1200 Calories For Women..

kimziebaby

I'm kinda confused on what to do, lol.
I started MFP at 189 lbs and set my settings to lose 2 lbs a week, giving me 1200 calories.
Now, i'm 157 lbs.. should i be upping my calories by choosing the "lose 1 lb a week" setting or just leave it ?

SabrinaG1986

Do you want to carry on losing 2lbs a week or start losing 1 lbs a week?

tiggerbounce411

If you still want to lose 2 a week, leave it until you get to where you want to be then you can change it. If you would rather slow down, change it now.

kimziebaby

I'd like to lose 2 a week, but some people say upping your calorie intake could help you lose weight.

philOHIO

do what works for YOU. If you aren't starving at 1200, that's fine. Indulge in a treat once a week, if need be. Otherwise up it a little... all depends on what you eat.

kenyonsmom10

unless you plan on losing 75 or more pounds, you should be at MOST 1.5 pounds per week... I would actually recommend setting it at about 1 pound per week since I highly doubt you need to lose too much more!

kenyonsmom10

you also have to remember muscle burns fat....so if you have gained muscle during your weight loss you are going to need to up your calories to make up for it and continue to lose fat.

Redness82

I started at 173 and a 2 lb loss.. and it had me at 1200 cals.. it wasn't enough for me. I went down to lose 1 lb a week and bumped my cals up to 1500 and i have been dropping weight much faster.

While MFP does a nice job of estimating calories and such, you know your body. I could tell that 1200 wasn't enough for me...

GreenSkinnyJeans

Really it all depends on you.
I get crap all the time for eating only 1,300 calories.
but i seriously CANNOT LOOSE WEIGHT at over 1,300, no matter HOW MUCH I EXERCISE.
So if 1,200 is working for you, and your getting nutrition, then by all means keep it.

kimziebaby

Thanks to everyone for their responses! Much appreciated.
I think i'll up them, try that for about a week, and see what happens.

Eleisabelle

You should try it for at least two weeks, if not more. It takes your body at least a week, perhaps two, to adjust to the change in calorie intake. You might see your weight go up slightly as your body tries to work through it. After two weeks is when you're most likely to start seeing accurate results.

CMmrsfloyd

You can change your goal settings to 1 or 1.5 lb per week if you want to and it will automatically adjust your calorie goal for you to work with that setting. I started MFP at 155 and put in 2 lbs per week and it put me at 1200. And I lost 1 lb every 4 days for awhile, then it slowed down a bit so I re-evaluated. Now I'm at 143 and have set it to 1 lb per week, and it gave me a 1210 goal. I'm losing about 1 lb per week, sometimes slightly more and sometimes slightly less. The lower your weight gets, the less you will lose per week. MFP will not give you a calorie goal any lower than 1200. I could try to set my settings to 'lose 2 lbs per week' right now but it would only take me down to a 1200 goal and I would not lose 2 lbs per week b/c there's just not room for me to have the necessary calorie deficit. I might *think* that I should lose 2 lbs per week b/c that's what I told MFP I wanted to do, but it would not be the result I would see and that might get frustrating. Try playing around with your goals and see what MFP gives you. Try out whatever you think sounds good for a bit and see how your body reacts. If one thing doesn't seem to be quite right for you, try it a bit differently. :-)

agthorn

You should try it for at least two weeks, if not more. It takes your body at least a week, perhaps two, to adjust to the change in calorie intake. You might see your weight go up slightly as your body tries to work through it. After two weeks is when you're most likely to start seeing accurate results.

You're right, but I actually recommend trying it for four weeks. That will also get the OP through one 'monthly cycle' and any resulting weight discrepancies surrounding that.