Seriously confused!!HELP

TMK0214
TMK0214 Posts: 70 Member
edited November 14 in Health and Weight Loss
If it takes 3500 calories over your maintenance cal for you to gain 1 pound, how come if I'm in a deficit every day shouldn't that mean that I lose 1 pound every day? I'm supposed to eat 2800 calories to lose weight, but if I eat 1200 daily shouldn't I lose every single day?? That's seriously confusing to me...

Replies

  • amanda_deanne
    amanda_deanne Posts: 38 Member
    You also need a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound. So if you're maintenance calories truly are 2800 and you're eating 1200 calories, that puts you at a deficit of 1600 calories daily. (11,200 weekly) This would put you at a rate loss of 3.2 pounds per week. That's the basic math of it.

    I am of the thought process that 1200 calories is way too low and a 3lb/week loss is a tad too aggressive, but everyone has different views on that side of it,
  • TMK0214
    TMK0214 Posts: 70 Member
    You also need a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound. So if you're maintenance calories truly are 2800 and you're eating 1200 calories, that puts you at a deficit of 1600 calories daily. (11,200 weekly) This would put you at a rate loss of 3.2 pounds per week. That's the basic math of it.

    I am of the thought process that 1200 calories is way too low and a 3lb/week loss is a tad too aggressive, but everyone has different views on that side of it,

    According to the website that calculated my tdee I'm supposed to eat 3200 calories if I want to maintain my weight. But 2800 is what it says on MFP. I have since changed it down to 1200 since you can put in your custom calorie goal.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    Your body doesn't respond that quickly; you don't necessarily see the effects of yesterday's deficit today. You need to be patient. I tend to see the results of changes I make within about a week or so. Plus, you need to keep in mind that there are ton of factors that influence your weight from day to day, and many of them aren't really under your control (hydration, water retention from exercise, water retention from sodium intake, TOM, etc.)

    How did you find 2800 as your maintenance calories? That's SUPER high for a woman, unless you're incredibly active or have a very high starting weight. I'd be very surprised if your maintenance really were 2800, so even if you do eat 1200 calories, that doesn't mean that you are creating a 1600-calorie deficit every single day.

    Finally, how certain are you that you're actually eating 1200? Are you using a food scale?
  • amandaeve
    amandaeve Posts: 723 Member
    I will echo that the body doesn't respond instantly. It takes me several weeks to notice a consistently documentable change in my body from a change in behavior (whether it be diet or exercise). Patience and consistency is key.
  • TMK0214
    TMK0214 Posts: 70 Member
    AliceDark wrote: »
    Your body doesn't respond that quickly; you don't necessarily see the effects of yesterday's deficit today. You need to be patient. I tend to see the results of changes I make within about a week or so. Plus, you need to keep in mind that there are ton of factors that influence your weight from day to day, and many of them aren't really under your control (hydration, water retention from exercise, water retention from sodium intake, TOM, etc.)

    How did you find 2800 as your maintenance calories? That's SUPER high for a woman, unless you're incredibly active or have a very high starting weight. I'd be very surprised if your maintenance really were 2800, so even if you do eat 1200 calories, that doesn't mean that you are creating a 1600-calorie deficit every single day.

    Finally, how certain are you that you're actually eating 1200? Are you using a food scale?

    Well I'm in the 300s... and I'm 5'11 but I do exercise 6 days a week but I don't eat back the calories that I burn. The first week i lost 9 pounds and the 2nd week i lost 8 pounds which i understand is mostly water weight, and i know that the more you weigh, the more you lose in the beginning and that it'll slow down later on. And yes i use a food scale and i don't really snack, because I prep my meals for 3 days at a time. But when I do snack I always write it down.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    TMK0214 wrote: »
    You also need a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound. So if you're maintenance calories truly are 2800 and you're eating 1200 calories, that puts you at a deficit of 1600 calories daily. (11,200 weekly) This would put you at a rate loss of 3.2 pounds per week. That's the basic math of it.

    I am of the thought process that 1200 calories is way too low and a 3lb/week loss is a tad too aggressive, but everyone has different views on that side of it,

    According to the website that calculated my tdee I'm supposed to eat 3200 calories if I want to maintain my weight. But 2800 is what it says on MFP. I have since changed it down to 1200 since you can put in your custom calorie goal.

    What does mfp give you to maintain and what do those calculators say your TDEE is?

    To lose 2lbs a week, you must eat 1000 below your daily TDEE every day for a week (but of course, weight loss is not linear).

