Help with goal setting

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sunita75
sunita75 Posts: 10
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi
I am currently eating 1200 calories per day as automatically calculated by MFP, have added no exercise into my goals and have a BMR of 1620, based on this I have a daily calorie deficit of 420 which equates to 0.8lb weight loss per week.

I do actually cardio exercise (3 x 50 mins ) per week, but if I include this in the goals it makes no difference in the projected weight loss.

I want to aim to lose 1.5 lbs per week, so what do I need to do in the goals for this to automatically calculate it for me.

I'm confused.

Thanks
Sunita

Replies

  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    Including exercise with your diet isn't proven to help you lose MORE weight...it's an aid to keep you healthy and get you in shape. Don't worry about the numbers...just do what MFP recommends and see how it works for you. Sometimes you'll lose more than MFP projects, sometimes less. Everyone's body is different so a simple computer calculation can't be 100% accurate for everyone. Hope that helps!
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 21,743 Member
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    Adding exercise to your goals doesn't figure into the calculations, but adding it to your exercise diary does.
  • sunita75
    sunita75 Posts: 10
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    Thanks - but where does the 1200 calorie number come from ? - how is it calculated, should i reduce it to 1000 to lose more weight.
  • candicemcl
    candicemcl Posts: 59
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    DON'T drop to 1000, your body needs minimum 1200 Calories/day to function, your body will go into starvation mode and you don't want that. I am still fairly new here but I have learned that going under 1200 is a bad idea. I am sure there are many others who can help you adjust your goals for your wanted weight loss
    Good Luck!
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 21,743 Member
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    Thanks - but where does the 1200 calorie number come from ? - how is it calculated, should i reduce it to 1000 to lose more weight.
    MFP calculates your calories based on the information you feed it (current weight, gender, activity level, and weight-loss goal). It won't go below 1,200 calories, however, which is built in to protect people from eating too few calories. Any time someone comes up with 1,200, it makes me wonder if they've underestimated their activity level and/or are being overly ambitious in their weight-loss goals. If your goal is to lose 1.5 pounds a week, change it to 1 and see what happens. Or if your activity level is sedentary, change it to lightly active. If either of those boosts your calories to more than 1,200 calories, my guess is that 1,200 is too low for you. If you do that, enter your exercise and eat those calories too, and be consistent, you should have great results!

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