Does everyone get 1200 calories????

AngieMMc

I notice a LOT of comments that "I get 1200 calories". I have read the newbie stuff and I know its supposed to be dependent upon how you answered the questions in the beginning, but I am wondering........I weigh over 200 lbs; sedentary lifestyle, aside from when I get extra food b/c i work out, is 1200 calories enough to keep my metabloism from plummeting?

kimmerroze

I weigh 140 and I manually set mine at 1480.... and I started losing more weight than when I was at 1200.... You can definately adjust it up and be fine.

trud72

i weigh 238 and have 1800 ...

downtome

I tried eating 1200 calories, I just couldn't do it. I set myself to 1450 a day, MFP had me at 1390 so not much of a difference, but this seems to be working out just fine for me. I personally think 1200 cal. a day is too low but many seem to be ok with that. If you can do it and not feel hungry or deprived then it's fine for you. Also if you are eating back your exercise calories then that will give you more food as well. Good luck!

maurita17

How do you determine what works best for you? how did you decide on 1480?
i am wondering what my proper number should be. i am 155 lbs 5'4 wanting to drop to like 125

angiesteele

i weighed 221 when i started and it gave me 1200

kimmerroze

It manually sets everyone at 1200 because MFP generalizes it. and 1200 is the lowest anyone can go. It estimates your maintenece levels and then subtracts a deficit to lose weight. Chances are you burn more calories than it is saying you do to maintain your weight, so chances are you can bump your calories up. ESPECIALLY if you are hungry alllllll the time. That is your bodys way of saying that you need to feed it more, although you have to learn to notice the difference between hunger pains and cravings.

MochaMixAZ

I get 1900 due to my current weight , my weekly weight loss goal, and my activity. It should be very personalized, and MFP will calculate that for you if you answer the initial questions accurately.

paigebeverly

MFP has my calories at 1490...but I find it hard somedays to get 1200. But it has worked for me so far.....I have lost more weight using this site than just doing it on my own.

mlemonroe2

If you set your weight loss goal at 2 pounds a week, your calories allowd are 1200. If you set your weight loss goal at 1 pound a week your calorie amount goes up.

beckajw

How do you manually set your goal?

kimmerroze

How do you determine what works best for you? how did you decide on 1480?
i am wondering what my proper number should be. i am 155 lbs 5'4 wanting to drop to like 125

1480 was my BMR... which is the minimal amount of calories needed to survive if I were in a coma... or sleeping all day... its your survival calories.... you can go to tools and click on the BMR and then figure out yours. and adjust it up to your BMR levels... this is still below your maintenece... and any deficit below your maintenece will make you lose wieght...

Behavior_Modification

Restriction gets me no where fast. I'm happy as long as I'm under 2000 cals for the day. Slow & Steady will win this race.

kmtetour

I'm about 260 and I get 1960. I had more when I weighed more. MFP asks you if you want to readjust after every 10 pounds lost.

Loveebbs

I am 178 pounds and my MFP is set at 1510

AreneeS22

MFP gave me 1630

txchic_73

I was just wondering the same thing! I am set at 1200 as well, and know many ppl set at the same and we all are at different weights. I need to lose 20lbs so I wonder if it is all set to what you want to lose not what you weigh. But I am not seeing alot of results from just my calorie intake.

skinimin

I weigh 48kg and MFP gave me 1200 calories. For me this is enough for three filling meals and two or three snacks (depending on how low cal those snacks are) soooo I think you might starve on 1200 in the beginning!! Haha

Goal_Seeker_1988

My maintain weight 145 is 1960 calories. When I had it set to lose weight weighin 148 I was allowed 1480 calories. Idk how it really works however, I will give it a try and see if I stay below 145. I don't understand calorie counting. Never have I lost 75lbs and kept it off for over 2.5 years without counting calories. I joined this site in hopes of becomin more aware of what I am really eating. Eatin clean is really hard to do.

LoserCruiser

It gives me more than 1200 calories but I find if I eat more than 1200 calories I DON'T lose! So I stick to 1200 calories!

