So yesterday I decided to switch calorie counters. I was using the one provided by Everyday Health, but it was starting to annoy me because I could never find matches for the food I was eating, which made it really hard to estimate the calories I was consuming. I switched over to MyFitnessPal because my friend recommended it, and so far it has been good as far as having matches, but the difference is that with the Everyday Health counter, my limit was 2125 calories, and MyFitnessPal only allows me 1460! Why did one counter allow me so much, and why does the new one allow me so little?

I was managing at around 1700-1800 calories a day and losing weight, and now it just seems like I haven't eaten enough today. How do I deal with the drastic shift in my limit?

1460 for someone of your current weight is far to little. I weigh 144 and that's what I eat. If you were losing when eating 1800 calories, than stick with that. Just use MyFitnessPal to track the food since their database is bigger.

I agree -- go with what works for you at a sustainable rate. If that's 1700 ish, that's cool.

Just check your settings in MyFitnessPal to make sure the rate of loss isn't set to super fast or something. Maybe that is causing it to be way off.

A.

Go with whatever works for you. Remember that they are only a guide

I think its nuts how much variance there is! I've always used myplate, and to lose 1.5lbs a week its telling me to eat 1295cals a day! i usually end up around 1350 and if i stick to it i end up dropping just under 1lb in a single day!

I've never used MyFitnessPal but make sure the settings are right and then just use the number they give you as a guideline, not a hard limit. Your activity level could be off and if they also take your weight into account - which they should - it being set wrong could throw it off, too. I just realized mine has been set wrong this entire time on Fitday... =/

Yeah, it sounds like the settings are off, I would double check everything to make sure. Intake to maintain should be roughly 12-15 calories per pound. You reduce that by either 500-1000 calories total a day to lose 1-2 lbs a week.

I suggest also trying one of the other free sites just to compare (fitday or fatsecret).

I use a different calorie counter, but I've looked at MyFitnessPal and it gave my a noticeably lower number than the one that I am using (LoseIt! -also free and online so you could compare the two if you wanted). You should be fine eating 1700-1800 and losing and it'll be much more sustainable in the long run.

As I'm sure you know, a tracker can't allow or disallow anything. You're the boss, not the tracker. If you've been losing weight on 1,800 calories, just keep going at that pace. The more you can eat while still losing, the better, IMO.

Freelance

i tweaked my MFP after it had me at 1230cal a day to lose 2lbs/wk (um... no). I put it at lose 0.5lbs/week and I have been losing more than that.