Quick new person question re calorie allowance

Hello all,

Hope this is in the right section (if not please move as this is my 1st post.

I put in that I would like to loose about a 1lb a week and that when it asked about how much I moved around I put a little as Im a mum and I dont sit fully all day and work part time and its a job where I am always on the go for the time I am there.

I dont regularly exercise - so is it basing my calorie allowance of 1540 per day on that if I use all that that I would be loosing 1lb per week?

Just to clarify.

Any help appreciated, the site is brilliant!

x

If I read this right, your assumptions are true. MFP estimates your metabolic rate using your age, height and weight. Then it multiplies it by an activity factor (yours is lightly active) and then subtracts 500 calories to create your deficit. For you that would be 1540. Which is on par with a lot of there people. Now if you start to exercise, then you would want to increase your calories to fuel your workouts.

Thank you - thats really helpful.

Its just that in comparison to what a lot of people are quoting i.e. 1000-1200 calories per day mine seems awfully high to be still loosing a 1lb a week still.

My work is quite labour intensive so thats quite a good workout a few times a week

Thank you for your help.

I am not sure how much weight you weight to lose, but MFP will recalculate your totals (usually after 10 lbs). It will never set your calories below 1200.

Thank you - thats really helpful.

Its just that in comparison to what a lot of people are quoting i.e. 1000-1200 calories per day mine seems awfully high to be still loosing a 1lb a week still.

My work is quite labour intensive so thats quite a good workout a few times a week

Thank you for your help.

Well if you noticed that you are tired or lethargic, it's quite possible you will need to increase calories to moderate. This becomes even more true as you approach a normal weight. if you only had 10 lbs to lose, then 1/2lb per week would be better suited. I posted some guidelines below to help with your journey.


If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

I think initially I aiming to loose about a stone or there abouts so not a lot really.

So this is why I opted for a 1lb per week, as I am seeing it as more of an overall lifestyle change rather than a "quick weight loss"

When I have lost some then (hopefully) will my calorie allowance go up or down?

x

It depends. My suggestion is, don't fix it until it's broken. If you see weight loss at 1500 calories and averaging 1 lb per week, then your TDEE or total daily energy expended is about 2000 calories. So if you follow the guidelines once you have 15 lbs let to lose, you would then up your calories to 1750. This would provide you a 1/2 lb per week weight loss. I have kept my calories pretty much the same time I have been in my cut phases. I would look at the trends before you adjust calories.