Deficit too small- help!

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chelsey728
chelsey728 Posts: 138 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all... So MFP put me at 1,200 per day. My BMR is 1,363- so for the week I'm only down 1,141 (which is not close to the 2lbs per week I had chosen). Should I cut the daily calories back even more? I know under 1,200 isn’t good but what other option to I have to reach the 2lb per week mark? I'm frustrated that I chose the -2lbs per week option and my calories won't even equal 1 lb per week. Advice/tips? Thanks all!

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  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    You might not have 2lbs as an option. I was in the upper range of healthy weight and my only choice was .5lb per week. You don't get enough of a deficit between Maintenance Calories and Daily Goal to lose 2lbs per week. If you go too low in calories you can cause a metabolic slowdown (Starvation Mode). This will stall any weight loss because your body starts to hang onto fat and eat into your lean muscle mass (dieting already causes muscle mass loss). You can possible gain weight.

    Is your BMR 1363 or is it your Maintenance Calories (BMR+Activity Level)? You BMR is what you get from the calculator under "Tools".

    When I first started I was given a 1520 BMR (activity level - sedentary) and a 1200 goal. This gave me a 320 per day deficit. I chose to lose a pound per week but it wasn't an option. But I was losing - just not that much. When my Maintenance calories hit 1480 I switched to .5 per week and it upped my calories to 1250. I continued to do my best to eat back all of my calories burned during exercise to keep me above 1200. I kept losing. Then I switched over to eating Maintenance and my exercise calories burned. 1480 and I have dropped another 2lbs since doing that.

    If you BMR (calculator under "Tools" is showing as 1363 then I wouldn't go under that number - this is what your body burns just to survive. Mine is 1180.

    Check out the Link in my post: "Links in MFP you want to read..." All kinds of info. (Cardio also causes lean muscle mass loss so you want to incorporate some strength training exercises into your routine also.)
  • marielw
    marielw Posts: 126 Member
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    Hi, The deficit is calculated from your maintenance calories, not the BMR. I didn't have enough deficit to lose 2lbs a week either, mine is 1.3lbs per week. You just have to go with it - if you eat too little it won't work.


    This website explains it all a bit better, although the calculator comes up with slightly different figures to MFP.

    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    And your body burns differently each day. I recently purchased a BodyMedia Fit. This is designed to be worn 24/7. I have burned between 1700-2100 calories on an average day (the higher numbers include exercising). I'm 5'2" and 122.6lbs. Now if I am lazy a number of days in a row, then the number of calories burned drops each day.
  • chelsey728
    chelsey728 Posts: 138 Member
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    Thank you so much!! That really helped! :-)
  • bizco
    bizco Posts: 1,949 Member
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    Read the link below, it will help you tremendously.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

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