Dumb question

ksmommy5
ksmommy5 Posts: 142 Member
edited November 15 in Getting Started
So I set up my goal weight but no where does it tell how long it will take to get to that goal. I did the math myself and I know how long it should take if everything goes perfect buy I find it weird that there's no indication anywhere on length it should take to achieve said goal at x amount of lbs lost per week....or am I missing it somewhere?

Replies

  • MellowRobot
    MellowRobot Posts: 15 Member
    edited January 2017
    It depends on what you setup your deficit at. If you went for the 2lbs/wk then your numbers are going to be set for those 2lbs a week. So you could just divide (weight you want to lose/2) and that's how many weeks it will take for you. If you set it up to a different amount per week just replace the 2 with the how many lbs per week you're looking to lose and that'll be the amount of time.
  • freedom2016mfp
    freedom2016mfp Posts: 75 Member
    edited January 2017
    Hi there
    At the end of the day when you complete your daily food diary it will give you a projected weight loss at the end of a 5 week span. Of course it is purely guesstimating as your food journal and calories change daily. That said it is fun to see and helps to keep you on track. Feel free to add me if you wish.
    P.S There is no such thing as a dumb question :)
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    This link will give you a rough timeline.

    http://www.weightloss-calculator.net/
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
    I did the same as you and did the calculations. It then got frustrating when I realised it wasn't always going to that plan
    It's good to know from the offset that it will just take as long as it takes just keep going
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    I think Sloth2016 explained part of the issue, that you won't drop in a linear fashion. I also think they don't offer a date because it would be too discouraging for most, if/when you don't feel you are on track. Much safer to focus on weekly or monthly goals.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    edited January 2017
    Also, the more aggressive your current weight loss goal per week is (2 lbs as opposed to 1 lb, for example) the more difficult this rate of loss is to achieve and sustain the closer you get to your goal weight.

    A 2 lb weekly rate of loss may be reasonable for someone who is obese when they first start out, but as their weight drops down into the overweight category and beyond, sustaining a 2 lb per week loss becomes increasingly more difficult, since you have to continually adjust the amount of calories you can eat each day downwards to compensate for the fact that you are no longer obese.

    More simply put, a 200 lb woman looking to lose 2 lbs per week with a goal weight of 125 lbs can consume a lot more calories per day at the start than she will be able to once she reaches 150 lbs, for example. So there comes a point where unless she wants to starve her body of nutrients by dropping her daily calorie intake to a dangerously low level, she will have to recalculate her allotted calories per day using a less aggressive weight loss goal - say 1 lb per week instead of two.

    And as she gets even closer to her goal weight, she would likely recalculate yet again and set her rate of loss to a 1/2 a lb per week.

    This is why MFP doesn't include a "finish line" date in the calculations. Way too many variables (especially when taking individual adherence into consideration) make it pretty useless. And since anyone with basic math skills can easily calculate it for themselves if they choose to, it's also unnecessary.

    And as was mentioned upthread, most people would be highly discouraged or angry when their actual rate of loss did not match the timeline that MFP set for them. This alone would generate dozens and dozens of angry threads and posts here with people saying that "MFP sucks. I'm not anywhere near the weight that MFP said I would be by now." ;)
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