My goal calories are 800 per day, per my surgeon/dietician.

Of course, when I exercise (which I do each day) my calorie intake for that day is offset by the calories I burned; the result is that nearly every day, and I still have calories to consume at the end of the day!

So, am I aiming for 800 calories NO MATTER WHAT EXERCISE I DO, or 800 calories NET after the exercise is calculated in?

I'm hitting around 90 grams of Protein every day for the last three days, and I'm hitting 32% carbs, 32% fat and 36% protein for this, my first week. I've only met my NET calorie goal of 800 once -- after my exercise is figured in, my total calories taken in for the day is less than 800 most of the time.

But, with the exercise, MFP wants me to eat 1200 calories or more per day to meet a NET calorie count of 800.

Of course, MFP also tells me each day that I'm risking pushing my body into "starvation mode!"

I love how MFP says you are going to die from starvation on a low calorie diet like post WLS. That is when I made a personal decision to not use it.

I love MFP and I feel it has many benefits. Being able to accurately track my calories and macros on my opine at any time of day or night is very convenient. Not to mention there is a great community aspect to it...I get lots of support from my MFP friends.

I would not want to give that up just because a silly app sent me a message about starvation mode. I believe I'm strong enough to ignore such a message and move on with my life....rather than throwing out the baby with the bath Water.

I love MFP and I feel it has many benefits. Being able to accurately track my calories and macros on my opine at any time of day or night is very convenient. Not to mention there is a great community aspect to it...I get lots of support from my MFP friends. I would not want to give that up just because a silly app sent me a message about starvation mode. I believe I'm strong enough to ignore such a message and move on with my life....rather than throwing out the baby with the bath water.

no, I was just saying the starvation thing to be a little funny. I do not like to track and it goes against my grain. That is the real reason I do not use it. Go figure because I have to deal with numbers and details on a minute by minute basis with my career. I would rather just ball park my figures at the macro level and make decisions on principle and on what works (for me) rather then tracking at the granular level. That's just me. Some people really love tracking the minute details of calories, fat, protein, carbs, etc. I do not. My rules during weight loss : eat every 3 hours, eat protein first, eat veggies second, low carb, do not cheat, no bread, no sugar, keep calories between 600-900, keep protein > 90 g and do not worry about fat, but do not eat fried anything.

So you CAN set your own macronutrients in MFP. Go to goals' date=' and when it asks you, say you want to do Custom goals. And then you can specify percentages. Let me know if you need specific help and i can show you step by step with screenshots or whatever.[/quote'] Well, that was a surprise! I have only ever used the MFP app which I have just discovered is really limited in the set up in comparison to the website! Thank you.

Edited October 29, 201312 yr by LouiseC

I must be a bit dense, I can't workout it how to set goals for my macros :-(

@Louise:

1. Log into MFP

2. Click on your "My Home" tab

3. In the sub tabs, click on the "Goals" tab; you will be on the "My Fitness Goals" screen

4. Click the green "Change Goals" button at the bottom of the screen; you will go to the "Change Your Fitness Goals" screen

5. Click the radio button for "Custom: Manually set my own fitness goals"; you will to to the "Customize Your Fitness Goals" screen

6. Now, you will have editable boxes next to each of your nutrition requirements.

I ignore the starvation message, and I understand why it's there. Obviously we as wls users with doctors order to only eat 800 calories a day are the minority of people using it and MFP is most likely covering its back with the disclaimer message to avoid encouraging people with eating disorders of another breed from finding the app enabling to their illness.

It probably sadly still happens but at least they understand what implications a calorie counter can have on certain minds.