How many calories do i need to maintain long term

FisherGT
FisherGT Posts: 55 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I am currently 5'8" female, 21 and 119 pounds. If i wanted to maintain my weight, how much would i have to eat long term? could i stay on 1200 calories forever?

Replies

  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
    If you lost weight at 1200, it stands to reason that you won't maintain at 1200. To estimate your maintainence calories, you can punch your info into a TDEE calculator. Or you can change MFP to no weight loss and then add exercise calories.

    Both are estimates, so you have to play around with it to find your number. You can add 100 to 200 calories a week to get where you want to be.

    Why would you want to maintain at 1200?
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    Eventually if you just kept eating at 1200 calories that would become your maintenance calories on a long enough timeline, but that's a terrible idea. Use a TDEE calculator to find your maintenance calories and reverse diet up to that calorie intake.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
  • Missfit35
    Missfit35 Posts: 75
    Hello ,

    1200 calories is approximately the lowest you eat in calories while still getting the proper nutrients your body needs. If a 1200 cal plan works for you and you feel WELL I don't see why not, some may not agree. It's person dependent every person is a different machine and requires different upkeeping.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    Hello ,

    1200 calories is approximately the lowest you eat in calories while still getting the proper nutrients your body needs. If a 1200 cal plan works for you and you feel WELL I don't see why not, some may not agree. It's person dependent every person is a different machine and requires different upkeeping.

    Really? You think she should maintain on 1200 calories? That's completely moronic...
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
    Hello ,

    1200 calories is approximately the lowest you eat in calories while still getting the proper nutrients your body needs. If a 1200 cal plan works for you and you feel WELL I don't see why not, some may not agree. It's person dependent every person is a different machine and requires different upkeeping.

    Really? You think she should maintain on 1200 calories? That's completely moronic...

    Thank you. I was sitting here thinking of a response to this, but this pretty much covers it.
  • PaytraB
    PaytraB Posts: 2,360 Member
    At 5'8" and with very little to lose, you should be eating more than 1200 calories now (to lose). You should definitely be eating more to maintain.
    According to Scoobydoo (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/), your BMR is 1386. You should not be eating under that. Ever. Whether losing or maintaining.
    The amount of maintenance calories will depend on your metabolism and activity level. There will be a little bit of trial & error until you find your individual maintenance needs. Start by eating about 1800 or so calories per day. Monitor it for a month. If you continue to lose, add some calories. You may gain a few pounds at first due to restoring glycogen levels. Wait until this weight has leveled out. This is your true weight. Monitor from this weight.

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