Mfp has set my calorie goal to 1070? I thought it shouldn't be less than 1200.

minamina27

Hi everyone. I'm new to mfp and have only been using it for a week. However I did lose my first 12 two weeks prior to this so put that loss onto mfp to include it and motivate myself. The thing is, I am looking to lose 2 lb a week and the calculator has set my goal at 1070cals a day? I did lose 2lb this week but I'm worried it's too low. I am 5 foot 6 and am now 215.8 lb and my first goal is to reach 170-180lb. Any help appreciated. Thanks.

39flavours

That's definitely not right!

BeTheChange352

definitely a glitch. go here to figure out your TDEE, subtract 1000 (2 pounds a week) or 500 (1 pound a week) and eat that number every day, and don't eat exercise calories back.

Susieq_1994

It might be a glitch on MFP's part, but that aside, I'm the same height as you and definitely don't recommend eating that little at your current weight! I'd say to go for one pound a week or so, and eat more food. I lost a lot of muscle mass through eating too little when I didn't know much about nutrition, and that's one thing I really and truly regret! All the best.

dontjinxit

It won't let me go below 1200. Did you go the standard or customized route?

minamina27

I just put in my details and that's what it came up with. Please take a look at my profile/food diary. It tells me every day that I have eaten too little when I complete the day but I'm doing what has been set for me? I don't want to set my own calorie goals as that's why I'm here in the first place! Thanks. All help appreciated.

Sued0nim

Go back and redo your settings and save them again...that shouldn't be possible

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

rabbitjb wrote: »

Go back and redo your settings and save them again...that shouldn't be possible

Try this first ^

Then notify tech support. It should have a floor of 1200. We can't see your diary because you have it set to private. If you want people to be able to look at it then go to Home > Settings > Diary Settings and choose public.

minamina27

Hi. I have changed it to public now. I have altered some settings and the figure changes slightly but when I put in my actual details it still says 1070cals. Luckily I started (95%) clean eating four weeks ago so save a lot of calories that way but unless I do lots of exercise I'm not sure this is doable. I do want to begin by losing 2 lb a week but would lower that once I'm on my way. Any help appreciated and feel free to comment on my food diary. Critical or not, all will be appreciated. Thanks. Also I will ask for tech support. Thanks.

ruggedshutter

Assuming that you are 25 years old and exercising 3x's per week, IIFYM has a TDEE of 2300. Subtract 1000 from that and it gives you 1300 calories. That should net you about 2lbs per week.

minamina27

I wish I was 25! I'm 43, does that make a difference?

dontjinxit

If you can't get it fixed, go into custom and set it to 1200 or more yourself. Then it will automatically adjust and show you how much you'll be losing each week with that amount of calories.

mamadon

I would definitely contact them about this though, because it does sound like a glitch.

minamina27

Just checked on the tdee calculator and it says my tdee is 1979. How much less do I eat if I want to lose 2 lb a week? Thanks.

wolfordwebsites

Check if you have negative adjustments enabled in your diary settings online. If you are using a fitbit, for example, it could adjust your calories down.

JAT74

If your TDEE is 1979 then technically you'd need to eat 1000 fewer calories per day in order to lose 2lb per week so the total to eat would only be 979 which is too low.

My TDEE is a little less than yours, aroud 1800, but the lowest I can realistically go without being too hungry is 1300-1350 so that will only allow me to lose 1lb per week maximum.

In your case you could try and aim for 1.5lb per week and in that case you would have to eat 1229 calories per day, but based depending on your activity level you might find that's a bit too little.

In my case, I exercise quite a lot, but still have a fairly low TDEE and this means that I get hungry if I eat less than 1300 due to the amount of energy I'm using during workouts etc. For this reason I have to accept that my weight loss will be slower and I can only realistically expect to lose 1lb per week maximum otherwise I find I'm too hungry.

999tigger

You arent listening to what people are telling you.

Have you gone back and reset?
Have you contacted the help desk?

Katielou112

BeTheChange352 wrote: »

definitely a glitch. go here to figure out your TDEE, subtract 1000 (2 pounds a week) or 500 (1 pound a week) and eat that number every day, and don't eat exercise calories back.

I've just calculated my TDEE and it says 2010, so I should be eating 1010 and no exercise cals back if I want to lose 2lbs a week? I'm 154lb and 5ft 5.

minamina27

I have looked on tech support. It says not to add there but to add anywhere it says help? I can't find anywhere to ask? I'm on my iPad, don't know if it's a different format to desk top? I have messed around with the parameters. It still says the same. I will just put in 1200 and work on that as I can't even see a reset? Any links appreciated.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

minamina27 wrote: »

Just checked on the tdee calculator and it says my tdee is 1979. How much less do I eat if I want to lose 2 lb a week? Thanks.

It may not be possible to lose that much in a healthy way. Try setting it to lose 1 lb to 1.5 lbs per week.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Katielou112 wrote: »

BeTheChange352 wrote: »

definitely a glitch. go here to figure out your TDEE, subtract 1000 (2 pounds a week) or 500 (1 pound a week) and eat that number every day, and don't eat exercise calories back.

