QUESTION EVERYONE!!!

D3VIL07221987

Hi So I viewed someone's food diary and saw that their calorie goal was 1200 and mines currently set for 3100, I'm a bigger guy obviously...I'm curious, does the app lower your daily calorie goal as you improve or do you have to do it manually? I can't imagine eating only 1200 a day. I mean even when I lose weight and get smaller won't I still have the same appetite? I mean...I'm still the same person, won't my appetite be the same?

CurlyCockney

I update mine manually. I don't know if you'll have the same appetite, but if you lose weight you won't have the same energy needs for the same activities.

PaulaWallaDingDong

If you manually set a custom calorie goal, you'd need to take it upon yourself to recalculate. If you're using what MPF set for you, it sill prompt you to recalc every 10 lbs (I think).

Odds are you won't get 1200 as a reccommendation. It's mainly short females who get that.

Seajolly

Your appetite will likely decrease greatly as you lose weight and just eat less calories in general.

silverfiend

3100?! Unless you are trying to gain weight, I think you have it set wrong.

tmoneyag99

the 1200 calories is for an inactive woman at 120lbs. It all kind of follows a few different things but to keep it simple here is an extremely simplified physical explanation and likely scientifically inaccurate but for purposes of gaining a better understanding of calorie requirement...


Work requires energy. (your body works to stay alive, move, etc)
Work = Mass * Gravity * Height

the formula for Energy is
Energy = Mass * Speed^2



So think about it like this. The more you weigh the more energy your body requires to "Work" to stay alive and move. Your body obtains that energy from the kCalories it gets from food that it converts to glucose/glycogen.

The less you weigh the less calories it requires for you to work (perform the same functions). (see the equations above)

ALSO know that you being a man you likely have more muscle mass than a woman at your same size. Muscle is metabolically expensive. 1sq inch of muscle requires more calories to maintain than 1 sq inch of fat. Your body is designed to burn muscle (for protein) and fat based on the type of WORK you are doing. ie if you are doing work that requires the use of your muscles (weight lifting) your body will preserve that necessary tissue. Especially if you are consuming the proper macro nutrients needed to preserve that tissue. Men due to evolution need more muscle tissue to care for and feed their families.

Due to child bearing requirements and nursing requirements women are predisposed to maintain fat. (An infant under the age of 1 needs 50% of their calories to come from fat. A "fat" nursing mother during the paleolithic area that is going through a time of famine ensures her young survives)

Fact: a Man *can* develop up to 10lbs of muscle per month where as a woman usually can only develop 1lb of muscle a month.

Regarding your appetite as you get smaller it depends on the amount of *Work* you are doing. If you get smaller and only continue to do the same amount of work then you will need fewer calories. If you find other ways to maintain the same calorie burn (exercise) then your appetite/calorie requirement will stay the same while you get smaller. Note: Sometimes it is difficult to increase your ability to *work* at the same rate of your weight loss. This is due to the need to increase muscle mass, lung capacity, heart strength. All of which can take more time than reducing your daily calorie requirement by 1000 calories.


Cliff notes version

You are bigger, so your body requires more energy to perform it's required daily tasks. Therefore more calories
You are a man and you likely have more muscle mass than a woman at your same size. Your tissues are more metabolically expensive to maintain therefore you need more calories than a 5'3" 120lb woman.


As your weight goes down &/or you lose lean mass you will need fewer calories to perform your daily required tasks.

NewGemini130

The 1200 is not just for short inactive small women! I am semi-active (45 min/day brisk walking), still in obese zone (though about to move to overweight). 5'7" female and 195. Mfp has me at 1200; since it won't go down, I guess it could go up if I elected the slower pace planned loss (I select 2/week).

AnvilHead

silverfiend wrote: »

3100?! Unless you are trying to gain weight, I think you have it set wrong.

That's an awfully generalized (and potentially inaccurate) statement to make without knowing anything about his height and weight.

Lounmoun

D3VIL07221987 wrote: »

Hi So I viewed someone's food diary and saw that their calorie goal was 1200 and mines currently set for 3100, I'm a bigger guy obviously...I'm curious, does the app lower your daily calorie goal as you improve or do you have to do it manually? I can't imagine eating only 1200 a day. I mean even when I lose weight and get smaller won't I still have the same appetite? I mean...I'm still the same person, won't my appetite be the same?

Your goal is based on your height and weight, activity level and how much you are set to lose each week not your appetite. That amount of calories needed decreases as you lose weight.
MFP will prompt you to lower your calorie goal to keep losing at the rate you set... I think every 10 or 15 lbs. You can choose not to lower it but your weight loss will stop eventually if you keep eating 3100 calories
If you are male the minimum recommended calories is 1500 so you shouldn't really be set at 1200 ever unless you were very short, old and inactive.
I'm a 42 year old sedentary women at 157 lbs and 5'4" and my goal is 1200 without exercise. I had a higher calorie goal when I weighed more. When I get to say 125 lbs my maintenance calories will most likely be around 1400. It has nothing to do with how much food I can physically put in my body or want to eat.

fishshark

according to my HR monitor when i have school all day/sit around i only burn 1350 calories. its so depressing lol. the days im active i generally burn 2-2500 calories. I am a 5'2 130 pound female.

amfmmama

MFP will prompt you to adjust your goals as you lose weight and will make recommendations.

courtneyfabulous

You will never need to eat only 1200 calories. The bare minimum for males is 1500 and that's for completely sedentary small guys with a slow metabolism.

kelhea

1200 is the lowest recommendation for females to loose weight at, for a man it should be 1500 at the lowest.