Are my calorie goals too low?

Jennabug816

Hey everyone. I'm pretty new here, but I did livestrong for a few years. I managed to lose 50 lbs with their help, but I've gained about 25 back and I'm looking to lose that now. With all of my calculations, MFP said I should be eating 1200 cals/day to lose 2 lbs a week. This seems low to me, as I remember from my livestrong days that my calorie goals were around 1500 give or take. It has been over a week, and I have lost 2 lbs but it's water weight that fluctuates day to day. I have hypothyroid which makes it a little more difficult to lose weight, but I take my meds every day. I exercise 3 times a week. Any recommendations?

Jenna

LPintheCity

From everything I've read, setting your caloric intake to 1200 is just fine, but you MUST consume at least 1200. Generally speaking, if you want to lose 2 lbs per week and exercise regularly, you can consume anywhere between 1200-1500. Good luck!

mawest20

I think it depends on your exercise habits.
MFP calculated 1200 cals/day for me , but I normally diet at 1500/day too. I lift weights and it doesn't really take that into account.
If you lost weight on 1500/day before then I would stick with that (you can override it in the settings by going to "custom" and typing it in). You can always lower it to 1200 if you need to later.
That's what I'm doing anyway. Hope that helps.

Jennabug816

Thanks for your response. This is the first time in quite a while I have tracked calories, and just from remembering what I had done before, I always heard 1200 was too low. But that's what MFP put me at. I am under some days even though I don't mean to be. And other days I may be over. I was thinking of cycling between 1500 and 1200 just to see if that helps, because some nights I go to bed freaking starving lol.

tabbyxxcat

I think it depends on your exercise habits.
MFP calculated 1200 cals/day for me , but I normally diet at 1500/day too. I lift weights and it doesn't really take that into account.
If you lost weight on 1500/day before then I would stick with that (you can override it in the settings by going to "custom" and typing it in). You can always lower it to 1200 if you need to later.
That's what I'm doing anyway. Hope that helps.

I would totally override it and go ahead and eat 1500, then. You might be more active than you realize?
Though that makes me wonder, did you eat back exercise calories on live strong? Because maybe getting weekly exercise contributed to your goal setting at 1500. So you might not want to plug your exercise in to MFP at 1500 and make it complicated?
I'd experiment, give it at least two weeks, then change it if need be. Weight loss is tough, time-consuming stuff. They don't call it a journey for nothing

DeltaZero

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Read this.


Find your TDEE, set according to your own body.

meritage4

Put down you want to lose 1lb a week and it should set your calories higher.
If 1500 worked go for that!

Jennabug816

Wow thank you! I found that based on the TDEE calculator, my calorie goal should be around 1600/day. Hmmm...maybe I'm not eating enough! Never thought I would say that lol. And yeah, I also think that maybe having it set to 2lbs a week is a little extreme. I could stand to lose more than 25lbs but that is my first big goal for myself. Thank you all.

Jennabug816

Also, I should note that when I exercise, I make sure I am still at a net calorie intake of what is recommended.