FitToBeFab

I know it won't set less than 1200 because of sending your body into starvation mode. I think 1200 is the computers fallback when people say they want to lose 2 lbs a week. That's what I've found for myself at least. I'm 195, sedentary lifestyle (stupid desk job!), and with losing 1 pound a week I get 1600, with losing 1.5 a week I get 1300, so I know if I do 2 lbs a week I'll have less than 1200.

In answer to your question if 1200 is enough to keep your metabolism going, I'm going to say yes. When your body is in starvation mode, that's when your metabolism fails. It may slow down with that low amound of calories, so it's good to jump around. I've noticed I sometimes lose more on weeks that I was under my goal every day but one (where I went over by like 800), than when I hit my goal every day or go over by only 10 cals. Does that make sense?

You have to keep your body guessing, otherwise it gets used to what your throwing at it and doesn't work as hard.

MelissaL582

I too, think that 1200 is too low. I started on here at 237lbs, sedentary lifestyle, workout 5 days a week for 30 minutes, 1 pound lost recommended and it gave 1570 or something like that.

What do you have your weight loss set too per week? That might have something to do with it.

kmtetour

It manually sets everyone at 1200 because MFP generalizes it.

Not true. It's completely based on height, weight, and activity level. You weigh a lot less than me, so you get fewer calories.

eandrus

When you click Complete This Entry at the end of the day, and you are eating too few calories, a message will appear that says, "Based on your total colories consumed for today, you are eating too few calories..." and goes on to talk about metabolism. I'm not sure if this is a fixed number or based on your profile, but on mine, it seems to pop up if I get under 1000 calories that day.

kimmerroze

If you are afraid of bumping up your calories because of weight gain. know this.... I bumped mine up and within a week I noticed weight loss.... so give it a week and you will know... pretty harmless test.

Gotta figure out whats right for your body. bumping it up for me was what I needed because I had been lifting weights, so my muscles were requiring more food!

jenbusick

A lot of people, when they first sign up (myself included) set their weight loss goal at a very aggressive 2lb per week. In order to do that, you have to create a 1000 calorie per day deficit. But if, like me, your maintenance calories (the amount you'd need to eat to maintain your weight as-is) are less than 2300 per day, then MFP will set your goal at 1200, because it won't recommend that you eat less than 1200 calories per day. For example, when I started, my maintenance calories were about 1950 per day. I put in that I wanted to lose 2 lb per week, and it set my goal at 1200 calories because it doesn't go lower than that.

The thing is, only people with a significant amount of weight to lose can safely create a 1000 calorie deficit without going under 1200 (below 1200 calories per day, it's hard to eat a balanced diet and get essential nutrients, which is why MFP stops there). The closer you are to your goal, the less weight you can lose each week while still maintaining a healthy diet. 1 lb per week worked better for me. I have reached a point now where I may have to back it down to 1/2 lb per week, because it's hard for me to make the 500 calorie deficit each day.

HTH.

kimmerroze

It manually sets everyone at 1200 because MFP generalizes it.

Not true. It's completely based on height, weight, and activity level. You weigh a lot less than me, so you get fewer calories.

Its true for a lot of people.... the reason there are TONS of people set at 1200 especially those under about 160lbs is because 1. they are set to lose more than one pound a week, or two that is what their deficit is.....Yes the heavier you are the more calories you are allowed. Im aware of that.

shallo

I get 1350 and I weigh 180. That is for a 1 pound a week weight loss. If I set mine to 1 1/2 or 2 pound weight loss it drops to 1200, but then says my average weight loss would be 1.3 pounds. I'll take the extra calories and stick with 1 pound if that is all the difference it is going to make.

audbbgirl

Mine put me at 1310 and I weighted 168 when I started.
My mom and sister weigh more than me and theirs were set even higher.
My husband is about 250 and 6ft and his was like 2000

mamacath

MFP gave me 1200 a day plus I work out and get extra .. my problem is that I dont take in enough .. I usually end up with 900 or less a day .. so with the help of my personal trainer to kick myself in gear again I am trying to eat 5 small meals a day with an extra snack ..

ifiwasurvampire

Mfp gave me 1200 when I started at 220lbs. I've lost 9lbs so I'm not messing with it. But I also tend to get full and am not able to consume all the net cals needed.