Help! I’m clueless

keke7133

Hey! Me again. Lol is 1,200 calories a day too much or too little? I’m 5’1 160lbs. Looking to lose 35lbs. I’m looking at my calorie counting for the day and I’m a bit over. Can you guys let me know how this looks so far? I’m over my protein by 40 and over my fat by 22 😭😭

keke7133

harper16

The minimum a sedentary female should be eating is 1200 calories a day. Do you have your weight loss goal at 1 lb a week?

keke7133

I haven’t started a workout routine yet, so right now I’m pretty sedentary unless I’m chasing my kiddos around. I’m hoping to lose 1/2lbs a week. When I start working out, MFP will adjust my calories according to the calories I burned that day, right?

harper16

If you have a fitbit or other device linked it should add it. Remember healthy weight loss is 1 lb a week until you reach 20 lbs to lose, and then it drops to .5 lbs a week. I honestly don't track my macros I pay attention to calories, and use a trending app to log my weight. That helps me see overall trends in my weight.

AnnPT77

IMO, protein goal is a minimum, fat goal is a minimum, you're over both but close on calories, so all is well.

Can't say whether 1200 is right - it's too low for some who strive for it - but if your activity level setting is correct (and/or you have a fitness tracker synched), and you're shooting for a pound a week for now, and 1200 is the resulting goal MFP gave you, it's probably OK. (Follow it for 4-6 weeks, compare the same point in at least 2 different monthly cycles if premenopausal, and if you're losing at the sensible rate you've set, it's perfect.)

This is some background: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/

Close on calories is fine (plus a little some days, minus a little other days, no big deal). Close on fat/protein, also fine (consistently way under on one or the other maybe wouldn't be the best thing for nutrition/health, but wouldn't have a direct effect on weight loss rate, which is all about calories).

Best wishes!

ALZ14

I’m 5’3 and 182. I have it set to lose 1 pound a week and I’m at 1390 (sedentary) a day.

I personally am miserable when I’m on 1200 calories a day, very little wiggle room for a treat. I would rather lose at a slower pace than be miserable.

So if 1209 works for you then great, but don’t be afraid to change things if it isn’t working.

keke7133

Thank you! I’ll try to stick to it when I can, but I will for sure go above in order to keep from being miserable. I’m having a really hard time cutting out my evening coffee with sugar and creamer. So rather than be cranky, I just made a cup! I’m happy and that’s what matters. I tried to substitute my creamer and sugar for Stevia and 1% milk. I couldn’t even get it down. I’ll definitely be using some more calories for that evening coffee and it’s totally worth it. lol

moonangel12

keke7133 wrote: »

Thank you! I’ll try to stick to it when I can, but I will for sure go above in order to keep from being miserable. I’m having a really hard time cutting out my evening coffee with sugar and creamer. So rather than be cranky, I just made a cup! I’m happy and that’s what matters. I tried to substitute my creamer and sugar for Stevia and 1% milk. I couldn’t even get it down. I’ll definitely be using some more calories for that evening coffee and it’s totally worth it. lol

Pre-log it at the beginning of the day so it’s already accounted for

SuzySunshine99

keke7133 wrote: »

Thank you! I’ll try to stick to it when I can, but I will for sure go above in order to keep from being miserable. I’m having a really hard time cutting out my evening coffee with sugar and creamer. So rather than be cranky, I just made a cup! I’m happy and that’s what matters. I tried to substitute my creamer and sugar for Stevia and 1% milk. I couldn’t even get it down. I’ll definitely be using some more calories for that evening coffee and it’s totally worth it. lol

If you want to get the calorie count down in your evening coffee, try doing it slowly instead of all at once. Maybe use half creamer and half milk to start and then slowly increase the amount of milk while decreasing the amount of creamer. You could slowly decrease the amount of sugar you put in as well. Then maybe you'll have a chance of getting used to it instead of making a radical change.

Strudders67

Being only 5'1, your maintenance calories will probably be lowish. You may find it helpful to go back in to the Guided Set up and change your goal to Maintain Current Weight. Note how many calories that is for you then re-set it to lose 0.5lb a week as you have now or even 1lb if you want to, initially (just adjust it down to 0.5lb when you've lost 15lb / got 20lb left to lose)*. As long as you're below your maintenance calories, you'll be losing weight but it may just be a little slower than you planned. Losing weight slower and being happy is far preferable to being miserable and then giving up because it's too hard.

I'm half an inch taller than you and was also on 1200 calories- that's the minimum any female should eat. Exercise (which I log manually as I don't have a fitbit) is helpful for 'earning' extra calories (as well as being good for you).

*Depending on what your maintenance number is, it may make no difference at all if you set MFP to lose 0.5 or 1lb a week. To lose 0.5 /1 lb a week, MFP deducts 250 / 500 from your maintenance number - but it won't set anyone less than 1200 a day. So, if your maintenance is at or under 1450, it won't matter what you select as you'll always just get 1200. That does mean your deficit will be smaller and you'll be losing slower. Knowing my maintenance number was very useful - as long as my weekly net average (an option only visible in the app not on the website) was below my maintenance number, I knew I was on track to lose.


I also used to have sugar in my tea and coffee before I switched to sweeteners. Then, after a conversation with my sister, I went cold-turkey and just stopped. It takes 2-3 weeks to get used to it. I'm sure it was tough (that was 20 years ago) but I wouldn't dream of having sugar in anything now. But if you don't want to give it up, I'd go with the suggestions above and pre-log it so that it's already in your diary.