A Math Crunch!

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sniffles
sniffles Posts: 295
in Chit-Chat
I wasn't sure where to put this! I just thought it was kind of amusing and kind of pointless so I settled for here.

So the daily amount of calories I can eat in a day to maintain my current weight is somewhere around 2000.

If I tell MFP I want to lose 1.5lbs a week it gives me 1340 calories a day. If I tell it I want to lose 2lbs a week I get 1210 calories.

Let's do some math!

One pound is the equivalent of 3500 calories. Roughly. In order to lose 1lb a week you have to eat 3500 less then what your body needs to maintain. Correct? Putting aside exercise calories for the purpose of simplifying let's continue;

On a weekly basis if I eat 2000 cals a day I will have eaten 14000 by the end of the week. So we'll use 14000 as my 'base' number.

If I were to eat 1340 per day for a week I would end the week with 9380 eaten in 7 days. 14000 - 9380 = 4620 deficit. This is NOT 1.5lbs. This is a bit less then 1.5lbs. 5250 would be 1.5lbs.

If I were to eat 1210 per day for a week I would end the week with 8470 calories eaten in 7 days. 14000-8470 = 5530 deficit. This is NOT 2 lbs. It is, instead, 1.5 something pounds.

Now, the reason MFP gives me a daily requirement of 1210 for a 2lb loss and the reason this isn't ACTUALLY a 2lb loss is because to actually achieve a 2lb loss at my weight I would have to eat 1000 calories a day for a weekly total of 7000 calories (1000 x 7 = 7000). Can you SAY ouch?

I don't know why MFP has bumped everything around so that 2lb = 1.5 and 1.5lb = less then 1.5 (why not just remove the 2lb loss option entirely when a person reaches a certain weight?) but that was my little math exercise.

I guess the point of this story is, once you reach a certain weight 2lb losses aren't going to happen anymore without putting your body at risk. SO, why not sit back, relax, and just enjoy the 1.5+ ride!

Haha. I do very strange things at work when I'm bored. And as a disclaimer I do KNOW that losing weight is not an exact mathematical equation and I do know our bodies won't respond exactly as the numbers dictate but I like pretending it is and they will.

PS: If my numbers are wrong I blame my cold!

Replies

  • Vallandingham
    Vallandingham Posts: 2,177
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    Ouch. That bruised my brain.
  • 8turboturtle8
    8turboturtle8 Posts: 239 Member
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    Hahaha...I kinda did this the other day but not really with what MFP tells me I need to eat but a combination of other websites...I like playing with numbers...You can only imagine the joy I get when payday comes in and bills go out!
  • sniffles
    sniffles Posts: 295
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    Ouch. That bruised my brain.

    Because the math was so bad? haha. I am not good at math but this was pretty basic so I decided to go for it!
  • bballgrrl34
    bballgrrl34 Posts: 174 Member
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    I think the reason it is like that because you are burning calories just during your normal daily activity. So, you would need to also include that in the math crunch. I may be wrong but that is the only thing I could think of.
  • sniffles
    sniffles Posts: 295
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    I think the reason it is like that because you are burning calories just during your normal daily activity. So, you would need to also include that in the math crunch. I may be wrong but that is the only thing I could think of.

    Already included that dear. :)
  • byHISstrength
    byHISstrength Posts: 984 Member
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    I think the reason it is like that because you are burning calories just during your normal daily activity. So, you would need to also include that in the math crunch. I may be wrong but that is the only thing I could think of.

    I think you're correct because just yesterday I checked my BMR and it calculated that doing nothing all day I would burn 1423 calories per day.
  • ryanchemist
    ryanchemist Posts: 19
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    It is all in the rounding. ... If the prgram is set to give either 1.0, or 1.5, or 2.0 ... it rounds numbers as such and makes for easy reading. I am sure that if we had an extra "significant figure" (I am a chemist) ... we would see that the math all makes sense.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    the 1210 makes sense as MFP would not suggest anything below 1200 calories as that is the min amount anyone should take in.
  • cbnorris
    cbnorris Posts: 204 Member
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    After dating a guy that is getting his Ph.D. in Mathmatics for nearly a year I turn my brain off anytime I hear anything math related.

    That being said, when I'm on the elliptical, I divide my time up in fractions constantly, cheering in my head each time I get to one of the fractioned times and pushing myself to the next. It's so incredibly lame, I know. :laugh:
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I wasn't sure where to put this! I just thought it was kind of amusing and kind of pointless so I settled for here.

    So the daily amount of calories I can eat in a day to maintain my current weight is somewhere around 2000.

    If I tell MFP I want to lose 1.5lbs a week it gives me 1340 calories a day. If I tell it I want to lose 2lbs a week I get 1210 calories.

    Let's do some math!

    How about this math to loose 1.5 pounds per week you need to be at a deficit of 750/day. 3500x1.5 = 5250/ week/7 = 750 per day. 2000-750 = 1250 and to loose 2 pounds per week you need a daily deficit of 1000, and MFP wont put you lower than 1200. Giving you 1340 I would assume you can eat 2090 per day as 2090-750 = 1340 for 1.5 pounds/week; are your maintenance calories more like 2090 not 2000??
  • sniffles
    sniffles Posts: 295
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    How about this math to loose 1.5 pounds per week you need to be at a deficit of 750/day. 3500x1.5 = 5250/ week/7 = 750 per day. 2000-750 = 1250 and to loose 2 pounds per week you need a daily deficit of 1000, and MFP wont put you lower than 1200. Giving you 1340 I would assume you can eat 2090 per day as 2090-750 = 1340 for 1.5 pounds/week; are your maintenance calories more like 2090 not 2000??

    Depends where I go. I round it off to 2000 because different equations give me a different daily maximum. :) But MFP puts me at 2090 per day, yes. Technically I think it's more like 1920 but that's using a different weight loss equation so... it's alll good.
  • Breckgirl
    Breckgirl Posts: 606 Member
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    OK, algebra student here...how many calories to sustain one pound?
  • sniffles
    sniffles Posts: 295
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    OK, algebra student here...how many calories to sustain one pound?

    ? Haha.

    That number is different for everyone. The 'simple' equation I was given once is your weight x 10. That is how much you need to eat every day to maintain whatever weight you are.

    To gain a pound you must eat 3500 more then what your body needs to maintain and to lose you must eat 3500 less. This isn't exact due to things like exercise, hidden calories in our diets, water retention, etc.

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