Calories too low?

skinnykate22

I am wondering how many people set their calories to 1200... I was reading that once you get to maintenance sometimes your metabolism has slowed due to having such a deficit and you can't eat as much while maintaining.

I am about 15 pounds from my goal, so I'm definitely pretty concerned with the maintenance phase and how my calorie intake now will affect this. 1200 feels doable for me most days, and I'm eating some of my workout calories (100-200 a day), so most days I'd say I'm eating 1300 or 1400 total.

Interested to hear some thoughts on this. Considering eating more like 1400 as a base but don't know if the increase is a good idea.

For what it's worth im 28 years old, 5' 3", 135 and lightly active.

keelz2010

I'm not sure about maintenance but when I first joined I had my diary set to 1200 cals. I found that after a while the weight wasn't shifting. Someone suggested I upped my calorie intake and it started dropping off again. I used this calculator to find out what I needed to consume and maintain and it's worked for me so far.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

skinnykate22

keelz2010 wrote: »

I'm not sure about maintenance but when I first joined I had my diary set to 1200 cals. I found that after a while the weight wasn't shifting. Someone suggested I upped my calorie intake and it started dropping off again. I used this calculator to find out what I needed to consume and maintain and it's worked for me so far.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

Thank you! I've been wondering if maybe eating a bit more might help. I've always had a decently fast metabolism so 1200 is pretty low for me. I lost a lot of weight in college doing 1500. Of course I was 21 then... Lol.

skinnykate22

OK so I did the calculator you suggested and I think I'm going to increase to 1400 as a base then eat a portion of my workout calories. Thanks again for your reply!

Wills820

keelz2010 wrote: »

I'm not sure about maintenance but when I first joined I had my diary set to 1200 cals. I found that after a while the weight wasn't shifting. Someone suggested I upped my calorie intake and it started dropping off again. I used this calculator to find out what I needed to consume and maintain and it's worked for me so far.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

I'm confused. Are you saying you dropped more weight when you went back to "maintenance" cals?

skinnykate22

Wills820 wrote: »

I'm confused. Are you saying you dropped more weight when you went back to "maintenance" cals?

I think she is saying she just upped her intake a bit... So there was still a deficit but not as big of one.

myfatass78

I always eat around 1600 to 1700 each day and my exercise comes out of that. Eating 1200 per day will end up making you sick and lethargic. There is no way that you can get all your body needs on 1200 calories. When I did it, it caused many health problems that have had a long term impact on me. You will always be a slave to your hunger at the lower end of the calories.

candacefausset

I have no problems with hunger personally at 1200. I eat back exercise calories only if I need to. But with large portions of veggies and fruits as snacks with a good balance of protein, fats and such I feel full for much longer than when I was filling up on tons of sugary stuff.

All that aside, there is a constant war on MFP about whether or not your metabolism can slow down over stuff like this. I've never seen a solid scientific fact on it either way. I have however heard a theory that makes perfect sense (and I won't explain it perfectly either). Your body naturally stores some extras unless you are just going to super low percentages of body fat, so those first few pounds you lose are your natural stores that your body pretty much always tries to keep. When you hit your goal and get to maintenance levels, your body will try to build up some stores regardless so that you have a little emergency backup. Some people say if you want to hit a certain weight and stay there, you should actually aim for 3-5 pounds below that. So that when your body finally hits that and puts on the storage weight, you will be where you want to be.

Of course I am no expert. I am just spewing stuff I have heard from others. Do some research and do what feels best for you. And listen to the people who have met their goals and maintained too. They will know more than those of us, like me, who are still a long ways from hitting goal.

skinnykate22

myfatass78 wrote: »

I always eat around 1600 to 1700 each day and my exercise comes out of that. Eating 1200 per day will end up making you sick and lethargic. There is no way that you can get all your body needs on 1200 calories. When I did it, it caused many health problems that have had a long term impact on me. You will always be a slave to your hunger at the lower end of the calories.

So you don't log your exercise or eat back your exercise calories? You just try to eat 1600-1700 no matter how much you work out?

I sometimes think that would be a good idea for me, but I have to admit it's motivating for me to workout if I know I can eat a few more calories that day because of it. For example I've gone over my 1300 goal by 140 calories today. Now I'm motivated to go upstairs and do my youtube full body workout to try to burn most of this off.

myfatass78

At the moment, yes I am just eating 1600 to 1700 with lots of walking in addition. Gym starts this week but that will just replace the walking. I eat that regardless, except for a few days where it has been too hot to exercise or eat so it was still around 1200.

myfatass78

I am still focusing on having a calorie def per day of at least 500 calories and it is working for me. Last time I remember feeling very trapped by having to plan for 1200 calories. 1600 calories gives me the wiggle room to eat what I want without having to plan too much.

skinnykate22

candacefausset wrote: »

I have however heard a theory that makes perfect sense (and I won't explain it perfectly either). Your body naturally stores some extras unless you are just going to super low percentages of body fat, so those first few pounds you lose are your natural stores that your body pretty much always tries to keep. When you hit your goal and get to maintenance levels, your body will try to build up some stores regardless so that you have a little emergency backup. Some people say if you want to hit a certain weight and stay there, you should actually aim for 3-5 pounds below that. So that when your body finally hits that and puts on the storage weight, you will be where you want to be.

So interesting! I think I'll keep this in mind as I approach my goal! Maybe I'll try to drop 3 pounds under it before going to maintenance.

myfatass78

The way I look at it is that in the long term, there is no way I can stay on 1200 calories indef. I can stay on around 1700 - 1800 very easily. I am planning for the future rather than the just short term weight loss.