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My Name is Essence! I am a mom of two and I am trying hard to loose 20 pounds. I gained weight after I had my son 2020 and I am ready to get back to myself. I am struggling to know how many calories, carbs and protein etc I should be eating in a day to reach my goal. If you have any suggestions let me know! Thank you ❤️💪🏾

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  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,676 Member
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    Put your stats into MFP and say how much weight you hope to lose each week. With only 20 lbs. you could go with .5 a week. I wouldn't do more than 1 lb. a week. MFP will then tell you how many calories you should aim for. Try to eat as close to goal as possible. If you exercise, log the exercise and MFP will tell you how many calories you burned doing them. Eat back some or most of those calories. Log everything you eat. At the end of a month to six weeks, assess the results and see if you lost what you would expect. Some people have faster metabolism, some slower. MFP will give you macro goals, but the main thing that affects weight loss is your calories in/calories out.
  • Decoy152
    Decoy152 Posts: 43 Member
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    Hello Essance, I can only share with you the process that has worked for me as I managed to burn off 50lbs. I started by entering my age, weight etc. into a bmr calculator. This gave me a starting point or estimate of my base calorie requirements. I then ate below that number, a 3500 calorie per week deficit while logging my weight daily. At the end of the week I averaged my daily weight numbers to see if I had gained or lost weight. Depending if I gained or lost, I increased or decreased my daily/weekly calorie intake. Through this process I managed to narrow in on my personal caloric requirements. I then followed guidelines indicating that I should take in .8 to 1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Again, just following a guideline. For me the higher number resulted in better satiation etc. I then consumed the remaining calories in my budget from fat and carbs, favoring fat over carbs but that is a matter of personal preference and partially a result of the fact my higher protein foods simply come with more fat. I hope this helps a little as you find your own way 💪