-4lbs in a month?! Not good enough

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Replies

  • I took a look at your diary and the first thing I noticed is that your calorie count for the day changes from day to day. You cant do that and expect to lose weight.

    Here is the formula that helped me lose 107 pounds in 2009. I got off of it at Thanksgiving and gained it all back, so for me, it has to be a way of life, but I can tell you this works if you follow it to the T.

    First determine how many calories it takes for you to maintain your weight right now every week.. Then if you want to lose 2 pounds a week, subtract 7,000 from that weekly calorie count. Devide that number by 7 and that gives you your daily calorie count. Don't go over it if at all possible. You can eat anything you want, just don't go over you calorie count. When you factor in your exercise, you can either eat more calories that day or stay the same and lose that much more weight.

    Here is an example for someone that weighs 200 lbs and wants to lose 2 pounds a week with no exercise factored in.

    to maintain 200 pounds a person must eat aprox 15,400 calories a week.

    if you want to lose 2 pounds a week, subtract 7,000 from the 15,400. (there is 3500 calories in a pound)

    that gives you 8,400 calories.

    devide that number by 7 and that gives you the number of calories you need to eat each day to lose 2 pounds a week without exercise. that would be 1,200 calories a day.

    Don't ever go below 1,200 calories a day. It's not healthy. When you get to the point that your calorie count goes under 1,200 then you must exercise more.

    If a person needs to lose a lot of weight, like I do, then they can get by without exercising until their number goes below 1200.

    hope this helps. If you do this, I promise you will lose weight. In 2009 I had a weight loss club. I had about 15 members. We all followed this formula and all of us lost weight. We ate anything we wanted, just didn't go over our calories. Trust me, it works!!

    Good Luck!
  • [snip] You can eat anything you want, just don't go over you calorie count. When you factor in your exercise, you can either eat more calories that day or stay the same and lose that much more weight.[snip}

    If you're looking at strictly calories, then eating less calories will most likely give you the weight loss you want, but if you miss out on important vitamins and minerals, then that's not going to be good for your body.

    I mean, I could eat about 5 candy bars a day and still be under 1200 calories and lose weight, but that's not really helping your body out. I mean if you're losing weight to be healthier, it doesn't really make sense to put in a lot of junk...
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    I took a look at your diary and the first thing I noticed is that your calorie count for the day changes from day to day. You cant do that and expect to lose weight.

    I'm sorry but that is total nonsense. Mine goes up and down though I aim for 1500 a day - if I do a lot of exercise I will eat more on that day and I am losing a steady 1lb a week.

    If you follow MFP guidelines and log your exercise then you calorie count will vary from day to. IE if your base calories is 1200 and you don't exercise that day you eat 1200 but if the next day you do a 6k run you burn 200 cals (guess) the you eat 1400cals that day. So they naturally fluctuate.

    That said 4lbs a month is PERFECT weight loss, healthy and controlled.

    You're doing great - remember that :drinker:
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member


    So if 1280 calories is too low, which is what MFP gave me, how would I find out what my daily intake should be?
    I have my weight loss set to 1.5lbs a week.

    Thanks

    Read this post - it explains a great way to calculate the calories you need a day - it's what I'm doing and it's working :bigsmile:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • trud72
    trud72 Posts: 1,912 Member
    4lb is great think of what it adds up to by xmas! not so shabby ehh :wink:
  • sarahmoo12
    sarahmoo12 Posts: 756 Member
    Id be very happy if i go down 4lbs this month :-/
  • Jkmumma
    Jkmumma Posts: 254
    Four pounds a month is good. That's one pound a week. That's healthy. Enjoy it. Some people struggle for that. Loosing more than that leaves you at risk of more loose skin anyway!
  • I know it can be a put down only loosing 1 lb a week especially seeing how far youve come but as you get closer to your goal you may need to change up your diet a little bit. I looked at a couple days of your diary...maybe instead of eating 3 bigger meals a day, break it up into 5 smaller meals and cut out some carbs- I aim for only 1 carb/meal and I try not to have any for dinner. (1 carb= 1 serving of carb). Stay away from white breads and stick to whole grains. Also stop eating at a certain time at night. Maybe aim for 7 or 8 pm. :)) Good luck!
  • wareagle8706
    wareagle8706 Posts: 1,090 Member
    Some days recently you went over your calorie goal by over 1,000 calories... you say you only went over a couple of days but those couple of days were VERY far over...

    But like everyone else said 4lbs a month is good. Chill out. Not to mention, if you want to lose more, try actually sticking to your calorie goal by finding better, lower calories, whole foods to eat and not going over on your calories by 1300.

    I don't think you should be complaining about actual weight loss if you're not even going to stick to the calorie goal you set for yourself.
  • leojsivad
    leojsivad Posts: 124 Member
    Is your diary set for you to lose one pound per week? If so, you are doing good.

    One pound per week is healthy. Don't give in to the misinformation of trying to lose a lot of weight at once. Keep on truckin'!
  • I know how you feel!!!!

    I've lost 0lbs in 7weeks on 1300/daily -- it could be worse!
    [/quote]
  • harrietlg
    harrietlg Posts: 239
    try upping to 1400 i'm pretty sure you'll have more success with the amount of exercise you do! x
  • haylz247
    haylz247 Posts: 435
    you should be happy! that's a sensible rate to lose it.
  • Erisad
    Erisad Posts: 1,580
    I only lost .4 pounds this month. I wish I had lost 4 whole pounds. *sigh*
  • kitka82
    kitka82 Posts: 350 Member
    I understand your frustration. I've lost 50 some pounds. Can't get past the 160s, and my goal is 150. I've been at it for 2 years now.

    You may need to eat more. That has helped me before. Prolonged calorie restriction messes with your metabolism so you may need to reset sometimes.

    Maybe lower your carbs and up your protein a bit, especially if you are doing a lot of cardio. Otherwise I would love to experience your rate of weight loss right about now.
  • hooperkay
    hooperkay Posts: 463 Member
    Okay well looked at diary... Maybe up protein and lower carbs. Also keep more consistant with calories. You are either over or way under. I would also stay away from alcohol (unless a "once a month or in a while" thing).

    HTH