why I am being told 2040 calories a day when I want to lose weight not maintain my weight???

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Stevesfrogg
Stevesfrogg Posts: 1 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I have kind of dieting for over a month now. I have given up sodas completly and I am very proud of myself for that! I was killing at least a 2 ;liter a day maybe more for several years!
I found you guys Myfitnesspals just this morning and I filled out all the questions correctly and telling me I should be eating 2040 calories a day !1 thats impossible for me. Why is telling me that?
I am 48 5'8 and 251 pounds as of today and I would like to be 100 to 125 pounds smaller in the next year but at 2040 calories a day I do not see it happening. AM I reading something wrong do I not understand can someone please explain...HELP

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    MFP has calculated that will be a deficit for you based on what you entered for your stats.

    Why do you think it would be impossible for you to eat that?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    The goal given to you is accurate for your age, sex, height, weight, activity level, and rate of loss given.

    Did you choose too high of an activity level? Or something less than 2 pounds a week?
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
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    Sounds OK to me for the stats you provided (and you're a man?)

    If you've never done this before, maybe you just aren't aware of the # of calories a person burns just in their daily life, especially a heavier person, or aware of just how many calories you were eating before. It doesn't necessarily require a very low calorie allowance to achieve a deficit. But that being said, you'll want to be extremely accurate with your logging to make sure you really do come in at 2040 and not a couple hundred more because of eyeballing or estimating. If after several weeks you aren't seeing the results you expect, you could tweak things, but no need to doubt MFP's initial recommendation. Wish you the best! :)
  • __TMac__
    __TMac__ Posts: 1,665 Member
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    Do you know how many calories you were eating every day before you started dieting?
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    Not impossible at all. As you get closer to your goal weight, you may need to drop down in calorie intake to keep progressing, but for now those numbers sound pretty solid to me.

    Why is that so horrifying, the whole point of losing weight is to be able to eat the most amount of food while still staying in a deficit. That's what you would be doing. 2040 calories a day is the opposite of a problem.
  • SolotoCEO
    SolotoCEO Posts: 293 Member
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    First, of all review the information you entered - it appears to me something went awry. We are at about the same weight and I get a 1200 daily calorie goal at the loss rate of (almost) two pounds per week. Second, review your goal - 100 pounds for a 5'8" female is in the unhealthy BMI range. Remember being under weight can be an issue as much as being overweight. Once you've taken those two steps - good luck!
  • Artemis_Acorn
    Artemis_Acorn Posts: 836 Member
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    The setting that most likely kicked you up over 2000 is your activity level. If you feel instinctively that the calorie allotment is too high, try moving down one level, like from "Very Active" to "Active."
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
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    SolotoCEO wrote: »
    First, of all review the information you entered - it appears to me something went awry. We are at about the same weight and I get a 1200 daily calorie goal at the loss rate of (almost) two pounds per week. Second, review your goal - 100 pounds for a 5'8" female is in the unhealthy BMI range. Remember being under weight can be an issue as much as being overweight. Once you've taken those two steps - good luck!

    I can't tell from the post if OP is male or female, but the username looks male. And they don't have a goal weight of 100 lbs, they want to *lose* 100 lbs. But now that you mention it, that would be an awfully low goal weight for a man. ??? At any rate, the allowance they were given would entirely depend on their activity level and weekly weight loss goal (maybe they only chose 1 or 1.5 lbs/week, which is fine).
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    try2again wrote: »
    SolotoCEO wrote: »
    First, of all review the information you entered - it appears to me something went awry. We are at about the same weight and I get a 1200 daily calorie goal at the loss rate of (almost) two pounds per week. Second, review your goal - 100 pounds for a 5'8" female is in the unhealthy BMI range. Remember being under weight can be an issue as much as being overweight. Once you've taken those two steps - good luck!

    I can't tell from the post if OP is male or female, but the username looks male. And they don't have a goal weight of 100 lbs, they want to *lose* 100 lbs. But now that you mention it, that would be an awfully low goal weight for a man. ??? At any rate, the allowance they were given would entirely depend on their activity level and weekly weight loss goal (maybe they only chose 1 or 1.5 lbs/week, which is fine).

    The profile says female
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    try2again wrote: »
    SolotoCEO wrote: »
    First, of all review the information you entered - it appears to me something went awry. We are at about the same weight and I get a 1200 daily calorie goal at the loss rate of (almost) two pounds per week. Second, review your goal - 100 pounds for a 5'8" female is in the unhealthy BMI range. Remember being under weight can be an issue as much as being overweight. Once you've taken those two steps - good luck!

    I can't tell from the post if OP is male or female, but the username looks male. And they don't have a goal weight of 100 lbs, they want to *lose* 100 lbs. But now that you mention it, that would be an awfully low goal weight for a man. ??? At any rate, the allowance they were given would entirely depend on their activity level and weekly weight loss goal (maybe they only chose 1 or 1.5 lbs/week, which is fine).

    The profile says female

    Just saw that... sometimes it takes me a while ;)
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
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    That sounds good to me. The lowest recommended amount of calories for a man is 1600-1800.

    Think about how many calories are in a 2-liter.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    SolotoCEO wrote: »
    First, of all review the information you entered - it appears to me something went awry. We are at about the same weight and I get a 1200 daily calorie goal at the loss rate of (almost) two pounds per week. Second, review your goal - 100 pounds for a 5'8" female is in the unhealthy BMI range. Remember being under weight can be an issue as much as being overweight. Once you've taken those two steps - good luck!

    I read it that OP wants to lose 100-125 lbs meaning that they would weigh 125-150 once at goal. 150 is probably a better goal for someone 5'8.
    OP, I think you should confirm the stats you put in including:
    Height
    Weight
    Goal Weight
    Activity Level
    Rate of Loss

    Then can you describe your activity level - what sort of exercise do you do, if any? How often?

    When you say you don't think you can eat 2040 cals, why do you think that is? I'm not saying that's the right calorie deficit goal for you - but it doesn't seem unreasonable if you have a high activity level, at your height and current weight. I'm 5'2 and lost >30 lbs eating b/w 1600-1900 cals.

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    Stevesfrogg wrote: »
    I have kind of dieting for over a month now. I have given up sodas completly and I am very proud of myself for that! I was killing at least a 2 ;liter a day maybe more for several years!
    I found you guys Myfitnesspals just this morning and I filled out all the questions correctly and telling me I should be eating 2040 calories a day !1 thats impossible for me. Why is telling me that?
    I am 48 5'8 and 251 pounds as of today and I would like to be 100 to 125 pounds smaller in the next year but at 2040 calories a day I do not see it happening. AM I reading something wrong do I not understand can someone please explain...HELP

    Your calorie targets are based on your stats and activity level. The bigger you are, the more calories would be required to maintain your weight...thus the more calories you could lose on. The more active you are, the more calories you would require to maintain weight...thus the more calories you could lose on. How many Lbs per week did you say you wanted to lose?

    I don't know what your activity level is, but given your stats, 2040 calories to lose weight seems pretty reasonable. My wife is 42 and between 5'2" and 5'3" and she lost about 1 Lb per week eating anywhere between 1600-1800 calories per day.

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