Calorie goal help?

successgal1

OK so I'm trying, again. When I last did this last year I lost 20lbs, and then my calorie goal of 1200 hit with a vengeance in the form of a magnesium deficiency. I guess I wasn't eating enough, or the right things. To stay nutritionally balanced. I now take supplements and my body has recovered.

I started back with resistance, light, training, I've gained some pretty good muscles, and have been laying off a calorie deficit. I gained weight. Some I know is muscle, but I did get fat back too. I'm now 176, where I had lost to 167.

I wanted to now get back to losing fat, safely, without losing my new muscles. I logged food for the first time in ages today, and ate the last of the ice cream. :-)

I wanted to have more calories to eat, so I changed the 2lb goal to 1 lb, and it only went to 1280 calories. I then changed it to .5 lb, and it gave me 1530 to eat? Is this right? Why the huge difference?

lynn_glenmont

The information you have given MFP re current weight, height, age, gender and current activity level has resulted in a calculated maintenance calorie level (before exercise) of 1780. MFP will not give you a calorie goal below 1200, so when you asked for 2 lbs a week loss (which requires a 1000 calorie a day deficit), it gave you a 1200 calorie a day goal, even though you would not be expected to lose 2 lbs a week on 1200. When you changed your goal to 1 lb a week, it gave you 1280 (1780 - 500, for projected 1 lb a week loss), and when you changed your goal to 1/2 lb a week, it gave you 1530 (1780 - 250).

pebble4321

The difference is that you've set yourself up with a smaller calorie deficit.
1530 is going to be much more manageable than 1200 - you could even fit in some icecream!

Really, the only way to know if this is the right calorie level for you is to give it a go. Log as accurately as you can, then evaluate it after a month or so and change things up or down if you need to.

successgal1

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

The information you have given MFP re current weight, height, age, gender and current activity level has resulted in a calculated maintenance calorie level (before exercise) of 1780. MFP will not give you a calorie goal below 1200, so when you asked for 2 lbs a week loss (which requires a 1000 calorie a day deficit), it gave you a 1200 calorie a day goal, even though you would not be expected to lose 2 lbs a week on 1200. When you changed your goal to 1 lb a week, it gave you 1280 (1780 - 500, for projected 1 lb a week loss), and when you changed your goal to 1/2 lb a week, it gave you 1530 (1780 - 250).

Oh thank you! That makes perfect sense and I'm relieved my app is not screwed up! Its true I never lost 2lbs a week on 1200, maybe 1.5 if I were lucky, so having 1280 at 1 makes perfect sense I was just hoping I could eat something like 1350 and still lose a pound a week without working out so much. I'm disheartened, but not surprised, that this is not the case. It explains why losing weight is so hard for me without starving myself, and why back in my 30's I ate very little (starved myself) and did an hour cardio daily and DID lose 2lbs a week. Losing 2 lbs a week is HARD!

Sticking to MFP and dieting is just much easier with visible, weekly results ..5 of a pound is literally less than my typical water weight fluctuations.

Sigh. Thank you for the "scientific" explanation.

StaciMarie1974

MFP has a floor of 1200, meaning it won't recommend less than 1200 for you to eat. If your weight loss goal is too agressive, you're going to get 1200. Going from 1 pound to .5 pounds should be a difference of 250 cals per day, and this makes sense with the 1280 vs 1530 calorie goal.

Its also worth mentioning that the MFP calories to eat goal is assuming no exercise. If you are doing some exercise, and it sounds like you are, then you should log it and eat more.

This process is trial and error. You found out 1200 was NOT for you. (Me either!) I'd say for the time being go with .5 pounds per week as a goal for the 1530, allow yourself a little additional to compensate for exercise and check results over 6-8 weeks. Keep in mind the downside of a 250 calorie deficit is that it makes accuracy very important. So be careful with portion sizes: use a food scale for solids. An extra 25-50 calories consumed but not logged here & there will wipe out your deficit.

successgal1 wrote: »

OK so I'm trying, again. When I last did this last year I lost 20lbs, and then my calorie goal of 1200 hit with a vengeance in the form of a magnesium deficiency. I guess I wasn't eating enough, or the right things. To stay nutritionally balanced. I now take supplements and my body has recovered.

I started back with resistance, light, training, I've gained some pretty good muscles, and have been laying off a calorie deficit. I gained weight. Some I know is muscle, but I did get fat back too. I'm now 176, where I had lost to 167.

I wanted to now get back to losing fat, safely, without losing my new muscles. I logged food for the first time in ages today, and ate the last of the ice cream. :-)

I wanted to have more calories to eat, so I changed the 2lb goal to 1 lb, and it only went to 1280 calories. I then changed it to .5 lb, and it gave me 1530 to eat? Is this right? Why the huge difference?

successgal1

Well, I was super careful at 1200. I was actually losing 1.5 at 1200, with exercise making it around 1400 eaten a day. I don't know what made me workout harder and restrict more. For whatever reason I stopped eating back calories and I got into trouble with my entire lower back, butt, hips and hamstrings being one lump of cramps. I thought my partially herniated disc got worse. It was like a 4 week Charley horse. It took that long for me to realize I really didn't hurt or pull anything but what I had was spasms. I couldn't sleep with the pain and ibuprofen did nothing. Then an inkling of remembering something about magnesium afloated in my brain and I bought some. Within an hour I felt the spasm start to release. It was amazing. It took a good six weeks to fully recover.

So, if I can get back to maybe 1350 on days I don't workout and around 1450 or more on days I do, hopefully I'll get back to seeing results at a pace that keeps me motivated.