how many calories?

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michaelafoor916
michaelafoor916 Posts: 710 Member
in Food and Nutrition
MFP says to eat 1800 calories and I have a goal to lost 120 pounds and told it 2lbs/week... that seems high. I lowered to 1600 but I see people saying they eat 1200 or 1300... any suggestions because I truly do not know

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  • forgivensins
    forgivensins Posts: 90 Member
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    Don't eat back exercise calories. I have 100+ to lose as well and mine was around 1800 but I lowered it because I want to eat back my exercise calories. Do some research and see where you need to be at to maintain your current weight. The logic is that you'll have to continuously lower your calories as you progressively lose weight so starting out too low may not be a good idea. Pretty sure someone else can explain all of this better.
  • michaelafoor916
    michaelafoor916 Posts: 710 Member
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    oh I don't ever eat back exercise calories. to me that doesn't make sense. i'll do some research if I need to... thought maybe someone on here might have a straightforward answer for me bc I don't want to be eating too many calories and have no progress and get discouraged.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
    edited June 2015
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    Why not trust what MFP tells you? No need to starve yourself eating 1200 calories to lose weight. Be accurate with your logging and trust the program. If you're not losing after several weeks at 1800 or 1600 then you can look to adjust, but dropping to the bare minimum right off the bat is just setting yourself up for failure.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    Why not trust what MFP tells you? No need to starve yourself eating 1200 calories to lose weight. Be accurate with your logging and trust the program. If you're not losing after several weeks at 1800 or 1600 then you can look to adjust, but dropping to the bare minimum right off the bat is just setting yourself up for failure.

    Agree 100%

    I'd start at 1800 AND eat back 50% of calculated exercise calories.

    After at least a month on this plan, assess your results and adjust if necessary.
  • michaelafoor916
    michaelafoor916 Posts: 710 Member
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    It's not that I didn't trust it per se, just wanted to double check. I'll stick with 1600 and see if it works out for me. It just sounded kinda high so I wasn't sure.
  • whatatime2befit
    whatatime2befit Posts: 625 Member
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    Work with what MFP tells you. People that are at 1200 calories (like me) are shorties. older, or likely don't have alot left to lose.

    MFP is set up to eat back your exercise calories. If you work out alot, you need to fuel your body to support those workouts. I strength train 4-5 times a week. If I were to not eat back some of the exercise calories, on 1200 calories a day I'd never have the energy to actually strength train.
  • michaelafoor916
    michaelafoor916 Posts: 710 Member
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    Oh, okay. That makes sense. And I'm pretty tall for a woman so lol

    I just wanted to make sure I was doing everything right to do this and get to my goal. Thank you all :)
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    michaela_g09 wrote: »
    oh I don't ever eat back exercise calories. to me that doesn't make sense. i'll do some research if I need to... thought maybe someone on here might have a straightforward answer for me bc I don't want to be eating too many calories and have no progress and get discouraged.

    MFP gave you a calorie goal BEFORE exercise. So it is designed for you to eat exercise calories back. As you get closer to goal this will become more important. The purpose of eating calories back is to maintain the same deficit you started with. Too fast weight loss will result in a larger % of lean muscle loss. But you've got a ways to go, so just pick something sustainable for now. Pick something you can live with for awhile.
  • andxhow
    andxhow Posts: 10 Member
    edited June 2015
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    forgivensins wrote: »
    The logic is that you'll have to continuously lower your calories as you progressively lose weight....

    ^ no.

    A lot of people (including myself) assume that you have to keep lowering your calories in order to continue weight loss. This is completely false. When I hit and stayed at a plateau, I broke down and spoke to a nutritionist who said to increase my calorie intake instead of decrease it. You have to feed your body, especially when you are exercising. It sounds weird, but she said "Eat more to lose more." Hesitantly trusting her advice, I increased my calories from 1200 (what MFP recommended and worked for me for a few months) to 1500 and started losing weight again.

    Everyone is different, but there is no doubt in my mind that as your metabolism increases, you need for food energy does as well. Also- trust MFP's numbers for a couple of weeks. It bases that number on the information you provide to them (height, weight, age, activity level...) and if it doesn't work, then adjust from there.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    andxhow wrote: »
    forgivensins wrote: »
    The logic is that you'll have to continuously lower your calories as you progressively lose weight....

