[Pudgebrownie]

I've been a long ish time user of Lose It and think that it's a great app but after many members talking about My Fitness Pal, I decided to download it and see how it compares. Now that I have both installed on my phone, I have been able to checkout the similarities and the differences. One thing that I'm seeing a BIG difference in is allotted calories per day.. Example, Lose It gives me about 800 calories per day to lose 2lbs per week - and MFP gives me 1200 calories per day to lose 2lbs per week - both calculating with the same data of current weight and goal weight. This strikes me as a significant variance, and I'm not sure what to think..


I should note that as a Lose It user for the last couple years, I have lost about 35lbs and have kept it off. I do cringe on some days more than others when I have to face yet another day of 800 calories allotment versus 1200 calories allotment. So, while I'm very skeptical about increasing my calorie intake, the idea of bumping up my allotted calories for the day is an exciting thought!


Anyone else notice the difference in allotted calories per week between both apps? Or.. which app would you decide to stick with? I'll probably remain faithful to Lose It only because it is working for me but if I get closer to goal, maybe I'll consider switching up my app.

[SweetSteph]

I believe 800 is a very low calorie number. I thought 1200 was a minimum for most female adults. I use MFP and I love it! I have a goal of 1200 calories a day and I have had good results so far. Seems like 800 would be very hard to stay under and get enough food for the day, especially if you are working out also. Do you find yourself to be satisfied and not hungry on that low amount?

[TripSwitch]

SweetSteph is right... 800 kcal/day is considered a very low calorie diet that is only recommended for people with a BMI of 30 or above... or those with a BMI of greater than 27 and weight related comorbidities e.g. high blood pressure, diabetes, etc... and is medically supervised because of the risk of serious complications... which include vitamin and mineral deficiencies leading to electrolyte disturbances causing possible life threatening cardiac issues... as well as gallstone formation with the possible need for surgery and the various risks that would entail...

[Breannaj1215]

Ive used both and like loseit better. On my fitness pal it tells me that i have to eat 500 cals less than loseit. I dont lose on my fitness pals cals but lose it i lose 2 lbs per week. Im not sure why there different but it is weird. But for you 800 cals is too low. They recommend not to go under 1200 cals for women ever, not sure if thats accurate either. Maybe your goal weight for loseit is too low to be considered healthy? so it makes you eat way below what you should. i started just under 300 lbs and lost quick the first time on 1200 and then binged a few days and never went back. now I eat around 1900 cals to start and am steady losing 2 lbs a week. Everytime I lose a lb it adjusts the cals and I continue to lose. Listen to your body. Also if your exercising you have to eat more.

[Pudgebrownie]

Thanks for the responses.


I'm doing an Alternate Day diet, so in my case, 800 calories on certain days and then 1000+ calories on others, is productive. It did take some time getting used to eating around the 800 cal mark but for the most part, my body feels comfortable eating between 800-1000 ish calories. As for exercising, totally understand that calories need to be increased if active. Right now, I workout on average 60 minutes per day, of either walking or light jogging but nothing crazy for the time being.


Just very interesting how the two apps calculate the net calories. I also realise that both apps allow "adjusting" the allotted calories but I typically like to go with whatever is recommended. All this said, I am noticing that MFP has some extras that Lose It doesn't. I may possible just switch apps and re-adjust where needs be.

[cquin1]

I believe the calories are low because it forces you to work out or exercise by any means (cleaning, working out, etc) to earn more calories so you can eat more.

I use loseit and lost 18 pounds. I have been slacking lately and need to start using it again. A trainer at my 24 hr fitness totally made me feel like a loser - she didn't realize that when you badger me, I will shut down and avoid you. She wanted me to quit using my lose it ap and use the myfitness pal ap.

I ran across this thread when I was trying to compare both aps. Sounds like they are sort of the same. It's like tomato (toe may toe) - tomato (to-mah-toe) to me! Whatever you are successful with...stick to it!

Glad I ran across this - I now can jump on board and get support while I struggle to lose my post hysterectomy weight gain! ***Did not ever think I'd have a hysterectomy in my 30s***

[Devoncroix]

Loseit gives me 1361 a day for 2lb weight loss and MFP only wanted to give me 1141. However when I first started loseit it said 500! I was really confused and kept checking the settings because I knew something had to be off. Sure enough I found out that for some reason it had my height as 2 ft. tall.

So if Loseit seems to give you a strange number you might want to check all of the settings.

Note: I did notice the OP posted this some time ago, but thought it might help anyone else who stumbled upon this thread with the same issue.

[Chubbygirl253]

I've never checked out Lose It but I question any site that recommends under 1200 calories. 1200 is the absolute lowest any woman should consume a day unless directed by a physician. Your organs need more than 800 even if you are at total rest. At under 1200 you aren't just losing fat, but muscle as well. And you don't get to choose which muscle, you can be losing heart muscle for example. For 99% of people it's unsafe.

AND I LOVE MYFITNESSPAL.COM!

[cuteazz1]

Any recent comparisons? I looked at the lose it app..seems like it lets you "bank" your calories for the week ..maybe for a splurge. I use MFP..on Tuesday I had like 600 extra calories to eat, but I didn't. Today I have Negative 200 calories...would lose it be more helpful because I eat like that all the time. Some days I eat 1400 some days I eat 1800..depends on my hunger.

[seaurchin]

i've been using MFP for about 4 years now and have lost 67 pounds and kept it off. When I stick to 1200 calories a day and less than 60 net grams of carbs, i lose about 2 lbs a week.

[Snoofie]

I used to use LoseIt but then I got my Fitbit, and the only way you can link the Fitbit to the LoseIt site is by upgrading to the Premium version, and I don't see any point in doing that when I can link my Fitbit to MFP for free.

I find that MFP works just fine, as long as I stay off the forums -- in my opinion, some of the people on there can be *very* snarky.

[kitkat2114]

For years I had been and off and on paper and pencil calorie tracker, my trainer just had my switch to my fitness pal. I like that it summarizes the marco nutrients with less effort than calculating it all manually would, and I like being able to scan barcodes. Not a huge fan of how it adjusts your calorie countdown based on workouts. I only track gym cardio and feel like it doesn't capture a crazy day at work or strength workouts well. It also gives me a goal of 1200 before workouts, and I've been good at sticking under it.

Lastly, mine has a feature for a weekly summary so I guess it's similar to loseit in that way?

[Sally Pineapple]

Originally Posted by Snoofie

I used to use LoseIt but then I got my Fitbit, and the only way you can link the Fitbit to the LoseIt site is by upgrading to the Premium version, and I don't see any point in doing that when I can link my Fitbit to MFP for free.

I find that MFP works just fine, as long as I stay off the forums -- in my opinion, some of the people on there can be *very* snarky.

I have Fitbit and linked it to LoseIt without any upgrades.

[Zabela]

I have the opposite problem than the OP. I use Lose it and I heard about MFP so I thought I would give it a try. The first thing I noticed was the big difference in the amount of calories between the two. Lose it gives me about 600 more calories per day than MFP. I checked all the settings on both apps to make sure I had them set the same and I do. For now I'm going to stick with Lose it since that is what I've lost my weight with so far. If I switch over to MFP I'm sure I will lose more weight quicker since it gives me fewer calories per day but I'm not going to do that just yet. Maybe in the future, who knows.

[GoldenLeaf]

I love MFP's Android app, and their calorie allowance is working for me. So I'm sticking with what's working.