Really???

The goals for macronutrients are just automatically set to 55% carbs, 30% fat, 15% protein. If you're worried about so much fat, just make it GOOD fat. Think avocados, almonds, sesame seeds, olives, pumpkin seeds, and salmon (if you eat animals). Avoid BAD fats like beef, pork, cream, butter, cheese, doughnuts, french fries, and candy bars.

Basically, go plant-based and you WILL lose weight :laugh:

Really?? beef, pork, butter, cheese - FAIL


Welcome OP. Give the recommendations a try - you'll probably be pleasantly surprised

Go back and check and make sure you clicked on female and all info is right. Men get so many more calories than women do. I have about 130 lbs to lose and I am only allowed 1460 calories. Just double check it. Good luck on your journey!!!

My "goal" is 1576.....before exercise calories. That usually goes to 2700-3000 by the end of the day.

The goals for macronutrients are just automatically set to 55% carbs, 30% fat, 15% protein. If you're worried about so much fat, just make it GOOD fat. Think avocados, almonds, sesame seeds, olives, pumpkin seeds, and salmon (if you eat animals). Avoid BAD fats like beef, pork, cream, butter, cheese, doughnuts, french fries, and candy bars.

Basically, go plant-based and you WILL lose weight :laugh:

Did you really just lump beef and pork in with doughnuts and candy bars? No distinction in source of beef/pork, just all of it is bad?

I think I'll ignore that advice and continue eating my local/family-sourced pastured grass fed/finished beef.

And as for OP, I'd suggest you try what MFP says for a month. What's the worst that happens? You gain a little/don't lose any weight? Then you'll have a baseline from which to make adjustments going forward.

^^^ I love that you mentioned grass 'finished' beef :happy: meats aren't automatically bad for you. Grass finished beef, great source of protein, esp a lean cut, lean pork, awesome... candy bars and doughnuts..... NOT awesome LOL those are totally different things.

I also agree with the advice for OP

It is healthy to lose 1% of your body fat per week so if my weight was in the 300s, I would set my profile to lose 3 lbs per week. There is no reason that you should only lose 1 lb per week. In any event, sometimes you have to play around with the numbers to see what works for you.

But 1% of your body fat per week wouldn't be 3lbs per week unless your body was 100% fat (pretty unlikely). To use this method you'd need to have a pretty accurate idea of your body composition.

If you are very overweight, then 2500 can be a good number for you to lose weight at a healthy rate (No more than 2lbs a week, unless you are morbidly obese.) Contrary to popular belief, losing weight doesn't have to mean cutting your calories down to 1200. 2500 really isn't that much for a fit, active person. If that's the amount that MFP gives you to lose, it means you were probably eating at least 3000 calories a day to be maintaining whatever size you are now. It might sound like a lot, but before MFP I used to eat AT LEAST 3000 calories a day and that's exactly how i gained 20 lbs.

Just to put it in perspective, I'm 23 yrs old, 5'6 and weigh 158 and the amount i would eat to stay the same weight is 2300 calories a day. Seems like a lot, right? So I eat around 2000 to lose weight. If your numbers are higher than mine, then your maintenance calories are higher than mine, which means you very well could eat 2500 a day and lose weight. Of course, as your weight goes down, and you get closer to your goal, your maintenance calories will also go down, so that 2500 to lose, will become 2300, then 2000, then 1800, etc. Then once you reach your goal, you would continue eating at maintenance, probably somewhere in the range of 1900-2300.

As for the fat, your macronutrients should be set to about 30%protein/30%fat/40% carbs. Fat is not bad for you, as others have said. Just make sure you keep your sat fats lower than the other fats, and don't skimp on your protein.

Thank you all very much for your replies. I just did a quick run down of what I normally eat on a daily basis...... and WOW. Just wow. I guess you REALLY dont realize how many calories, fat, carbs and such you eat when not actively thinking about it... Hence, I have 140lbs to loose. LOL So, OK... I will follow the recommended intake here for now and then as most of you said.... adjust the numbers. Again, thank you all VERY much!

So true! I never thought I could eat this much and lose weight, but it just goes to show me how much I must have been eating to get to the point was at before. Now that you have a good perspective, you can eat those 2500 calories, healthily, lose that weight and adjust the numbers as you get closer to your goal. Good luck! I'm sure you'll do great.

I started in January with 2700 calories. Now I'm closing in on 100#s lost. If you're honest with your diary and stick to it it works! I'm down to 2100 calories now and usually eat a little less.

Dang...that's crazy! I set mine to 2 lbs a week & I'm only allowed 1200 calories!

Me too! :grumble:

Carbs are not evil, they are what our bodies run on. Also good fats (omegas, nuts, unsaturated, etc.) are good for you and essential. Aside from that, calories seem right to me. When I started at 319, I was taking in only around 1600 cals per day and exercising with a trainer 3 days a week for an hour each. Now THAT'S a deficit. lol. But now that I'm at 218, it doesn't work like that and I need to eat more to lose...especially when I exercise I need to eat most of it back, I've found.

Eat and lose weight without starving yourself, sounds like a win for me!!

Soooo many people here eat around 1200 a day, but you do not have to eat so little! If you log everything how you eat now I imagine you will find you are eating a lot more than what they give you to maintain your current weight.