how good is the suggested calorie intake?

Bioplast
Bioplast Posts: 3 Member
in Getting Started
Hi, I just made an account here and filled out my info. Ive been dieting for 3 days before i joined this site. Im 21, male, 96kg, 184cm. I work a physically active job. The site suggested i consume 2100 cal/day to loose 1kg/week. Would it be wise if i bumped that down a bit? And is 1kg/week the maximum the body can take to stay healthy?
The past 3 days i have been careful not to go over 1700 cal/day. Since the site suggested a higher amount i figured i could go with a daily goal of 1800-1900cal. Would i be causing my body any harm? How extreme is this? I would just like to shed my fat as quick as possible.

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Why use MFP if you're going to just make your own calorie goal anyway?

    How much weight have you got to lose? Fast isn't better, it can lead to losing more muscle mass and making maintenance more difficult.

    Slow and sustainable is best.
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,449 Member
    edited May 2017
    No trust the number mfp gives you. I have been losing exactly as expected. Get a food scale and weigh stuff. You need to fuel your body and failure to do so can cause things like tiredness, hair loss, muscle loss, brittle fingernails, ECT.

    P.s. fast as possible is not as good as making sustained lifestyle changes so you only have to lose it once. Unsustable changes usually result in all the pounds coming back and bringing friends .
  • Bioplast
    Bioplast Posts: 3 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Why use MFP if you're going to just make your own calorie goal anyway?

    How much weight have you got to lose? Fast isn't better, it can lead to losing more muscle mass and making maintenance more difficult.

    Slow and sustainable is best.

    Ive set 70kg as my first goal. After that im gonna see if i want to burn more fat or gain some muscle, but i like to take it one step at a time.

    I dont know how accurate the MFP calculator is. Thats why i asked the forums in the first place, to get educated. I would like to shed the maximum amount of weight in the shortest amount of time without causing any harm to my body of course.
  • Tried30UserNames
    Tried30UserNames Posts: 561 Member
    I think it would be wise to start with the 2100 goal MFP gave you. If, after a month or two, you find you're losing too rapidly or you're stalled, you can adjust your calories.

    At your age and weight, with an active job 1700 seems to low. I eat about that to lose and I'm female, sedentary, middle aged and close to 50 lbs lighter than you.
  • beanz744
    beanz744 Posts: 221 Member
    IMHO MFP is pretty accurate in general but doesnt mean its perfect coz we r all different. one of the key factor for success is not to starve yourself so u have to eat well n listen to your body whether it is at 1800, 1900, or 2100. adjust up or down after a few weeks of eating n tracking. whatever way u take u need to make sure that u

    1. buy a food scale
    2. weight n input EVERYTHING u eat
    3. do 2. everyday

    good luck!
  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    how good is the suggested calorie intake?

    I've lost 130lbs, so I'd say... pretty good.
  • GingersnapMI
    GingersnapMI Posts: 8 Member
    edited May 2017
    I'm five months in and I've found that I have to eat 200 calories LESS than the suggested amount to lose 1.5-2 pounds per week. I don't want to go any faster than that. I am a post-menopausal sedentary female with an under-active thyroid (on med for that).
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    You'll lose 2-3 kg in your first week, then maybe nothing the second week. Weight loss does not go in a straight line. Use a digital scale to accurately weigh everything you eat. Use the food diary to accurately record everything you eat. You can even use it to plan your meals, as it let's you know in advance the amount of calories and macros you'll be having from a prospective meal. With accurate weights and a truthful log, you can have confidence in your calorie deficit during those inevitable fluctuations.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,961 Member
    Bioplast wrote: »
    Hi, I just made an account here and filled out my info. Ive been dieting for 3 days before i joined this site. Im 21, male, 96kg, 184cm. I work a physically active job. The site suggested i consume 2100 cal/day to loose 1kg/week. Would it be wise if i bumped that down a bit? And is 1kg/week the maximum the body can take to stay healthy?
    The past 3 days i have been careful not to go over 1700 cal/day. Since the site suggested a higher amount i figured i could go with a daily goal of 1800-1900cal. Would i be causing my body any harm? How extreme is this? I would just like to shed my fat as quick as possible.

    No, it would not be wise to bump down the 2100 daily kcal goal that MFP gave you.
    1 kg is actually already more weight than you (at 96 kg) should be aiming to lose per week, for optimal results in terms of preserving lean body mass.

    Would you be causing your body any harm at 1800 - 1900 kcal/day? I'm not sure why you even ask that question, since you're eating significantly below that. Shouldn't you be asking whether you'll be harming your body by not going over 1700 kcal/d? (And what does "not going over" mean? Are you averaging 1650? 1600? 1500?)

    In aiming to shed your fat as quickly as possible, you will also be shedding lean mass as quickly as possible.

    Building muscle takes work. Why would you deliberately throw it away?


    And if what you're looking for is anecdotal testimony about results using MFP-assigned calories, I blew past my initial weight goal using MFP's assigned calorie level, losing weight at twice the one-pound-per-week rate I requested and MFP predicted, eating some but not all my exercise calories back (and they were just from walking and dancing in my living room, seldom more than an hour total of exercise a day, so the calories weren't that much). After that, I had enough data to calculate my own NEAT and set my own, higher calorie goal to slow my rate of weight loss to something conducive to preserving lean mass at my new weight.

    BTW, I'm a middle-aged woman who's more than than 30 years older than you, half a foot shorter, 30 pounds or so lighter, with a sedentary job, and I lose weight on 2100 kcal/d (only half a pound a week, but still losing).
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited May 2017
    Bioplast wrote: »
    Hi, I just made an account here and filled out my info. Ive been dieting for 3 days before i joined this site. Im 21, male, 96kg, 184cm. I work a physically active job. The site suggested i consume 2100 cal/day to loose 1kg/week. Would it be wise if i bumped that down a bit? And is 1kg/week the maximum the body can take to stay healthy?
    The past 3 days i have been careful not to go over 1700 cal/day. Since the site suggested a higher amount i figured i could go with a daily goal of 1800-1900cal. Would i be causing my body any harm? How extreme is this? I would just like to shed my fat as quick as possible.

    For comparison sake, I'm about your size (less 3 cm and about 1kg). I'm also 54 (that means that your goal calories would likely be larger than mine if all other things were equal). I've lost 28 pounds in about 15 weeks since I started logging with a scale. 37 since Christmas. I've averaged 2142 calories +/- about 350 on average. Working just fine. Now that my weight is where it is, close to where yours is now, I've reduced my goal to 1.5 lbs/week. Suggested intake is around 2150 calories per day. I'll continue to shoot for that and log meticulously where I can. Follow the suggestions. It works.

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