HELP! 1250 Calories a day?

Fragilebird24

Okay, so MFP has me set at 1250 calories a day. I will usually eat some or all of my exercise calories back, however. During the Summer I lost twenty pounds doing exactly this. (Of course I did have some bad days, but who doesn't?) After reading the comments on a forum about eating 1200 calories a day, people were saying that eating so little will a.) Cause you to lose muscle mass and/or b.) You will not be able to gain additional muscle mass. I workout in hopes of toning my body and increasing my muscle mass. Will I not be able to gain any muscle eating at 1250 calories a day?

Thanks!

SugaryLynx

Irregardless of the deficit, you typically cannot build muscle in a deficit. You can gain strength and maintain current muscle mass under the right circumstances and that will leave you looking more lean at goal weight. As far as 1250. That's up to you. I can't say if that's enough, not enough. If you're hitting your macros and getting proper nutrition, that's very important, which can be difficult with a lower calorie amount. I don't think, personally, it's enough. I lost most of my weight at a net of 1550. I did do 1200 for a few months, but for me it wasn't sustainable. I'm 5'3.5", so I'm not exactly a tall one. I lose weight eating around 1700 even now at 115 lbs. I found I preferred TDEE -20% and not having to worry about exercise calories, myself. Scoobyworkshop.com has a decent calculator to start but there's no one size fits all calorie amount. To me, the less aggressive the calorie goal, the more sustainable

mccindy72

Okay, so MFP has me set at 1250 calories a day. I will usually eat some or all of my exercise calories back, however. During the Summer I lost twenty pounds doing exactly this. (Of course I did have some bad days, but who doesn't?) After reading the comments on a forum about eating 1200 calories a day, people were saying that eating so little will a.) Cause you to lose muscle mass and/or b.) You will not be able to gain additional muscle mass. I workout in hopes of toning my body and increasing my muscle mass. Will I not be able to gain any muscle eating at 1250 calories a day?

Thanks!

You won't be able to gain muscle until you start eating at a calorie surplus and heavy lifting. You have to give your body something from which to build the muscle, so eating at a surplus with a lot of protein while starting a good lifting program will help you achieve that.

mschicagocubs

You won't be able to gain muscle until you start eating at a calorie surplus and heavy lifting. You have to give your body something from which to build the muscle, so eating at a surplus with a lot of protein while starting a good lifting program will help you achieve that.
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This ^^

I've seen some noob muscle definition and definitely have gotten tighter, but until I go into maintenance/surplus I won't see true definition.

Fragilebird24

Thanks everyone! I think for now I'm going to stick to my MFP Recommendations. Once I start approaching my goal weight I'll think more about trying to gain some muscle!