1200 calories?

Bran_mob08
Bran_mob08 Posts: 29 Member
edited November 19 in Health and Weight Loss
MFP has me eating 1200/cals a day. I am working out lifting weights and cardio 6 days a week. Is this number too small? Idk if maybe I should up it to 1509/cals a day? Any suggestions? Trying to lose 50lbs. Thanks

Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    What are your stats? I assume you plugged in 2 lb per week loss. If you are not that overweight, you should lose slower. You should be eating back exercise calories anyway.
  • Bran_mob08
    Bran_mob08 Posts: 29 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    What are your stats? I assume you plugged in 2 lb per week loss. If you are not that overweight, you should lose slower. You should be eating back exercise calories anyway.

    Yeah I'm hearing mixed reviews on the eating back calories. I'm 50lbs over weight. I did plug in 2lb a week loss. Do I need to NET 1200 calories or should I just be eating more in general?
  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
    Bran_mob08 wrote: »
    MFP has me eating 1200/cals a day. I am working out lifting weights and cardio 6 days a week. Is this number too small? Idk if maybe I should up it to 1509/cals a day? Any suggestions? Trying to lose 50lbs. Thanks

    That number sounds small be there is not enough info to give you an answer.

    You also say you are trying to lose 50 pounds but no time frame is given. You calories per day is a function of many things and one of them is the rate at which you want to lose.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Bran_mob08 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    What are your stats? I assume you plugged in 2 lb per week loss. If you are not that overweight, you should lose slower. You should be eating back exercise calories anyway.

    Yeah I'm hearing mixed reviews on the eating back calories. I'm 50lbs over weight. I did plug in 2lb a week loss. Do I need to NET 1200 calories or should I just be eating more in general?

    Eat your calories back, yes. Especially with the amount of cardio you're doing and that low of a calorie goal. If you don't eat them back you would net under 1200 which is not great.
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
    What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day (total). Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for 2 weeks. If you lose 1-2 lbs/week, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few cycles, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.
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