is 1200 calories to low?
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morganpalmer9
Posts: 73 Member
I'm a 5'4 124 lb female and I pretty much eat 1,200 on the dot every day. I also run (HIIT) between 30-35 mins a day and do strength training for 30-40 mins a day as well. Should I be eating a lot more with this activity level? I want to lose a few lbs but don't want to do it in an unhealthy way.
Also-I do wear a heart rate monitor while working out to see how much I burn, but it's usually super super high, but I assume I burn at least 400 cals a workout.
Also-I do wear a heart rate monitor while working out to see how much I burn, but it's usually super super high, but I assume I burn at least 400 cals a workout.
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Replies
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Where did you get that goal from, MFP? If so, it's designed for you to eat back the calories burned through exercise.0
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1200 calories is pretty darn low for someone doing HIT daily and training - i'd say too low. i am 5' 3 1/2", and at 1200 calories i was losing 2 to 3 pounds a week - and i'm not as active as you are. you might want to add some protein calories so you don't burn muscle.
are you logging your workouts into MFP along with your foods?0 -
Heart rate monitors are fairly inaccurate for interval work, as they're really only meant for steady state cardio.
What do you have your goal set at? With a few pounds to lose, you should only be aiming to lose half a pound a week, which unless you're older, will give you more than 1200 calories a day.0 -
morganpalmer9 wrote: »I'm a 5'4 124 lb female and I pretty much eat 1,200 on the dot every day. I also run (HIIT) between 30-35 mins a day and do strength training for 30-40 mins a day as well. Should I be eating a lot more with this activity level? I want to lose a few lbs but DON'T want to do it in a healthy way.
Also-I do wear a heart rate monitor while working out to see how much I burn, but it's usually super super high, but I assume I burn at least 400 cals a workout.
Did anyone else see that..... is that a typo?0 -
lesleyloo7879 wrote: »morganpalmer9 wrote: »I'm a 5'4 124 lb female and I pretty much eat 1,200 on the dot every day. I also run (HIIT) between 30-35 mins a day and do strength training for 30-40 mins a day as well. Should I be eating a lot more with this activity level? I want to lose a few lbs but DON'T want to do it in a healthy way.
Also-I do wear a heart rate monitor while working out to see how much I burn, but it's usually super super high, but I assume I burn at least 400 cals a workout.
Did anyone else see that..... is that a typo?
I figured it was a typo.0 -
Not sure how to take it. Being fairly small already at 124# - eating 1200 and working out that intensely may be very hard on your body. However, since it is written that you "DON'T want to do it in a healthy way" - perhaps this is accurate for you. Did you perhaps mean you DO wish to do it in a healthy way? Then a few questions.... Your age? Your lifestyle (desk job?), any medical issues? 1200 calories a day may be okay for someone like me, old, desk job, hypothyroid, blah blah blah..... For a young, active, work out type of person... Nope.0
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lesleyloo7879 wrote: »morganpalmer9 wrote: »I'm a 5'4 124 lb female and I pretty much eat 1,200 on the dot every day. I also run (HIIT) between 30-35 mins a day and do strength training for 30-40 mins a day as well. Should I be eating a lot more with this activity level? I want to lose a few lbs but DON'T want to do it in a healthy way.
Also-I do wear a heart rate monitor while working out to see how much I burn, but it's usually super super high, but I assume I burn at least 400 cals a workout.
Did anyone else see that..... is that a typo?
hah yes, oops! I mean't unhealthy :00 -
itsbasschick wrote: »1200 calories is pretty darn low for someone doing HIT daily and training - i'd say too low. i am 5' 3 1/2", and at 1200 calories i was losing 2 to 3 pounds a week - and i'm not as active as you are. you might want to add some protein calories so you don't burn muscle.
are you logging your workouts into MFP along with your foods?
