Why can't I set my diary to lose 2lbs a week?

feathers1981

Whatever I do when I adjust my settings I always get a message syaing that I shouldlose 0.9lbs a week (even if I increase the workouts/exercise I say I will do etc). I am supposed to eat 1200kcal a day. How can I adjust it so that I can lose 2lbs a week?!

Feathers

Healthyby30

It won't let you b/c it won't allow you to go below 1200 calories a day. If you don't have much to lose, its not safe to lose that much per week.

spatticus

I'm not sure, I can't get mine to do what I want either. But I have a question for you... What is a stone? Haha

kwardklinck

I can't set mine like that either. I'm too close to my goal weight and it won't let you go below 1200 per day. What you could do is eat your 1200 and exercise. You'll lose at a faster rate.

lenwie

I'm not sure, I can't get mine to do what I want either. But I have a question for you... What is a stone? Haha

uk term for 14lbs

feathers1981

Ah...thanks!

That_Girl

I'd stick with .9 pounds. You have to be patient, but it's more likely to stay away when you lose it slowly.

erickirb

That is a lot to lose if you don't have a lot of wight to lose. MFP suggests 0.9 lb/week and I would second that, or even go to 0.5/week. With little weight to lose you will burn just as much if not more muscle than fat if you are trying to lose to fast. Change your goal to 0.5 lb/week and see how that works for 3-4 weeks.

hpsnickers1

What everyone else is saying. Your daily calorie deficiency depends on what your BMR is. To lose 2 pounds a week at 1200 you would have to have a BMR of 2200 calories (1000 daily deficiency). Going too far under in calories will have a detrimental effect on your weight loss. Your metabolism will slow down, your body will hang onto its fat, store any calorie intake as fat and dig into your lean muscle mass for its fuel. 1200 is a general baseline number to stay above to keep this from happening. I have a few links in my signature and you can get a lot of info regarding it.

When you don't have a lot to lose or you are already at a healthy BMI then there isn't a lot of room for calorie deficiency. If you really want to shed body fat then get into some weight lifting. Yes, heavy weight lifting. You won't bulk up but the more lean muscle mass the more fat burning through the day. When we diet we lose fat and muscle mass. That's what you see on the scale. But when we lift weights we increase our fat burning ability and we get to eat more (healthy foods, that is).

Erick you are responding when I do! :laugh: But I'm happy to know that my answers coincide with yours - they didn't use to because I had a lot of bad information from the internet. I've learned something from this site since I started and it has happened from reading posts and finding knowledgeable people like you!

erickirb

... Your daily calorie deficiency depends on what your BMR is. To lose 2 pounds a week at 1200 you would have to have a BMR of 2200 calories (1000 daily deficiency). Going too far under in calories will have a detrimental ...

This is close but you are confusing BMR and Maintenance. for you to lose 2lbs/week your maintenance would have to be 2200. Maintenance is not BMR, Maintenance is 350-900 calories higher depending on your activity level. BMR is the amount you would burn in a coma like state. If you Maintenance is 2200 your BMR is probably between 1400 and 1900 depending on your activity level

peanut352

bump

hpsnickers1

... Your daily calorie deficiency depends on what your BMR is. To lose 2 pounds a week at 1200 you would have to have a BMR of 2200 calories (1000 daily deficiency). Going too far under in calories will have a detrimental ...

This is close but you are confusing BMR and Maintenance. for you to lose 2lbs/week your maintenance would have to be 2200. Maintenance is not BMR, Maintenance is 350-900 calories higher depending on your activity level. BMR is the amount you would burn in a coma like state. If you Maintenance is 2200 your BMR is probably between 1400 and 1900 depending on your activity level

You are right - that isn't a BMR - I'm getting that confused with the maintenance calories that MFP gave me in the beginning. Thanks for clearing that up.
They gave me 1520 at the start (sedentary) and set me at 1200 and that gave me only a 320 calorie deficiency and I thought I could lose more than a pound per week that way. When I changed it to lose a 1/2 pound per week I was able to eat more calories and still lose weight which I did.