Maintenance Calories?

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Ashley_John
Ashley_John Posts: 25
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi! I am trying to figure out my calories needed to maintain weight. Let's just say I am sedentary and eat back exercise calories. MFP is telling me it is 1550 calories. What are your thoughts on this? I am 120ish lbs. and 5'3, also 21 years old!

Thanks

Replies

  • tonynguyen75
    tonynguyen75 Posts: 418 Member
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    The best way to figure out maintenance calories is to eat a certain amount of calories for a few weeks, let's say 1500. Keep your routine the same and weigh yourself afterwards. Did your weight change? No? That's your maintenance. You did? Adjust your maintenance calories up or down.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    That seems low for a young person such as yourself...how many exercise calories are you eating back?

    Like the OP said, it isn't going to be a one fits all type of number, I had to play around for 6-9 months before I really had a grasp on what it was.
  • RosyBest
    RosyBest Posts: 303 Member
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    Yeah what he ^ said. You have to figure out how many calories you can eat that doesn't cause you to gain or lose. I have maintained the same 10 lb loss for about a month now...which is not what I wanted to do. This let's me know I need to eat less to lose more weight. I am bigger than you, but my maintenance is 1600.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Hi! I am trying to figure out my calories needed to maintain weight. Let's just say I am sedentary and eat back exercise calories. MFP is telling me it is 1550 calories. What are your thoughts on this? I am 120ish lbs. and 5'3, also 21 years old!

    Thanks

    MFP estimates maintenance a bit low.

    Start at 1550.... If you are still losing weight up by 100, weigh yourself a fortnight later and up again if still losing.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I would just start with the 1550 + exercise and adjust from there if you need to. You probably will need too...most people aren't truly sedentary even if they don't really work out. Really...sedentary is pretty much crawling out of bed, dropping a deuce, and then walking over to the couch where you will remain most of the day...only to get up to take a pee and go back to bed.

    IMHO, most people are at least light active + exercise. That's been my experience anyway, even though I have a desk job and all.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    I would just start with the 1550 + exercise and adjust from there if you need to. You probably will need too...most people aren't truly sedentary even if they don't really work out. Really...sedentary is pretty much crawling out of bed, dropping a deuce, and then walking over to the couch where you will remain most of the day...only to get up to take a pee and go back to bed.

    IMHO, most people are at least light active + exercise. That's been my experience anyway, even though I have a desk job and all.

    I've written it before, I'll write it again: it all depends on your body.

    I walk 3500-12000 steps a day. I have never 'dieted' before so am not a yo yo dieter. My high weight was barely in the overweight BMI category.

    If I don't set myself at sedentary and add in exercise I don't lose weight. YMMD.
  • Butinox
    Butinox Posts: 43 Member
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    You just have to try over a time, and see what suites for you.

    I`m 38 years, small, moderatly active, and can eat 1700 kcal to maintain my weight (just as MFP suggested)
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
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    Hi, I'm 5'3" 31 and 107lb and have been maintaining for just about 2 years now. I didn't realise that I was undereating when I did maintenance around 15-1600 calories and eating back my exercise calories. In the end I got a Fitbit to work out what I should be eating and it's over 2000 calories a day and I am keeping my weight.
    With maintenance you just need to play around with what's right. If you lose weight, eat more and if you gain then eat less. Don't weigh in too often either, I'd say do it once a week (and not after any intensive exercise, meals out, time of month etc) to get a picture of your weight but don't obsess over it too much. Maintenance does initially feel harder than weight loss, but you will find the balance over time. Congratulations on hitting your target weight.
  • Seesawboomerang
    Seesawboomerang Posts: 296 Member
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    MFP estimates 1650 at maintenance for me, when my body is happier with about 1800

    Fluctuations throughout each month make it hard to settle on a certain quantity, but over time you will learn what suits you.

    As the others have said, give it a couple of weeks at each new maintenance figure and adjust up or down according to loss/gain.

    Also I'm fairly sure most of us will not exactly meet our daily goals (whether going over or falling short) so that too can make it challenging to work out our specific needs.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,370 Member
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    Something like a FitBit might help you to get a more accurate idea.
  • laineybz
    laineybz Posts: 704 Member
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    I'm very similar to yourself, though older than you. I'm 29, 113/114lbs and sedentary eating exercise cals back. I have a HRM monitor to track cals burnt. MFP calculates me at around 1520 before exercise calories. I've upped mine very very slightly to 1560 according to other websites and it seems to work ok for me.

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