lose 2lb a week

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donnah2203
donnah2203 Posts: 4 Member
in Getting Started
hi i am 126lbs 5ft 4 inches a woman and would like to lose 2lb a week i currently excecise 5 days a week burning 300 - 400 calories a day , i have an office job, what i want to know is how many calories a day should i be eating a day to lose alb a week, if any one could help that would be great
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  • 000Linda000
    000Linda000 Posts: 50 Member
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    MFP actually calculates this for you! Also, there's plenty of online calculators that does the same thing.
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
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    You are already at a very healthy weight, so you shouldn't be trying to lose 2 pounds a week. You should set MFP to 0.5lbs per week, and eat back 50% of your exercise calories. Re-evaluate after a few weeks.
  • kaned_ferret
    kaned_ferret Posts: 618 Member
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    You are already at a very healthy weight, so you shouldn't be trying to lose 2 pounds a week. You should set MFP to 0.5lbs per week, and eat back 50% of your exercise calories. Re-evaluate after a few weeks.

    ^ This.

    You're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think that you can lose 2lbs per week - mfp will not give you a number that is less than 1200 calories a day for safety reasons, and this will be highly unlikely to put you at enough of a defecit to actually be under by 7000 calories in a week - and that's how much you'd have to burn to lose that amount of weight. set yourself to 1/2lb a week and you'll be much better off!
  • qtgonewild
    qtgonewild Posts: 1,930 Member
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    at 126 i dont think you could or definitely should not create a deficit large enough to lose 2 lbs a week. get more realistic goals. and then, good luck.
  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
    IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym Posts: 5,573 Member
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    2 pounds a week for how many weeks?? 126 is already in a good range for your height. How low are you planning to go?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
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    hi i am 126lbs 5ft 4 inches a woman and would like to lose 2lb a week i currently excecise 5 days a week burning 300 - 400 calories a day , i have an office job, what i want to know is how many calories a day should i be eating a day to lose alb a week, if any one could help that would be great
    at your weight, 2lbs a week isn't going to happen in any kind of healthy manner. a more realistic goal, though you aren't going to want to hear this...is .5lb a week. Put that into MFP and see how many calories it gives you.
  • Soccer_Chick
    Soccer_Chick Posts: 204 Member
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    erickirb...where did you find those numbers? I like this and have never seen it listed that way before. Thanks for posting this!
  • ccanga
    ccanga Posts: 5 Member
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    I like Donnah's goal. It is good to overshoot and then if she loosed 1/5 pound she is right on track. No? I too want to drop 20 pounds and I want to keep it off. diet and exercise. i have set 2 pounds a week keeping to 1300 calories a day. does anyone know if the 1300 calories is before or after you subtract the calories burned doing exercise?
  • ell_v131
    ell_v131 Posts: 349 Member
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    I like Donnah's goal. It is good to overshoot and then if she loosed 1/5 pound she is right on track. No? I too want to drop 20 pounds and I want to keep it off. diet and exercise. i have set 2 pounds a week keeping to 1300 calories a day. does anyone know if the 1300 calories is before or after you subtract the calories burned doing exercise?

    It's net, meaning if you log exercise, your target will increase and you're supposed to hit it. Be careful as MFP overestimates the calorie burns, so it is recommended to eat back about 50-80% of the exercise calories.

    I disagree with you about setting goals too high. With not much to lose (which is clearly OP case) it would not be smart to try to lose too fast as she would be in fact losing a lot of muscle with the fat. 20lbs that you have to lose is not much either. 1 pound is more realistic and more healthy. Otherwise you can lose weight, but still be fat.

    I would also recommend resistance training to help preserve the muscle
  • donnah2203
    donnah2203 Posts: 4 Member
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    ok thanks for your replies, i am willing to lose 0.5 lb a week so how many calories shall i eat a day if i exercise 5 days a week and burn 300-400 a day?
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
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    ok thanks for your replies, i am willing to lose 0.5 lb a week so how many calories shall i eat a day if i exercise 5 days a week and burn 300-400 a day?

    MFP will tell you. Set your goal to lose 0.5 pounds per week, and then add your exercise calories (or a portion of them).
  • faithchange
    faithchange Posts: 311 Member
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    I thought typically you don't want to eat back your exercise calories in MFP? I thought MFP figured in those calories as a burn, therefore allowing the deficit and then the total daily calories. I used to eat back some of my exercise calories, but it only hurt me. I do strength training and cardio. I aim for burning more than what I put into MFP for a little more deficit at the end of the week, but I do shoot for at least 1900-2000 calories a day. I'm sorry, but I don't know how people who reach their goals are still losing 2 lbs a week and eating below 1300 calories a day. It's crazy!
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
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    I thought typically you don't want to eat back your exercise calories in MFP? I thought MFP figured in those calories as a burn, therefore allowing the deficit and then the total daily calories. I used to eat back some of my exercise calories, but it only hurt me. I do strength training and cardio. I aim for burning more than what I put into MFP for a little more deficit at the end of the week, but I do shoot for at least 1900-2000 calories a day. I'm sorry, but I don't know how people who reach their goals are still losing 2 lbs a week and eating below 1300 calories a day. It's crazy!

    You do eat them back, or at least a portion. That is how MFP works. But it sounds like you are already including exercise in your target goal, which is another way you can do it.
  • donnah2203
    donnah2203 Posts: 4 Member
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    first of all thanks for your help, ok i have put the details in to lose 0.5lb a week and its gave me the calories i need but i put in i exercise 5 days a week and burn 1500 calories a week , but my fitness pal has recommended only burn 690 a week what do i need to do if i still want burn 1500 calories a week? stats below

    Your Fitness Goals
    Nutritional Goals Goals
    Net Calories Consumed* / Day 1,360 cal/day
    Carbs / Day 136.0 g
    Fat / Day 30.0 g
    Protein / Day 136.0 g
    Fitness Goals Goals
    Calories Burned / Week 690 cal/week
    Workouts / Week 5 Workouts
    Minutes / Workout 30 mins
    Your Diet Profile Target
    Calories Burned
    From Normal Daily Activity 1,610 cal/day
    Net Calories Consumed*
    Your Daily Goal 1,360 cal/day
    Daily Calorie Deficit 250 calories
    Projected Weight Loss 0.5 lbs/week
    * Net Calories Consumed = Total Calories Consumed - Exercise Calories Burned
  • SaltNBurnBoys
    SaltNBurnBoys Posts: 170 Member
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    You can personally edit your workout goals to what you want them to be.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    Dont wear any heavy clothing....
  • Medusa3
    Medusa3 Posts: 11
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    My advice is if you exercise DON'T eat back ALL of your calories, half is ok. I'm averaging 2lbs/wk loss this way. Follow the MFP guidelines set for you and you should be fine. :)
  • cookiealbright
    cookiealbright Posts: 605 Member
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    How much do you want to weigh? At 126 I think you might just disappear if you lose any more than 6 pounds!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    erickirb...where did you find those numbers? I like this and have never seen it listed that way before. Thanks for posting this!

    It is essentially info I put together from a similar table using BF%, but since most people don't know their BF%, I put it into any easier to follow table for most. I can't quite remember where it come from I developed it years ago now, but was based on info in a thread that was linked to a weight loss study.

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