I believe my cal count is too high! 1600!

datbrittish

I really feel uncomfortable doing 1600 cals a day. I mean I want to lose weight not gain! Has anyone lose weight by sticking to the recommended cal count being over 1200?

dragon_girl26

What is your current height/ weight? How much are you looking to lose? What do you have your activity level set to?
To answer your question, I lost the majority of my weight (80 lbs) on 1500 calories net per day. I'm 5'6", started at 241 lbs.

AliceDark

Yes, absolutely. 1200 calories is only an appropriate target for a small population of people under some very specific circumstances. What are your stats? (Height, CW, GW, desired rate of loss).

jemhh

Yes. A huge number of women here eat more than that and lose. I didn't log calories from 202 down to the 170s but from there to 150 ate 1750-1850 per day. Now I eat more than that while losing.

slaite1

Plenty of people do not need to eat 1200 calories a day to lose weight. I have never eat anywhere near that low and have lost consistently. There are a ton of variables (height/starting weight/activity level) but I doubt 1600 is too low. 1600 calories is not a lot of food.

Sara2652

I'm losing at 1800cal a day sometimes more. I started at 230 and I'm 5'5 so I do have a good amount to lose.

nutmegoreo

MFP gave me 1200, but I hated that with a passion. No wiggle room for treats, and all too often ended up going over and felt like a failure. I manually overrode it to 1600 and happily lose at that intake.

Whether or not that is appropriate for you will depend on several things, such as the answers to the questions posed by the posters above.

ksmommy5

Lost 50# on 1500 in 5 months. 5'5" started at 245.

estherdragonbat

I was at 1710 when I started MFP. Granted, my starting weight was 254 lbs. I'm a 5'3" woman with a goal of 130.

Currently at 191.6 and on 1380 calories to lose 1 lb/week. (I typically eat about 1600, because I exercise more and eat back half of those calories.)

SafioraLinnea

My weight loss intake amount is 1840 calories - that gives me a deficit for roughly 0.75-1lb of loss weekly. Yep. Lots of food.

Could I do it faster at less calories? Sure. But I don't want to so I'm not. I'd rather do this slow and steady and succeed long term and feel healthy while losing than try to lose it fast and yo yo back up.

Christine_72

I'm 5"8, 148lbs, age 45, lightly active, and 1500-1600 calories is the lowest i have to go to lose weight.

__TMac__

I eat 1720 daily, plus my exercise cals, so it's really more like 2000.

SCoil123

I couldn't continue my workouts if I ate only 1200 calories a day. As long as I NET below 1500 I lose. I eat between 1600-2000 a day depending on activity to NET that number.

Your personal stats will determine the number for you. I'm 5'7", 37yr, and work out 4-6 days a week. I'm also 9lb from goal and alternate losing with muscle building phases. This is relevant because the calorie goal for me would be very different than someone 5' with 50+lbs to lose who doesn't work out.

Tried30UserNames

I manually set mine to 1500 and I eat more with exercise. I'm a 162 lb middle aged female and losing fine.

vivelajackie

1840 at a 2lb loss per week. So... Many lose at higher than 1200. 1600 sounds fine, without knowing your stats.

livingleanlivingclean

I find this somewhat funny.....if I was told to eat 3000 cals a day to lose weight, I'd do it without question, because I like food. The more calories the better! Of course, if I didn't get results after a decent amount of time, then I'd question it.

OP, you win when you lose on as many calories as possible. Food is your friend, not an enemy to avoid. Eating less is not better - it may make you lose faster, but you'll have less energy, less nutrients, as well as struggle to fit foods in that make life enjoyable. Try the 1600, see how you react after a few weeks, then make changes if necessary.

bbell1985

I eat 1600. 5'4" and 142lbs. I lose slowly but I lose.

junodog1

1500 plus exercise calories. And I am losing. Some days I want to eat everything and some days it is hard to eat all I need to.

carveyl

I eat 1800- 2100 depending on if it's a low carb (rest, yoga or HIIT training days) or high carb day (heavy leg day) . I'm 5'10 170 lbs down from 286 lbs. I mainly track macros and not calories so much and that seemed to work better for me

malibu927

I can't eat below 1500 or I get hangry. Lost on 1600-2000 net at 1.5 pounds per week with an active job.

TonyB0588

datbrittish wrote: »

I really feel uncomfortable doing 1600 cals a day. I mean I want to lose weight not gain! Has anyone lose weight by sticking to the recommended cal count being over 1200?

The calorie suggestion from MFP is set based on the original information you put in when you start the program. Maybe you were inaccurate and could make some adjustments. Of course, most people need to be higher than 1200 calories per day.

I ate at 1810 for a whole year and reached my goal. Then I made some adjustments in my profile and am now allowed 1980 for a new slightly lower goal weight.