How many calories???

cfayebell
cfayebell Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My fitness pal automatically puts in 1200 calories. I have tried, I have no energy and I don't loose weight at that level of calories.

I'm 5.5ft and weigh 163 and 54 (soon to be 55). I carry my weight on the bottom. I am only shooting for 10lbs and nothing I try seems to work. The scales don't drop, my clothes don't fit looser, nothing! I honestly don't know where I am sabotaging myself.

Replies

  • Tomsgal1985
    Tomsgal1985 Posts: 1,064 Member
    I was at 1300 calories or so and I kept going over. I adjusted my goal down from 1.5 to 1 pound a week and I upped my calorie budget to 1600 calories. I don’t go over anymore and I feel more encouraged to see green at the end of the day. I now follow a very specific food plan called The Starch Solution by Dr. John McDougall. I lost 4.8 pounds my first full week on it. Hope this helps.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    It doesn't automatically give you 1200 calories - you are getting that because of the rate of weight loss you are choosing.

    It actually works out your maintenance calories (from your stats) for a day with no exercise and then you pick how fast you want to try to lose at. 1200 is the minimum base goal but it really is you making that decision to hit that minimum and not MyFitnessPal.

    Making your diary public might reveal the problem, there's no real data to go on otherwise.
  • Tomsgal1985
    Tomsgal1985 Posts: 1,064 Member
    By the way, I’m about to turn 65.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,743 Member
    I was your age when I lost 55 lbs. At my current age, height and weight (65 5'6" and 121) my maintenance level is supposedly 1400 calories since my basic lifestyle is sedentary. Yours would be a little higher because you weigh a bit more, but still, you don't have a lot of leeway in your calorie allotment. If I was trying to lose weight, I would lose less than .5 a week eating at 1200 calories. That means that in order to lose that last 10 lbs., you need to be very careful about weighing and logging everything you eat. There is little room for error. If you don't feel comfortable eating that little (I sure didn't) increase your exercise a bit and non-exercise movement.

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