did I miss something?

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13

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  • LuLuChick78
    LuLuChick78 Posts: 439 Member
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    People don't understand how MFP works, and they don't understand how weight loss works. This "I'm short and sedentary" nonsense is invalid. I am short (5'0) and have a desk job. I lift three times a week. Other than that, walking is the only exercise I get. I eat 1600 calories per day with a once-a-week refeed of 2200 calories. This is to lose about half a pound per week.

    If you tell MFP you want to lose 2 lbs per week and you don't really need to be losing weight that quickly, it is going to give you a 1200 calorie goal because that is the lowest number it will give anyone. And keep in mind that MFP's number is NET of exercise, so if your goal is 1200 (which it shouldn't be, but if you put garbage in, you get garbage out), and you burn 400 calories from exercise, MFP is really telling you to eat 1600 calories. People get all sanctimonious about not eating back their exercise calories because they think it's pointless, but MFP assumes that is what you are doing. So that's why it tells you 1200 calories; it assumes that you will burn 400, eat 1600, and NET 1200.

    ^^^Great post!
  • bbg_daryl
    bbg_daryl Posts: 150 Member
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    I eat 1200 because I am short and I am sedentary. I also have an underactive thyroid. I tried eating at least half of my exercise calories (I use my heart rate monitor for an estimate) back for 3 months, but I gained a significant amount of weight back. I have to stick with 1200 to lose, otherwise I just maintain or gain depending how many of my exercise calories I eat back. I have been doing this for 4 years now and I am just fine with it.

    You should get on meds for your thyroid. It will stop affecting your weight loss, plus there's complications of having untreated thyroid problems long term.

    I was on medication for my hypothyroidism for two years, and they even upped the dosage on me at one point. It did absolutely nothing to improve my health. Not just in weight loss, but everything else that it causes. No change. :( Even my doctor couldn't understand it.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    1200 is ok as long as you are exercising. x

    Ummmmmmm :huh:

    I don't know for sure, but I think perhaps that user meant that 1200 is okay if you are exercising and logging it, because MFP will give you more than 1200 calories if you log exercise.
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
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    I eat 1200 because I am short and I am sedentary. I also have an underactive thyroid. I tried eating at least half of my exercise calories (I use my heart rate monitor for an estimate) back for 3 months, but I gained a significant amount of weight back. I have to stick with 1200 to lose, otherwise I just maintain or gain depending how many of my exercise calories I eat back. I have been doing this for 4 years now and I am just fine with it.

    You should get on meds for your thyroid. It will stop affecting your weight loss, plus there's complications of having untreated thyroid problems long term.

    I was on medication for my hypothyroidism for two years, and they even upped the dosage on me at one point. It did absolutely nothing to improve my health. Not just in weight loss, but everything else that it causes. No change. :( Even my doctor couldn't understand it.

    Just to pipe up: did your endo ever change your pill? If your endo wasn't sure what was up, time to find a second opinion. Some people don't do well on certain thyroid drugs versus others (Synthroid vs. Armour, for example, or even Synthroid vs. Levoxyl, though they are remarkably similar). If you're hypo, you should be on something to treat it--the stress on the rest of your body with untreated thyroid issues cannot be overstated. It's bad.

    Good luck on finding proper treatment! I definitely suggest talking to another doc--your issue might have been less of a dosage issue and more of a chemical issue (pill). Lots of people even use compounded T3 and T4 from pharmacies that'll make it fresh and very precisely to individual dosages.
  • krissynicole787
    krissynicole787 Posts: 121 Member
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    I eat 1200 because I am short and I am sedentary. I also have an underactive thyroid. I tried eating at least half of my exercise calories (I use my heart rate monitor for an estimate) back for 3 months, but I gained a significant amount of weight back. I have to stick with 1200 to lose, otherwise I just maintain or gain depending how many of my exercise calories I eat back. I have been doing this for 4 years now and I am just fine with it.

    You should get on meds for your thyroid. It will stop affecting your weight loss, plus there's complications of having untreated thyroid problems long term.

