How big a deficit can I have?

It's great that you are trying to lose weight/get healthy! A 600 calorie deficit is quite big and might be difficult to keep up long term because you might end up having low energy from not eating enough. If you aren't really increasing your exercise then as you lose weight your matinience calories will decrease so your weight loss rate will slow down. If working out isn't really a viable option you can try to increase other activity in your life in other small ways, for example if you use a dishwasher then doing the dishes by hand can burn extra calories. Try not to get discouraged if you feel like you aren't losing weight fast enough, all progress is good no matter how slow!

The minimum a sedentary female should be eating is 1200 calories. If you only have 20 lbs to lose then .5 lbs a week is healthy weight loss. Slow and steady is the best approach.

cmriverside wrote: »

leesey147 wrote: »

I think I’m probably finding it hard to accept that I’ve let myself get to this place that I really hate and feel embarrassed about and I’m looking for a quick fix to feel better.
But obviously it’s not going to work out long term, or at all, trying to cheat my way to a goal.

I absolutely can relate to this feeling.

I was actually shocked with my weight when I finally saw it at the doctor's office.

Anger can be a good motivator, though. I also used a carrot on a stick. I planned a big vacation in a hot tropical location 10 months from the time I started to lose weight. I got to a healthy BMI two weeks before I left. Bathing suits and shorts and tank tops can be highly motivating!

Oh yes. I went shopping today, getting some basics and loose-cut tops to tide me over until I can get a real new wardrobe. After shopping, I went to the gym, and the motivation was definitely there.

The minimum calories MFP will give is 1200. For me to lose 2 lbs a week I'd have to be in a 1000 calorie a day deficit, or only eat 1067 calories a day. (That's never going to happen.) So mfp as to give me 1200 calories since it can't give me lower.

For me to lose a .5 lb a week it puts my calories closer to 1800.

What are your calories at .5 lbs a week?

Also, underscoring: You set up for 2 pounds a week, at first, and actually lost more than 3 pounds a week. Now, since that wasn't a full menstrual cycle (betting you're premenopausal age), and it included your first weeks of calorie restriction (the first couple can be an unusually big drop, though not universally), 3+ pounds per week may be somewhat overstated.

However, your actual experience in real life is more important than what any so called calculator says. (In reality, they don't "calculate", they estimate . . . and that goes for fitness trackers, too).

If you're actually losing 3+ pounds a week (we're not sure, looking forward), then you can eat around 1000 calories daily more than you've been eating, and still lose a pound a week. Even though you don't have long-enough of reality-based data to be certain, I think you'd be perfectly safe adding 500 to what you're currently eating daily. I think you'll still lose at a good rate, possibly still a too-fast rate.

I started here at literally your current weight (in 2015), truly sedentary outside of exercise, though I'm a little taller (5'5"), but much older (59 then, 64 now). MFP estimated 1200 for me, too. (That's not a terrible estimate for many of my demographics, BTW - including age.) I ate back all exercise calories, on top of that (probably 300 or so daily, most days). I lost faster than estimated, lots faster. I corrected quickly. Still, I got weak and fatigued, and it took multiple weeks to recover. With small children to keep up with, you don't want that to happen. (With small children, it's very unlikely you're truly sedentary, too.)

(As an aside: I lost most of my weight, down to my current 130-ish, at 1400-1600 net calories and up, in practice more like 1700-1900 gross calories and up, after the exercise. RIght now, I'm losing super slowly - intentionally - at 1850 plus exercise.)

I'd suggest you eat at least 500 more calories daily, and monitor for another several weeks. Staying strong and healthy is a good and useful thing. Losing weight "too slowly" is a mildly frustrating thing. Between health/energy risk and frustration, I know - from experience - which one I'd personally choose.

Best wishes: You can do this!