I've just calculated my TDEE and it says 2010, so I should be eating 1010 and no exercise cals back if I want to lose 2lbs a week? I'm 154lb and 5ft 5.

Again, with so little to lose you shouldn't try to lose 2 lbs per week.

JAT74

While it's great to see the scale go down 1.5-2lbs every week it's really not sustainable to eat 1000 calories every day. I've lost weight before in a short period of time by eating 900-1100 calories but I couldn't keep it up and very quickly gained the weight back again. I also had little energy so couldn't do my workouts properly and ended up depriving myself and got depressed when I had to eat out as I had so few options.

Now I'm losing at a rate of 1lb per week and though it's nowhere near as fast as I'd like I am able to eat 1300-1500 calories at least every day and most days I have enough energy to do the exercise I want to and I also don't find I get hungry so much. I can also eat out when I want if I save up my calories for that specific meal and eat less at other times that day.

minamina27

Thanks to all who have replied. I have now altered my desired weight loss to 1.5lb a week and my calories have increased to 1300+. I'm going to keep it at this and see what happens. I thought that as I had a lot to lose then 2lb a week would be ok. Still learning! Thanks.

Susieq_1994

minamina27 wrote: »

Thanks to all who have replied. I have now altered my desired weight loss to 1.5lb a week and my calories have increased to 1300+. I'm going to keep it at this and see what happens. I thought that as I had a lot to lose then 2lb a week would be ok. Still learning! Thanks.

Good job All the best to you!

Bex_2584

edited after reading rest of post.

No comments.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Bex_2584 wrote: »

BeTheChange352 wrote: »

definitely a glitch. go here to figure out your TDEE, subtract 1000 (2 pounds a week) or 500 (1 pound a week) and eat that number every day, and don't eat exercise calories back.

If this is the correct way to do it I should be only consuming 887 calories to lose 2lbs a week???!!!!

You probably shouldn't be losing 2 lbs per week either.

catgallagher28

Same happened with me! I was changing mine yesterday and it told me my limit was 530 calories.... Ive been using MFP for years now and it has never dropped below 1200 before for me! I figured it was just a glitch and just customised mine....

kellysdavies

I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to lose 2lb a week even if close to goal. I've been doing MFP for nearly a year now and totally stalled for about 6 months when I ate at TDEE. So now I'm only eating a 1000 calories a day and exercising (and not eating back calories) and it's working for me and I am on the last few pounds to go. I am short (5ft1.3) and weight 9stone2lb this morning (goal is 8stone12) so my maintenance calories are pretty low anyway. I have to eat fewer that 1200 cals if I want to lose any weight. Using a Fitbit has shown me how few calories I actually burn in a day even with a 5k run or 30 min spin class. If I ate 1200 cals I wouldn't lose weight. I find 1000 cals is adequate. Choosing healthy and nutritious foods; lots of eggs, meat, veg, homemade clean and lean granola bars, beans on toast, homemade soups and even get a treat in each night like a Milky Way or kit Kat or bag of popcorn.
Don't be forced to eat more if you want to lose weight more quickly. I don't agree you won't sustain it any less than you would if you lost it slowly.

Liftng4Lis

You have your goal set too aggressively for someone with so little to lose.

LivingtheLeanDream

ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »

Katielou112 wrote: »

BeTheChange352 wrote: »

definitely a glitch. go here to figure out your TDEE, subtract 1000 (2 pounds a week) or 500 (1 pound a week) and eat that number every day, and don't eat exercise calories back.

I've just calculated my TDEE and it says 2010, so I should be eating 1010 and no exercise cals back if I want to lose 2lbs a week? I'm 154lb and 5ft 5.

Again, with so little to lose you shouldn't try to lose 2 lbs per week.

^^ this! set it to lose 1lb a week, much less of a deficit required and your body will thank you for it

Iron_Feline

kellysdavies wrote: »

I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to lose 2lb a week even if close to goal. I've been doing MFP for nearly a year now and totally stalled for about 6 months when I ate at TDEE. So now I'm only eating a 1000 calories a day and exercising (and not eating back calories) and it's working for me and I am on the last few pounds to go. I am short (5ft1.3) and weight 9stone2lb this morning (goal is 8stone12) so my maintenance calories are pretty low anyway. I have to eat fewer that 1200 cals if I want to lose any weight. Using a Fitbit has shown me how few calories I actually burn in a day even with a 5k run or 30 min spin class. If I ate 1200 cals I wouldn't lose weight. I find 1000 cals is adequate. Choosing healthy and nutritious foods; lots of eggs, meat, veg, homemade clean and lean granola bars, beans on toast, homemade soups and even get a treat in each night like a Milky Way or kit Kat or bag of popcorn.
Don't be forced to eat more if you want to lose weight more quickly. I don't agree you won't sustain it any less than you would if you lost it slowly.

Sorry but no. You'll be losing a fair bit of muscle at that rate.

I'm 5'2 and can lose on 1600 a day

1000 plus no exercise calories is far too low. If you ate at TDEE of course you stalled as TDEE is maintenance.