MFP Calorie Count seems a bit high!

Hello, so after setting my goals/weight (5'10, 261 ect) MFP suggests 1890 calories/day to lose 10 lbs by October. I feel like this is a fairly large amount of calories and question the accuracy. Has anyone else found the suggested intake to be off? Would i not be better off in 1200-1600 range?

Thank you.

Replies

Nony_Mouse

Nope, at your height and weight, that is a good amount of calories. And I'm assuming you mean 10lb by the end of October? Cos October is only two weeks from now...

1200 would absolutely, definitively be too low for you. Trust the calculation. Eat that for 4-6 weeks then reassess. If you're not losing at the predicted rate, drop your daily calories by 100. Repeat and reassess.

__TMac__

Nope. I'm 5'10" and started at 248 lbs. My calories were in the same range as yours. Now I'm at 182 lbs.

And don't worry, you get fewer calories as you lose. You'll soon be thinking it's not enough, so enjoy it while you can!

Also, please reconsider putting a timeline on your weight loss. This should be a habit-building sort of thing. Give yourself the time to settle into new routines.

Old_Cat_Lady

If I had to eat only 1200 calories a day I would go insane. You have no idea how little that is. Especially for someone your height.
Weight that you lose slowly, is weight you can keep off for life.

mrs13rock

__TMac__ wrote: »

Nope. I'm 5'10" and started at 248 lbs. My calories were in the same range as yours. Now I'm at 182 lbs.

And don't worry, you get fewer calories as you lose. You'll soon be thinking it's not enough, so enjoy it while you can!

Also, please reconsider putting a timeline on your weight loss. This should be a habit-building sort of thing. Give yourself the time to settle into new routines.

Wow- that is an incredible weight loss! Over what period of time was that?

SezxyStef

nope I don't see it as too high either...

at 175 and 5 ft 7 mine as first was 1460...and it will go down as you lose weight and change weight loss goal and could go up if you change weekly weight loss goal to a lower weight...

and you get more if you exercise.

I think that this is one of the reasons that MFP is a good thing..if you are reasonable with goals you get lots to eat.

JLively1020

__TMac__ wrote: »

Nope. I'm 5'10" and started at 248 lbs. My calories were in the same range as yours. Now I'm at 182 lbs.

And don't worry, you get fewer calories as you lose. You'll soon be thinking it's not enough, so enjoy it while you can!

Also, please reconsider putting a timeline on your weight loss. This should be a habit-building sort of thing. Give yourself the time to settle into new routines.

Thank you all for the responses.

Regarding the "timeline" its a important aspect due to endocrinology expectations. Without going in depth, i had a heart transplant 7 years ago and have since become diabetic with triglycerides in 1500 range. While i certainly agree with the slow, habit-building method, my situation is a bit different

In addition, i was logging roughly 1400 calories to MFP a few years ago with success, but got away from that and began to over eat - hence the 261. I think the only real concern i have doing that is entering starvation mode. So im just trying to balance a healthy and comfortable amount of calories without feeling like im over eating. Which i do at the 1890.

Again, thank you!

deannalfisher

there is no such thing as starvation mode...there is adaptive thermogenesis, but that takes time to occur as your metabolism is regulated down

stick to the 1890 - remember that MFP gives you calorie recommendations WITHOUT taking into account purposeful exercise, so you want to NET 1890 a day

Purplebunnysarah

If you find that 1890 calories feels like too much food, make more calorie dense choices. You will physically eat less while taking in the same number of calories.

Silentpadna

JLively1020 wrote: »

Hello, so after setting my goals/weight (5'10, 261 ect) MFP suggests 1890 calories/day to lose 10 lbs by October. I feel like this is a fairly large amount of calories and question the accuracy. Has anyone else found the suggested intake to be off? Would i not be better off in 1200-1600 range?

Thank you.

@JLively1020 I checked your profile...I see you are male. For comparison sake, I was (still am) 5'11", and weighed 240 when I started. I ate an average of about 2200 calories per day for the first 5 months and lost 44 pounds doing it. I'm also 54 years old....

I did plenty of exercise, but if I did nothing 1900 would have done the about the same. (I've slowed down since then because I'm closer to goal).

Give it a go doing what MFP tells you. Eat exercise calories when you get them.

Don't be tempted to tie a hard date to your goal. If you want 10 pounds gone, you can hold half or more of that in water weight at any given time.

It's not a race. Do the process steadily.

amtyrell

Try it. Logging acuratly that is not that much food. I bet you were eating much more.
I am also 5 ft 10. I am down 54 lbs since February. I have been eating what mfp tells me and even on rare occasions over. Log honestly and before you eat and eat what mfp says. The weight will come off.

jeichelb83

I don't think that's a high number either. I'm only 5'2" and can maintain on 1680.

__TMac__

mrs13rock wrote: »

__TMac__ wrote: »

Nope. I'm 5'10" and started at 248 lbs. My calories were in the same range as yours. Now I'm at 182 lbs.

And don't worry, you get fewer calories as you lose. You'll soon be thinking it's not enough, so enjoy it while you can!

Also, please reconsider putting a timeline on your weight loss. This should be a habit-building sort of thing. Give yourself the time to settle into new routines.

Wow- that is an incredible weight loss! Over what period of time was that?

I lost the first 20 over about 4 months, then purposefully maintained for several months. I've lost the remainder over the last year or so. Slow and steady. Just the way I like it.