Confusion

AloyMomNwife
AloyMomNwife Posts: 146 Member
edited October 3 in Health and Weight Loss
Yesterday I ate over 1700 calories. I stayed under my calorie limit because I worked out. Today I didn't work out and only ate little over 1200 calories, 400 cals under my limit. At the end of the report MFP said I would loose 2 more lbs if every day were like yesterday as opposed to today, with 1200 calories. I know exercise is important but, wouldn't eating less calories (never under 1200) make me loose lbs faster? I'm not discouraged but very curious. Does MFP analyze were the calories came from? Does this happen to anyone else?

Replies

  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    It's not really a race. If it were, we'd all starve ourselves and be skinny in a week. Instead we eat at healthy, sustainable levels and therefore stay on course and don't give up. Ignore that little message. It's just a simple (dumb) calories in, calories out thing.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
    the closer your calorie intake is to your goal for the day, the more weight the closing will show you losing.

    so if your goal is 1900 and you eat 1850, you will be... 5 lbs less, or whatever goal is
    if your goal is 1500 and you eat 1200, you will be ... 3 lbs less

    it takes into consideration only how close you are to the goal they set for you
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    I wouldn't pay much attention to that statement, to be honest. I view it like a horoscope. It might be accurate, but it's wrong more often than not. All that number is looking at is your calorie deficit for the day. It's not looking at whether or not you exercised. It's strictly how many calories did you eat vs. your calorie goal (which includes exercise if you did any).
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
    well it all comes down to the calorie balance.

    If you burn 600 calories on a workout day but only eat 300 calories more than a non-workout day (so you eat 1500 calories instead of your usual 1200 calories) then you will have lost 300/3500 pound ....so .09 pounds MORE that day than if you had a non-workout day. So in 10 days or so you'd have lost 1 pound more than if you had ALL non-workout days.

    Does that make sense?

    So your body only knows about surpluses and deficits , you can create a deficit by burning the calories through exercise or just eating less.

    If you eat too few calories then your body can get wacky and you don't lose as predicted at all, so it takes some tweaking to eat enough that your body doesn't freak but not so much that you stop losing.
  • k7n2w3
    k7n2w3 Posts: 241 Member
    It all depends on what your body burns in a day. You need to burn 3500 calories more than consumed to lose a pound. My body burns 1400ish in a day on average just going to work and being "me" with no exercise. If I were to eat 1200 cals a day I wouldnt lose as much as if I ate 1700 calories but with exercise burned 2300 for the day. I'd only have a 200 calorie deficit if i ate 1200 a day but would have 500 cal deficit at the higher cals eaten w the exercise.
    Example:

    Daily burn 1500
    Eaten 1200
    Deficit 300
    days to burn a pound (3500/300) = 11.6 days

    Daily burn w a 3 mile run 1800
    Eaten 1400
    Deficit 400
    days to lose a pound (3500/400) = 8.75 days


    SW 155.1
    GW 115
    CW 112
  • Speedy89
    Speedy89 Posts: 64
    the weight loss projection is inherently flawed, there are many variables it does not consider at all, one of these variables, as you have pointed out, is the source of your calories.

    1200 calories of complex carbs, fibers, and proteins are very different from 1200 calories of saturated fats and sugars.

    Best to think of your body as a vehicle and food as its fuel. Consume a healthy amount and type of fuel to power your exercise and movement. Too much, and you'll store the extra fuel in the form of fat, too little (or the wrong kind of fuel) and your body will not function at its optimal levels.

    If you're fat, then you probably have some extra fuel in reserves that you can afford to burn off, so just reduce your calorie intake accordingly so your body burns off some of its reserves...it's not that complicated, don't over-think it.
  • aa1440
    aa1440 Posts: 956 Member
    Everyday is just an average of what would happen.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    the closer your calorie intake is to your goal for the day, the more weight the closing will show you losing.

    so if your goal is 1900 and you eat 1850, you will be... 5 lbs less, or whatever goal is
    if your goal is 1500 and you eat 1200, you will be ... 3 lbs less

    it takes into consideration only how close you are to the goal they set for you
    Sorry but this is all wrong. It would show more lbs lost in your second example, since the deficit there is bigger than in the first example.
  • Raf702
    Raf702 Posts: 196 Member
    Yesterday I ate over 1700 calories. I stayed under my calorie limit because I worked out. Today I didn't work out and only ate little over 1200 calories, 400 cals under my limit. At the end of the report MFP said I would loose 2 more lbs if every day were like yesterday as opposed to today, with 1200 calories. I know exercise is important but, wouldn't eating less calories (never under 1200) make me loose lbs faster? I'm not discouraged but very curious. Does MFP analyze were the calories came from? Does this happen to anyone else?


    First off, what's your current maintenance calories? As long as your under your maintenance calories your at a calorie deficit. And WILL lose weight regardless. Look at it this way, 3,500 cals= 1lb. If you were eating 500 cals under your maintenance than in 7 days you will have lost 1lb from just calorie consumption alone. 500 cals multiplied by 7 days = 3,500 calories(1lb). Not including any exercises, which of course will increase your calorie deficit. Adjust the numbers from that and watch the weight drop. Good luck, and keep up the good work!
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