Calorie Goal ; Am I choosing the right one?

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  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,260 Member
    Stop getting lost in the definitions (though they are fun to get lost in later on if you want).

    You have 4 weeks of data and you're substantially losing at close to 1lb a week. That is a very nice start and you don't need to do anything ESPECIALLY if it leads you to wanting to gnaw your hand off.

    How likely do you think it is that you're going to manage to lose another 3.8lbs and another 3.8lbs after that if you spend your day trying to gnaw your hand off?

    Leave everything alone and continue to accumulate data while NOT gnawing your hands off! You need them to lift the weights with ;-)

    While you're at it, grab a trending weight type app (libra android, happy scale iphone, trendweight.com connected to a freely available without a device fitbit.com account, or weightgrapher.com) and use it to track your weight.

    You will observe MORE water weight variation as you increase your training. This is normal.

    A 1.5lb a week loss requires a 750 Cal caloric deficit. This is incompatible with a person who is both sedentary and not obese as it would require a deficit that exceeds 20% of their total daily energy expenditure.
  • Linda_Lou_62
    Linda_Lou_62 Posts: 22 Member
    I have a question. As you lose weight does the calories your alloted go down also. Seems if not at some point I will just stop losing weight. Or is that something I am supposed to adjust on my own?
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    LW3380 wrote: »
    @WinoGelato is great at helping with these type of enquiries, she gave me some great ideas and they have worked.
    Aww thanks! Glad you’re seeing results!

    OP I was going to echo what others said about sticking with what you’re doing, because the MFP activity levels are such broad strokes and not really helpful in my opinion. I have a desk job and originally chose Sedentary because of those descriptions, but after getting a FitBit about 6 months after joining MFP I realized that I was getting in around 8k steps even without exercise and that’s definitely not Sedentary. You likely are more active than you think- if you’re exercising regularly, even if you cut back a cardio session or two I bet you remain active - many people find that this experience motivates them to walk more, hike more, bike more - losing weight and seeing results tends to be a self fulfilling prophecy.

    One thing I didn’t see you mention was how much weight total you’re looking to lose - but you did say you were set at 1.5 lb/week loss. If you have less than 50 lbs to lose, a goal rate of loss of 1 lb/week is appropriate. You also didn’t say if you are using a food scale for accuracy of measuring your calorie intake - it can be a great tool to ensure that you aren’t eating more than you think, but also to maximize how much you can eat.

    Good luck it sounds like you’re off to a great start!
  • aquariusvsworld
    aquariusvsworld Posts: 55 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    LW3380 wrote: »
    @WinoGelato is great at helping with these type of enquiries, she gave me some great ideas and they have worked.
    Aww thanks! Glad you’re seeing results!

    OP I was going to echo what others said about sticking with what you’re doing, because the MFP activity levels are such broad strokes and not really helpful in my opinion. I have a desk job and originally chose Sedentary because of those descriptions, but after getting a FitBit about 6 months after joining MFP I realized that I was getting in around 8k steps even without exercise and that’s definitely not Sedentary. You likely are more active than you think- if you’re exercising regularly, even if you cut back a cardio session or two I bet you remain active - many people find that this experience motivates them to walk more, hike more, bike more - losing weight and seeing results tends to be a self fulfilling prophecy.

    One thing I didn’t see you mention was how much weight total you’re looking to lose - but you did say you were set at 1.5 lb/week loss. If you have less than 50 lbs to lose, a goal rate of loss of 1 lb/week is appropriate. You also didn’t say if you are using a food scale for accuracy of measuring your calorie intake - it can be a great tool to ensure that you aren’t eating more than you think, but also to maximize how much you can eat.

    Good luck it sounds like you’re off to a great start!

    Thank you for taking the time to reply to this! My goal is to lose a total of 90lbs. My starting weight was 230 and my goal weight is 140. As of today I am 10lb down from November, leaving another 80 to go. I currently do not have a food scale but see the importance of having one. Are there any you would recommend? I'm sure there is about a bazillion out there if I search Amazon lol.

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