    1200 is far, far too low...
  • TMK0214
    TMK0214 Posts: 70 Member
    TMK0214 wrote: »
    You also need a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound. So if you're maintenance calories truly are 2800 and you're eating 1200 calories, that puts you at a deficit of 1600 calories daily. (11,200 weekly) This would put you at a rate loss of 3.2 pounds per week. That's the basic math of it.

    I am of the thought process that 1200 calories is way too low and a 3lb/week loss is a tad too aggressive, but everyone has different views on that side of it,

    According to the website that calculated my tdee I'm supposed to eat 3200 calories if I want to maintain my weight. But 2800 is what it says on MFP. I have since changed it down to 1200 since you can put in your custom calorie goal.

    What does mfp give you to maintain and what do those calculators say your TDEE is?

    To lose 2lbs a week, you must eat 1000 below your daily TDEE every day for a week (but of course, weight loss is not linear).

    1200 is far, far too low...

    Tdee is 3200, but I put that I only exercise 1-2 times a week, so it should actually be a little bit higher since I work out 6 days a week. And MFP game me about 2800 I don't remember the EXACT number since I have changed it. It doesn't really matter to me how much I lose a week as long as I'm losing, I was just curious
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    TMK0214 wrote: »
    TMK0214 wrote: »
    You also need a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound. So if you're maintenance calories truly are 2800 and you're eating 1200 calories, that puts you at a deficit of 1600 calories daily. (11,200 weekly) This would put you at a rate loss of 3.2 pounds per week. That's the basic math of it.

    I am of the thought process that 1200 calories is way too low and a 3lb/week loss is a tad too aggressive, but everyone has different views on that side of it,

    According to the website that calculated my tdee I'm supposed to eat 3200 calories if I want to maintain my weight. But 2800 is what it says on MFP. I have since changed it down to 1200 since you can put in your custom calorie goal.

    What does mfp give you to maintain and what do those calculators say your TDEE is?

    To lose 2lbs a week, you must eat 1000 below your daily TDEE every day for a week (but of course, weight loss is not linear).

    1200 is far, far too low...

    Tdee is 3200, but I put that I only exercise 1-2 times a week, so it should actually be a little bit higher since I work out 6 days a week. And MFP game me about 2800 I don't remember the EXACT number since I have changed it. It doesn't really matter to me how much I lose a week as long as I'm losing, I was just curious

    If your TDEE is ~3200 and mfp gave you maintenance calories of 2800 this is because mfp is calculated without exercise. You can lose 2lb per week easy, so...if your TDEE is 3200, you can eat 2200 (or select 2lb per week loss with mpf and add exercise calories. You can either halve your exercise calorie burn and add that number to your exercise diary, or add the number mfp gives you but only eat half of those exercise calories. I personally just add half my burned calories so that I can eat them back).

    I would not recommend losing more than 2lb per week.
  • TMK0214
    TMK0214 Posts: 70 Member
    If mfp gave you 2800 calories to lose weight then why on earth did you change it to 1200?? Take advantage of being able to eat more to lose weight, as it wont last forever. Only getting to eat 1200 calories a day sucks, why go through this when you dont have too.

    Well because I recently posted on here how even though I'm full after eating, my total calories were only at about 700-900, so I had asked what I could do to get those numbers up and people suggested to drink my calories, use more oil and butter and things like that, so 1200 is more than enough! Now that I'm not eating fast food every day, i don't feel the need to stuff my face with 5000 calories a day like I used to lol so for once im actually happy it's not like that, and maybe the number will eventually go up, but right now 1200 is enough, but let's say there are days where I would still be super hungry, I wouldn't mind eating more calories since I know I'm allowed to eat more. I just stop whenever I'm full.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    If you are 300lbs then you should lose weight easily but it will not be linear.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    You're missing the over time

    So take 6-8 weeks average your weekly weight loss and you'll find a rough equivalence of 1lb to 3-4K defecit

    Weight loss isn't linear cos of biology

    But over time it's predictable if logging is within the margin of acceptable error (both in and out)
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Also, any scale you can buy to keep in your bathroom is not accurate enough to measure the fractions of a pound you might be losing each day.

    it does not matter if your scale offers a readout to three decimal places. Those decimal places are essentially *meaningless* because no consumer-quality scale is that accurate and/or precise.

    And even if scales were good enough to capture that small a difference? IT's still meaningless in the context of biology, because weight fluctuates more than that amount across a day. A small amount of retained water, your guts moving faster or slower on a given day - and you've got a difference.

    Ever wonder why doctors scales don't measure anything smaller than whole pounds? Because fractions of pounds are statistically meaningless in tracking adult weight.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    You just posted on another thread that you have lost 17 lbs in 2 wees which is more than a lbs a day. 1200 is way too low for you.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    OP, I really hope you take what I'm about to say to heart and not get super-defensive or anything: stop trying to game the system. It just about never works out well.

