1500 too little for me?

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Valdus92
Valdus92 Posts: 25 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am 44, active, though less in the summer, exercise at least 4x a week, 212 pds. I want to lose about 25 pds, is 1500 calories too little? And I rarely eat back my exercise deficit.

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  • scottaworley
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
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    http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/
  • DancingDreams1234
    DancingDreams1234 Posts: 165
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    Personally I think that's fine, as long as you're not feeling tired or anything. Calculate your BMR, and TDEE, I believe you eat 10%-20% below your TDEE (Don't quote me on that, I'm not sure you'll have to check on the % numbers)
  • mayonie1
    mayonie1 Posts: 296 Member
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    Mmhh lets hear from others Im new here and struggling to complete 1200 especially the days I exercise. I just run out of ideas on what to eat more. I used to love food but now that I decided to lose weight Im scared to eat..I get bloated if I exceed 1200. I need help.
    47516265.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Nutrition Facts For Foods
  • kr1stadee
    kr1stadee Posts: 1,774 Member
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    If you find it too little, eat at least half your exercise calories back, or change your pounds-per-week goal to something smaller (I'm assuming you're at 1.5-2 lbs/week)
  • iceqieen
    iceqieen Posts: 897 Member
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    http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

    To elaborate: If you dont like the method of eating back exercise calories, calculate your TDEE and subtrack 10-20% depending on how much you have left to lose.

    Best of luck :)

    ETA: https://www.facebook.com/pages/In-Place-of-a-Road-Map-MFP/342385002516919 can bea good read as well
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    You are a man. Yes, it is too little. With only 22 more pounds to lose, you want to have a modest calorie deficit and this deficit will get smaller as you get closer to goal.

    Set MFP to lose 1 pound a week, and eat back exercise calories. When you get down another 5 pounds, set it to lose half a pound a week.
  • Valdus92
    Valdus92 Posts: 25 Member
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    According to that calculator, aggressive is 2000, I can barely think of eating that much right now
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    According to that calculator, aggressive is 2000, I can barely think of eating that much right now
    Don't label food as "bad". Too many people when dieting go to the extreme and won't eat a lot of foods because they're afraid they're fattening (no foods are fattening, eating too many calories is fattening). Cook with oils, add in calorie dense foods like nuts, nut butters, avocados, trail mix, a piece of chocolate or two, or even a bowl of ice cream.

    Hell, try a piece of this for dinner:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1060504-garbageless-lasagna

    :laugh:
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    According to that calculator, aggressive is 2000, I can barely think of eating that much right now

    The weight loss categories are on the left. Were you looking in the right place? The right column is for bulking. That calculator is a bit confusing. Try this one:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    According to that calculator, aggressive is 2000, I can barely think of eating that much right now

    The weight loss categories are on the left. Were you looking in the right place? The right column is for bulking. That calculator is a bit confusing. Try this one:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    There's no way that for a man who weighs around 200lbs that 2000 calories would be bulking. He could likely easily lose at that intake if he's active at all.
  • ddoeren84
    ddoeren84 Posts: 30
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    I am 44, active, though less in the summer, exercise at least 4x a week, 212 pds. I want to lose about 25 pds, is 1500 calories too little? And I rarely eat back my exercise deficit.

    I'm in the same boat. Male, 29, 210 lbs with 25 to lose. My net calorie goal is currently 1500. Yesterday I only ate 1270 calories and walked on the treadmill for an hour and felt fine.

    I thought it would be tough to stay under 1500 calories but its pretty easy if you're not going out to eat.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    According to that calculator, aggressive is 2000, I can barely think of eating that much right now

    The weight loss categories are on the left. Were you looking in the right place? The right column is for bulking. That calculator is a bit confusing. Try this one:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    There's no way that for a man who weighs around 200lbs that 2000 calories would be bulking. He could likely easily lose at that intake if he's active at all.

    You are correct, I didn't see the aggressive in the left column under fat loss, I only saw it in the right column. That webpage is jumbled up on my browser and some words overlap.
  • scottaworley
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
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    According to that calculator, aggressive is 2000, I can barely think of eating that much right now

    To answer your question, based on the stats that you gave, 1500 is too little. You should really try to be closer to the 1700 - 2000 range.
  • Valdus92
    Valdus92 Posts: 25 Member
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    I am going to continue to see if I am getting tired, if I get tired Ill start eating about half of my exercise calories back.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    I am going to continue to see if I am getting tired, if I get tired Ill start eating about half of my exercise calories back.

    MFP calculates your estimated calorie needs WITHOUT EXERCISE. So you would lose weight without doing any exercise. When you DO exercise, you need more fuel for that. If you do not eat enough to fuel your exercise, you create too much stress on your body which releases the hormone cortisol. Excess cortisol is unhealthy, long term can cause serious health issues, and actually prevents weight loss.

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