Had to change my daily calorie intake...anyone else??

freckles88

I have changed my goals so that I can have more calories each day. When I started I entered that I wanted to lose 2lbs a week but this gave me a daily calorie intake of only 1,200 which I've found a real struggle. I don't feel I could keep this up long term so I've changed my goals to lose 1lb a week so I now have a daily calorie goal of 1,400. Anyone else had to do this? How much have you guys set as your weekly weight loss goal??

melaniecheeks

Yes lots of people have tried a variety of goals and found one that's workable.

2lbs a week is a lot, and only really suitable for people who have a lot to lose. A smaller weekly loss is much more feasible as you get nearer your goal.

CydneyS

i set mine at 1 lb a week to get a calorie allotment of 1300/day...but thats just with diet, if you burn another 3500 calories throughout the week with exercise it will give you that 2nd lb you are looking for!

BerryH

Yes, there's a good reason MFP says 1lb a week is recommended, and that's because unless you're seriously overweight and have a lot to lose, 2lbs a week is neither healthy nor sustainable. Many people here have kept up a steady weight loss on the 1lb a week setting.

As you get closer to your goal (say 10lb or less to go, or BMI of 26 or less) you should consider changing to 1/2lb a week.

Hope that helps!

TavistockToad

I was set at 1lb a week, which gave me 1200 cals. when i was 4 lbs from my goal i changed it to 1/2 a pound, which gave me 1380 cals, and i lost 3 pounds in the last 2 weeks!

melcowenfitness

I didn't really look at how much per week I wanted to lose, I just knew I wanted to lose weight and get more toned. I used a formula I received with a workout program I purchased to help me figure out how many calories/day I should eat and then went from there.

The # of calories you need each day will all depend on your overall activity level. I work out 6 days/week, usually for 45-60 minutes a day and eat around 1900 calories/day - a variety of workouts from cardio to yoga to weight lifting. When I was eating 1300 cals/day, I wasn't losing weight and was feeling tired all the time. The calories you take in should come from clean, healthy sources (in other words, avoid the junk food).

Whatever you do, just make sure you're not putting yourself into "starvation" mode. It will hamper your ability to reach your goals.

purplepollypops

I have a lot to lose so have it set at 2lb which gives me 1270 cals a day. It is sometimes a struggle but I eat back my exercise cals so if I want more food I do more exercise

charliebird

I did exactly that so that I got more daily calories as I cannot stick to 1200 a day and it was making me feel like a failure! I am much more happy at 1390 a day/ Ironically I am still losing an average of 2 pounds per week and that is eating most of my exercise calories (I tend to be good during the week and over at the weekend! )

So definately if you find it difficult play around with the settings to get the calories that you can live with

iwillsoonbeslim

I was the other way about. I thought I shouldn't be greedy, and set my goals to .5 or 1lb a week (can't remember which), and after my first few days CCing realised that I would struggle to eat 1800 calories, especially as I regularly burn 1500-2500 a day on exercise, so I changed it to 2lbs a week, giving me 1200. Much more manageable for me!

maemiller

yah i was at 1400 calories a week, but ive plateaued and i switched it to 1300 a week. dont know if this is gonna work since 1400 i was just breaking even and with the amount of workouts i do(im training for a marathon), i dont know if this would be too low for me that my body would go into starvation mode

ts014

melcowenfitness: how did you come to the 1900 calories? MFP has me at 1200 and I was doing fine with that for awhile but I am exercising a lot more now and it seems like the 1200 is too low. By night time I am starving!

melcowenfitness

ts014:

There is a formula that came with my Insanity workout that I used. It's really easy and out of the various formulas I've seen out there, this one seems to be right on target for me. Here's the link to it: http://www.melcowenfitness.com/calculating-your-caloric-needs

Give that a try and see how it compares to what MFP recommends. If it gives you a higher calorie goal, what I would recommend doing is increasing by 100 calories/day each week - as long as you aren't gaining additional weight by doing so, you're golden. So if you're eating 1200 calories now, try increasing to 1300 calories/day for the next week... then 1400 calories... etc. until you are at the recommended allowance.

I also had to play around with my percentages of carbs, fats, and proteins until I found what works for me. Feel free to look at my diary to get a feel for what my daily requirements look like. I'm not usually very good at logging every day, but I have put in the last 2 days worth of meals.

maemiller:

I would think that 1400 calories a day for someone training hard like you're doing would definitely be too low. If you've hit a plateau try switching up your calories. Increase them as I mentioned above. You can also try zig zagging (3-4 days low cal then 1 day higher cal) - although I find that to be too much for me to keep track of. You may also find that increasing your carbs a little will help get you off that plateau.

dawnmichelea

Bump

ts014

thanks!

ts014

the equation had me at 2000 calories so then with wanting to lose weight I am at 1500! I think I will go by what you said and increase by 100 at a time to see how it goes. thanks again.

pammye65

im on a 1200 calorie intake. But I exercise and burn calories...therefore I can actualy eat more than 1200.....I think you can do it! Look at my diary and others for ideas

pattytward

I did the same thing. The first time I entered in my goal it gave me only 1200 calories a day. That was not enough for me either. I changed mine to be more do-able and now it gives me 1250/day. It makes me feel better because now I am right on target and it is motivating me to exercise a bit too!

martalaurazayas

I am not a doctor so please don't take my suggestions as a prescription to what may be healthiest. But I have found it a struggle to keep my calories at 1000. I actually want to eat less now that I am eating healthy. The problem was that I used to eat out and eat often. This didn't translate into a healthy eating plan but rather lots of empty calories. Since I have started my diet I have pre-planned out my meals and even when I eat out I know the menu items in advance and choose what I will and won't eat in advance. The result is very healthy meals and no empty calories. I only eat 3 meals a day; breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don't eat rice, potato, bread, butter. I only use oil in my cooking but not as additives such as salad dressing. I don't worry about eating only lean meats, I just don't add any more oils to my meals and I make sure I have the right serving amount (proteins 3 oz). I hover around 1000 calories a day never passing over 1200. Its remarkable what you realize about your eating habits when you write everything down. When I started out I found I was ending up at around 800 so I looked at my meal plans and found I needed to add fruits. This has brought me up to 1000. I started my exercise plan just a week ago after being on the plan for 25 days. I take vitamins and I also drink 4 oz of raw vegetable juice at breakfast and lunch that I make myself. I feel great and the pounds are melting off. I have lost 12 lbs in one month. I am a bit concerned about being at 1000 and not the 1400 that I have found weight loss calculators state I ought to be at. So I am compensating with vitamins. If I felt weak I would increase my servings but I really feel great. I have about 50 lbs more to loose. I think I will stay on my 1000 calories for now and when I need to increase I will start by adding some more starches to my meals.