Changing calorie goals?

katechris65
katechris65 Posts: 30 Member
edited December 2024 in Getting Started
Ive been on mfp for a while now but im wondering about the calorie goal i am set at. I only have about 5-10 lbs to lose so i changed my goal to lose .5 lbs a week. So my 1200 calorie goal only went up to 1250. Im pretty hungry-- was wondering if my goal could be recalculated somehow? Pretty sure the 1200 calories were manually entered by me back when I started. Does this sound right to ya'll? Im 5 foot tall, 133 lbs. Thanks!!

Replies

  • Megan_smartiepants1970
    Megan_smartiepants1970 Posts: 43,741 Member
    you eat 1250 + 1/2 or all your exercise calories if doing the MFP way :)
  • 2fast4ewe
    2fast4ewe Posts: 51 Member
    edited April 2019
    You might want to use a TDEE calculator just to figure-out how many calories your body uses..Many of them will list your Basal Metabolic Rate, which I think it the # of calories your body uses, at-rest, per day. Once you figure-out your BMR, I think the formula is to eat 500 cal less per day to lose 1 lb/week. Once you figure-out how many calories you want to eat, you can MANUALLY change your calorie limit by going to My Home>Goals>Daily Nutrition Goals, and Edit your daily calories. Here is one site for calculating your TDEE: https://tdeecalculator.net/
  • katechris65
    katechris65 Posts: 30 Member
    2fast4ewe wrote: »
    You might want to use a TDEE calculator just to figure-out how many calories your body uses..Many of them will list your Basal Metabolic Rate, which I think it the # of calories your body uses, at-rest, per day. Once you figure-out your BMR, I think the formula is to eat 500 cal less per day to lose 1 lb/week. Once you figure-out how many calories you want to eat, you can MANUALLY change your calorie limit by going to My Home>Goals>Daily Nutrition Goals, and Edit your daily calories. Here is one site for calculating your TDEE: https://tdeecalculator.net/

    Thanks, that was very helpful! My tdee is 1446. Not counting the 5 days of exercise i do of course. So...i guess I will ne sticking with the 1200. Appreciate the help!
  • rebecca51t
    rebecca51t Posts: 1 Member
    Another website I have used for estimating daily calorie needs is https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-many-calories-per-day It is similar to the TDEE calculator mentioned above, and also has some helpful tips for healthy weight loss. One tip I really appreciate is to first drink water when you feel hungry.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    katechris65 wrote: »
    Ive been on mfp for a while now but im wondering about the calorie goal i am set at. I only have about 5-10 lbs to lose so i changed my goal to lose .5 lbs a week. So my 1200 calorie goal only went up to 1250. Im pretty hungry-- was wondering if my goal could be recalculated somehow? Pretty sure the 1200 calories were manually entered by me back when I started. Does this sound right to ya'll? Im 5 foot tall, 133 lbs. Thanks!!

    MFP won't let you go below 1200, so even if you put losing a pound, it won't let you do that if it brings you below 1200. So because of your size, your original goal would have been less than 1200 if MFP didn't cap it. That's why you only gained a few calories. But make sure to eat the full 1250 everyday and you can add exercise to enable you to eat more
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,192 Member
    katechris65 wrote: »
    2fast4ewe wrote: »
    You might want to use a TDEE calculator just to figure-out how many calories your body uses..Many of them will list your Basal Metabolic Rate, which I think it the # of calories your body uses, at-rest, per day. Once you figure-out your BMR, I think the formula is to eat 500 cal less per day to lose 1 lb/week. Once you figure-out how many calories you want to eat, you can MANUALLY change your calorie limit by going to My Home>Goals>Daily Nutrition Goals, and Edit your daily calories. Here is one site for calculating your TDEE: https://tdeecalculator.net/

    Thanks, that was very helpful! My tdee is 1446. Not counting the 5 days of exercise i do of course. So...i guess I will ne sticking with the 1200. Appreciate the help!

    TDEE already counts your exercises calories you don't eat additional calories. MFP doesn't so you do eat the exercise calories.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    Gisel2015 wrote: »
    katechris65 wrote: »
    2fast4ewe wrote: »
    You might want to use a TDEE calculator just to figure-out how many calories your body uses..Many of them will list your Basal Metabolic Rate, which I think it the # of calories your body uses, at-rest, per day. Once you figure-out your BMR, I think the formula is to eat 500 cal less per day to lose 1 lb/week. Once you figure-out how many calories you want to eat, you can MANUALLY change your calorie limit by going to My Home>Goals>Daily Nutrition Goals, and Edit your daily calories. Here is one site for calculating your TDEE: https://tdeecalculator.net/

    Thanks, that was very helpful! My tdee is 1446. Not counting the 5 days of exercise i do of course. So...i guess I will ne sticking with the 1200. Appreciate the help!

