Dumb question about MFP weight loss goals

devonrmorris
devonrmorris Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
So, while filling out all of my goals &etc on my profile, I indicated that I would like to lose 2 lbs a week. However, after filling it out, it says by following the plan I am projected to lose 1 lb per week. Is there no way to reach the max using the tools on this website? Just wondering why 2 lbs / week is an option if it won't give me the plan. Thanks. :)

Replies

  • Joannesmith2818
    Joannesmith2818 Posts: 438 Member
    Maybe if you were larger you could lose weight on a decent cal intake. Maybe you would have to eat less than 1200 cals to achieve 2ils a week which is too low IMO.
  • doIlhands
    doIlhands Posts: 349 Member
    You are within 10lbs of your goal weight so you don't burn enough in your day to safely have a 1000 cal/day deficit. MFP will never recommend less than 1200 cals a day. You should probably set your goals to .5/lbs a week.
  • devonrmorris
    devonrmorris Posts: 9
    Ah, I wasn't aware 1200 was the minimum daily calories recommended by MFP. That makes sense... Though I imagine it could be pretty frustrating for very small people for whom that may be maintenance (or higher!).
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    1200 shouldn't be maintenance for any adult!
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,473 Member
    It's not a dumb question, and I wish MFP would explain this properly!. Basically, MFP works out your calorie burn before exercise according the the information you've given, then subtracts 500 calories a day, for every pound you want to lose a week. However, as the others have said, if that calculation takes you under 1200 calories/day, it's ignored and you're given 1200 calories regardless.

    So if your calorie burn before exercise was, say, 1700 calories, MFP would subtract 1000 calories, giving you 700. Because it's below 1200, you'd be given 1200. That would mean that instead of a deficit of 1000, you actually have a deficit of 500, and will lose 1lb a week. That's very sensible, but the trouble is that MFP doesn't explain that's what it's doing and lets you believe that you SHOULD be losing 2lb a week. I think 1/2 pound a week is more realistic if you're close to goal.
  • doIlhands
    doIlhands Posts: 349 Member
    Ah, I wasn't aware 1200 was the minimum daily calories recommended by MFP. That makes sense... Though I imagine it could be pretty frustrating for very small people for whom that may be maintenance (or higher!).

    Maintenance for a 90lb female who is 4'10 would be ~1450 cals. 1200 isnt above maintenance for any normal sized adult. Most toddlers eat 1000+ cals a day lol.
  • devonrmorris
    devonrmorris Posts: 9
    What about a little person? I realize it's way below maintenance for me; it was just a thought.
  • devonrmorris
    devonrmorris Posts: 9
    Wow... hard to believe someone who weighs 40 lbs less than me has a maintenance w/i 100 cals of mine... at least according to online calculators (not saying I trust that to be accurate at all, of course). I guess I never realized how very little it must vary!
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,473 Member
    You're forgetting about age. Older, smaller, inactive women do have a surprisingly low TDEE. I'm not that old or short, but my sedentary TDEE will be about 1350 at goal. For a five foot, 110lb, 60-year-old woman it would be about 1200. But I agree that a TDEE of 1200 is very much the exception.
  • doIlhands
    doIlhands Posts: 349 Member
    Wow... hard to believe someone who weighs 40 lbs less than me has a maintenance w/i 100 cals of mine... at least according to online calculators (not saying I trust that to be accurate at all, of course). I guess I never realized how very little it must vary!

    You must be using a BMR calculator and not TDEE. BMR is what you would eat if you did nothing all day (vegetative state) to maintain your weight. TDEE is maintenance w/ normal daily activity & exersise included (I used TDEE for my example above). Its all very confusing in the beginning lol.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,473 Member
    I was meaning TDEE. BMR for the older woman in my example would be 995. TDEE 1194.

    But yes, it is confusing, and I also think that MFP doesn't count you as completely sedentary (it seems to multiply my BMR by 1.25 rather than 1.2). And, of course, the maintenance calories it gives you are for maintenance without exercise - not TDEE.

    I like to use this system http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet , but even if you use the MFP system I think the post is useful for information about BMR and TDEE.
  • Onlineasllou
    Onlineasllou Posts: 11
    I've run into this 1200 calorie "floor" on other websites, too ... and I really think some people give it too much credence. As a 5 ft. 2 inch, 58 year old woman with hypothyroidism, I have a very slow metabolism. Even with 150 minutes of vigorous exercise per week, I can't eat more than 1300 calories (total consumption) and still lose weight.

    People are individuals -- not averages. Research studies identify the "typical," ... the "average" ... the "common" and the published recommendations based on those studies are right for "most people." That doesn't mean that they are right for ALL people. The results for any group of research subjects include a RANGE of scores. When developing recommendations for the public, the researchers focus on the scores in the middle that apply to most people. That doesn't mean that the people at either end of the continuum don't exist.

    Common sense tells you that my metabolism of a 58 year old with hypothyroidim is not likely to be identical to the metabolism of a healthy 21 year old who is the same height and weight.

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