1200 Calorie Limit No matter what settings?

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Libby283
Libby283 Posts: 288 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was playing with the settings and I get a 1200 calorie limit if I choose .5 lb a week or 2 lbs a week. How is that possible? It does not seem to make sense. Is this a flaw in the apps calculations?
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  • patsyacs
    patsyacs Posts: 1,322 Member
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    1200 calories is the lowest recommendation that MFP will give no matter what you want to lose.
  • Libby283
    Libby283 Posts: 288 Member
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    I am 5'3", starting weight was 158 lbs and my goal is 124. I am 38 years old.

    So I really need to be eating less than 1200? The 1200 is hard enough to stick to and still fit in good nutrition. I noticed this because my boyfriend and another friend had much higher daily limits, so I was playing with it and did not see any difference.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Libby283 wrote: »
    I was playing with the settings and I get a 1200 calorie limit if I choose .5 lb a week or 2 lbs a week. How is that possible? It does not seem to make sense. Is this a flaw in the apps calculations?

    Are you extremely petite, and already at a healthy weight for your height? Try putting in "maintain my weight" and see what number you get.

    MFP estimates your maintenance NEAT (the amount of calories you burn without purposeful exercise) and then subtracts from that based on what you select as a rate of loss. 0.5 lb week equals a 250 cal deficit, 1 lb/week equals a 500 cal deficit, 2 lb/week equals a 1000 cal deficit. Then that becomes your calorie goal. BUT...

    MFP has a lower limit of 1200 calories for women so it won't go below that. If I it thinks your maintenance cals are 1450, it would subtract 250 from that for 0.5 lb/week and your goal would be 1200. If you select 1 lb/week, it tries to subtract 500 but 1450-500=950 which is below the minimum threshold, so it is rounded back up to 1200.

    If you are petite and relatively light it's likely that MFP thinks you have a lower maintenance cal level so the numbers are the same. If that's the case, and depending on your goal, you probably shouldn't be aiming to lose more than 0.5 lb/week.
  • Libby283
    Libby283 Posts: 288 Member
    edited April 2017
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    I am petite but have gotten heavy in the last 4 months. I gained 30 lbs after getting an IUD. I look obese with my spare tire around my waste.

    I get a limit of 1680 when I set to maintain weight.
  • JacobNicolaus
    JacobNicolaus Posts: 34 Member
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    Libby283 wrote: »
    I was playing with the settings and I get a 1200 calorie limit if I choose .5 lb a week or 2 lbs a week. How is that possible? It does not seem to make sense. Is this a flaw in the apps calculations?

    I think the reason MFP puts 1,200 ccal as an absolute minimum is because that's the smallest amount of calories you can eat and still be healthy.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    Not only did my calorie goal change from 1200 for how quickly I wanted to lose weight but also which all activity levels except the most active one. I am only 4'11 and didn't start using the app until towards the end of my weight loss. At maintenance I am only at 1300 calories for my NEAT and that is with a BMI of 21.7 give or take depending on the day.
    I don’t think I would have been able to lose much weight at all without a reasonable amount of cardio. Eating back only half my exercise calories meant I could still lose at a rate of about a pound a week. Even at maintenance I still need this exercise to fit in nutritional needs while still having an occasional treat. Just get to eat more of it back.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Libby283 wrote: »
    I am petite but have gotten heavy in the last 4 months. I gained 30 lbs after getting an IUD. I look obese with my spare tire around my waste.

    I get a limit of 1680 when I set to maintain weight.

    If your maintenance is 1680 and you want to lose 30 or so lbs, then set it to lose 1 lb/ week which should put you at 1200. Eat a variety of foods focusing on those which provide nutrition (macro and micro nutrients) , satiety (fills you up) and enjoyment (keeps you on track). Log everything you eat, as accurately as possible, ideally using a food scale. When you exercise, log and eat back at least some of those calories, the 1200 goal is a NET goal. Then monitor your results for the next several weeks. After you get down to about 20 or so lbs to lose, you would want to change your goal to losing 0,5 lb/week which will slow down your loss but help ease the transition into maintenance.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    sarraheclark wrote: »
    Do not eat less than 1200 cal per day to ensure you are getting proper nutrients. You may just have to accept that you may not lose weight as fast as you would like, but for a fairly small person, your body doesn't burn as many calories on an average day.