    I am currently on meds. We are still trying to find a dose that works. My last test 2 weeks ago showed I was overactive. With my luck I didn't lose any weight being overactive :grumble: LOL. I do feel better but my weight loss hasn't been affected. It still takes me a month to lose one lb.
  • molonlabe762
    molonlabe762 Posts: 411 Member
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    People don't understand how MFP works, and they don't understand how weight loss works. This "I'm short and sedentary" nonsense is invalid. I am short (5'0) and have a desk job. I lift three times a week. Other than that, walking is the only exercise I get. I eat 1600 calories per day with a once-a-week refeed of 2200 calories. This is to lose about half a pound per week.

    If you tell MFP you want to lose 2 lbs per week and you don't really need to be losing weight that quickly, it is going to give you a 1200 calorie goal because that is the lowest number it will give anyone. And keep in mind that MFP's number is NET of exercise, so if your goal is 1200 (which it shouldn't be, but if you put garbage in, you get garbage out), and you burn 400 calories from exercise, MFP is really telling you to eat 1600 calories. People get all sanctimonious about not eating back their exercise calories because they think it's pointless, but MFP assumes that is what you are doing. So that's why it tells you 1200 calories; it assumes that you will burn 400, eat 1600, and NET 1200.

    AMEN
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    I've been a MFP member for quite a while now, but have been really getting into it that last month (really want to get myself back on track). I log everyday, and I come on the message boards...and mostly lurk. But one thing I notice is it seems that a lot of people have been given only 1200 calories for the day to lose weight. I have about 20lbs to lose and MFP gave me almost 1400 calories for each day, and I put in sedentary as I have an office job and my setting was to lose 1lbs a week. I've since gone and changed my calories to use IIFFYM as I do exercise at least three times a week and since reading the posts it seemed like a good idea to go by TDEE.

    I guess I don't have a question, per se, but how are so many people set to 1200 calories a day to lose weight...and how do they survive?

    1200 is the most aggressive approach...most woman I know have zero patience when it comes to losing their weight...it took them years to put it on but they want it all off in a month.

    1200 NET is acceptable for some, especially if significantly overweight...but I do worry about those girls with 5 vanity Lbs to lose netting 500 calorie per day or whatever because they only gross 1200 and then go workout...scary stuff IMHO.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    People don't understand how MFP works, and they don't understand how weight loss works. This "I'm short and sedentary" nonsense is invalid. I am short (5'0) and have a desk job. I lift three times a week. Other than that, walking is the only exercise I get. I eat 1600 calories per day with a once-a-week refeed of 2200 calories. This is to lose about half a pound per week.

    If you tell MFP you want to lose 2 lbs per week and you don't really need to be losing weight that quickly, it is going to give you a 1200 calorie goal because that is the lowest number it will give anyone. And keep in mind that MFP's number is NET of exercise, so if your goal is 1200 (which it shouldn't be, but if you put garbage in, you get garbage out), and you burn 400 calories from exercise, MFP is really telling you to eat 1600 calories. People get all sanctimonious about not eating back their exercise calories because they think it's pointless, but MFP assumes that is what you are doing. So that's why it tells you 1200 calories; it assumes that you will burn 400, eat 1600, and NET 1200.

    :love:
  • FerretBuellerr
    FerretBuellerr Posts: 468 Member
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    1200 is ok as long as you are exercising. x

    Ummmmmmm :huh:

    I don't know for sure, but I think perhaps that user meant that 1200 is okay if you are exercising and logging it, because MFP will give you more than 1200 calories if you log exercise.

    ^Exactly. At least that's what I assumed too, and the poster probably assumed we knew what they meant.
  • Catiejoy27
    Catiejoy27 Posts: 12 Member
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    Me too, I am 4'9" - which is always my petpeeve about weight s=charts
    What happened to figuring your range on the basis of your frame
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    I've been a MFP member for quite a while now, but have been really getting into it that last month (really want to get myself back on track). I log everyday, and I come on the message boards...and mostly lurk. But one thing I notice is it seems that a lot of people have been given only 1200 calories for the day to lose weight. I have about 20lbs to lose and MFP gave me almost 1400 calories for each day, and I put in sedentary as I have an office job and my setting was to lose 1lbs a week. I've since gone and changed my calories to use IIFFYM as I do exercise at least three times a week and since reading the posts it seemed like a good idea to go by TDEE.

