Are my calories too low?

sdee2011

Hi everyone I just re joined mfp after having a baby 15 weeks ago but I'm struggling to understand why my daily calorie allowance is so low (1250) I weigh 234lbs at the moment an my goal is 126lbs but when I was on here years ago I was 134lbs and my daily calories then was 1200 so just 50 cals a difference from then and now is this right it just seems very low for the weight I currently am at any info or advice would be great thanks x

Jacob1020

You could always adjust you calories depending on your excercise regime also, more or less.

tasch79

What have you set as your weekly goal loss?

Jacob1020

Effectively you'd want to be in a caloric deficit to lose weight too.

Mathsrunner

I think MFP won't go below 1200 calories since that is unhealthy (I might be wrong as I'm male and we get a few more calories to play with so even at 2lbs a week loss I don't go below 1500+) so that might explain why there is only 50 calories difference. I would say that if the target it has set is going to frustrate you then you need to re-evaluate how much weight you should be losing a week, it is better to lose slower, but be happy, than lose quickly and have to fight every day as that will probably lead to you giving up. Losing a pound a week instead of two will give you an extra 500 calories to eat per day which may be slower, but if it is more likely to see you stick to the plan it will be better in the long run.

ClosetBayesian

Guessing you set it to lose 2 lbs a week; that's the type of calorie deficit you'd need to have to lose at that rate. If you don't feel satisfied on 1200 calories, re-configure your settings to lose 1 lb a week. If you're breastfeeding you should add 500 calories to your minimum.

ForeverSunshine09

My guess is at 134 your deficit was much much smaller. I am at 129 right now and my deficit without exercise is 250 which gives me 1370. Mfp won't go below 1200 so even if I went to a 500 deficit it would say 1200 and I would not get the full deficit unless I exercised and didn't eat back which I do not recommend.

lemurcat12

ForeverSunshine09 wrote: »

My guess is at 134 your deficit was much much smaller. I am at 129 right now and my deficit without exercise is 250 which gives me 1370. Mfp won't go below 1200 so even if I went to a 500 deficit it would say 1200 and I would not get the full deficit unless I exercised and didn't eat back which I do not recommend.

This is what I was going to say. 1200 is the minimum, which is why it's what you got when 134 even if you asked for a 2 lb/week deficit (it caps the deficit). It's not surprising you'd be near 1200 even now, if you've asked for a 2 lb/week loss (or 1000 calorie deficit), since the initial MFP goal is without exercise. Either plan to exercise, if you want to eat more and lose 2 lb/week or choose a less aggressive deficit (which might be extremely wise if breast feeding).

Also if breast feeding you should add some number of additional calories -- 500 or so -- and probably should ask your doctor about it.