Question re: calorie intake

keeks8281

Ok, my daily calorie goal is currently at 1250. I'm 5'8" and weigh 183. My goal weight is 150. My weekly weight loss goal is 1 1/2 pounds. Should I be eating more calories? Any thoughts? For some reason I have 1600 in my head as the amount I should be eating. Also, somewhere I read women shouldn't go below 1200. However, I'm not a fitness/nutrition expert. Thoughts? Thanks!

RaeannePemberton

By all means.... Yes. Eat more!!! :-)

theflyingartist

My rule of thumb is its always easier to start high and then taper down.
I made the mistake of picking 2 lbs a week when I first started. Lost a lot of weight.
Now I bumped it to .5 pound a week, since I am close, and I'm finding my body was adjusting to smaller amounts of food, thus, I'm not losing weight anymore. However, everyone's body is different.
Just my two cents: I say start with . 5 pound a week, or 1 pound a week, and see what happens with that amount of calories daily. The body transitions to changes quickly.

sweebum

I am 5'6 and 192. I eat (and lose) at 1600 because that's where my BMR is (what I burn in a coma).

Now, I did lose weight initially eating 1200-1300 a day for 2 years. But I'm paying for it now with a wrecked metabolism. I slowly had to add calories and gain for a bit until I started losing again. Set your weight loss to 1 lb a week and add exercise. I find that works well for me

WifeMomDVM

You have to eat to lose, try it! I upped my calories from 1200 to 1500 a couple of months ago and I've been so much happier/had more energy/felt so much better since then.

Scale is still going down, too. Give it a week or two for your body to adjust, but it will move again, promise. 1200 long term is not sustainable (IMHO).

EAT!!!! (just make sure it's clean and healthy stuff)

keeks8281

Thanks for your thoughts!! I'm always nervous I'll eat too much. Guess that is what MFP is for! To help me stay on track no matter my calorie limit.

Tree72

I think trying for a 1.5 pound loss per week is pushing it just a bit. Relatively speaking you don't have that much to lose. A "healthy" BMI starts at 24.9, and you're at 27.8 currently. That's really not so far. You might try setting your goals to a 1 pound loss per week. That would give you 250 more calories per day. And if you add on exercise, you'll be eating even more. After you try it for a couple of weeks you can always adjust up or down depending on how you feel.

Best wishes on figuring out what works for you and reaching your goals.

LickyNees

I have recently been asking myself the same question....

My target is to lose 30lbs. I was set at 1-2lbs pw which auto targets my kcals to 1200. I started MFP about a month ago and I have actually put on weight since. I usually eat quite healthy foods and exercise at least 3x pw, drink a lot more water than before... something isnt adding up.

I could set my target to .5lbs per week instead...I'm also nervous of eating too much but it seems to work for some people!

hbunting86

I'm confused about this too. I've worked my BMR out at 1400... but MFP is at 1200. Now I'm confused as to which is 'right'... BMR or caloric intake defined by BMI.

SHBoss1673

at your height and weight and age, assuming lightly active activity level 1.5 lbs per week is actually a pretty good number, when you get down to about 170 you'll probably need to shrink that deficit to about 1 lb per week though. Just remember these are NET

SHBoss1673

at your height and weight and age, assuming lightly active activity level 1.5 lbs per week is actually a pretty good number, when you get down to about 170 you'll probably need to shrink that deficit to about 1 lb per week though. Just remember these are NET numbers, meaning you need to eat your exercise calories in order to maintain that same deficit amount.