Yes I am. But I really think my heart rate monitor over exaggerates what I burn so I still am unsure how many calories I should be eating. Surprisingly though, I'm not really losing any weight lately which makes me wonder..!0 -
1200 is too low for me. I'm 5'3" but significantly fatter than you. I'm ok at 1400-1500, but at 1200 I get unfriendly. I'd set myself to maintain or maybe just lose .5lb a week and eat at whatever mfp tells you plus half of the exercise calories. I'd stick with that for a month and see what happens.0
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Try eating back half of the exercise calories. At your height 1200 would probably be ok if you were sedentary and didn't do any exercise, but if you are exercising then you need to eat more.0
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OP, you mean 1200 plus eating back some/most of the 400 calories burned? I think that's ok since you probably don't have much to lose, if any and it gets harder and harder the closer you are to your ideal weight. Or do you mean 1200 flat out without eating back exercise calories? Now that would be way too low.0
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vegasleo79 wrote: »OP, you mean 1200 plus eating back some/most of the 400 calories burned? I think that's ok since you probably don't have much to lose, if any and it gets harder and harder the closer you are to your ideal weight. Or do you mean 1200 flat out without eating back exercise calories? Now that would be way too low.
Yes, right now I eat 1,200 calories and thats it. regardless of what I exercise or burn that day. And I don't know how much to eat back in because my calorie burn is always at like 700-800, which i know is not true lol. I just wasn't sure if I should be at say, 1400 just to be safe?0 -
morganpalmer9 wrote: »itsbasschick wrote: »1200 calories is pretty darn low for someone doing HIT daily and training - i'd say too low. i am 5' 3 1/2", and at 1200 calories i was losing 2 to 3 pounds a week - and i'm not as active as you are. you might want to add some protein calories so you don't burn muscle.
are you logging your workouts into MFP along with your foods?
Yes I am. But I really think my heart rate monitor over exaggerates what I burn so I still am unsure how many calories I should be eating. Surprisingly though, I'm not really losing any weight lately which makes me wonder..!
How long is "lately"?0 -
morganpalmer9 wrote: »vegasleo79 wrote: »OP, you mean 1200 plus eating back some/most of the 400 calories burned? I think that's ok since you probably don't have much to lose, if any and it gets harder and harder the closer you are to your ideal weight. Or do you mean 1200 flat out without eating back exercise calories? Now that would be way too low.
Yes, right now I eat 1,200 calories and thats it. regardless of what I exercise or burn that day. And I don't know how much to eat back in because my calorie burn is always at like 700-800, which i know is not true lol. I just wasn't sure if I should be at say, 1400 just to be safe?
Then you're too low. You may lose the couple lbs that you're after, but still may not like the results because you sacrificed more of the weight in LBM than fat and didn't change your BF% much....if at all.
You're dead center for a healthy BMI. To get the results you're looking for you should be invstigating a recomp, and a recomp won't be accomplished at the low level you're eating at.
How did you get 1200 for a calorie goal? I just ran a quick calculation and that's TDEE -50% and definitely not advised, especially for someone of your height/weight/activity level.0 -
morganpalmer9 wrote: »vegasleo79 wrote: »OP, you mean 1200 plus eating back some/most of the 400 calories burned? I think that's ok since you probably don't have much to lose, if any and it gets harder and harder the closer you are to your ideal weight. Or do you mean 1200 flat out without eating back exercise calories? Now that would be way too low.
Yes, right now I eat 1,200 calories and thats it. regardless of what I exercise or burn that day. And I don't know how much to eat back in because my calorie burn is always at like 700-800, which i know is not true lol. I just wasn't sure if I should be at say, 1400 just to be safe?
