Calories

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sfsoccermom2
sfsoccermom2 Posts: 233 Member
in Getting Started
I've been with MFP before and lost 70 pounds on 1200 calories, but I had a hard time sticking to that calorie amount. I'm restarting again and am so confused on where to be in calories. I don't get much exercise at the moment and my blood sugars have been out of control, that I want to do this the right way this time to make it a lifelong change. Any suggestions on calories? How many do you eat?

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  • sfsoccermom2
    sfsoccermom2 Posts: 233 Member
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    MFP has me back at 1200.....ugh
  • Rufftimes
    Rufftimes Posts: 349 Member
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    The calculator I believe simply takes into account the amount you want to lose per week and your activity level, so if you set it high, It's going to say 1200 every time. Short answer, set it to lose less per week. Another solution, add in some exercise. Yet another solution, maybe try a different style of eating? When I was eating standard diet, I was starving all the time at 1200. On Keto, I always feel stuffed.....
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited May 2017
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    sfsoccermom1 wrote: »
    I've been with MFP before and lost 70 pounds on 1200 calories, but I had a hard time sticking to that calorie amount. I'm restarting again and am so confused on where to be in calories. I don't get much exercise at the moment and my blood sugars have been out of control, that I want to do this the right way this time to make it a lifelong change. Any suggestions on calories? How many do you eat?

    1200 is a minimum before exercise. If you do exercise......plan on eating more. 1200 is more appropriate if you are a very petite or elderly woman. If you are neither of those 2 things, plan on losing more slowly.

    The main thing is staying the course. If you can't make 1200 work (you likely don't have to) then pick a number that helps you be consistent. Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint.

    I don't need to make any radical changes or do an elimination diet when my calories aren't too low (for me). That's important. The life long change is figuring out what you can keep for a lifetime. Example: I'm not a jock, I never will be. I could do really aggressive workouts.....but that would be temporary. Instead I choose moderate exercise, that I can do for a life time.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Rufftimes wrote: »
    The calculator I believe simply takes into account the amount you want to lose per week and your activity level, so if you set it high, It's going to say 1200 every time. Short answer, set it to lose less per week. Another solution, add in some exercise. Yet another solution, maybe try a different style of eating? When I was eating standard diet, I was starving all the time at 1200. On Keto, I always feel stuffed.....

    Of course you were.....because that's the default minimum for a WOMAN.
  • TheCupcakeCounter
    TheCupcakeCounter Posts: 606 Member
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    Yes - reset your weekly loss goal to 0.5 or 1 lb per week and see how many calories that gets you. Slow and steady is best for long term success especially since it is usually a huge change from what you were doing before.
    Another option is figure out your maintenance at your desired weight and eat that (think it is called reverse dieting) or set to maintenance at current weight and then slowly reduce your calories each week (100 calorie deficit this week, 200 next week, etc...) until you get to a 1lb or so per week loss level. Add in some light exercise and don't eat those calories back.
    I have my goal set to 1 lb/week and then try to get another .5 lb through exercise by limiting the amount of exercise calories I eat back.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Change your weight loss goal so you can eat more.
  • sfsoccermom2
    sfsoccermom2 Posts: 233 Member
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    Thank you everyone. I'm going to reset my pounds per week loss and see where it takes me.
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,434 Member
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    Everything said above is good. Mine is at 1/2lb/per week & it's 1500 cal/day. I don't do keto but a friend does & she lost 53lbs already eating pretty well
  • Rufftimes
    Rufftimes Posts: 349 Member
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    TeaBea wrote: »
    Rufftimes wrote: »
    The calculator I believe simply takes into account the amount you want to lose per week and your activity level, so if you set it high, It's going to say 1200 every time. Short answer, set it to lose less per week. Another solution, add in some exercise. Yet another solution, maybe try a different style of eating? When I was eating standard diet, I was starving all the time at 1200. On Keto, I always feel stuffed.....

    Of course you were.....because that's the default minimum for a WOMAN.

    Good catch, actually I was higher, my fingers were typing faster than my brain
  • Moopstheterrible
    Moopstheterrible Posts: 7 Member
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    Check out this TDEE calculator. It will tell you how many calories you should be eating based on your age, gender, height, weight and activity level.

    https://tdeecalculator.net/

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