Hi everyone, so I’m not looking for a real deep dive on this but couldn’t find this question on the forum. I’ve been using my fitness Pal for some time with a 500 calorie drop to loose some weight. No weight lost at all and I’m eating pretty clean. I looked into 8 similar calorie counters and they are all higher than MFP on maintenance and weight loss calories for the same information. I’m also aware that not enough calories can have bad effects , other than just working it out yourself over time is there any site or counter that people recommend. I know there are so many factors that affect how we gain and loose weight hence not looking to go to deep on this one.
Currently 226lbs 6ft 3" and 23% BMI. Now on 2680 calories for mild weight loss and on training days I’ll aim for 80% if calories burned in extra food if I genuinely feel I need it.
MyFitnessPal seems to be the best one I’ve used. It’s has a lot of foods already entered and you can scan in other foods. Set daily goals. Weight goals.
That’s pretty high. Are you working a super active job?
If the deficit you have set isn’t working drop it 100-200 kcal and see what happens. Repeat every few weeks until you start to see the effect you are looking for.
Regardless of the app you chose it’s important that you use it consistantly every day. I’ve been using MFP (seems to be the most popular maybe? The free version is all you need.) but there are several to chose from. You could try a couple different apps for a week and see which one you prefer. To tag on to what brenph mentioned above: I’m 5’ 11" and went on a 1800 to 2000 calorie per day regiment. I went from 212 lbs to 182 in about 6 or 7 months. so you might want to consider possibly eating 1800 to 2200 per day?
I use MFP, my fav. when I track calories and macros. All the apps use similar formulas to determine your recommended calories and they are all just estimates and usually way off and so individual that I wouldn’t use it as nothing more than a starting point. It always overestimated what I need by 500-1000Kcal partly due to inflating my calorie needs from exercise. Go by feel, making sure your in just enough of a calorie deficit to lose .5 - 1 pound a week. Use MFP but for tracking calories/macros and don’t rely on the formulas for your true calorie needs. You’ll find out what works for you over time as you make adjustments to your intake and see trends on the scale. For me, it takes about 10-14 days of a moderate calorie deficit to start noticing a .5 pound scale drop, once it starts it’s easier to keep rolling. While on TR plans if I try losing more than .5 pound per week, things go bad.
I use cronometer premium version. data mining opportunities are excellent with user being able to set up whatever filters will generate what they are looking for. Key findings for me are learning what share of each nutrient comes from which food. Often an adjustment up or down is as simple as fine tuning consumption rates of the top contributors in that category. It has far more analytic power than I’ll ever use, but cost is competitive with similar products.
I have used MFP for over 2000 days. I used it to lose 20kg over about a year. I still use it to keep on top of what I am eating. It reminds me how those little things have more calories then you think.
I found when I first started MFP I put myself down as active and it gave me too many calories per day. I put active as I was training, but my job was no way active. I had to earn the active calories. My daily target is 1920 according to MFP, but when I do a session I get up to you 2600 total.
Thank you all for the replies so far. MFP had me at 1890 calories to drop 1lb a week, no change a few months in so I dropped to 1500 per day and no change , I must admit I feel better on higher calories I’m on now so I’ll give it a while and see what changes.
Before apps I used a spreadsheet to track all food intake/macros then calorie king then MFP. I tracked to stay lean and partly because I was a personal trainer. Recently after listening to some good podcasts and reading a couple books on the matter, I started eating by feel, I was too hooked on the numbers and scale weight which wasn’t allowing for optimal performance. I set out to change that this year and eat intuitively without any tracking. I’ve found that I’m better nurished as now I’ll feed those hunger swings from hard workouts without worrying about the numbers, it takes a lot of will power and a few weeks of experimenting but I’ve been able to eat w/o the aid of a calorie tracker and let my body tell me what it needs and when. Don’t get me wrong tracking is fine for a while but as far as a permanent solution I would say work your way from the calorie trackers if possible. This is per advice from Matt Fitzgerald and a podcast from one of the top nutrition coaches for a big pro team. In fact he said the only people that should be tracking calories is pro athletes on a grand tour, to make sure they get enough. I realize this is a strong take but honestly it’s been a game changer for me. I’m actually up 3-5 lb and I’ve had the best, most consistent year I can remember.
I would recommend setting my fitness pal to a 0 lbs weight loss goal. Approximately 3500 calories of defecit a week equals 1 lb of weight loss per week.
I’ve found it really helpful to know how much I can eat to maintain and then deduct from there.
Also, I will occasionally enter in food for the day first thing in the morning. If I want a beer in the evening, I plug it in during the AM so it’s budgeted.
Avoid eating right before bed. Try to give yourself at least an hour and a half between eating and sleeping.
Training before eating in the morning, over time, is a more effective way to burn fat. Takes a while though.
Drink plenty of water - I try to drink a decent sized glass before each meal. Helps me not overeat.
No cheating for the first month. Your body will adapt to the calorie restrictions and the exercise in that time. Don’t mess it up! After your metabolism is boosted, a cheat day every now and then has much less impact.
I used MFP to loose about 40 lbs. Any calorie counting app will do the job, just be sure to apply good eating training habits throughout to boost the apps effectiveness. And I find that the TR podcast often has nutrition tips.
It seems this simple but you’re flat out wrong. I’ve been up & down for a couple of decades & have often restricted calories to the point that I stop losing & have had to add in hundreds more calories to get the weight to continue to come down.
1500 calories is far too few for you & I suspect 1890 is, too. I’m 5’5” & am currently losing 1/2lb per week based on 1820 & fueling my workouts. Last year, I was just riding a few times per week & eating 1500/day & lost weight very well but I’m a little guy.
There are various BMR calculators on the internet. Find a couple & put your numbers into them to see what comes out. At my age, height & weight I’m just shy of 1500.
Somebody up there ^^ mentioned Matt Fitzgerald. I’ve used his Racing Weight QuickStart guide in the past & it really helped me to drop weight relatively quickly & then transition into a more sustainable low loss/maintenance pattern.
You can get to where you want to be, just take your time & figure out what works for you.
FWIW I’m 5’9" 160# and my yearly Cal ave is 2500. 300-500 minus this gets me losing. A good resource for nutrition is Bob Seebohar, listening to his take on nutrition really helped me he preaches a 1/1 protien to carb but allows for flexibility when more carbs are needed. Faster by flo podcast episode 31 is a must listen.
Then there were other factors at play. This is very basic science. Energy in vs energy out. If too low of a calories that you’re stating or “starvation mode” as bro science likes to call it was a thing, then starving kids in Ethiopia would be fat, and not extremely thin.