1,200 calorie a day, projected weight loss two pounds a week, losing nothing close to that

meganlyn1992
meganlyn1992 Posts: 7 Member
edited August 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
So I hsve been super crazy about imputing every little thing I eat or drink. I've only gone over my calorie limit one time and it was by 25 calories. In the past two weeks, I have only lost 2lbs. Anyone else not losing weight with the calorie settings on here? I'm active, I play with my two year old all day, run two miles every day or I go to the gym. I make sure I burn a minimum of 300 calories a day, and is always put it in my tracker. My weight just isn't coming off the way I would like it to. Any suggestions?

Replies

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited August 2015
    A couple of things.

    First off, 2 weeks is not enough time to judge for success/failure. Water weight has an impact (sodium, TOM/hormones and many other factors for water weight) so 2 weeks is not enough time to see the trend. Think longer term, as in 6-8 weeks.

    Second, if you input a goal of 2 pounds a week and the system told you to eat 1200, then you've hit the calorie floor and likely will NOT lose 2 pounds a week. I'll explain with some basic math. Let's say your activity level is lightly active and based on stats, MFP expects you to burn 2000 per day. You say you want to lose 2 pounds per week, so MFP says 2000-1000 = 1000. Uhoh! MFP won't recommend anything less than 1200, so you're told to eat 1200. Which in this example is an 800/day deficit so a tad over 1.5 pounds per week.

    I'm not sure of your stats. But if you're putting a 2 pound goal and getting 1200, then 2 pounds probably is not realistic. A bigger body burns more calories than a smaller one. If you have 10-20 pounds to lose, you'll be better off aiming for 1 pound per week at most.

    Suggestions: have a more realistic weight loss goal, and have patience.
  • aledba
    aledba Posts: 564 Member
    Plug your numbers in here. http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    Eat at least your BMR, choose your goal in step 6 to see your TDEE and the average amount of calories you should take in to lose.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

    First off, 2 weeks is not enough time to judge for success/failure.

    This
    amyrebeccah wrote: »
    You set it to lose 2 pounds a week but that amount is not realistic for you given that you don't have much to lose. In order to lose 2 pounds a week you would have had to eat less than 1200 calories, which this site will not prescribe for health and safety reasons.

    Fact is, you've lost a pound a week so there's nothing wrong except your expectations.

    and This

  • titotito48
    titotito48 Posts: 120 Member
    I am in the same boat. Slow weight loss because I am getting close to goal and not supposed to go below 1200 calories. But it helps when I drink half my body weight in ounces of water a day. Especially if you are exercising. I also try not to eat too many of my exercise calories.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,976 Member
    You're overzealous in your expectations. Trying to lose 2lbs a week with little to lose will be in vain. Reassess and reduce the amount of weight you want to lose to 1lb a week.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    With 15 lbs to lose, personally I'd recommend you re-set the app to "0.5 lbs" per week. It'll be slow, but you're not looking to lose much, and without a lot of fat already on you it's hard to lose at a fast rate, your body simply can only mobilize so much loss at a specific rate.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    With 15 total pounds to lose......2 pounds a week is only going to happen with a 1,000 calorie deficit every single day. MFP will go as low as 1200 net calories for food intake so you can meet basic nutrition requirements.

    Larger people can meet a 1,000 calorie a day deficit (and still get enough nutrition).....smaller people cannot.

    1 pound a week is more realistic.
  • marvinq42
    marvinq42 Posts: 31 Member
    Honestly you don't need that much help. You're doing great. If you want to keep the weight off, you should only lose about a pound a week.

    Basically, any weight loss you have you want to be in the form of fat. If you lose more weight in a week than a pound, then chances are some of that loss will be in the form of muscle. As you probably know, muscle burns more calories than fat. So you don't want to lose any muscle, otherwise you're sabotaging yourself.

    Looks like your goal is 15 pounds. that is so doable in 15 weeks. You just have to be patient with yourself. Keep doing what you're doing.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Patience.
  • oh_happy_day
    oh_happy_day Posts: 1,137 Member
    Be more realistic in your expectations. You only have 15lbs to lose. The less you have to lose, the slower it comes off.
  • KittensMaster
    KittensMaster Posts: 748 Member
    MFP has a goofy calorie burn algorithm

    I have to plug in sedentary to lose weight

    I get 10000 steps daily and ride my bike over 100 miles weekly

    The food diary is good, the calorie burn info is wildly high

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