1200 calories?

koaliebear195

MFP is telling me to eat 1200 calories a day... I'm sedentary for the majority of the day (desk job unfortunately), but I work out really hard after work - I'll either run 5km or sprint for 10 minutes and then do weights for an hour. Is 1200 enough? I'm 5'3' and currently 178 lbs, female 21.

xcalygrl

How much do you have to lose? How aggressively did you set your MFP (lose 2 pounds, 1.5 pounds, 1 pound, 0.5 pound/week)?

If you set your MFP to lose 2 pounds a week, it proably defaulted to 1200 calories. With that goal though, you would eat back your exercise calories. For instance, you eat 1200 calories at work, go to the gym after work and burn off 600 calories, so now you would eat back those 600 calories to make sure you are netting 1200 calories. On days you workout, you get to eat more.

If that doesn't sound appealing, you may be better off following a TDEE method. With TDEE, you eat the same number of calories everyday and do NOT eat back exercise calories. I highly suggest this TDEE calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

Here are two good posts to read thru: 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

shadow2soul

MFP is telling me to eat 1200 calories a day... I'm sedentary for the majority of the day (desk job unfortunately), but I work out really hard after work - I'll either run 5km or sprint for 10 minutes and then do weights for an hour. Is 1200 enough? I'm 5'3' and currently 178 lbs, female 21.

That would be 1200 before exercise. Once you log your exercise, you will get more calories to eat. Since MFP and gym machines generally overestimate calorie burns, it's best to only eat 50-75% of the calories.

Or if you would just rather have a set number of calories to eat everyday, then try the TDEE method
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

koaliebear195

How much do you have to lose? How aggressively did you set your MFP (lose 2 pounds, 1.5 pounds, 1 pound, 0.5 pound/week)?

If you set your MFP to lose 2 pounds a week, it proably defaulted to 1200 calories. With that goal though, you would eat back your exercise calories. For instance, you eat 1200 calories at work, go to the gym after work and burn off 600 calories, so now you would eat back those 600 calories to make sure you are netting 1200 calories. On days you workout, you get to eat more.

If that doesn't sound appealing, you may be better off following a TDEE method. With TDEE, you eat the same number of calories everyday and do NOT eat back exercise calories. I highly suggest this TDEE calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

Here are two good posts to read thru: 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

I have about 58 left to lose(down 13 since starting.... in January hah)

terbusha

If you can eat more and still lose weight, do it. What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1400 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for a week. If you lose 1-2 lbs, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few weeks, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

Allan

bajoyba

How much do you have to lose? How aggressively did you set your MFP (lose 2 pounds, 1.5 pounds, 1 pound, 0.5 pound/week)?

If you set your MFP to lose 2 pounds a week, it proably defaulted to 1200 calories. With that goal though, you would eat back your exercise calories. For instance, you eat 1200 calories at work, go to the gym after work and burn off 600 calories, so now you would eat back those 600 calories to make sure you are netting 1200 calories. On days you workout, you get to eat more.

If that doesn't sound appealing, you may be better off following a TDEE method. With TDEE, you eat the same number of calories everyday and do NOT eat back exercise calories. I highly suggest this TDEE calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

Here are two good posts to read thru: 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

Good Advice.

Also, with 58 pounds left to lose, it's probably best to aim for a maximum loss of 1.5 pounds a week.