Calorie counting..whats the point? Help please

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tadsmom2000
tadsmom2000 Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
OK so I am new to this and have a question. Is the point of having a calorie limit to actually eat up to that limit or is it to stay under.. I am so confused. My calorie limit is just over 1900 but I have been trying to stay under that. However my weight keeps going up a pound and down a pound.. So any help would be very appreciated!

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  • ericgAU
    ericgAU Posts: 271
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    Your BMR is your maintenance calories or in other words the calories that you would take in to stay at the weight you are now. To lose 1 pound per week you would need to create a deficit of 3500 calories per week (500 calories per day). The deficit can be created by either monitoring your food intake (by way of MFP), doing exercise or a combination of both.
  • bridgie101
    bridgie101 Posts: 817 Member
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    So long as you stay over 1200 I think you can go under 1800. Maybe go down to 1500? or 1600? But whatever you do stick with it a month because it's only over the long term that weighing yourself makes a difference. For the last two weeks I know I've lost weight even though the scales don't say so. How do I know? because I've been consuming less than I use. Why is the scale staying the same?

    Actually, it's to do with what I've been eating staying in my system. My weigh in morning is saturday. The last two friday nights I've had a bit of a treat. Heh.
  • kagero1976
    kagero1976 Posts: 19 Member
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    Tadsmom, where did you come up with the value of 1900 as a calorie limit? Is that what MFP suggested or did you get that value from another calculator? The reason I ask is because that effects the answer to your question. You said it was your "calorie limit" so it sounds like that is the amount of calories you would consume to remain exactly the same weight as you currently are(maintenance calories). Either that, or maybe that is the value MFP gave you in order to meet your goals of 1 or 2 pound of a loss for the week?
  • carrie_eggo
    carrie_eggo Posts: 1,396 Member
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    OK so I am new to this and have a question. Is the point of having a calorie limit to actually eat up to that limit or is it to stay under.. I am so confused. My calorie limit is just over 1900 but I have been trying to stay under that. However my weight keeps going up a pound and down a pound.. So any help would be very appreciated!

    You try to get as close as possible to the calorie goal. If you are under by a few, or over by a few it's ok. Try to stay within about 50 calories +/- of the goal. :smile:
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    It looks like 1900 is for 1lb/week given CW: 225. 1400 would be 2lbs/week. Since you're trying to lose 72 lbs -- it's okay to be a bit under, but imo you should aim for at least 1400 even on low days -- you don't generally want to go over a 1000 cal/day deficit. It's probably better to stick closer to 1lb/week even though it's slower -- it's more consistent and less loose skin.
  • tadsmom2000
    tadsmom2000 Posts: 4
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    Thank you all so much for your comments.. they have helped me understand what I need to do!

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