Fitness pal question. How many calories can I eat?

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Replies

  • smile2010
    smile2010 Posts: 27 Member
    Will that slow down your metabolism at all?
  • smile2010
    smile2010 Posts: 27 Member
    Yeah I don't think you should eat 1800 even if you are burning off 600 during exercise. Stick to 1200 will let you see an extra pound of weight lost every 6 days. with 3500 calories = 1 pound. 1200 should keep you feeling full as well as long as its all good foods and high in proteins.


    Will that slow down your metabolism at all?
  • Csparrow2014
    Csparrow2014 Posts: 27 Member
    Thank you for the link it was very helpful!
  • NRSPAM
    NRSPAM Posts: 961 Member
    not for girls. they only burn off 2000 in a day in average. reducing to 1200 will only show results of 1-2 pounds a week which is what they should aim for. unless they are heavily overweight in which case they will loose a lot more initially

    I beg to differ. I wear a bodymedia device, and I burn, on average around 2,600 calories. Some days I burn as much as 3,000. When I eat 1,800 calories a day, I'll lose 1lb/week. I am almost at goal, and 1/2lb/week really is recommended for me.

    Edited; PS- I'm 5'3", 141lb's, and PPS-Eating at such a deficit for that "extra pound" per week, is not necessarily better. Faster weightloss does not always = sustainable weightloss. Eventually, you'll get hangry! :wink:
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
    Yeah I don't think you should eat 1800 even if you are burning off 600 during exercise. Stick to 1200 will let you see an extra pound of weight lost every 6 days. with 3500 calories = 1 pound. 1200 should keep you feeling full as well as long as its all good foods and high in proteins.


    Will that slow down your metabolism at all?

    I'll let someone else jump in on the science here but you can rest assured that the plan above is generally a bad idea for many reasons.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    Yeah I don't think you should eat 1800 even if you are burning off 600 during exercise. Stick to 1200 will let you see an extra pound of weight lost every 6 days. with 3500 calories = 1 pound. 1200 should keep you feeling full as well as long as its all good foods and high in proteins.


    Will that slow down your metabolism at all?


    Will what slow down your metabolism? Losing muscle....,..yep....that's about it.
  • fleetzz
    fleetzz Posts: 962 Member
    Take what somebody new to MFP says with a huge grain of salt.

    Look at advice from people who have been on here for a long time and who are at or near goal, the advice from them may be more helpful.

    That saying->1200 is standard for smaller females who want to lose 2 lbs a week (I bet you put that in!) who are sedentary. You exercise 600 calories per day. Great! I run 4 miles sometimes even 6 miles per day. I don't burn that much. How are you determining you burn 600? Using MFP? MFP OVERESTIMATES your burn. You can eat back those calories, but if you rely on MFP to calculate calories, don't eat them all back. Most likely your weight loss will stall.

    Suggest that you start using MFP, enter your data and your weight loss desire per week, and if you have less than 30 lbs to lose your goal should be 1 lb per week, less than 15 lbs to lose, goal should be 1/2 lb per week. Eat back your exercise calories (1/2 of them if you are using MFP to calculate them).

    Exercise will allow you to eat more, but it really won't help you lose weight. Calorie restriction will. Restrict too much, especially protein, and you will lose more muscle than you want to. Muscle burns calories--I like to keep mine! Suggest weight lifting, many ways to do this, just search the forums.

    For calorie estimates, make sure you have a food scale that measures well, I have one that measures to the gram. Log everything that goes in your mouth! Really limit processed food and eating out, you will derail yourself if you eat these item too often because it is too hard to accurately estimate calories unless you make your food yourself.

    Another way to estimate how many calories you burn is to use the scooby TDEE calculator (just google it), it walks you through how to calculate how many calories you eat, and NO using this method you do NOT eat back calories burned. Eat the same calories every day.

