Calories

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mandalina23
mandalina23 Posts: 77
in Health and Weight Loss
So I am allotted 1200 a day. I never meet that unless I really splurge but I usually have excercised on days like that to gain another few hundred cals. I have talked to a lot of people who say it's not healthy to be below 1200 cals. But I don't want to go over it or even meet it because I don't want to gain any weight or keep the right I have already. Does anyone else have this problem that they can't seem to meet the 1200 dead on?

Amanda

Replies

  • viola5618
    viola5618 Posts: 9
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    1200 calories is just a guide. everyone is different. no 2 people burncalories the same. Maybe you should talk with your doctor to get an idea where you should be calorie wise.
  • hahahollylol
    hahahollylol Posts: 160 Member
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    sometimes....but last night I ended up going over all my calories a few hundred. but this morning I weighed 1 pound less. So it's good to eat your exercise calories...and mfp adds it into your food diary automatically. so that makes it easy. you can choose healthy items to eat that will up your protein and fiber to help you feel healthy and strong.

    need to feed your new muscles <3
  • AmeMahoney
    AmeMahoney Posts: 232
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    Eating more calories in 5-6 small meals a day fuels your body. If you don't eat enough, you won't lose weight, or you'll lose some muscle and then gain some fat back later.
  • Sherri71
    Sherri71 Posts: 208 Member
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    Eating 1200 calories and doing no exercise, you will lose a minimum of 1lb per week. The closer you are to goal, the slower you should lose as you should never go under 1200 and you should eat your exercise calories. For me at 134, my maintenance calories are at 1700 with no exercise, I should be able to maintain. I eat my 1200 plus at least half or all of my exercise calories (sometimes going over) and still have been able to lose 1lb per week.

    Good luck!
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    If you don't meet your calorie goal, especially if it's 1200 calories, you risk putting your body into starvation mode. Your food diary isn't public so I can't see how far under you are or how much you burn from exercise. But trust me, if your body doesn't get enough calories and nutrition it will stop burning fat. You may no feel hungry but you need to meet your calorie goal, including eating those exercise calories. When I first started here I was only eating 400-700 calories a day. I hadn't lost weight in 3 months even though I was cutting calories and was exercising. The problem was that my body wasn't getting what it needed. Once I started meeting my calorie goal I started losing weight immediately, even though I was eating 2-3 times what my body was used to.

    Trust me when I tell you that you won't gain or maintain your current weight if you meet your goal.
  • jasonwhitham
    jasonwhitham Posts: 25
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    I am on 1240 calories a day. If I am getting close to my total I go and excersise like mad so I stay under the 1240. I keep getting messages that I am not taking enough calories. But like you I dont want to put on the weight again. Some days I dont even have 1000 cals, and if I do its usually made up of coffee, and more coffee.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    As mentioned already, it's just a guideline number. Intake, like weight, will fluctuate from day to day. You don't have to consistently hit your daily intake exactly. Sometimes it's better to have variety spread throughout the week.
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    Eating too little will backfire. MFP includes a built in deficit that allows for your chosen loss goal per week - if you do not meet cal goals you are making that deficit larger, and will likely not be able to sustain it, and have other adverse effects.

    Here are some great threads that explain metabolism and why it is important to fuel your body properly. Good luck to you!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/173853-an-objective-look-at-eating-exercise-calories

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/175241-a-personal-view-on-exercise-cals-and-underfeeding
    (ok, so this is a thread I posted, but yes, I do think it's a good one! :laugh: :blushing: )

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