not losing

billglitch
billglitch Posts: 538 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a female friend who is using mfp and is not losing. she is a mother and works and works out 1 to 2 hours a day. She says mfp is telling her 1250 cals a day. I think her problem is that she is not getting enough. Thoughts?

Replies

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    1) Does she eat her exercise calories back?
    2) How much does she have to lose?
    3) What weekly loss setting did she choose? (sounds like 2lbs a week)

    If she doesn't have much to lose, it will take time. With the amount of working out she is doing, she definitely needs to be eating her exercise calories. Also, if she doesn't have a lot to lose, then she should set MFP to lose .5 - 1lb a week loss.
  • NakeshiaB
    NakeshiaB Posts: 250 Member
    Depends on how intensely she is working out, her height, weight, age etc?

    I seriously think too many people start a weight loss journey without getting properly assessed by a doctor/weight loss professional first. I need to do this myself, I've been on here well over a year and haven't lost a since ounce. I've tried eating more, eating less, exercising more, giving up alcohol, running, 30DS and fasting in the last year but all I've managed to do is gain 6kg. I think perhaps I don't stick at things long enough, maybe this is your friends problem? That or I'm a complete weight loss retard and everything I'm doing is wrong.

    Maybe she should sign up for an online program like Michelle Bridges or similar? Bodybuilding.com also have some great programs tailored for mothers. !
  • beastmode_kitty
    beastmode_kitty Posts: 844 Member
    First of all, why are you posting this and not her?

    Secondly, if she is working out 1-2 hours a day and is still only eating 1200 then she is depriving her body of calories therefore she is going into starvation mode. I always eat whatever cals MFP says I should and it is causing me to lose weight. I used to only eat 1200 and it did nothing for me, and thats working out 1-2 hours a day, I would burn 1000-1200 cals and eat NONE of them back. I'd pretty much burn off all the food I would be eating that day. Well that didn't work and caused me to gain. So now I don't work out as long and I eat more and I'm losing.
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
    You're probably right. Without knowing more it's hard to say.
    First, MFP recommends 1,200 (or 1,250) calories per day for almost no one.
    Second, if she's working out 1-2 hours/day, even at a light exercise, she's probably exercising a few hundred more calories worth. So if she's not eating those, she's really netting about 900 calories a day. There are hundreds of posts here from people who couldn't lose weight or stalled out when they weren't eating enough.
    For suggestions about how to use MFP and links to some more good posts about this, see http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Robin_Bin/view/how-to-use-myfitnesspal-427993

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