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Calculating Weight Loss from Eating less

NonnyMary
NonnyMary Posts: 982 Member
edited January 29 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi - if I am to lose 1 pound a week i have to eat 500 less calories a day. my basal resting rate is 2100. so i have to eat no more than 1600 calories a day.

But if i was pre-diet eating 4000 calories a day and am now eating 1600, wouldn't that give me a 2400 deficit thereby i would lose maybe 2 or 3 pounds a week by that figuring?

I'm not kidding, i was hoping that would work, but maybe not so.

Replies

  • Kmsnomaha
    Kmsnomaha Posts: 167 Member
    It's so tricky how all this works out and what seems to work for one person might not have the same outcome with another. I would say to figure your TDEE (which includes exercise) and then deduct 20%. A great site for figuring out how many calories you should be at is scoobysworkshop.com

    You could also figure out BMR and then eat back exercise calories.

    When I first started all this I never realized what science there was to all of it! I am always learning something new.

    And remember..... slow and steady wins the race..

    Best of luck to you in your journey to a healthy lifestyle change :)
  • eazy_
    eazy_ Posts: 516 Member
    I'll just leave this here.



    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Not quite as you were probably gaining on 4000 cals. Go to goals tab and look at the top right, cals burned from normal daily activity, eat 500 cals less than that/day to lose 1 lb/week, 1000 cals less for 2. Maintenance will always be higher than BMR as BMR is maintenance in a coma, once you sit, eat, digest food, move, etc. you burn more than BMR.

    Easy thing to do is set your MFP goal to lose your desired amount of weight/week and eat the amount the program tells you too. If your results differ from what is expected either add 100 or so, or take 100 or so more away
  • NonnyMary
    NonnyMary Posts: 982 Member
    Dang, i was just hoping that i could count the calories saved from NOT eating coffee cake, eclairs, fudge, fried chicken, etc.... but i suppose now im just not going to gain weight as the benefit.

    By the way, i dont know if i ate 4000 calories a day - that was a random number to be able to explain myself.

    Funny thing i did, i went into my food diary and filled in a couple of different typical days of eating, right before i started with my new way of eating on MFP and wow,, i cant beleive what i was eating - 4,000 grams of sodium in one day, and 3200 calories in one day too.. sheesh!!! i was doing that over a year or two,, coz i didnt care what i ate, food tasted good and if i wanted to have it i did.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    You don't deduct 500 from your BMR. You need to eat at least your BMR. You deduct 500 from your TDEE if you can figure out what it is. That said if you are very obese you can go to a 2 lb/week loss by eating 1,000 less with no problem. You don't need extra calories to feed the fat. You want to maintain lean muscle mass, not fat.

    Taking 500 off the 4,000 would result in some weight loss but it would still be grossly over eating. Not many people need 3500 calories a day to live!
  • NonnyMary
    NonnyMary Posts: 982 Member
    Hi i went to one calculator and based on my stats my TDEE is 2592,, my BMR is 2162.

    OK if i eat 1600 calories in a day, keep my sodium between 1,000 and 1,600,,, with sedentary activity, would that make me lose 1 pound a week or 2? (with no exercise,, because i know if i add exercise that is going to be better, but im concentrating on just the food for now. Do you know? :)

    by the way, some days i believe i did eat about 3,200 calories, which consisted of KFC fried chicken dinner for lunch, pizza for dinner, something fattening for breakfast, plus coffee cake with creamy filling in the evening for a snack and 2 glasses of whole milk, Classic coke - 1 or 2, and maybe some snacks here and there like candy. i filled out a typical day pre-diet and thats the numbers that came up,, omg!!! horrible.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Hi i went to one calculator and based on my stats my TDEE is 2592,, my BMR is 2162.

    OK if i eat 1600 calories in a day, keep my sodium between 1,000 and 1,600,,, with sedentary activity, would that make me lose 1 pound a week or 2? (with no exercise,, because i know if i add exercise that is going to be better, but im concentrating on just the food for now. Do you know? :)
    If your TDEE was calculated above, with no exercise then yes eating 1600 cals would lead to an average loss of 2lb/week with no exercise. when/if you start exercising you will get to eat more calories and experience the same pace of weight loss.
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