Which is better?

I believe the rough math is a 500 calorie/day deficit will result in roughly 1lb a week of weight loss over time. So a 100 calorie/day deficit might result in a 1lb loss every 5 weeks, approximately. It's all up to you, where you want to go, and how you want to get there.

Kathryn41057 wrote: »

Hi !!!! I have been lurking on this site for a while, and I have a question about the daily caloric intake. I have been home since early October with a torn Hamstring muscle, so I am bit limited in what I can do. A friend of mine told me that I should set my Diet profile to "Maintain" my current weight, and eat approx 100 calories less each day, and I would lose. I did the math, and my intake would be 1950 cal a day..... But, if I set my profile to lose 1 lb per week, my calories drop down to 1450.. My profile also has me set to "Sedentary" as I'm not moving too fast... I'm looking for advice from those who have been around for awhile. Thanks Kat

You would lose eating 100 calories less than your maintenance...it would be really slow though.

It's just math...to lose 1 Lb requires a deficit from maintenance of 3,500 calories...that equates to 500 calories per day...so if you get 1450 to lose 1 Lb per week, that means your maintenance would be that 1950...which sounds about right.

It depends how much you move.

This probably isn't accurate, but I've read that 5000+ steps a day is lightly and less than that is sedentary. Again you have to experiment and see if you lose. So try out both for a week, and see how much you lose on each one.

Lisajohnston wrote: »

After reading this I have a question. I have mine set for weight loss at 2lbs per week it estimates I will lose less than 1lb per week so i'm not sure to have it work out. However my recommended calorie intake is 1200/day which seems low. I am short 5'0 but still seems a bit low to me. I am sedentary mostly - desk job and travel. I have a set a goal of 4 work outs per week. Is 1200 too low?

2 Lbs per week is an aggressive goal. Most females will default to 1200 calories per day for 2 Lbs per week...it is telling you that you'll lose a bit less than that though because 1200 is as low as MFP will go. You are also short...so unfortunately, you need less energy (calories) than someone taller.

You also need to understand how this tool works and the method it uses...i.e. you're supposed to eat back exercise calories when you work out. Your workout goals you set are just for you...they have no bearing on how many calories MFP gives you. I would implore you to play with the tool a bit to see what I mean.

Your calorie goal is only based on the activity level you tell MFP and your rate of loss goal. If you want to eat more then move more.

I would also want to know how much you actually have to lose...the less you have to lose, the less aggressive your goal should be...this is because the less you have to lose, the less energy (calories) your body requires also...your calorie requisites shrink as you get smaller. You also have to remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

While you'll lose with a 100 calorie per day deficit, it's very small, and very easy to blow with logging errors and estimations. If I were in your position, I'd probably set my goal to around 1700, somewhere in the middle of the two.