Help?! Figuring out goals....

maurierose

According to my Polar F11 and several averaged 24 hour periods of time with constant wear.... I "burn" about 2600-2800 calories on a daily basis with my regular activities.

What would the recommended "daily activity" level be for me?

Say I want to lose 2 lbs a week.

Is this how I'd do the math for that?

2600 (total calories) x 7 (days per week) = 18,200 total calories burned per week
18,200 - 7,000 (cals for 2 lb weight loss per week) = 11,200
11,200 divided by 7 days per week puts me at 1600 calories per day.

Currently I'm set to "lightly active".... MFP gives me 1,280 cals per day based on my weight/height/etc.

Several calculators I've used say that to actually lose 2 lbs per week it would put me below 1200 calories per day....

I'm soooo confused. Oh, and I'm asking because I lost 2 lbs per week steadily (and recalculated MFP to match my weight loss when it hit 10 lbs) and then I GAINED a pound.

Doesn't seem like much, all considering.... but if I'm going to put in the work, I want to do it right, know what I mean?

Thanks in advance for help and advice! :flowerforyou:

AlannaPie

MFP will never put you below 1200 a day because then your body goes into starvation mode

SHBoss1673

just go to the goals section and do the custom option, and if you want 2 lbs a week, make your net calories 1600 (assuming 2600 as your maintenance). The real question is, SHOULD you be looking for 2 lbs a week? That we can't answer without knowing your BMI, Body Fat %, fitness level, age, and relative health.

Channing

I'm no expert, but I'm assuming that you're getting a more accurate and personalized reading with your HRM than the general equation MFP uses. If consuming 1600 calories a day before exercise means you'd be losing 2 pounds a week than I would definitely eat at LEAST that much! Try it for a few weeks and see how you feel. We need enough fuel to function! :drinker: