Differing caloric needs?

juggalotus

Well, my friend and i are using this site together. When we first started, MFP calculated how many calories we should be eating daily. They gave me 1400 calories and they gave her 1200. She is like, 60 pounds lighter than i am....so i don't know why I got more, and she got less? Also, i have seen a lot of others on here who are allowed 1200 but are 100x's lighter than i am. Whats the deal with that? I usually end up eating about 1200 per day anyway...but i was just curious.

hermanaamber

Because you weigh more. It takes more calories just for you to breath or exist. IMHO

4himalone

bump...i am trying to understand this also!

Artemis_Acorn

The more you weigh, the more calories your body burns just to maintain. As you lose weight, your allotted calories drop too. I'm at about 100 calories less on my calorie allowance than I was when I started MFP. It will keep dropping I'm sure until it gets to 1200 - MFP won't go lower than that.

Siobhan69

My understanding is that this happens because you have a higher BMR then your friend does. This means that your body uses more calories to run itself then your friend's does, so you can eat a little more. An example is that if you both sat on the couch all day and watched movies and did nothing else then your body would burn more calories to run itself then your friend's would. As you lose weight this will change, your body will become more efficient and your BMR will reduce, this means that your calorie intake should decrease as well to maintain your calorie deficit. This deficit is what allows you to loose weight. I think it is recommended that you don't go bellow 1200 calories per day though. If you're sticking with 1200 per day any way this may mean that you will loose weight a little faster.