Help with goal!

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librarygirl901
librarygirl901 Posts: 4 Member
in Getting Started
Anyone have advice for me on setting my calorie goal...I've had a lot of trouble staying on plan and I really want to make this work and stick with it. When they ask how much weight do you want to lose each week I put in 2lbs and that gives me 1200 calories a day. Should I start off that way or make smaller goals of 1/2 lb to a 1lb a week loss first? What did everyone else do? I have 20 pounds to lose and I have to fix my head the way I think about weight loss and goals. I want this to be a new way of life for me not 20pounds for an event! 20 pounds lighter forever!! LOL! Anyone want to be friends here I'll support and motivate the best I can! Lets do this!! :smiley:

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  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    I believe the max recommended is 1% of your body weight. With 20lbs to lose, that is probably not 2 lbs per week. When I had 20 lbs left, if I remember correctly, I was losing about 1.3 lbs per week or so. Currently, I'm at 0.5 lb per week (4-6 lbs till goal...currently aiming for 122 or 120).

    Since MFP bottoms out at 1200, chances are you don't have a 2 lb per week deficit. I can't select 2 lbs per week and actually have a 1000 calorie deficit (amount needed for 2 lb per week loss) unless I set my activity level to high active which I'm not.

    Since I'm set to Sedentary, the max deficit I can have is 449 calories. MFP thinks I would maintain my current weight at Sedentary on 1649 calories per day. So approx 0.8 lbs per week at Sedentary.
    If I up my activity level to lightly active, I can have a deficit of 649 calories. MFP gives me 200 more calories if I'm set to Lightly Active. This would be approx 1.2 lbs per week at Lightly Active (which is about 1% of my body weight).

  • M30834134
    M30834134 Posts: 411 Member
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    librarygirl901 wrote: »
    ...I really want to make this work and stick with it. ... I want this to be a new way of life for me not 20pounds for an event! 20 pounds lighter forever!! ...

    The less you have to lose the slower your weigh loss rate should. If you select 2 lb per week loss and MFP sets you on 1200 calories - you can probably do it, many have done it - but it will be harder than if you select 0.5 lb per week loss, which will give you more calories per day. With more calories you will feel less hungry, less cravings, less chances of binging and quitting.

    If you want this to be a permanent change and to keep this wight off - plan accordingly. Slow and steady wins this race. Select 1 or 0.5 lb per week loss and you'll have plenty of calories for occasional cakes and pizzas.

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