    ^ no.

    A lot of people (including myself) assume that you have to keep lowering your calories in order to continue weight loss. This is completely false. When I hit and stayed at a plateau, I broke down and spoke to a nutritionist who said to increase my calorie intake instead of decrease it. You have to feed your body, especially when you are exercising. It sounds weird, but she said "Eat more to lose more." Hesitantly trusting her advice, I increased my calories from 1200 (what MFP recommended and worked for me for a few months) to 1500 and started losing weight again.

    Everyone is different, but there is no doubt in my mind that as your metabolism increases, you need for food energy does as well. Also- trust MFP's numbers for a couple of weeks. It bases that number on the information you provide to them (height, weight, age, activity level...) and if it doesn't work, then adjust from there.

    Not completely false...but more context would be needed.

    If you only have 20 lbs to lose, you probably aren't going to need to adjust your calorie goal much, if at all.

    But if you have 150 lbs to lose, your initial calorie goal will definitely need to be adjusted downward several time throughout the process.
  • gramarye
    gramarye Posts: 586 Member
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    I ate between 1800 and 2000 for the majority of my current weight loss -- starting in officially at 290 pounds (and at 5'3"-ish). You'd be surprised by how much you can eat, especially when your weight is higher. :)

    But seriously, you'll have to reduce the number of calories as you lose weight, so I always err on starting at high as possible. I'm down at 1700 now, and will probably have to dip down to 1600 before I'm finished. I already struggle at 1700, lol.
  • michaelafoor916
    michaelafoor916 Posts: 710 Member
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    TeaBea wrote: »
    michaela_g09 wrote: »
    oh I don't ever eat back exercise calories. to me that doesn't make sense. i'll do some research if I need to... thought maybe someone on here might have a straightforward answer for me bc I don't want to be eating too many calories and have no progress and get discouraged.

    MFP gave you a calorie goal BEFORE exercise. So it is designed for you to eat exercise calories back. As you get closer to goal this will become more important. The purpose of eating calories back is to maintain the same deficit you started with. Too fast weight loss will result in a larger % of lean muscle loss. But you've got a ways to go, so just pick something sustainable for now. Pick something you can live with for awhile.

    oh okay. sounds good. thank you :)
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    edited June 2015
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    I eat 2300 before exercise with a 2 pound a week projection. On some of my heavy exercise days I eat over 3000 calories with fitbit adjustments.

    It's working. I have lost 16 pounds since starting MFP. 24 pounds over all since starting CICO on March 25th.

    Trust MFP. My first week I tried to force myself to do 1400. I lost a lot really fast but I was miserable. No way could I have continued for long. I don't know about you but I a in this for the long haul.
  • hobbeskastiel
    hobbeskastiel Posts: 221 Member
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    The heavier you are the more calories it takes your body to function. As you lose weight you need less calories. When I started I had a higher calorie goal but I adjust for weight loss and the calories I am allowed lowers.If yu have a lot to lose use the 1800 and see if you get results. If you don't then lower the number. If you lose for a while and then stop, lower it by 50 or 100 and see if that makes a difference. You have to find what your body reacts to best.
  • hobbeskastiel
    hobbeskastiel Posts: 221 Member
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    Also, if you exercise a lot you might want to raise your calories, but really you need to try for a week or two and see how your body reacts.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
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    Your calorie needs are based on your gender, size, age, and activity level. MFP calculations factor in those things. This is one of those times where my being an older, small female is a disadvantage! But eat what MFP say to and then re-evaluate in a few weeks.
  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,254 Member
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    1200-1300 calories a day sucks. Don't do it if you don't have to!
  • Musni
    Musni Posts: 1 Member
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    whmscll wrote: »
    1200-1300 calories a day sucks. Don't do it if you don't have to!
    My calculation is 1270 cal a day (losing 5 kg half a kg per week)! I found it hard the first week or so but now I'm getting used to it (though I still go to bed a bit hungry, can't wait to start breakfast each morning.)

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