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Calorie Goal

wannaloseit77
wannaloseit77 Posts: 37 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I had my previous weight loss goal set to 2lbs a week and MFP set my calories to 1200. Someone suggested that my goal of 2lbs a week may be a bit aggressive for my weight, so I thought it was time to adjust my goal. I set it to losing 1.5lbs a week and my calorie goal remained at 1200.... how can that be right? Any idea?

Replies

  • HealthyGinny
    HealthyGinny Posts: 821 Member
    It might be due to your height? If you're quite short, mfp will automatically tell you to eat 1200cals a day in order to lose more than 1lb a week. Why not try setting it at 1lb a week + exercise? 1200cals a day really can be quite low for most people and also can make you crave more cals some days... Up to you :)
  • katiegud
    katiegud Posts: 25 Member
    Mine does that too. Because I'm short, I think, at 1200 it says I should lose 1.1 lbs per week. Are you short with less than 50 lbs to lose?
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
    2lbs a week means a 1000 calorie deficit from what MFP determines to be your TDEE. So in theory MFP will recommend your TDEE minus 1000 if you say 2lbs a week, but it will never recommend below 1200. For 1.5lbs a week it'll recommend your TDEE minus 750, but if this is less than 1200, it'll still recommend 1200. So if you have a TDEE lower than 1950 (1200+750) then it'll recommend you 1200 whether you say 2lbs a week or 1.5lbs a week.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    MFP calculates a 2lb loss as 7000 calories deficit over the week. If that deficit leaves less than 1200 calories it auto defaults to the 1200.
    So my TDEE is 1720 a day. If I wanted to lose 2lbs a week it would be only 720 calories a day without exercise. That would be too low so it would tell me 1200.
  • Memawx6
    Memawx6 Posts: 1 Member
    My doctor said 1800 cal a day and log everything drink plenty would like to lost at least a pound a week
  • wannaloseit77
    wannaloseit77 Posts: 37 Member
    Yes, I'm a shorty with less than 50lbs to lose.
  • wannaloseit77
    wannaloseit77 Posts: 37 Member
    Ahh, that all makes sense and explains why I actually wasn't losing the 2lbs a week before. Thanks everyone!
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    If you put in 2lbs a week make sure and check the goals section where it tells you how much weight it predicts you will lose per week. If a 1000 calorie deficit will put you under 1200 then 2lbs will not be written under that section. It will be 1. Something or rather.
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