    Input your data into either MFP or a TDEE calculator. Input it accurately - don't say you're lightly active (2 days of exercise) if you're highly active (6 days of exercise). Input your age, height, and weight as accurately as possible. Don't worry about whatever fluctuations you may see in weight - step on a scale after going #1 and/or #2 in the morning and use whatever number it gives you. It's a starting point. Follow the plan you're given correctly for a month. Reevaluate at that point in time.

    Just for funsies: I'd be willing to bet - if what you've said here and in other threads is accurate - that you'd lose a good amount of weight at around 2000 Calories. That does not mean to just willy-nilly make your Calorie goal 2000 because I said so. Because that's not what I'm saying to do. I'm simply saying that - if you do things correctly, and with a 2 lb per week goal, which seems appropriate for now - your goal will end up around 2000.
  • TMK0214
    TMK0214 Posts: 70 Member
    You just posted on another thread that you have lost 17 lbs in 2 wees which is more than a lbs a day. 1200 is way too low for you.

    Well but that's probably mostly water weight and I'm also really heavy so I'll lose weight faster, at the beginning at least.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    TMK0214 wrote: »
    You just posted on another thread that you have lost 17 lbs in 2 wees which is more than a lbs a day. 1200 is way too low for you.

    Well but that's probably mostly water weight and I'm also really heavy so I'll lose weight faster, at the beginning at least.
    Yes I know but why post complaining you haven't lost a lbs a day when you lost more than that
  • TMK0214
    TMK0214 Posts: 70 Member
    TR0berts wrote: »
    OP, I really hope you take what I'm about to say to heart and not get super-defensive or anything: stop trying to game the system. It just about never works out well.

    Input your data into either MFP or a TDEE calculator. Input it accurately - don't say you're lightly active (2 days of exercise) if you're highly active (6 days of exercise). Input your age, height, and weight as accurately as possible. Don't worry about whatever fluctuations you may see in weight - step on a scale after going #1 and/or #2 in the morning and use whatever number it gives you. It's a starting point. Follow the plan you're given correctly for a month. Reevaluate at that point in time.

    Just for funsies: I'd be willing to bet - if what you've said here and in other threads is accurate - that you'd lose a good amount of weight at around 2000 Calories. That does not mean to just willy-nilly make your Calorie goal 2000 because I said so. Because that's not what I'm saying to do. I'm simply saying that - if you do things correctly, and with a 2 lb per week goal, which seems appropriate for now - your goal will end up around 2000.

    Since I had trouble in the beginning to get my calories up I've been adding more butter and things like that to my meals so my calories went up for a few days, they were about 1300-1500, I just didn't feel too good and felt super sick from feeling so full after eating, that's why I lowered my calories again. At the beginning it was only 900 calories a day(not on purpose) and I know that's not healthy which is why I was trying to get my calories up asap. But every time I lose weight I adjust my tdee and keep those numbers in mind, that's why on some days if I'm not full after 1200 calories, I definitely don't mind adding about 500 more.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    TMK0214 wrote: »
    You also need a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound. So if you're maintenance calories truly are 2800 and you're eating 1200 calories, that puts you at a deficit of 1600 calories daily. (11,200 weekly) This would put you at a rate loss of 3.2 pounds per week. That's the basic math of it.

    I am of the thought process that 1200 calories is way too low and a 3lb/week loss is a tad too aggressive, but everyone has different views on that side of it,

    According to the website that calculated my tdee I'm supposed to eat 3200 calories if I want to maintain my weight. But 2800 is what it says on MFP. I have since changed it down to 1200 since you can put in your custom calorie goal.

    MFP uses NEAT, not TDEE.

    Why over-complicate things? Just enter your stats into MFP, pick a weekly weight loss goal of 2 pounds per week, and eat those calories.

    At 5'11" and 300 pounds you need way more than 1200 calories per day to insure adequate nutrition. I'd hate to see you posting here in a few months because your hair has started falling out.

    What Are the Risks of Rapid Weight Loss?

    Rapid weight loss creates physical demands on the body. Possible serious risks include:
    • Gallstones, which occur in 12% to 25% of people losing large amounts of weight over several months
    • Dehydration, which can be avoided by drinking plenty of fluids
    • Malnutrition, usually from not eating enough protein for weeks at a time
    • Electrolyte imbalances, which rarely can be life threatening

    Other side effects of rapid weight loss include:
    • Headaches
    • Irritability
    • Fatigue
    • Dizziness
    • Constipation
    • Menstrual irregularities
    • Hair loss
    • Muscle loss
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