How can i figure out my calorie target for deficit?

joowelz

Hello

I work out with heavy weights four days a week and do cardio once a week. The rest of the time i am sedentary. I eat healthy and tend to have between 2100-2300 calories and 140 g of protein a day. I am 47 yrs old, 5’6, and 168 lbs. I need to lose 10 lbs of fat.

According to mfp, my calorie target should be 1600-1800 calories a day for weight loss, but I am starving at that level.

Please help.

cmriverside

Well with so little to lose, it's a tough balancing act.

Stick with your 2100-2300 and just try to be as precise as you can with your logging. Keep doing your lifting and cardio.

You don't mention how long you've been trying to lose at 2100-2300, so just stick with it long enough to get good trending data and then adjust up or down in small increments.

I was really hungry for the entire time I was losing that last 15 pounds, so it can be a bit of a struggle.

cmriverside

...and as you should already know from being at this on myfitnesspal for years, that 1600-1800 would NOT include the calories from exercise, so that would put you back at your 2100-2300 anyway.

I'm assuming you know that with 10 pounds to lose, you should have your Goal set at, "Lose 1/2 pound per week."

Retroguy2000

You said MFP set a target for weight loss. To be more accurate, it set a target based on the input you gave it for your general activity level, and the input you gave it for how much weight you want to lose per week. You didn't specify that btw.

Try this calculator. It suggests your TDEE is about 2200-2300. That's just a starting point estimate. A 250 deficit from there is a good starting point, which puts you around 2000 target. Your protein goal is perfect.

https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/

It's all just a starting point. Track your calories in, track your weight change, that tells you what your personal TDEE is better than any calculator can estimate. If you take in X calories and lose 0.5 pounds per week then your TDEE is X+250.

AnnPT77

I agree with those above about targeting half a pound a week (and the other comments).

Just an observation: When actually losing half a pound of fat a week, it can potentially take several weeks for that weight loss trend to become clear.

With half a pound a week fat loss, if it were steady, you'd be expecting to lose just a tiny bit over an ounce of fat per day. Water retention and waste in the digestive system fluctuate by up to several pounds per day for a typical person, and it can be even more extreme for people with menstrual cycles (among other special cases).

That big water/waste fluctuation can play peek-a-boo with slow fat loss on the body weight scale for up to several weeks. (I know this from experience, not just theory. Even my weight trending app thought I was maintaining/gaining for over a month at one point when - based on long experience - I was pretty sure I was in a calorie deficit. Eventually the expected loss showed up quite suddenly on the scale. Bodies are weird.)

Slow loss is a good thing for sustainability, health, energy level, athletic performance and more . . . but it takes patience.

Stick with a revised routine (eating and activity) for at least 4-6 weeks to get a reasonable trend line, or a full menstrual cycle if you have those (to compare body weight at the same relative point in at least two different cycle).

Best wishes!

joowelz

Thank you!