Is my calorie goal too low?

himel13

hey everyone! i used the MFP 'guided' weight loss thingy to set my goals and was given a calorie limit of 1200. But my BMR says 1298. and though i set my goal to lose 1 pound per week, the account says the projected weight loss is 0.8 pounds per week.
All these numbers are confusing me! My question now is..am I eating too few calories? Cuz I haven't seen any changes in my weight (other than an initial gain :P). I'm 5 foot 1 inches and weigh 138 pounds. iv given my activity input as sedentary cuz before MFP I was hardly moving at all. now I'm doing light exercises, and still erratically.
Can anyone give me advice on what my calorie goal should be?

yeabby

Because you are lower in weight you may only have a goal of .8 instead of 1/week. MFP won't set your calories below 1200. It looks like for you they've figured that if you are eating 1200 a day you you'll be at about 400 calories deficit a day or 2800 per week. This equals .8/week.

edit - To get to a pound a week you'd have to be at a 500 cal/day deficit or 1100 calories a day. This is not a recommended calorie level unless it is set by a doctor or nutritionist. If you are concerned about your number of calories change your goal to .5/week and it will most likely give you back a few calories.

tcpowell25

Because you are lower in weight you may only have a goal of .8 instead of 1/week. MFP won't set your calories below 1200. It looks like for you they've figured that if you are eating 1200 a day you you'll be at about 400 calories deficit a day or 2800 per week. This equals .8/week.

edit - To get to a pound a week you'd have to be at a 500 cal/day deficit or 1100 calories a day. This is not a recommended calorie level unless it is set by a doctor or nutritionist. If you are concerned about your number of calories change your goal to .5/week and it will most likely give you back a few calories.

bump

Cchappell10

I'm not very nutrition informed, so I can't actually give advice there. I will say, though, that I am in the exact same boat. I am 5'1" and 127 pounds. MFP also tells me 1200 is my goal. I am eating by the South Beach Diet, and am merely using MFP for informational purposes as opposed to a guideline. My daily average has been around 900 calories per day. I would say that anything under 1000 is too low for someone similar in size. Definitely if you start getting headaches or feeling light headed, I would say you need to up it, but I've been going by the rule of thumb that if my body feels okay, then I must be okay. That may or may not be a good plan, LOL, but it's mine.

edward1973

i wouldnt go below the 1200 minimum thats not good for you - i used to do a very lo cal diet and while the weight eventually fell off the side effects werent worth it. .8lbs a week is not bad as it doesnt seem you have a lot to lose (lucky you! x) would probably be best to lose it slow and healthy than do yourself harm x

DrAnithaDeviPillai

is it working out ? are you losing weight?

DebiP10

i was wondering the same thing. although i stick to my cals and exercise 5 days a week my weight loss is set of 0.9lb per week yet it takes me sometimes a month or more just to lose 1lb :grumble:

Lanfear

i was wondering the same thing. although i stick to my cals and exercise 5 days a week my weight loss is set of 0.9lb per week yet it takes me sometimes a month or more just to lose 1lb :grumble:

^^^^^^ This. :frown: I've been stuck at the same weight now for over 6 weeks - however I'm not tooooo disheartened because I feel better and more toned so may be losing inches (makes note to whip out tape measure at home!). On the plus side I tweaked my calories up a bit and also got advised to try having more protein, as I have found that I'm lacking energy a little bit.

With regards to calories, you might find you are struggling on 1200 which is why you're not losing weight - you could always manually change your cals up a little bit (1300/1400?) and see what happens?

ambie35

How much weight are you planning on losing? Your numbers are small to begin with,so I'd guess no more then 20 pounds or so. Your goals should be at 1/2 a pound a week when you have under 50 pounds to lose.

CARNAT22

hey everyone! i used the MFP 'guided' weight loss thingy to set my goals and was given a calorie limit of 1200. But my BMR says 1298. and though i set my goal to lose 1 pound per week, the account says the projected weight loss is 0.8 pounds per week.
All these numbers are confusing me! My question now is..am I eating too few calories? Cuz I haven't seen any changes in my weight (other than an initial gain :P). I'm 5 foot 1 inches and weigh 138 pounds. iv given my activity input as sedentary cuz before MFP I was hardly moving at all. now I'm doing light exercises, and still erratically.
Can anyone give me advice on what my calorie goal should be?

I was 134lbs when I started and the same height as you so I have always been on 1200. It doesn't matter whart I set my MFP goals too (1lb or 0.5lb) I am still on 1200 calories!

I eat back my exercise calories though so on the days I do manage to exercise I eat anything between 1300 - 1500 depending on what I have burnt.

DebiP10

i was wondering the same thing. although i stick to my cals and exercise 5 days a week my weight loss is set of 0.9lb per week yet it takes me sometimes a month or more just to lose 1lb :grumble:

^^^^^^ This. :frown: I've been stuck at the same weight now for over 6 weeks - however I'm not tooooo disheartened because I feel better and more toned so may be losing inches (makes note to whip out tape measure at home!). On the plus side I tweaked my calories up a bit and also got advised to try having more protein, as I have found that I'm lacking energy a little bit.

With regards to calories, you might find you are struggling on 1200 which is why you're not losing weight - you could always manually change your cals up a little bit (1300/1400?) and see what happens?

I tried increasing and gained lol so stopped eating exercise cals and gained, zig zagged cals and stayed same. only time i lost was when i did the 30 day shred then ive stood still. i know ive not a lot to lose but i do get fed up as i work so hard and eat all the right stuff ( increased protein a couple of months ago) also my measurements havent decreased for 2 months either :sad:

himel13

i was wondering the same thing. although i stick to my cals and exercise 5 days a week my weight loss is set of 0.9lb per week yet it takes me sometimes a month or more just to lose 1lb :grumble:

^^^^^^ This. :frown: I've been stuck at the same weight now for over 6 weeks - however I'm not tooooo disheartened because I feel better and more toned so may be losing inches (makes note to whip out tape measure at home!). On the plus side I tweaked my calories up a bit and also got advised to try having more protein, as I have found that I'm lacking energy a little bit.

With regards to calories, you might find you are struggling on 1200 which is why you're not losing weight - you could always manually change your cals up a little bit (1300/1400?) and see what happens?

I tried increasing and gained lol so stopped eating exercise cals and gained, zig zagged cals and stayed same. only time i lost was when i did the 30 day shred then ive stood still. i know ive not a lot to lose but i do get fed up as i work so hard and eat all the right stuff ( increased protein a couple of months ago) also my measurements havent decreased for 2 months either :sad:

himel13

I've been doing this for 3 weeks now and have only managed to gain 2 pounds! I haven't lost any inches, probably cuz im not exercising enough. i have 22-23 pounds to lose and from what i understand, when u have less than 50 pounds to lose, you lose much slower. but its still disheartening sometimes! iv upped my protein amounts as well. i just need to get off my butt and exercise more frequently..have been 'planning' to start the 30 day shred, but can't seem to start for some reason!