Can someone explain this to me?

Kassadeedle

When I go into my goals it says that my calories burned from normal daily activity are 1970. My BMR is 1572. MFP set my calorie goal to 1220 per day in order to lose 1.5lbs/week. SO should I be netting 1220 calories per day? Or do I go by the BMR? Sorry I'm new at this and clueless Yesterday I only netted 972 calories or something...I wasn't hungry all day however from what I'm reading it's not a good idea to only net that many?

ReNewYou

It is all very dependent on your height, weight, current fitness level, etc. But rule of thumb is a pound of fat is made up of 3500 calories. Shoot to be at least that far under your BMR for the week and you should be good. But truly it comes down to what works best for you. All these numbers are only at best educated guesses. So as long as you are not hungry and still losing weight than you are doing it right.

dahkneeka

Go somewhere between your BMR and TDEE, or, 20% less then your TDEE.

You should be eating AT LEAST your BMR to allow your organs and body to function properly.

Kassadeedle

Go somewhere between your BMR and TDEE, or, 20% less then your TDEE.

You should be eating AT LEAST your BMR to allow your organs and body to function properly.

So then why is it telling me to net 1220 calories?

alaskaang

Go somewhere between your BMR and TDEE, or, 20% less then your TDEE.

You should be eating AT LEAST your BMR to allow your organs and body to function properly.

So then why is it telling me to net 1220 calories?

The system works by taking your TDEE and subtracting 500 calories per day per lb per week you want to lose to give you the net number. For most women it ends up somewhere around 1200 calories which is the lowest calories the system will give you. The intention is that you eat back your exercise calories that are over your typical calorie expenditure.

The primary problem is that the system and recommendations are based on simple math and humans are not simple creatures. It will take some experimentation to figure out what level of calories gives you enough fuel yet allows you to lose.


edited typo

now_or_never12

Go somewhere between your BMR and TDEE, or, 20% less then your TDEE.

You should be eating AT LEAST your BMR to allow your organs and body to function properly.

So then why is it telling me to net 1220 calories?

It would be because you selected a weekly goal higher than it should be. Depending on how much you have to lose 1.5lbs may be too big

Kassadeedle

Gotcha, makes sense. I literally just started yesterday. I'm 5'5" and 180lbs with 50lbs to lose. I guess I'll have to experiment and switch things up to figure out what works best. Thanks!

alaskaang

Since you are just starting, one thing that you might try is to figure out a baseline of what you have been eating. If you can remember everything you at for the past week, input those days and it will give you an idea of how many calories you eat to maintain where you are now and then you can reduce that some or at least compare to the MFP recommendation.

ChangingAmanda

Gotcha, makes sense. I literally just started yesterday. I'm 5'5" and 180lbs with 50lbs to lose. I guess I'll have to experiment and switch things up to figure out what works best. Thanks!

This is what I had to do. The system defaulted to 1270 for me and I tried that for 5 days and (as best as I can describe) crashed hard one day. I upped it to 1600 which is approximately 1000/day less than what my Fitbit says I'm expending. I'm also eating back about 1/2 of my excercise calories on the recommendation in many posts since the MFP activity calcuations can be off. This has really helped my energy and how I feel the past 3 weeks and I'm still losing.

dahkneeka

In my "OPINION" - Ensure your weight loss is not rushed. If you do it slowly, properly, your chances of keeping the weight off will be better.
1lb a week is healthy.

After you start losing a bit, make sure you hit the gym, lift weights, be active! This should ensure that under your weight loss you will be toned, tight and back where you wanted to be!!

Most of all- BEST OF LUCK! And Welcome!

MinnieInMaine

I would suggest either customizing your goals so that your BMR is your daily calorie limit (from the My Home tab, go to Goals then click on Change Goals and select custom) or change your weekly weight loss goal to 1 pound per week to give you more daily calories.