Not enough calories??

qpmomma1

I am a 30F, 5'3" and weigh 169lbs. MFP says I should eat 1320 calories to lose 1lb a week. Is that too low? I have a desk job so my activity level is low.

clambert1273

that depends.... if you are going to use MFP the way it is designed.. when you log exercise, you will eat those calories back (to a point) so essentially you could eat upwards of 1600-1900 per day.

Fleetwoodly

Seems about right. If you hardly walk or stand during working hours you really don't need to eat so many calories. I have to reach 1300 calories a day and it is much harder than I thought it would be.

qpmomma1

I was planning on logging and eating back exercise calories. I may start walking during my lunch breaks to get some movement in. Thanks for the feedback!

af_wife2004

I like to use http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/ to figure my calories and macros. The weight loss is a little slower but more even overall.

lcooper327

If you feel it is too low (I do) then eat more and see what happens. You may find you can eat 1500 a day and be more satisfied (and therefore less likely to quit) and still maintain a slow and steady loss.

Pipsg1rl

Hi, I'm 5'2 and started by trying to lose 2lb a week and it was at 1200. Then when I got to .5 a week it was in the 1300 range. I eat back calories when I work out. I've lost almost 20 pounds in a year doing it that way.

ETA: I was 142, now 121-123 depending.
I also work a desk job in an IT support role.

psuLemon

qpmomma1 wrote: »

I was planning on logging and eating back exercise calories. I may start walking during my lunch breaks to get some movement in. Thanks for the feedback!

If you use the calories burned calc, I would only eat 50% of them back. It can be high for some people. And honestly I would go further to say, if you are just walking, I would just add no more than 200 calories additional.

NikonPal

Sounds about right..

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