    And don't give up.

    not for girls. they only burn off 2000 in a day in average. reducing to 1200 will only show results of 1-2 pounds a week which is what they should aim for. unless they are heavily overweight in which case they will loose a lot more initially

    Just...stop.

    someone thinks they know everything about everything haha. I have trained hundreds of people over years and have studied nutrition and fitness but you clearly know more obviously
  • fleetzz
    fleetzz Posts: 962 Member
    You may need to get a new opinion. You are over 250 lbs, male, and your goal is 1600? I can't see you sustaining this for long without serious muscle loss.
    I spoke with a nutritionist friend over the weekend and asked "if my goal is 1600, and I exercise for 600, should I eat 2200?" she recommended sticking with the 1600 and not adjusting for exercise. especially since i'm trying to lose weight.
  • glowgirl14
    glowgirl14 Posts: 200 Member
    Yup. What pretty much everyone else said. 1200 calories a day is way too little. I'm 5'4, 120lbs, and relatively sedentary during the winter. I eat 1500 a day and lose weight. When it's warmer outside, I run for an hour a day, and then my goal is 2000. I lose weight slow, because at 120, I don't have a lot left to lose. Eating a heavily restricted diet (1200 calories) you will lose weight. And you might lose it pretty quickly at first. But it WILL slow your metabolism down. And when your metabolism slows down, so will your weight loss. I did that for the first 60lbs I lost. And guess what? I lost...about half a pound a week on average. And then the weight loss stopped because I had killed my metabolism.

    If you fuel your body, and exercise, your metabolism will speed up and you will burn more calories. Case in point? I have a friend here who has lost almost a hundred pounds at the incredibly steady rate of 2lbs a week. She eats 1900 calories a day.

    And to the guy who "spoke to a nutritionist" -- So did I. I have a friend who has her master's degree in nutrition, and she was utterly HORRIFIED that I wanted to eat so little. What you eat should be based on sex, height, weight, and activity level. Not some random number based on the "average" man or woman.

    OP - listen to the people here who have been here for a long time and are successful. You might find a few who will tell you to eat 1200 a day...but the vast majority of us have learned that we can eat a lot more than that and still lose. If you can learn to lose weight this way, you are so much more likely to keep the weight off when you hit your goal. And just a plug here...if you can afford it, the best gift you can give yourself is a decent heart rate monitor and/or a fitbit. These things will help you get a more accurate number as to what YOU are burning. Good luck!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Yup. What pretty much everyone else said. 1200 calories a day is way too little for me.

    FIFY
  • rubyred138
    rubyred138 Posts: 22 Member
    You should talk to your doctor to see exactly how many you should be taking in daily. I was going for 1200 a day but my doctor said that is not enough, which is why I was struggling to lose weight. She suggested 1400 to start and once I start losing I can gradually work my way down to 1200 a day.
  • fleetzz
    fleetzz Posts: 962 Member
    Most doctors don't have enough training in nutrition to give you advice. Really.
    You should talk to your doctor to see exactly how many you should be taking in daily. I was going for 1200 a day but my doctor said that is not enough, which is why I was struggling to lose weight. She suggested 1400 to start and once I start losing I can gradually work my way down to 1200 a day.
  • fast_eddie_72
    fast_eddie_72 Posts: 719 Member
    Thank you all for your advice. I will probably eat a little more but not eat all the calories back to adjust for errors.

    That sounds like a reasonable plan.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    You should talk to your doctor to see exactly how many you should be taking in daily. I was going for 1200 a day but my doctor said that is not enough, which is why I was struggling to lose weight. She suggested 1400 to start and once I start losing I can gradually work my way down to 1200 a day.

    Doctors are, in general, pretty untrained in nutrition. If you want to talk to a professional, seek out an RD (registered dietitian) instead.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    Yeah I don't think you should eat 1800 even if you are burning off 600 during exercise. Stick to 1200 will let you see an extra pound of weight lost every 6 days. with 3500 calories = 1 pound. 1200 should keep you feeling full as well as long as its all good foods and high in proteins.

    strong first post


    :eyeroll:
  • NRSPAM
    NRSPAM Posts: 961 Member
    You should talk to your doctor to see exactly how many you should be taking in daily. I was going for 1200 a day but my doctor said that is not enough, which is why I was struggling to lose weight. She suggested 1400 to start and once I start losing I can gradually work my way down to 1200 a day.

    As a nurse, I know most doctors don't know a whole lot about weight loss, or nutrition. Not to mention, one doc's advice may vary greatly compared to another. They get a quick review on nutrition, and it's based on the government's food pyramid, which you could look up online, but I, personally wouldn't bother. I've been overweight since I was little, n I've learned more on MFP than I have my whole life about weight loss. :wink:

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