If your calorie burn is correct then you are netting about 450 calories a day (1200 - 750 + 450) which is not good. I agree that the calorie burn may be too high, so if you eat half then you would net 825 a day (1200 - 750 + 375 = 825) which is still really too low. It is hard to know how much to eat back when you are eating at the minimum because any calorie burn will put you netting under the limit. I would start with eating back half and maybe go up to 75%. I personally try to make sure I net over 1000 per day. I have my goal set to 1300 and if I don't eat back enough of my exercise calories then I don't net the minimum. I am now eating back about 80% and I think I just about have it right. I was losing faster than my goal so I started eating back more of my exercise calories.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »morganpalmer9 wrote: »itsbasschick wrote: »1200 calories is pretty darn low for someone doing HIT daily and training - i'd say too low. i am 5' 3 1/2", and at 1200 calories i was losing 2 to 3 pounds a week - and i'm not as active as you are. you might want to add some protein calories so you don't burn muscle.
are you logging your workouts into MFP along with your foods?
Yes I am. But I really think my heart rate monitor over exaggerates what I burn so I still am unsure how many calories I should be eating. Surprisingly though, I'm not really losing any weight lately which makes me wonder..!
How long is "lately"?
probably 3 to 4 months.0 -
morganpalmer9 wrote: »vegasleo79 wrote: »OP, you mean 1200 plus eating back some/most of the 400 calories burned? I think that's ok since you probably don't have much to lose, if any and it gets harder and harder the closer you are to your ideal weight. Or do you mean 1200 flat out without eating back exercise calories? Now that would be way too low.
Yes, right now I eat 1,200 calories and thats it. regardless of what I exercise or burn that day. And I don't know how much to eat back in because my calorie burn is always at like 700-800, which i know is not true lol. I just wasn't sure if I should be at say, 1400 just to be safe?
Then you're too low. You may lose the couple lbs that you're after, but still may not like the results because you sacrificed more of the weight in LBM than fat and didn't change your BF% much....if at all.
You're dead center for a healthy BMI. To get the results you're looking for you should be invstigating a recomp.
How did you get 1200 for a calorie goal? I just ran a quick calculation and that's TDEE -50% and definitely not advised, especially for someone of your height/weight/activity level.
in MFP that's what it gives me. I put in I'd like to lose a lb a week and that I work 6 times a week for around an hour and it tells me 1,200 calories. What exactly do you mean by recomp?0 -
I don't know about recomp, that's definitely an area for someone else, but yes, if you're trying to lose a bit of weight, I would eat back like half of that estimated burn. So maybe around 1500-1600 calories a day? 1200 + 300-400 in exercise calories = 1500-1600. That's at least what I would do, not sure if it is correct.0
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Juts for reference, I eat 1400 plus all of my exercise calories (about 200-500, depending on what I do. I wear a heart rate monitor so it's more exact, but still can be faulty). I'm 5'8, was 210, now 187, goal 165.0
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morganpalmer9 wrote: »morganpalmer9 wrote: »vegasleo79 wrote: »OP, you mean 1200 plus eating back some/most of the 400 calories burned? I think that's ok since you probably don't have much to lose, if any and it gets harder and harder the closer you are to your ideal weight. Or do you mean 1200 flat out without eating back exercise calories? Now that would be way too low.
Yes, right now I eat 1,200 calories and thats it. regardless of what I exercise or burn that day. And I don't know how much to eat back in because my calorie burn is always at like 700-800, which i know is not true lol. I just wasn't sure if I should be at say, 1400 just to be safe?
Then you're too low. You may lose the couple lbs that you're after, but still may not like the results because you sacrificed more of the weight in LBM than fat and didn't change your BF% much....if at all.
You're dead center for a healthy BMI. To get the results you're looking for you should be invstigating a recomp.
How did you get 1200 for a calorie goal? I just ran a quick calculation and that's TDEE -50% and definitely not advised, especially for someone of your height/weight/activity level.
in MFP that's what it gives me. I put in I'd like to lose a lb a week and that I work 6 times a week for around an hour and it tells me 1,200 calories. What exactly do you mean by recomp?
1 lb per week is too aggressive for you, and even though you entered in that you work out 6 times a week MFP still doesn't adjust for that.
Recomp = Lowering your BF% while you stay roughly the same weight.
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