    I ran in to a similar frustration. After being on 1200 cal/day for three months and dropping 20 lbs, I wanted to give myself a little bit of a break. I changed my weight loss goal from 2lb/week to 1.5lb/wk and it only allotted me 60 more calories. I was a bit disappointed. I'm 5'10 and still have 25+ lbs left to go.

    Stick to the 1200 net and you should start seeing progress.

    With 25 lbs to go a goal of 0.5 - 1 lb/week is a more appropriate goal for you.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Libby283 wrote: »
    I was playing with the settings and I get a 1200 calorie limit if I choose .5 lb a week or 2 lbs a week. How is that possible? It does not seem to make sense. Is this a flaw in the apps calculations?

    Also keep in mind this is before exercise, if you log exercise you earn more calories. If you plan exercise & it will be consistent check out a TDEE calculator. That will average out the exercise over the week.

    Another method - get an activity tracker & sync to MFP. Then log lots of steps. Active people use more calories.
  • TxTiffani
    TxTiffani Posts: 798 Member
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    Yep, curse of the short girls:/ It takes less calories to run our compact bodies. I'm 5'0 with 25-30 more lbs to lose and I get 1320 at .5 a week but any other setting gives me 1200. I try to stick to 1200 and if I get hungrier than usual I eat into my calories earned by my exercise bike riding:)
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
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    I don't think 5'3" is that short IMO. I do believe anything more than 1lb a week is weight loss is too aggressive though. 1lb a week is a decent goal.
  • Libby283
    Libby283 Posts: 288 Member
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    I used a fit bit the last time I did the program. I just have not had time for exercise this week. I did consistently do it last week. I did not eat back the calories and lost 4 lbs in 9 days.

    I think I am also retaining huge amounts of water, because this morning, I was 2 lbs heavier than yesterday morning.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Libby283 wrote: »
    I was playing with the settings and I get a 1200 calorie limit if I choose .5 lb a week or 2 lbs a week. How is that possible? It does not seem to make sense. Is this a flaw in the apps calculations?

    Select to maintain - what happens?
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited April 2017
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    Libby283 wrote: »
    I am 5'3", starting weight was 158 lbs and my goal is 124. I am 38 years old.

    So I really need to be eating less than 1200? The 1200 is hard enough to stick to and still fit in good nutrition. I noticed this because my boyfriend and another friend had much higher daily limits, so I was playing with it and did not see any difference.

    Your BMR is 1460, sedentary burn (before exercise) would be 1750 to 1825. So putting in .5-1 pound per week should give you over 1200 for a goal. Make sure your height, weight are entered correctly.

    Edited because I read more repsonses. If you get 1680 to maintain then a .5 pound loss would be 1430. Still would not hurt to make sure your stats are correct in MFP. Keep in mind, if you can increase your daily activity that would increase your starting point as well.
  • Libby283
    Libby283 Posts: 288 Member
    edited April 2017
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    Stats are correct in MFP. I have checked them multiple times. I can try to increase activity but time is my issue. I am stuck at a desk for 8 hours a day. Some days I take a walk at lunch when I can, but other days we get no lunch.

    Other than work, I am an active person always on the go. We do take hikes, walks and bicycle rides through the neighborhood. I have a large yard. Just getting the mail and taking the trash out is a 10 minute activity.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    It doesn't seem right that you got exactly 1200 for .5 lb loss at your stats. It makes sense for 1 lb or higher because MFP has a minimum recommendation of 1200 and you are not very overweight.

    Your maintenance probably is around 1600 though if you are sedentary. If it says your maintenance is 1680 eating anything below that should result in weight loss over time. You could subtract 250 and enter 1430 for your custom calorie goal to lose about .5 lb a week. See how that goes. You could gradually drop to 1200 but it may be easier to start around 1400.

    Remember to log exercise and eat some of the exercise calories.

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Libby283 wrote: »
    I used a fit bit the last time I did the program. I just have not had time for exercise this week. I did consistently do it last week. I did not eat back the calories and lost 4 lbs in 9 days.

    I think I am also retaining huge amounts of water, because this morning, I was 2 lbs heavier than yesterday morning.

    4 pounds in 9 days is not fat loss......well maybe 1 pound is fat (and possibly lean muscle).

    So the next week you ate more carbs, or ate more sodium, or had sore muscles, or time of month was near...... and you gained 2 of those lost water pounds back. No big deal. Weight loss is not linear. You are looking for downward trends.

    Large deficits make it harder for your body to support existing lean muscle mass. This is why MFP gives you additional calories for exercise, this keeps the deficit in check. This also helps you lower your body fat %.

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