Mfp is 1280 and the other is 1939. What Do you follow?
But most days I have around 900, I just feel full all time and
Don't know whether I should force myself to eat to meet these
Cal goals. I don't know which to follow..?

Bump

If I had eaten 1900 per day, I would have gained weight.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of either. I would say estimate your TDEE and eat 500 under that a day. Include your exercise in your TDEE. If you lose too slowly or not at all, go for 750-1000 under.

People will undoubtedly tell you to eat your MFP goal of 1280 PLUS the calories you estimate from any exercise you do. There are a couple reasons that doesn't work for many.

If your [(BMR*activity factor)-goal deficit] is under 1200, MFP bumps it up to 1200. So if I have a BMR of 1400 and am sedentary they multiply that by 1.2 to est. TDEE before exercise. So I'm up to (1400*1.2)=1680 TDEE. Then if I said I want to lose 2 lbs/week, a perfectly healthy rate for someone 25 lbs. overweight, it subtracts 1000 to get 680. Then says "not healthy to eat that little, eat 1200". So now I'm at 1200 calories/day which is really only a 480/day deficit (1680-1200). To lose 2 lbs/week, I'd need to do 520 calories a day of exercise and NOT eat that back. That's ok! I'm eating 1200, I get my nutrients, this is healthy. But that is eating your 1200, exercising hard over an hour 7 days a week, and never 'eating back'.

But it gets screwed up because people will say, "you can't eat 1200, you have to eat at least your BMR plus your exercise!" So that would have me up to 1400+520= 1920 taken in. If I ate that, my only deficit would be 280 calories/day! (1920-1680-520). That is tiny, especially since my 520 exercise est. is probably counting my BMR in, so it's really only maybe 450 in exercise that I added. So now I'm down to 200 deficit/day or 2 lbs./month lost IF I am tracking every tiny gram of food and drink.

Why would I want to track all this if I'm only going to actually cause a 0-200 calorie deficit per day, when 1000 calorie deficit per day is considered safe?

Fat2fit is based on tdee.
Best way is to work out tdee and then create a moderate deficit (10-20%).
You shouldnt be aiming for more than a 250 deficit with only 10 lbs to lose there is a limit to what is a safe and healthy loss and that is not it. I only have 750 deficit and I still have 50 to go.

If you eat 900 and then burn off say 500 at Zumba, that leaves your body only 400 to keep everything working!!! Your bmr (around 1400) is what you would burn if you were in a coma, so clearly 400 is nowhere near enough to keep you healthy x

Fat2Fit/TDEE at 2000 but I'm maintaining. I haven't followed MFP's guide for awhile.

Personally, I like to eat the highest I can whilst still losing, as I am more likely to stick with it, but I doubt you would lose much on 1939.

F2F gives you the maintenance calories for your goal weight, so for people a long way from goal, the F2F number is usually a deficit, but as you are only 10lbs away from goal, 1939 is close to your current maintenence calories, so you would still need to take off a defict.

But 1280 would be an aggressive deficit - what target weight loss goal did you chose? Also remember that MFP gives you 1280 PLUS exercise calories, so if you burn 400 at Zumba you would eat 1680.

Using the TDEE less defict method, If you took a 15% or 250 deficit from 1939, you would get 1650 - 1689.

So they both work out quite similar.

I follow the goal MFP sets for 1lb a week weight loss. It's worked so far.

Eating only 1200 and exercising off 520 is ridiculous. It gives a net of only 680, would you eat only 680???
2lbs a week is not considered safe for someone with only a small amount to lose, thats why MFP has the 1200 (net) minimum, so if you do any exercise, the VERY LEAST you should eat is 1200 plus exercise.

the recommended 'SAFE' losses are:

75+ to lose = 2lbs
50-75 to lose = 1.5-2lbs
25-50 to lose = 1-1.5lbs
15-25 to lose = 1lbs
0-15 to lose = 0.5lbs

so based on your figures above, a person with 25lbs to lose should aim for max 1lbs which is 500 deficit.
TDEE assuming 520 exercise = 2200
2200 - 500 = eat 1700
net = 1200 which is the 'safe' minimum according to MFP.

The less you weigh, the less you can safely lose, so as you get closer to goal the losses get smaller. Everyone wants to lose as quickly as possible but its not sustainable long term, as you will lose muscle as well as fat which will make you look thin but flabby, your metabolism will slow down and you will have to eat ess even to maintain your weight then. Sorry if you don't like it but thats just how the body works.

By aiming for a slower loss, along with weight training, you preserve muscle mass, which boosts metabolism, burns more calories the loss continues, and you lose more inches.

good post :-)

Recommended by who?