    I guess I don't have a question, per se, but how are so many people set to 1200 calories a day to lose weight...and how do they survive?

    People generally put into MFP that they want to lose 2 pounds a week, thus they come up with 1,200 calories a day. I was at this for about the first 15 pounds of my 33 pounds, but I exercised which gave me the extra calories. When I adjusted my goals to 1 pounds a week, I was increased up to 1,400 (maybe? I don't recall), but I felt so much better. Now, I am set to lose .5 pounds a week, 1,530 calories plus my exercise calories. I eat around 1,900 a day and I am losing weight as I should.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Its odd because on caloriecounter.com if you talk about eating 1200 calories a day you would get eaten alive NOT supported for unhealthy choices.

    People here generally do not support 1,200 calories a day unless they themselves are eating that. Such few calories is not healthy. If you do a search of topics, you will find plenty of conversations on 1,200 calories.
  • cookiealbright
    cookiealbright Posts: 605 Member
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    I'm at 1200 and I can eat within that range most days and I eat back about half my exercise calories. I find if I go to an event like a wedding or banquet I go over, but I don't have big events like that every week.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    1200 is ok as long as you are exercising. x

    Do you mean if you're NOT exercising? If you exercise you need to eat those calories back to fuel your body. :smile:
  • MiaC123
    MiaC123 Posts: 12 Member
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    MFP does not set a TOTAL calorie number. It sets a NET calorie number. MFP targets 1200 net calories for me, but if I exercise 400 calories, then I can eat 1600 and still hit MFP's target of 1200 net. So I am on an MFP 1200 plan, but I eat more than that every day and still hit my target.


    ^^yup^^
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    Mine is at 1200 calories. Because I am short. :-(

    I'm short and eat 1600-1900 calories. :tongue:
  • Siansonea
    Siansonea Posts: 917 Member
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    Ah, another thread pearl-clutching over "1200 calories". I'll tell you why people really get in a tizzy about it, because it makes their calorie totals seem higher by comparison. There are a lot of reasons why people eat in the 1200 range, but to hear the fearmongers around here tell it, we're all about to drop dead from starvation. :grumble:
  • RachelRuns9
    RachelRuns9 Posts: 585 Member
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    Why doesn't MFP use BMR/TDEE to calculate our calorie intake for us, instead of using whatever wacky calculation they use now which puts everyone at 1200? I mean, it doesn't seem that hard for a website to do.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Why doesn't MFP use BMR/TDEE to calculate our calorie intake for us, instead of using whatever wacky calculation they use now which puts everyone at 1200? I mean, it doesn't seem that hard for a website to do.

    The one they use in Theory is "better" as with TDEE calculators you estimate the amount of exercise you do, MFP ignores exercise until you actually perform and enter it. If you set the appropriate weekly weight loss goal you should end the week with pretty much the same caloric intake. What MFP does is keeps your daily deficit constant whereas TDEE keeps your daily calories constant (averages out planned exercise for the week) so in theory on MFP you eat more on days you workout and less on days you don't vs. TDEE method

    The reason I would say MFP method is better is not everyone actually exercises the same amount each week or as much as planned. MFP will have you lose your goal amount of weight on average each week with or without or with changing exercise amounts.
  • mom2kpr
    mom2kpr Posts: 348 Member
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    Mine is at 1200 calories. Because I am short. :-(

    I'm short and eat 1600-1900 calories. :tongue:

    I'm short too - 5'1 & I'm at 1800 cal & I don't eat back my exercise calories.. Height has very little to do with it. It is more about weight & activity level. MFP set me at 1200 & with eating back my exercise calories would've put me at 1600 - 1700.

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