Help -

lynnmsambol1960

I have either been on my calorie goal if 1,200 or slightly above and The message I get when completing the diary is that I will weigh more than I weigh now.

why do I want to go through all of the trouble of logging the calories and staying at 1200 if I’m gonna end up weighing more and not less than I do now?

Please help this is extremely frustrating.

kimny72

lynnmsambol1960 wrote: »

I have either been on my calorie goal if 1,200 or slightly above and The message I get when completing the diary is that I will weigh more than I weigh now.

why do I want to go through all of the trouble of logging the calories and staying at 1200 if I’m gonna end up weighing more and not less than I do now?

Please help this is extremely frustrating.

What is your height and weight, and what weekly weight loss goal did you choose?

The 5 week pop up prediction is a gimmick, it can't actually predict your weight progress. But if it's consistently saying you will gain weight on 1200 calories you would either have to already be quite lean or there is an error with either your acct setup or the app.

lynnmsambol1960

Thank you for responding. I am 5’2 weigh 120. I’m trying to get to 115. I’ve put these 5 pounds on during Covid

lynnmsambol1960

I think there could be an error in the set up.

lynnmsambol1960

I choose to lose a pound a week

yirara

Do check the setup again. Maybe you chose 52cm as height, or your age times 10. This would be the only reason I could think of to get such results. Unless the website is riddled with bugs again. With so little to lose you should certainly chose 0.5lbs per week though. With just 5lbs to lose you likely won't manage 1lbs per week anyway as it would get you below 1200 calories - which is very unhealthy.

cmriverside

So, what are the calories per day that you have been given?

Regardless, just don't click on that "Complete the day" button. I haven't clicked that in 10 years. It serves no purpose: like Kimny72 said it's a gimmick.

I also agree with yirara, set your Goals again and choose, "Lose 1/2 pound per week."

kimny72

lynnmsambol1960 wrote: »

Thank you for responding. I am 5’2 weigh 120. I’m trying to get to 115. I’ve put these 5 pounds on during Covid

Okay, so you are already light and trying to lose vanity lbs.
Your sedentary TDEE is just under 1500 lbs with those stats, so 1200 cals is AT LEAST a deficit to lose 0.5lbs per week, which is perfect. Understand that due to water weight fluctuations, there is no way you'll see that 0.5lbs come off on the scale every week.

So focus on the good behaviors - log accurately and consistently, eat all your calories, get some activity, ignore the pop up box. When I was losing my last 10 lbs, I only really saw the scale go permanently down once a month. I had to set non-scale goals to keep me occupied, like hitting a step goal or eating an extra serving of veggies daily. You really just have to faith in the process and let it happen when it happens. Good luck

Go_Deskercise

Strudders67

I'm the same height as you, maybe half an inch shorter, and now weigh around your target weight.

If you change your Goal in the set-up screen, you'll actually see what MFP thinks you need to eat to maintain your current weight. Having been there, relatively recently, my guess is that it's around 1450. To lose 0.5lb a week, as the table above shows, you'd eat at a deficit of 250. That gives you 1200 calories a day, which is the MINIMUM recommended for females.

As said above, even if you select to lose 1lb a week, because the required deficit would take your daily calories below 1200, you'll be set 1200. MFP will never set you a daily goal of below 1200 as it's not healthy.

As you lose weight, your maintenance calories number reduce. Just before I switched to maintenance anyway, my maintenance number was 1350. So, although I'd selected to lose 0.5lb a week, my actual deficit was only 150 calories because MFP wouldn't give me a number below 1200.

I can't explain why the 'In 5 weeks' thing would show you'd be gaining weight but, as everyone else says, it's not known for being accurate. More importantly, be aware that such a small deficit doesn't leave much room for logging errors.

lynnmsambol1960

Thank you everyone for the input. I appreciate your time and your sharing your knowledge with me.

Mandy72CM

Strudders67 wrote: »

I'm the same height as you, maybe half an inch shorter, and now weigh around your target weight.

If you change your Goal in the set-up screen, you'll actually see what MFP thinks you need to eat to maintain your current weight. Having been there, relatively recently, my guess is that it's around 1450. To lose 0.5lb a week, as the table above shows, you'd eat at a deficit of 250. That gives you 1200 calories a day, which is the MINIMUM recommended for females.

As said above, even if you select to lose 1lb a week, because the required deficit would take your daily calories below 1200, you'll be set 1200. MFP will never set you a daily goal of below 1200 as it's not healthy.

As you lose weight, your maintenance calories number reduce. Just before I switched to maintenance anyway, my maintenance number was 1350. So, although I'd selected to lose 0.5lb a week, my actual deficit was only 150 calories because MFP wouldn't give me a number below 1200.

I can't explain why the 'In 5 weeks' thing would show you'd be gaining weight but, as everyone else says, it's not known for being accurate. More importantly, be aware that such a small deficit doesn't leave much room for logging errors.

Strudders67 wrote: »

I'm the same height as you, maybe half an inch shorter, and now weigh around your target weight.

If you change your Goal in the set-up screen, you'll actually see what MFP thinks you need to eat to maintain your current weight. Having been there, relatively recently, my guess is that it's around 1450. To lose 0.5lb a week, as the table above shows, you'd eat at a deficit of 250. That gives you 1200 calories a day, which is the MINIMUM recommended for females.

As said above, even if you select to lose 1lb a week, because the required deficit would take your daily calories below 1200, you'll be set 1200. MFP will never set you a daily goal of below 1200 as it's not healthy.

As you lose weight, your maintenance calories number reduce. Just before I switched to maintenance anyway, my maintenance number was 1350. So, although I'd selected to lose 0.5lb a week, my actual deficit was only 150 calories because MFP wouldn't give me a number below 1200.

I can't explain why the 'In 5 weeks' thing would show you'd be gaining weight but, as everyone else says, it's not known for being accurate. More importantly, be aware that such a small deficit doesn't leave much room for logging errors.

Can I just ask what your average daily calories are after exercise?

Strudders67

Looking at the view for the last few weeks, via the app
My NET calories have averaged 1410, 1373, 1388, 1366, 1340, 1302, 1361, 1355 per day
My ACTUAL calories averaged at 1620, 1503, 1501, 1550, 1579, 1406, 1573, 1427 per day

On weekdays, I do a brisk walk to & from the station to pick up a newspaper. The 30 min round trip gives me a whole 84 calories extra to eat. Once a week, I've either extended that walk and gone to the nearest decent sized supermarket or, at the weekend, I've gone to a different supermarket (50 mins each way). That gives me either 200 cals or an extra 280 cals to play with. A few times I've done a much longer walk at the weekend, which also boosts the exercise calories available.

Although I try to meet my goals on a daily basis, mostly because it's easier to keep my carbs in check if I do, some days are definitely more on target than others. I use the app on my phone to check my weekly average and, as you can see, I'm usually within 25 calories of that goal when spread across the week.