Ajusting calories for faster weight loss

K1mmer · April 2012

Hi everyone, I have been on mfp since feb and religously logging all my food and excercise. I have been dissappointed in my progress, wanting to see a pound or two drop every week. My weight is 198 and I had my 'goal' weight at 190 to keep things realistic for me. I had selected lightly active and my calorie goal was 1760. I usually was at or just under calories and when I exercise had trouble eating the calories back (with good food of course).

I have been frustrated with my progress (6 pounds in 3-4 weeks and nothing for the last 4 weeks) so I thought it was time to change things up. In mfp I changed my goal weight to 160, selected sedentary to more accurately reflect my job and increased my weight loss goal to 2 pounds per week from 1 pound per week. Mfp now gives me 1200 calories to day. This is less than my BMR but seems to be closer to what my successful friends are doing. I think this will help get me exercising more so that I can keep eating 1500+ cal per day.

I post this to get some feedback from those of you who have had success! I am willing to be patient with the weight loss but also felt things were not working and did not want to coast for too long. I generally eat quite healthy, my diary is open if you want to look! I am struggling to exercise routinely, but like to walk and garden. We have a very busy spring schedule and I am changing jobs so I would like to keep my exercise routine simple and outdoors. Interested to hear your comments and advice!

dg09 · April 2012

Hello K1mmer, I believe your diary is still hidden.

K1mmer · April 2012

Hello K1mmer, I believe your diary is still hidden.

Hmmm...is set to public. Maybe try myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/k1mmer

bloodbank · April 2012

Mfp now gives me 1200 calories to day. This is less than my BMR but seems to be closer to what my successful friends are doing.

1) Unless your friends are the same sex, height and bf% as you, basing your intake on what someone else is doing is misguided at best, unfortunately.

2) If your ticker is accurate and you have less than 10 lbs to go, a 1-2lb per week loss of fat is not something your body is likely to want to do.

Everyone wishes at some point that they could do this as quickly as possible, but when you're in the home stretch less is more. Personally I'd set the goal to 0.5-1lb per week, ensure you're getting adequate strength training (and fuel) to maintain as much LBM as possible, and put away the scale while making friends with the tape measure.

K1mmer · April 2012

Thanks bloodbank. Good point about my friends. Some are similar but some are definitely not. My ticket shows my original goal, to get to 190, but ultimately I would like to get to 160 and then re-evaluate.

I am one of those 'weigh every day' girls. That is causing me the frustration, so I am sure it would help my motivation to ditch it...

bloodbank · April 2012

Thanks bloodbank. Good point about my friends. Some are similar but some are definitely not. My ticket shows my original goal, to get to 190, but ultimately I would like to get to 160 and then re-evaluate.

I am one of those 'weigh every day' girls. That is causing me the frustration, so I am sure it would help my motivation to ditch it...

Well, if you potentially have 30-40 lbs to lose, it's probably completely reasonable to set something of a higher goal for the time being. But do consider using a tape measure to check your progress. The scale isn't always kind

K1mmer · April 2012

So is 1200 mfp suggests too low? Will I set myself up for issues in the future? My bmr is 1669 with 40+ pounds to lose.

liftingheavy · April 2012

Hi everyone, I have been on mfp since feb and religously logging all my food and excercise. I have been dissappointed in my progress, wanting to see a pound or two drop every week. My weight is 198 and I had my 'goal' weight at 190 to keep things realistic for me. I had selected lightly active and my calorie goal was 1760. I usually was at or just under calories and when I exercise had trouble eating the calories back (with good food of course).

I have been frustrated with my progress (6 pounds in 3-4 weeks and nothing for the last 4 weeks) so I thought it was time to change things up. In mfp I changed my goal weight to 160, selected sedentary to more accurately reflect my job and increased my weight loss goal to 2 pounds per week from 1 pound per week. Mfp now gives me 1200 calories to day. This is less than my BMR but seems to be closer to what my successful friends are doing. I think this will help get me exercising more so that I can keep eating 1500+ cal per day.

I post this to get some feedback from those of you who have had success! I am willing to be patient with the weight loss but also felt things were not working and did not want to coast for too long. I generally eat quite healthy, my diary is open if you want to look! I am struggling to exercise routinely, but like to walk and garden. We have a very busy spring schedule and I am changing jobs so I would like to keep my exercise routine simple and outdoors. Interested to hear your comments and advice!

I netted 1200-1300 calories a day when I lost my weight. So, I ate 1400-1600 a day and exercised off about 400. People will tell you you're starving yourself, but depending on your frame and metabolism, netting 1200 COULD be right for you. Now that I am in maintenance mode and lifting heavy weights I eat a little more because lifting makes me HUNGRY, and I haven't gained any weight.

bloodbank · April 2012

So is 1200 mfp suggests too low? Will I set myself up for issues in the future? My bmr is 1669 with 40+ pounds to lose.

Sometimes, yes, MFP does spit out a number that's too low. It's kind of a 'dumb' program - it will simply take the weekly weight loss goal someone gives it and subtract however many calories is needed from that person's TDEE to make it happen... whether or not it's a realistic or healthy goal for that particular person. Eating at least your BMR is generally regarded as the healthy route to go and will produce weight loss as your BMR is obviously less than your TDEE.

Figure out where is comfortable for you though. If I tell MFP I want to lose 2 lbs per week, it gives me it's 'minimum' setting of 1200 calories/day too... but I would die a painful death if I ate that little. On most days I eat at 2000-2500 calories and burn some off off with exercise, all while ensuring my NET doesn't go too low. Play around with it, you'll find what works for you.

sweet110 · April 2012

I think MFP often sets the calorie limit for women too low. But not always. I'm very short and find MFP to be off by about 200 calories. However...I'm still in my 30's and enjoy weight training. But...if I were menopausal or post-menopausal and my main exercise were walking, MFP might, in fact, be closer to the truth.

I guess my point is that even though the equation may be "calories in, calories out" I find that the "calories out" part of the formula requires a little bit of finesse and personal experimentation...especially if you're a woman (we were made to endure...which means our metabolisms are a lot more flexible than men's. Feel's unfair...unless you're in the midst of a famine with 3 hungry-eyed children to feed. You ship off your mate to take his chances hunting or raiding, and you...you endure, scrounging for the kids, hoping he returns. Evolution is a powerful thing.). Soooo....my first thought is that, generally speaking, why jump from 1700 to 1200? If, perhaps, your estimation of the parameters going into your BMR was a little off, why not try something like 1600? Or 1500? The difference between 1200 and 1700 is *huge*.

None of us can say for sure what the problem is. We can only give you advice based on our own experience. However, I can say, quite confidently, that experimentation is part of the process. And if you decide to tweak your calories, make "tweaks", not radical cut backs of 500 calories. There simply isn't any reason too.

TracyM191 · April 2012

I seem to have a better weekly weight loss when I cut back on my carb intake. Eventually, the weight loss will start up again. Good Luck!!

K1mmer · April 2012

Thanks for the fantastic advice! 1200 is too low for me to be comfortable so I will try for 1500-1600 plus my exercise calories. I am glad I asked even though these types of questions are asked a lot. Thanks everyone for the healthy and encouraging responses! I feel ready to tackle another few weeks!

Ajusting calories for faster weight loss

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