I LOVE MyFitness Pal, and I get all my clients to use it (including myself), however, here are my issues;

1) Most people are trying to lose weight when they use this, therefore they should NOT be eating calories to make up for those burned when they exercised. IN other words, calories should stay the same each day!

2) The fiber goal is way too low, it should be closer to 25 grams for each person.

3) The sugar goal is way too low. If you're talking about "added sugars" that's fine, but there is sugar in milk, fruit, and vegetables, so to have a goal is "20 grams/day" for sugar, is unrealistic (and unhealthy, we need our fruits/veggies/dairy...unless it's dairy alternative!).

I think the fiber is can be too low. But I also think many of the nutrient requirements from person to person will be different. For me the sugar requirements are fine. However, I am also insulin resistant with PCOS so I am often below the maximum for sugar.

For what ever weekly loss a user has chosen, MFP already takes that into account when it spits out their daily calorie goal - so when a user enters they have burned however many calories, those are added back into their daily allotment as to not change their daily deficit. So... yes, users should eat back their burned calories to use MFP as intended.

As far as fibre & sugar go, those can be manually changed under home>goals.

I just have a few questions/comments about your first point (eating calories to make up for those burned in exercise). I'm new to the site and perhaps understand the concept imperfectly, but it makes sense to me. Isn't it virtually the same as using a calorie goal that has the exercise calories already built in? Besides, the MFP recommended number of net calories includes the deficit, so you would still lose weight if you ate back the exercise calories. That said, I personally don't see any ill-effects if I *don't* regularly eat those calories back.

Overall, the MFP approach works better for me because it's more precise and flexible. If my activity levels vary--and they do--I can tailor my intake accordingly. This approach helps me stay more aware of my body and how my lifestyle is affecting it on a daily basis. I gained weight in the first place because I lost sight of that.

You say that calories should stay the same each day, and I'd love your thoughts on this. I've been hearing a lot about the value of varying your calories according to different strategies. Some recommend a cheat day or two each week, while others might suggest zig-zagging or having a day or two with slightly higher calories and then dropping down for a day to keep your metabolism guessing. What do you and others here think about that? Does it have merit?

If a person's daily caloric goal is 1400 and they burn 600 calories, that only leaves 800 for the body. That large a deficit is unhealthy. I'm glad sugar and fiber can be manually changed since I follow the ketogenic diet. My intakes are much lower than the mainstream recommended amount.

bump, to read later

total bump. OP gonna get eaten alive...I

So, can I clarify the first point...
Are you saying that you would recommend exactly the same amount of calories to someone regardless of how much they exercise? To use me for an example - currently I'm training for a half marathon which means I run 4 or more times a week. Would you suggest I eat the same amount of cals as if do no exercise at all?

If so, I'd love to hear some background behind this thinking - every calorie calculator I've seen recommends that if you are more active, you eat more (incuding MFP) even when you want to lose weight.
But, I'm not a dietician, so maybe there is a whole other train of thought that I've haven't heard about. Please share!

Are you kidding me? So your professional opinion is that I should eat the same amount of calories to those who do not exercise.

And this is why free MFP is better than some paid dietitians...

"thecandidrd"

I agree, if you are working on losing weight then what ever your calorie limit is for the day is is all you should be consuming. Most people starting a weight lost program are burning only 200 to 300 calories during exercise. Adding back in those calories I feel is a mistake, if you're exercising to help you to lose then why would you replace those burned. It allows you to eat more than you should therfore you do not learn what your daily limit should be. It becomes an excuse to eat beyond your calorie goals. The reason we are overweight is your body has stored those calories it did not use as fat. The best way to take it off is deprive your body of those calories and let it dip into it's reserve or fat. In otherwords, let the body eat itself.

I am talking about the person that is trying to lose weight and is only walking or jogging a few miles a day which that is all most are doing. Obviously I'm not talking about the marathoner, triathlete, century bicyclist, those activities you do need to take in calories to maintain the energy levels you need to stay in the race.