People that say 2 lbs/week is safe include these below, and many, many others. Notice too there is no mention of "net" with the 1200 in the original article link below that says 1200 is a safe minimum.

MyPyramid.gov
MedlinePlus: Tips for Losing Weight
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Balancing Calories
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Calorie Deficit Table


Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/385547-how-much-of-a-calorie-deficit-to-lose-weight/#ixzz1xzQmDlse

all of this just made my eyes cross/twitch. can someone dumb it down for me?

I do fat2fit, I have for the last two months or so.

I only want to lose 10 more pounds so I cut about 300 from food from my maintenance level.
I am much happier, eating more than I have in a year and losing more than I had the previous months.

I was at 1800 but I've been doubling up workouts so I'm eating a lil more. I lI've it because this way I am not starving on my rest day.

Put accurate information into MFP, follow the calorie goal it gives you. Eat back your exercise calories unless you're not losing weight.

Edit: And pick a reasonable weight loss goal. If you've only got 10 pounds to lose, dropping 2 pounds a week isn't likely to happen.

Most of the sensible people on mfp who have been here a long time and successfully lost and maintained. Why did you even join mfp as you obviously totally disagree with how it works?!
Creating a 1000 deficit on a 1200 diet is very much a short term 'crash' diet which will ultimately end in regaining the weight, I should know ive done it for the last 15 years.
I can't even be bothered arguing with you now. I'll eat my 2000 and lose 1.5lbs, you eat 1200 and fail to lose 2lbs, and see who gives up first.

http://www.calculatorlab.com/HowDoIMeetMyWeightLossGoal/index.php

I went on here. You put in your weight + weight loss goal + exercise and it tells you how much you should eat per day. I'm eating at a 20% deficit, putting me at around 1600-1700 calories per day (gross calories; not net).

I've been eating like this for the past couple of weeks and I've lost a pound
(I know that sounds like bugger all, but I don't have a lot of weight to lose so I'm right on track, I think)

You are going about it the right way, well done on your loss :-)

Thanks Em

This ^

Been on MFP 4 months and have lost 21 lbs. so far :D

fat2fit is working for me...

High cals working for me too! I eat 1700+ and lose every week. Em's got it spot on :)

So you not only take nutrition advice from people on an internet board over the advice of actual authorities, but you also claim that unsupported advice is the right path for everyone, and the authorities have it all wrong.

I'm here to log food because it beats the Fitbit site. I actually don't think the MFP plan is bad, it's just too conservative for many when paired with the poor advice given on the forums like to always eat above your BMR and always add back exercise.

What I'm not going to do is waste my time aiming for .5 lb loss/week and get 0, which is exactly what would happen under the plans people espouse. The rec for a healthy deficit is up to 1000/day. I can safely do that and will lose what I lose.

If you are happy at your deficit and loss level that's fine. But that doesn't mean people asking if 1000/day is safe deserve the misinformation that it is not.

I love how when someone can't respond with actual data so they insult you and flounce off in a huff.

Bump

MFP gives you a goal and expects you to log exercise and eat back the exercise cals...fat2fit gives you a total daily calorie number that you eat each day based on your activity level but you are not to eat back exercise cals. I have found my actual intake to be pretty comparable either way...assuming you eat back exercise cals logged on MFP...

What part of my post insulted you?!

Creating a huge deficit will make you lose WEIGHT, but you will also lose muscle and end up skinny fat - what's more important, the number on the scale or looking toned and healthy?
I have lost 48lbs with a moderate deficit and weight training, and 46 of those lbs lost have been fat. I am now a lot smaller than last time I weighed what I do now when I did 1200 calorie diets. I actually lose just as much weight eating 2000 as I did eating 1200, so why would anyone starve themselves and be miserable if it's not necessary?!

The thing with exercise cals, if exercise was included already and mfp gave you a higher allowance like most other calculators do, nobody would question it and would all be happy to eat what they were told by the system, but as they are seperate the net cals confuse people and they don't get why it is important to eat the exercise cals back!

See yarwell / psulemons reply on here, that explains pretty well why larger deficits don't work:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/633670-how-many-calories-for-each-meal

The link you posted actually says a smaller deficit can help maintain the loss
"Starting your calorie deficit smaller can help you adjust to your dietary changes and keep off the weight that you lose"
Also this......
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/calorie-intake-to-lose-weight.php
"If you want to lose fat, a useful guideline for lowering your calorie intake is to reduce your calories by at least 500, but not more than 1000 below your maintenance level. For people with only a small amount of weight to lose, 1000 calories will be too much of a deficit. As a guide to minimum calorie intake, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that calorie levels never drop below 1200 calories per day for women or 1800 calories per day for men. Even these calorie levels are quite low"