weight loss pro available??

spinningma

Okay, can someone guide me in the right direction. I am still a newbie here. I am loving the control I am getting from tracking my food. I take a spin class twice a week. I bike or run almost daily (2 miles- not huge) I am 182 lbs and 5'9". My goal is 150ish. When I first signed up with MFP, it put me at 1200 calories. I go over a little everyday... but I usually have extra calories to play with from the exercise. I lost 2 pounds my 1st week. I am on my second week now. It is hard to do that 1200... is that where I really need to be to lose this weight? How do I figure where I should be? Did MFP set me at 1200 because I said I wanted to lose it in a short period of time? In my dream world- I'd like to lose it overnight but I of course know reality. So who can tell me abouts where I should be for calories. Plus, I seem to always go over in protein. Thanks for whatever help you can lend!!

McLifterPants

I could do a breakdown for you, but honestly it's much easier just to send you to this thread:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

This guy explains everything far better than I ever could!

DanaDark

MFP calculates how many calories you need to maintain your weight. From there, it takes your goal weight loss per week and subtracts those calories from your maintenance. This number does not go lower than 1200 by program design.

So, if you need 2000 to maintain, and want to lose 2 pounds a week, the 2 pounds means a 1000 deficit a day! So, MFP will do 2000 - 1000 = 1000, but sees 1000 < 1200, so sets it at 1200.

With MFP's method, you should eat back the calories you exercise. It is set up so that days you don't exercise, you have to eat less to reach your goals (makes sense!).

You should set your goal to 1 pound a week given your weight. 1.5 or 2 pounds a week is generally geared for extremely heavy people.