What is the lowest amount of calories I can consume?

Hello! I am new to dieting and losing weight. My BMR is 1337, and I'd like to consume around 1000 calories a day but MFP says the minimum I should eat is 1200. Shouldn't caloric intake vary from person to person? Since I'm smaller wouldn't it be okay to drop to around 1000 calories?

Replies

  • bajoyba
    bajoyba Posts: 1,153 Member
    Caloric intake does vary from person to person and is dependent upon a variety of factors (age, height, gender, activity level, etc).

    However, considering the fact that a 2 year old child needs to eat 1,000 calories a day, I'm pretty confident that you need much more than that. 1200 is considered a minimum for women because once you begin eating less than that, it becomes difficult to meet your body's nutritional needs, especially without close supervision and direction from a doctor or other medical professional. MFP assigns you a calorie goal that is specific to you, based on the information and goals you put into the system when you signed up. Additionally, the ticker on your profile says you only have 12 pounds to lose, so you should really only aim to lose half a pound a week.

    To lose 75+ lbs: 2 lbs/week
    40-75 lbs: 1.5 lbs/week
    10-40 lbs: 1 lb/week
    Less than 10 lbs: 0.5 lb/week

    Here are some helpful links with very valuable information:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here

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