Need advice

carolineprades42

Hi guys so I’ve decided to re join after a while away , I’ve added my goal which is 150g protein 50g carbs and 50g fats , with a 1200 cal a day allowance , I’m a bit baffled as I put my food into today which was 1203 , so my weight at the moment is 11st 6lb and I want to get to 9st , it’s saying on competing my diary that in 5 weeks I will be 11st 6.3lbs , but I hit all my dietary goals ? How is this what am I doing wrong , If I put 1000 cals a day with same macro goals it still says the same , I will weigh 11st 5lb ??? thanks Caroline x

janejellyroll

You've likely chosen a weight loss goal that is too aggressive for your current weight. You can't safely create that deficit at your current weight, so MFP has given you the lowest safe goal which is 1,200.

You aren't doing anything wrong, you just need to choose a more realistic goal.

carolineprades42

Hi Jane thanks for replying , I put in a 2lb a week loss , nothing crazy , if I put under cal allowance it says I’m not eating enough , but if I eat cal allowance exact it says my weight in 5 weeks will be the same I am now ? Don’t know what I’m doing wrong ? I also train 4 days a week at a hour a time xx

psychod787

uhh... I would suggest a 500 calorie deficit vs 1000. Since you don't have a great amount to lose, .75% of body weight loss a week is MORE than enough IMHO. Eat back some of those exercise calories. 1800-2000 sounds much better than 1200.

carolineprades42

Hi I’m 5ft 4 and 11st 6lbs , what would you say is a good weekly loss , x

LenGray

Since you have so little to lose (~20 lbs), a 2 lb loss each week is a bit too aggressive. Typically, you would aim for about 0.5 lb each week. I think that's where you're having trouble with the MFP calculator, since for that aggressive of a loss, you would have to dip below 'required for survival' calories (aka, 1200). Try setting it to 0.5/week on your goals and it should correct itself

psychod787

sorry had to edit my post..... my thoughts are above. 500 calorie overall deficit that includes exercise should do a pound a week for a while. For every 1 stone you want to lose, remove 140 calories from diet. Weight loss will slow after a while, but eventually you should reach your goal. You might have to trend weights for a month and see if you are losing at that 1lbs a week mark on average. If losing more, eat a little more. Not losing, eat less. I sugget 150-250 calorie increments until that "golden" loss rate is achieved.

janejellyroll

carolineprades42 wrote: »

Hi Jane thanks for replying , I put in a 2lb a week loss , nothing crazy , if I put under cal allowance it says I’m not eating enough , but if I eat cal allowance exact it says my weight in 5 weeks will be the same I am now ? Don’t know what I’m doing wrong ? I also train 4 days a week at a hour a time xx

2 pounds a week is absolutely a super aggressive goal for your current weight. That would require a deficit of 1,000 calories a day. Easy to create when you weigh 300 pounds, hard to (safely) create at your weight.

carolineprades42

Thanks guys will reduce my weight loss a week goal to lower and see what that does xx

yirara

carolineprades42 wrote: »

Hi Jane thanks for replying , I put in a 2lb a week loss , nothing crazy , if I put under cal allowance it says I’m not eating enough , but if I eat cal allowance exact it says my weight in 5 weeks will be the same I am now ? Don’t know what I’m doing wrong ? I also train 4 days a week at a hour a time xx

Ok, that you think 2lbs per week is realistic says a lot about you. Sorry But it's not surprising when some magazines and adverts promote losing 20lbs in a month or similar rubbish.

No sorry, what you've chosen is massive, and is not sustainable. You are not really heavy. A smaller body needs less calories. In order to lose 2lbs per week you'd need to eat 7000 calories less in a week, or 1000 per day. And you should not get below 1200. Thus this is only possible if your maintenance calories currently are above 2200.

And then still, in my opinion there is no reason to only eat 1200 calories because it increase the risk of feeling miserable, and potentially binging every few days. It's just too little food. Just imagine you run a 1000 calorie deficit, and then have a smaller and a massive binge every week, leaving you with a deficit of 600 calories per day on average. Wouldn't it be better to just eat more and feel better overall, and keep binges in check?

lemurcat2

carolineprades42 wrote: »

Hi I’m 5ft 4 and 11st 6lbs , what would you say is a good weekly loss , x

Doing the math, that's about 160. Given that, I'd say the 1 lb/week psychod787 recommended is a good goal. Another thing to consider is if you said "sedentary." The numbers you reference above suggests that you probably did. If you even just walk around a decent amount per day, you likely are not sedentary as MFP defines it (less than 4000 steps).