Weight loss estimates don't make sense!

csteuter

Okay, MFP has me on a 1200 calorie per day plan to lose 2 pounds a week. My TDEE numbers are around 1685 calories a day ... so if I do no exercise, the deficit of eating only 1200 calories a day means I will create a weekly deficit of 3395 calories ... not quite a pound a week.

Now let's say I burn 200 calories a day with walking 3.5 miles per hour, which is over and above my normal job of sitting at a desk. That creates another deficit of 1400 calories a week .. netting me an expected weight loss of 1.3 pounds a week.

When someone says they "eat their exercise calories", I can understand that if I exercise 200 calories a day and my plan is 1200 calories a day, then I would be then eating 1400 calories that day to have the same net effect of TDEE of 1685-1200 calories a day.

I know that this keeps me headed in the right direction, but gee whiz. A weight loss of 1 pound a week for all this exercise and strict diet control?

When people say "eat more!" that makes no sense to me. I would not be creating the deficit I need to lose weight.

The first week I dropped a little over 4 pounds ... that was great. The next week, not quite a pound. Third week, 1/2 pound. Now in my 4th week, gained 1.5 pounds. Nothing is any different ... still burning those calories walking, still strictly following the diet EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Getting discouraged.

(5'3", 165 pounds, 54 years old).

BeachIron

Your weight will fluctuate due to water retention and release, and it is completely normal. I vary about 3-5 pounds during the day and from day to day, though if you weigh yourself in the morning prior to breakfast and after you use the restroom you will at least have a more consistent base for comparison. That said, do not expect your weight loss to be linear or you will be very frustrated. Track it over time and only follow the trend line. And yes, about 1 pound a week is just fine for someone your size.

jadethief

1 lb a week is great!