calorie deficit .....PLEASE HELP!!!!

The 1490 already factors in your deficit (so if you weren't trying to lose a pound a week you would need to eat about 1990 calories per day to maintain your current weight).

Basically you any calories you 'earn' by exercising you can eat back and still expect to lose one pound per week. Some people eat back all their calories, some don't. The bottom line seems to be that you should be eating a minimum of 1200 calories per day so that your metabolism doesn't slow putting you into 'starvation mode'.


Hope this answers your question :-)

Thank you both!....So Monday my daily goal was 2443,because I burned 1027 calories.I only ate 1518,So I should have eaten more right??I should be getting close to the daily goal with my calories I have burned added in?(which MFP does for me) Sorry for all the questions

Do what works for your body. If you are hungry then eat back your exercise calories. Try incorperating them through out your day so you aren't stuck with a huge deficit at night.

Calories remaining is the number u need to look at, its basically your deficit for the day. U never want that number to be more than 1000:)

Oh, my I thought less was better. I am have less than 1200 on most days. Perhaps I should not have put in I wanted to lose 1.5 pounds a week. I wonder if I can edit this. I have about 400 calories left today. I am not hungry. My craving is down to nothing. I just cannot believe that I would not lose faster if I really ate much less.

Yes, you can edit this. Go to the home page and follow the link to your goals, you can change it here. I think that if you don't have a huge amount to lose then 1 pound (or even half, this is how I started) gives your body more nutrition to work with, specially if you are exercising too.
Less is better to a certain degree - but if you go too low then your body doesn't have enough good fuel to work with and it is hard to get enough of all the nutrients that you need to stay healthy. I think we are all conditioned into equating dieting with uncomfortably low calories, but I've been delighted to be losing steadily while eating plenty (but cutting out the chocolate binges, adding in regular exercise and keeping track of portion sizes).