calorie intake advice

GettingFitSlim
GettingFitSlim Posts: 42 Member
edited August 2016 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
So when I was trying to lose weight, my calorie intake by MFP was set to 1,200. I did great on that and most days didnt even eat all my calories so i lost 23 pounds and now just want to maintain my weight. I have the settings set on "Sedentary" and it tells me i should eat 1,550. That sounds like a lot. Is that right?

Totally forgot to add. Im female. 23 yrs old. 5'4", 107 pounds now, was 130.

Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    It depends. What are your stats? height weight age sex and goals?
  • GettingFitSlim
    GettingFitSlim Posts: 42 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    It depends. What are your stats? height weight age sex and goals?

    sorry totally forgot to add. edited it
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited August 2016
    .
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    It could be right. Log your calories accurately and watch your weight or measurements for a month, change your intake up or down if your measurements start to head in the wrong direction. From here on out, it is all about tweaking your personal numbers.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited August 2016
    .
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    edited August 2016
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    I really hate throwing out number of calories for any one to eat, but because I am too lazy to run the numbers and I am 5'4" and 114 pounds, this sounds about right. I actually maintain on slightly less, but I am an old "fart".

    My farts are even older and I also have the same stats. My maintenance is about 1900.
  • abadvat
    abadvat Posts: 1,241 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    I really hate throwing out number of calories for any one to eat, but because I am too lazy to run the numbers and I am 5'4" and 114 pounds, this sounds about right. I actually maintain on slightly less, but I am an old "fart".

    My farts are even older and I also have the same stats. My maintenance is about 1900.

    your what?!
  • griffinca2
    griffinca2 Posts: 672 Member
    Could be, but I wouldn't start eating that many cals right away. You want to add back slowly and follow queenliz's advice abt logging and watching. That's what I did and ended up (for now anyway) eating slightly below MFP's cal recommendation. It's all about figuring out what works for you not what some book or systems says you should be eating.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    abadvat wrote: »
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    I really hate throwing out number of calories for any one to eat, but because I am too lazy to run the numbers and I am 5'4" and 114 pounds, this sounds about right. I actually maintain on slightly less, but I am an old "fart".

    My farts are even older and I also have the same stats. My maintenance is about 1900.

    your what?!

    But sweet!
  • abadvat
    abadvat Posts: 1,241 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    abadvat wrote: »
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    I really hate throwing out number of calories for any one to eat, but because I am too lazy to run the numbers and I am 5'4" and 114 pounds, this sounds about right. I actually maintain on slightly less, but I am an old "fart".

    My farts are even older and I also have the same stats. My maintenance is about 1900.

    your what?!

    But sweet!

    unicorn rainbow sweet?
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited August 2016
    .
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    18xqwc4pzc83.gif
  • abadvat
    abadvat Posts: 1,241 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    18xqwc4pzc83.gif

    the force is strong in this one!
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    OP how fast were you losing when you were eating 1200 (or under as you said you didn't always eat all your calories)? Do you exercise? Do you eat back some of those calories when you do?

    I don't think 1550 sounds too high at all for maintenance. In fact, I bet your TDEE is higher, if you exercise at all.

    Most people find it helpful to slowly increase up to their maintenance calories, by adding in 350 or more cals all at once you may see a rebound on the scale, and slowly increasing by 150 cals for a couple of weeks, then another 150 cals, will help you avoid that and help you determine if 1500-1600 really is your maintenance level. If you increase up to that level over a month and are still losing slowly, then you may want to go a little higher.

    For what it's worth, I'm twenty years older than you, about the same height and maintaining around 120. My maintenance cals are 2200. 1550 is what I ate when I was losing!

Categories