my fitness pal wrecking my head!

Rosy Posy

I have been making a big effort with the lifestyle to try to get to a normal weight, so signed up to my fitness pal on the recommendation of posters here but I have to say I'm finding it very demotivational (if that is a word). Either I come in at less than 1200 calories and red flags go up saying I'm pushing my body into 'starvation mode', or I come in over 1200 calories and red flags go up saying I'm eating too much. I feel like I can't win as it is beyond my capacity to consume exactly 1200 calories a day. I'm thinking of ditching it altogether... unless I'm doing something wrong? Just wondering how other users make it work for them?

SunnyDub1

I don't use any of them sites like my fitness pal etc anymore and I have managed to lose and maintain my weight.

Everyone is different and has different views and opinions on websites like myfitnesspal.com.
Like yourself I got frustrated and tied up in counting calories eventually I just gave up.
Don't get stressed over haven't to log onto a site everyday to put in what your calorie intake was and sitting there adding up calories at each meal.

Just my opinion and this worked for me - I think your best, just cutting down on carbs, taking in loads of protein and good fats with plenty of exercise.

Pembily

I love MFP, I have lost 17lb since January with it. MFP says you should eat 1,200 is that through the automatic calculation?

Stench Blossoms

Pembily wrote: »

I love MFP, I have lost 17lb since January with it. MFP says you should eat 1,200 is that through the automatic calculation?

Thats the lowest amount MFP recommends eating.

What you should do OP is look at the stickies here and work out how many calories you should be eating and then manually change the goals on MFP to accomadate these.

Pembily

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

Thats the lowest amount MFP recommends eating.

What you should do OP is look at the stickies here and work out how many calories you should be eating and then manually change the goals on MFP to accomadate these.

Oh I know, I was asking if that was the amount they recommend. I am on 1,450kcal a day. When I lost more weight it put me on 1,350kcal but I changed it as I am happy on 1,450 at the minute.

Rosy Posy

It recommended 1200kcal for me, which worked out about the same when I worked it out through the formula on the stickies. My point is that its very hard to eat exactly the right amount of calories, and that if I come in above or below 1200kcal on the button its telling me off. I'm making a bloody big effort and it seems like all its doing is telling me that I'm wrong, which I find discouraging. Tbh I am trying to make lasting lifestyle changes and I can't see myself logging on to mfp every day for the rest of my life, I just thought it would be a good help/motivation in the beginning but I'm finding it the opposite.

Stench Blossoms

Can you put up your stats here? 1200 is very low.

Hanley

Rosy Posy wrote: »

It recommended 1200kcal for me, which worked out about the same when I worked it out through the formula on the stickies. My point is that its very hard to eat exactly the right amount of calories, and that if I come in above or below 1200kcal on the button its telling me off. I'm making a bloody big effort and it seems like all its doing is telling me that I'm wrong, which I find discouraging. Tbh I am trying to make lasting lifestyle changes and I can't see myself logging on to mfp every day for the rest of my life, I just thought it would be a good help/motivation in the beginning but I'm finding it the opposite.

Unless you're 54kg that calc is out. And even if you are 54kg, it's still on the very, very low end of what you can be consuming.

You don't HAVE to consume exactly 1,200kcal (or whatever the number is), +/-50 either side is probably ok.

You can't just "let it happen" and hope to hit 1,200 either. You kind of need to pick the amount of meals you're gonna eat, and divide your kcals across them so you've a better idea what you can realistically eat at each meal.

Rosy Posy

stats? do you mean height and weight etc? I'm 168cm tall, weigh 75kg, bmi 26.6. I do an hour's aerobic work out 2-3 times a week. I'm breastfeeding an eight month old who is on full solids. I would like to drop my bmi to a normal level, which would be 70kg initially. My pre-children weight was 60kg but I managed to get back to 65kg in between babies and was happy with that, long term. When the baby is a bit older I will hopefully manage to get some more space to exercise but for the moment this is the most that I can get out. I do go for walks but its hard to get a decent pace up with toddlers. At the moment I'm eating lots of fruit, veg, nuts and seeds and pulses, some meat, tofu and eggs, small amounts of rice and cornmeal, no refined sugar, dairy, fried food or potatoes, and occasionally (once a week-ish) bread or pasta. I'm quite happy with the sustainability of my diet at the moment. I think that once I reach my weight loss goals I will very occasionally allow myself some treats but will try to offset these by upping my exercise. For example, today I had a banana with peanut butter and pumpkin and sunflower seeds and half an orange; a bowl of homemade butternut squash and red pepper soup; and a small portion of pasta with a larger portion of bolognese made with more than half veg to mince. I also did an hours aerobic workout. I try to only have carbs (apart from fruit and veg) on days when I am working out.

Stench Blossoms

How did you work out 1200 from the stickies here?

(75 * 14.7)+496

= 1598

mostly seated or standing RMR * 1.4 (you can change this)

= 2237

For weight loss: reduce calories by about 15% a day:
2237 * 0.85 = 1901 cals/ day

That's like, a big mac of a difference

Pembily

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

How did you work out 1200 from the stickies here?