    TDEE already counts your exercises calories you don't eat additional calories. MFP doesn't so you do eat the exercise calories.

    Good catch. TDEE is total daily energy expenditure, which includes your exercise. If you exercise 5 days a week, your TDEE should be moderately active, which would probably put your TDEE around 1850. So on that method, you would eat 1600 calories a day every day, even on days your don't execise, to lose half a pound a week.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    katechris65 wrote: »
    Ive been on mfp for a while now but im wondering about the calorie goal i am set at. I only have about 5-10 lbs to lose so i changed my goal to lose .5 lbs a week. So my 1200 calorie goal only went up to 1250. Im pretty hungry-- was wondering if my goal could be recalculated somehow? Pretty sure the 1200 calories were manually entered by me back when I started. Does this sound right to ya'll? Im 5 foot tall, 133 lbs. Thanks!!

    How much weight were you losing on 1200 cals?
  • katechris65
    katechris65 Posts: 30 Member


    TDEE already counts your exercises calories you don't eat additional calories. MFP doesn't so you do eat the exercise calories.[/quote]

    Ah, ok I chose the lowest activity level thinking my intentinal exercise wasnt factored. Thanks!
  • katechris65
    katechris65 Posts: 30 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    katechris65 wrote: »
    Ive been on mfp for a while now but im wondering about the calorie goal i am set at. I only have about 5-10 lbs to lose so i changed my goal to lose .5 lbs a week. So my 1200 calorie goal only went up to 1250. Im pretty hungry-- was wondering if my goal could be recalculated somehow? Pretty sure the 1200 calories were manually entered by me back when I started. Does this sound right to ya'll? Im 5 foot tall, 133 lbs. Thanks!!

    How much weight were you losing on 1200 cals?

    I have been losing pretty consistently a pound or more a week. I cant say i never went over 1200 but if i did it wasnt by much.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    katechris65 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    katechris65 wrote: »
    Ive been on mfp for a while now but im wondering about the calorie goal i am set at. I only have about 5-10 lbs to lose so i changed my goal to lose .5 lbs a week. So my 1200 calorie goal only went up to 1250. Im pretty hungry-- was wondering if my goal could be recalculated somehow? Pretty sure the 1200 calories were manually entered by me back when I started. Does this sound right to ya'll? Im 5 foot tall, 133 lbs. Thanks!!

    How much weight were you losing on 1200 cals?

    I have been losing pretty consistently a pound or more a week. I cant say i never went over 1200 but if i did it wasnt by much.

    So you are roughly in a 500 cal/day deficit.

    Use your own consistent results as that way it corrects for logging inaccuracy.
    Pick a number and set that manually.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    katechris65 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    katechris65 wrote: »
    Ive been on mfp for a while now but im wondering about the calorie goal i am set at. I only have about 5-10 lbs to lose so i changed my goal to lose .5 lbs a week. So my 1200 calorie goal only went up to 1250. Im pretty hungry-- was wondering if my goal could be recalculated somehow? Pretty sure the 1200 calories were manually entered by me back when I started. Does this sound right to ya'll? Im 5 foot tall, 133 lbs. Thanks!!

    How much weight were you losing on 1200 cals?

    I have been losing pretty consistently a pound or more a week. I cant say i never went over 1200 but if i did it wasnt by much.

    Then you know you can add 200 - 300 cals if you want to lose 0.5lbs per week.
  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,208 Member
    When I upped to 1350, I lost at the same rate as 1200
  • katechris65
    katechris65 Posts: 30 Member
    csplatt wrote: »
    When I upped to 1350, I lost at the same rate as 1200

    Well that may not be true for me but thats great. And tempting 😉
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    Due to the fact that you were still losing at around 1 pound a week on 1200 and you are often hungry on 1250, I'd increase your calorie goal by a further 100 calories to 1350 and see how you go. If, after a month or so (need at least one menstrual cycle) you are averaging more than 1/2 pound a week loss, then you could increase it even more.
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