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Calorie intake

kmr42768
kmr42768 Posts: 5
edited January 29 in Health and Weight Loss
How do you know what amount of calories you should get in a day to lose 2.5 a week ??

Replies

  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
    You should probably be under supervision from your doctor to lose over 2lbs a week.

    For most people 1-2lbs is all the body can rid itself of fat in a week. If you are really close to your goal weight, or especially petite, half a pound a week is considered good.

    3500 calories in 1 lb of fat. Please consider a safe deficit everyday between 500-1000 from your maintenance calories.

    500 calorie deficit =1lb loss a week, 1000 calorie deficit = 2lbs loss a week.

    If you need help calculating, please post your current height, weight, and age. =)
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
    Looking at your ticker on your profile, it says you only have 35 lbs to lose. 2.5 lbs/week would only really be appropriate for someone who was very obese, which is not your situation.

    Here are some general guidelines:

    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.

    It would be better to set your MFP settings to reflect a more realistic, and healthy, rate of loss, like 1 lb/week. MFP will suggest an appropriate caloric intake based on that information (go to your Goals under the Home tab to adjust this).
  • Mom2Lizzy
    Mom2Lizzy Posts: 23
    When I initially did MFP, I had it set to lose 1 pound per week. I followed their guide, lost about 5 pounds the first week and for several months after that lost about 2 pounds per week - with little exercise. As I felt better I started to exercise and tone and continued to lose.

    I'd set it to lose 2 pounds per week, and you may be surprised that if you are eating healthy, you will probably lose more.
    My recommendations: try to eat 4 or 5 servings of vegetables per day. Eat a few servings of fruit. Try to eat 25 to 30 grams of fiber per day. The MFP settings are too low for fiber and too high for sodium.
  • kmr42768
    kmr42768 Posts: 5
    according to the BMI thing on here I am at 40.3 which is a sign of obesity
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    How old are you? How tall and how much do you weigh? What's your ultimate goal weight?
This discussion has been closed.

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