(75 * 14.7)+496

= 1598

mostly seated or standing RMR * 1.4 (you can change this)

= 2237

For weight loss: reduce calories by about 15% a day:
2237 * 0.85 = 1901 cals/ day

That's like, a big mac of a difference

I was going to say unless you are very light and don't have much weight to lose 1,200 seems a bit off. Also I think if you are breast feeding you burn more.

I am on 1,450kcal a day, I get that when I try, but I have to pre plan. Also it's a guide, if you are over that's ok, it's not telling you off, it's just telling you.

Best of luck

Rosy Posy

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

How did you work out 1200 from the stickies here?

(75 * 14.7)+496

= 1598

mostly seated or standing RMR * 1.4 (you can change this)

= 2237

For weight loss: reduce calories by about 15% a day:
2237 * 0.85 = 1901 cals/ day

That's like, a big mac of a difference

Obviously I should have used a calculator...did it with a pen and paper in a half-assed way with lots of rounding. I'm over 30 so it works out at a little less than that but still a big difference.

Does it matter a whole lot if I'm getting less than that- around the 1200-1500 mark? Surely this would be better for weight loss purposes? or does it make it more likely that I'd put the weight back on. Tbh my teens and early twenties were a bit of a yo-yo journey so I'd be keen to find a way to keep the weight off this time as it definitely gets harder after 30!

Stench Blossoms

It more than likely won't be sustainable.

Don't look at this as a diet, look at it as a lifestyle change.

Pembily

Rosy Posy wrote: »

Obviously I should have used a calculator...did it with a pen and paper in a half-assed way with lots of rounding. I'm over 30 so it works out at a little less than that but still a big difference.

Does it matter a whole lot if I'm getting less than that- around the 1200-1500 mark? Surely this would be better for weight loss purposes? or does it make it more likely that I'd put the weight back on. Tbh my teens and early twenties were a bit of a yo-yo journey so I'd be keen to find a way to keep the weight off this time as it definitely gets harder after 30!

I agree with SBs post, 1,200 isn't sustainable. Also as you lose weight MFP will automatically reduce your calories. Also it's best to not look at it as a "diet" that way it's more sustainable!

saa

Have you calculated your BMR?
Mine is 1670, I burn extra calories during by getting up and doing daily activities plus exercise days so If I eat below 1200 I stop losing weight after a week either my body not letting me or I'm exhausted. If I eat 1400 I have enough but I am not burning the calories I use up or dont eat because I dont think my body has enough steady fuel to be an effecient fat burner, I find I lose weight steadily on a nutritious 1500-1650 range and there are days i go above or below but it annoys me when myPlate puts me in the red, I ignore that and look at the graph just to compare intake as im more concerned with my week, if I've eaten too much on one days that fine but when i look at the graph I can see if I've been under/over eating on too many days and check, I dont log every day I just use it to check in with myself with nutrition because whenever I pack it in and dont use the site for weeks my food intake slowly goes down the swany, too many cals or not enough protein/fibre etc. Its stupid as well as I cant change some of the nutrition goals but I ignore the bits I dont like.

Mellor

If MFP is telling you to aim for 1200 cals then you have something wrong in the settings, such as your current weight or you rate of loss.
1200 should only come up for light people.

Also if you are slightly over target calories, it doesn't say there is anything wrong with goign over that. it doesn't say you are eating too much. Even at 100 over your target it will still predict weight loss as your maintenance is probaby Target + 300 or more

hollypink

Mellor wrote: »

If MFP is telling you to aim for 1200 cals then you have something wrong in the settings, such as your current weight or you rate of loss.
1200 should only come up for light people.

I've similar stats to the OP and MFP calculated I should be eating approx 1200 calories to lose 1lb a week (calories burned from exercise would be on top of that). The settings are right so it's not that. Since seeing this thread, I checked a few different BMR calculators, including fitday.com and they all give a higher figure for losing 1lb a week (ranging from 1500 to 1800 calories). So I think the MFP calculation is on the low side. I've been getting good results when I keep my daily calories at 1200 - 1400 but starting to think it's a bit too low so I've decided to increase it and see how I go. I'm a bit nervous about putting on weight in the short term but hopefully it will balance itself out.

Mellor

hollypink wrote: »

I've similar stats to the OP and MFP calculated I should be eating approx 1200 calories to lose 1lb a week (calories burned from exercise would be on top of that). The settings are right so it's not that.

I just checked MFP and fit some body who is 75kg and 1lb per week it doesn't suggest 1200 a day. In fact even somebody who is 60kg is above 1200.
So something isnt right. Maybe you have the loss above 1 lb / week or simply haven't refreshed.

hollypink

Mellor wrote: »

I just checked MFP and fit some body who is 75kg and 1lb per week it doesn't suggest 1200 a day. In fact even somebody who is 60kg is above 1200.
So something isnt right. Maybe you have the loss above 1 lb / week or simply haven't refreshed.

That's strange - I double checked my settings and they look right and I clicked 'update' to refresh the profile and it's still saying 1200 calories (see screenshot) Did you select female or male when you tried it?