Suggested Calories

needlework

I have a question for all of you pros. When I signed up for MFP and put my info in, it gave me a suggestion of how many calories to eat to lose 2 pounds a week. I see where a lot of people post their success stories and eat only 1200 a day. Is it safe and/or okay to eat only 1200 calories a day? What about eating back excercise calories? I want to lose quickly but safely and was wondering if eating only 1200 calories a day would be considered safe. And, of course, it would be eating healthy food, no junkie stuff. Thanks for any and all input.

CMmrsfloyd

Are you asking b/c MFP gave you a suggested goal of 1200 and you're wondering if it's a good idea for you to eat that low, or are you asking b/c MFP gave you a suggested calorie goal higher than that and you're trying to decide if you need to go lower to be successful?

With you wanting to lose 137 lbs, I'm betting your BMR is significantly higher than 1200 (BMR is what your body burns just keeping up with normal functions that keep you alive) - many people feel that it's best to eat at least that amount of calories each day and that 1200 is actually too low for most people. Others have seen great success at the 1200 goal and feel it's fine since it worked for them. Tough call. Very individual. Your calorie goal should be based on where you are now, where you want to be, and how fast you want to (safely) get there. It can't be based on what you see other people doing. It has to be based on you.

elcieloesazul

I wouldn't say 1,200 calories is a safe and healthy way to lose weight. You will lose weight that way, but most of it would probably be from depleting muscle mass. Your body is a furnace that needs fuel to burn. It will naturally burn around that amount of calories on it's own-without you eating or exercising. Upon joining MFP, I put myself on a caloric deficit of 500 calories. This allows me to enjoy sweets and "junk" in moderation but still lose weight. (I eat around 1,600 calories; 1,800+ if I eat back my exercise calories and I usually do ). But, it's different for every body. Finding the "perfect" number is something that will have to played with and adjusted. Good luck!

needlework

Actually the recommended calories per day is about 1470. You read and hear a lot about not eating enough calories and was wondering if eating 1200 would sabotage any weight loss effort by eating fewer than recommended. Sorry I didn't make myself clear in my original post.

CMmrsfloyd

Actually the recommended calories per day is about 1470. You read and hear a lot about not eating enough calories and was wondering if eating 1200 would sabotage any weight loss effort by eating fewer than recommended. Sorry I didn't make myself clear in my original post.

1200 is not a magic number for weightloss, it is just the absolute lowest that MFP will recommend, probably for liability reasons. 1200 is very commonly handed out as the suggestion by MFP simply b/c the system will not support recommending a lower number, and quite frankly often people are trying for a weightloss rate that is faster than what MFP supports, and thus it defaults to the 1200 minimum. I would recommend either sticking with the 1470 suggested goal (plus or minus 50 or so, you don't have to be right on target every single day) UNLESS you research and find that your BMR is significantly higher and decide that you feel more comfortable adjusting it up a bit, OR unless you experience a plateau in your weightloss, in which case you can evaluate various factors that could play into the plateau issue.

needlework

Thank you!:happy:

CMmrsfloyd

:-)

andrejjorje

+1 to this....

Are you asking b/c MFP gave you a suggested goal of 1200 and you're wondering if it's a good idea for you to eat that low, or are you asking b/c MFP gave you a suggested calorie goal higher than that and you're trying to decide if you need to go lower to be successful?

With you wanting to lose 137 lbs, I'm betting your BMR is significantly higher than 1200 (BMR is what your body burns just keeping up with normal functions that keep you alive) - many people feel that it's best to eat at least that amount of calories each day and that 1200 is actually too low for most people. Others have seen great success at the 1200 goal and feel it's fine since it worked for them. Tough call. Very individual. Your calorie goal should be based on where you are now, where you want to be, and how fast you want to (safely) get there. It can't be based on what you see other people doing. It has to be based on you.

andrejjorje

jennykcmo

You have hit on probably the #1 debate on MFP!! I am a proponent of eating all your exercise calories back, or at LEAST half ! So, so many people on here have had tremendous success by doing just that. Why give your body less fuel than it really needs?

andrejjorje

To force it to use the reserves - fat.:)

You have hit on probablya the #1 debate on MFP!! I am a proponent of eating all your exercise calories back, or at LEAST half ! So, so many people on here have had tremendous success by doing just that. Why give your body less fuel than it really needs?