I lost 80 pounds sticking to a 1500 Cal a day diet, at no time did I ever add back in exercise calories for a net of 1500. It wasn't until I joined MFP that I even heard of this. I did try it but it didn't work so I went back to 1500. I am now a triathlete and train daily and yes I do have to take in extra calories but I am very careful and I never fully replace what I burned. I gained weight when I replaced what I burned.

I have done all of this under the supervision of a dietician. Weight lost is tough, keeping it off is tougher so I am not ashamed to ask for help.

Fantastic advice and I'm loving that profile picture!

I think the point that you've both missed is how you calulate calories in the first place. MPF assumes that exercise calories will be added to the daily allowance to create your daily total. Most other calculators already estimate exercise and just give you a daily total. The outcome will be about the same total, its just using a different formula to get there.

If you're already eating on a deficit, what's wrong with eating back your exercise calories, as long as your net calories stay under your limit? At the end of the day you'll still have 500 (or whatever) calories required to continue living unaccounted for by food, which will still force your body to burn some of its fat stores. The only advantage I see to not eating your exercise calories if you are already eating on a deficit is that you'll lose weight slightly faster (an extra 1/3-2/3 pound per week). Which, you know, OK. Whatever. That's fine. But if you're already restricting your intake, it won't *hurt* if you "spend" the calories you "earned" exercising on a little treat of some kind, provided that treat doesn't put you over your limit.

truth.

I just try to eat healthy! I eat lean meats, fruits, and non starchy veggies. I try and keep my protein between 100-125 and sodium is low because i only eat clean....no processed foods, premade or fast foods. I cook meals at home. I don't care what my fitness pal has set for me to eat. I go over sugar everyday...like you said natural sugar.

Thank you : )

Bump

Just bumping to see how this all turns out...

don't hate the advice just don't take it. I have worked out with people that think they have burned upwards of 500 calories during a work out, and they have not they were barely breaking a sweat. Maybe eating back some of the calories is you are hardcore, most people I see are not hardcore.

I ran for 2 hours today. Methinks I need some of those calories back!

Great 1st post.

Good luck.

I'm a licensed helping professional. My profession's Code of Ethics doen't allow me to give what I purport to be professional advice without first doing a professional assessment. I can say ignorant things all day long, but when I say "I'm a ____. and I say you should ______" that becomes a problem. My licensing board exists to protect the public from professionals who break ethics codes.

Just something for the public of MFP to consider.

Your clients can reset manually their macros goals on MFP. I do think if they are exercising and being honest with what they are doing, then they should be eating the calories back. Perhaps you could look at the information on the Eat More 2 Weigh Less group sticky notes. You may find the information helpful for your clients. It does not mean that they would be over eating but in fact they would be eating healthy foods and resetting their metabolism which would lead to life long health by allowing them to lose weight slowly and healthy. That is what it is really about after all. Good luck.

Yes, yes, thank you for confirming that. I have noticed that too, because I'm taking a class on nutrition. I have zeroed out the exercise requirement and just selected the correct PAL. Now we'll see if I really do lose weight eating 1500 calories a day, because the BMR of my target weight is 1284 calories. I'm not really sure I would be happy eating only 1284 calories per day, so I'm just shooting for the 1500 for now . . . that would be an accomplishment if I stuck to that.

I noticed that the fiber goal is too low, it should be 21 g for me. Also, I agree the sugar goal is too low. But it can be a helpful tool or red flag for those out there who are thinking nothing of swilling down three or four sugary sodas a day, filling up their precious quota with junk sugar instead of real fuel.

What do you think of the fat categories?

I have not found any other app that has the scanner feature . . . and this seems to be such a huge benefit compared to some of the data reporting advantages of other tools. I think that this tool could be so much better.

Ruth

You should eat your calories back....