Caloric calculations

elspethlena

Does the Myfitness app give you a caloric allowance that takes into consideration the weight loss goals and info that you've entered at the beginning? I know this probably sounds like a silly question because obviously it should, but I'm surprised by how high my caloric allotment is on the app and I keep wondering if I'm supposed to calculate something in on top of that. I'm 3 weeks in and down 1.6 lb which seems slower than I anticipated. I set it for the 2 lb per week goal.

Lietchi

Several things to 'unpack' here:

• yes, MFP takes into account your goal settings
• how high is this high calorie goal? Our perception can be skewed by popular culture: 'women need to eat like little birds to lose weight', shows like The Biggest Loser, etc.
• And speaking of The Biggest Loser, those shows also promote an unhealthy way to lose weight - faster isn't better. You don't mention your personal stats (age, height, weight,…) but 2lbs per week is an inappropriately fast rate of loss for a lot of people (without your stats, hard to know if it's okay for you). 1.6lbs in 3 weeks is a good rate for a lot of people.
• 3 weeks isn't a fully representative period to judge weight loss: it's better to look at a period of 4 weeks or more (1 or 2 menstrual cycles if applicable) because our weight doesn't only reflect our body fat but also water fluctuations and fluctuations of food waste in our digestive tract. For example: if you've started new exercise or increased your activity level, you could be retaining water for muscle repair, which can mask fat loss on the scale.
• A few reasons why your weight loss could be slower than the selected rate: choosing an incorrect activity level setting, not being accurate enough in your food logging (are you weighing your food and making sure that you use accurate food database entries?) and also not being statistically average (MFP uses statistical averages to calculate your calorie goal, but individual metabolism can be faster or slower than average)