wanting to tackle my weight, even so 2000 still seems a lot to me. So I downloaded MFP and the daily allowance is 1480. No wonder I'm not loosing weight!!! Does 1480 sound about right? I'm 14st7 and 5ft4. I would like to have less calories during the week and have more to use over a weekend but not sure if I should trust this allowance as being accurate for my height and weight. Its just so different to what the other app recommends plus I'm also suspecting my calories would reduce for each stone???? Help!!!

OP posts:
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Badgerlady · 15/03/2014 16:45

Have you thought about the 5:2 diet - as I understand it 500 calories 2 days a week and sensible eating on the other days. Some people do it 4:3. It would allow extra calories on weekend.

There are loads of support threads on it on the weight loss boards (can't link as am on phone).

I'm not sure about the apps but I had always understood 2000 Cals was a max for an average woman and would be surprised if it was being suggested as a 'diet' calorie intake.

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NurseyWursey · 15/03/2014 16:53

I would input your own calorie goal.

You can work out your TDEE (total daily expenditure, your day to day activity)here:
nutritiondata.self.com/tools/calories-burned

Then work out your basal (how many calories you'd burn lying in bed)
www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

then try to aim for a calorie goal in between those two, around 20% unless your morbidly obese.

For example

My TDEE: 2186 cal
My basal is: 1,559 cal
So I should eat around: 1749 calories a day.

For more info on this www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

It's based on a load of studies, and it's what a lot of serious MyFitnessPal people do

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NurseyWursey · 15/03/2014 16:54

I would input your own calorie goal.

You can work out your TDEE (total daily expenditure, your day to day activity)here:
nutritiondata.self.com/tools/calories-burned

Then work out your basal (how many calories you'd burn lying in bed)
www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

then try to aim for a calorie goal in between those two, around 20% unless your morbidly obese 30%

For example

My TDEE: 2186 cal
My basal is: 1,559 cal
So I should eat around: 1749 calories a day.

For more info on this www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

It's based on a load of studies, and it's what a lot of serious MyFitnessPal people do

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LuckyAugust · 15/03/2014 17:07

Thanks ladies. Will certainly check out my own calorie goal. I love the sound of the 5:2 plan but we'll soon be trying to conceive our third child and have read stories suggesting a fasting diet may not be good if planning on being pregnant in the future. Thought I'd just try a healthier approach for now. As soon as my baby days are over though the 5:2 plan is for me!!!!Thanks again x

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Peckarolloveragain · 19/03/2014 20:11

My tdee is 2160
Basal 1562

What would you recommend I try? Seems high?

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EmilyCokayne · 19/03/2014 20:27

Thank you for this, it is really inteeresting :) My TDEE is 2061 and my bmr is 1252 so am happy that I am aiming for 1400 ish... I am learning lots through this group, thank you.

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ihatethecold · 16/05/2014 20:45

My tdee is 2291.
My Basel is 1258

I am eating back my extra cals from my fitbit.

I have been doing this for 3 weeks no and haven't lost a pound.

Where am I going wrong?

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rogueelement · 19/05/2014 19:42

Hi there, you don't eat back calories if you are doing the TDEE approach, you work out something between your BMR and TDEE and stick to that.

So my BMR is about 1250, my TDEE is about 1800, and I have set my calories to 1450 per day. I often go a little bit over, so I average about 1550.

I have been losing between 0.5 and 1 lb a week on this - it's slow but it's very sustainable. I don't feel hungry or deprived and there's room for a little bit of wine or pizza. Much much better than 5:2, plus the community is great.

The main pitfall with TDEE minus 20% is that if you underestimate your calories (or overestimate your acitivity levels) you can easily end up wiping out your deficit and essentially eating at maintenance (which is probably what you are doing now with eating your Fitbit calories).

So I would try again and see what happens - maybe start at 1600. :0)

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ihatethecold · 19/05/2014 21:33

Thanks, my fitness pal is set at 1200, I'm burning about 2200 a day according to my fitbit
So I'm eating 1200 + exercise cals (about 500) a day.

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Labracadabra · 23/05/2014 20:46

Lucky, if you visit the 5:2 thread you'll see that it seems to have a strangely positive effect on fertility - many 5:2ers have departed the thread due to becoming pregnant! Me included (although I started back on 5:2 when my (exclusively breastfed) DD2 was 8 weeks old and she's now 6 months and I'm below my target/ pre-preg weight of 9 stone) so don't dismiss it!

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balenciaga · 24/05/2014 08:56

Thanks for this

I've been doing mfp for 6 weeks and have only lost 2lbs despite my calorie allowance being set at 1200 plus walking miles every day

I've been STARVING Confused and pretty miserable

But just worked out I should be eating no less than 1500 based on the figure between bmr and tdee.

So will try and stick to that and see what happens

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Kleptronic · 24/05/2014 09:03

Marking place so I can come back and follow those links!

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rogueelement · 25/05/2014 18:43

It took me about 3 weeks on MFP to have anything happen at all (I think my body likes to hang onto calories), but now I've settled down to losing about a pound a week. I really thought I would never be able to stick to a diet, so I'm just so pleased.

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TuckingFablet · 29/05/2014 12:10

tdee 2154
bmr 1530

what do you recommend I set my calorie intake st?

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Belindabelle · 30/05/2014 09:37

Hi Tucking I am no expert but I think you should cut your TDEE BY 20%.
That would be 1724 per day.

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