What's your daily calorie goal?

ProjectTina

Mine is 1740, but I usually net around 1400-1500. My profile is set at 1 pound per week although I would like to lose more. I'm at the very beginning now though, so still testing to see what's the best combination for me.

blueangell

Mine is set to 1200 as I weight 146 now and 5'2. Having a really hard time eating that much though!

koosdel

2,800. I'm on a break.

JinxRita

Mine is set to 2100. I'm aiming for a pound a week, and my lifestyle is currently sedentary. It also helps that I'm 5'9".

I usually don't eat that much though, to be fair. I try to hit around 1600 or so.

AandJsMommy

Mine is set at 1330 (2lbs/wk) That said I typically eat around 1400-1700 a day depending on how much I exercise. MFP pal is a amazing tool to use, but only you and your doctor can determine what is the best intake for you and what is "working".

I most defintely listen to my doctor and do what she tells me to do. I was just curious as to how many calories everyone else eats.

ssquirarte

I have a limit of 1200 to lose 2 lbs per week, but its not happening either.

dreamzvt

save

kag1526

Mine is set to 1810 with wanting to lose 1 lb a week. However I usually eat less then that around 1500 (I like to have it higher to give myself permission to eat more if hungry) .

I was averaging a bit under 2 lbs a week in loss then on Wed last week I had a bad day said screw it and had a nice cheat dinner... and since then have lost an additional 2.2 lbs, which now has me averaging exactly 2 lbs per week.

natalie1994x

This is set to 1200 a day but I have around 1000, sometimes less sometimes more

Tatyana130

10 calories per pound of my goal weight.

I like your answer. Is there any science behind it? Where can I get more info? Thank you.

jktjcca

1200 calories set to lose 2 pounds a week

AandJsMommy

Thanks for sharing everyone! I was just curious!!

PepeGreggerton

10 calories per pound of my goal weight.

I like your answer. Is there any science behind it? Where can I get more info? Thank you.

I'm sure there is but I am not aware of it. I got it from a fitness program I purchased by Rusty Moore of Fitnessblackbook.com It works extremely well for me. I average 2lbs a week.

KareninCanada

This site set my goal at 1450 calories/day. (34 years old, 5'2", 200 lbs, goal weight is 130 lbs.)

But my trainer who is a nutrition and fitness professional said it should be 1800 calories/day and never below about 1600. She had quite a lot to say about the failure rate of 1200-calorie diets. I'm going with her advice instead of an online calculator's.

katcod1522

1200/day...set to lose 1 lb a week....and have 18lbs to goal.

AandJsMommy

This site set my goal at 1450 calories/day. (34 years old, 5'2", 200 lbs, goal weight is 130 lbs.)

But my trainer who is a nutrition and fitness professional said it should be 1800 calories/day and never below about 1600. She had quite a lot to say about the failure rate of 1200-calorie diets. I'm going with her advice instead of an online calculator's.

That's a great idea going with your trainer. I am going by what my doctor says rather than what the site says.

KareninCanada

You can adjust the goals on the site to fit what you're aiming for - it's under Settings, and you can tweak quite a few things. Finding that made my day, so I don't have all these red numbers screaming at me from the screen. lol


If you're interested, here are the notes I took down from our session on Saturday:


To get your BMR, the amount of calories your body needs just to function if you were lying down all day and doing nothing, you can look it up online here: http://health.discovery.com/centers/heart/basal/basal.html

---

To calculate your approximate daily caloric intake, take your goal weight in pounds and multiply it by:

1. Very sedentary, bedridden - 13
2. Sedentary, most people - 14
3. Moderate, weekend sports - 15
4. Very active, vigorous workout min 3x/week - 16

Average caloric intake should be 1500-2500 cal/day for women and 2000-3500 cal/day for men.

If your goal is weight loss, it is important that your caloric consumption is not below the bottom end of the range.

You need to ensure that your consumption does not fall below your BMR (resting energy expenditure).

If you consume too few calories your body's metabolism will go into starvation mode (calorie hoarding), which will make weight loss efforts extremely difficult. You won't have energy to work out and you may not meet your nutritional needs.

---

Exercise boosts your metabolic rate by increasing your muscle mass. Muscle mass is more metabolically active, meaning it burns more calories than fat, so you will burn more calories doing everything.

---

Approximately 300 calories/day is the average number of calories Canadians are consuming above their daily requirement - this equates to 31 lbs per year of potential weight gain.

---

Fat Grams per day - take your goal weight's caloric intake, multiply by 20%, then divide that number by 9. That gives you the minimum fat grams you should have per day. Then do it again but instead of 20%, do 35%. That gives you your maximum.
(calories x 20%) / 9 = minimum fat grams
(calories x 35%) / 9 = maximum fat grams

Carbohydrates should be 45%-65% of total calories.
(calories x 45%) / 4 = minimum carb grams
(calories x 65%) / 4 = maximum carb grams

Protein should be 10%-35% of total calories.
(calories x 10%) / 4 = minimum protein grams
(calories x 35%) / 4 = maximum protein grams

Sodium should be less than 2300 mg per day.

Fiber should be minimum 25 grams per day for women and 38 grams per day for men.

em9371

mine is set to lose 1lb week @ 1740 cals. 2lb week would be 1240 (both with eating back exercise cals)
instead of setting @ 1240 plus eating back cals, i have at 1740 and i do not eat back my exercise of average 500 cals a day. my net is still 1240 as per MFP, and i usually lose around 2lb week, this motivates me more to go to gym as i have to go workout in order to lose my 2nd lb.
(BTW im 5'4, 223lbs)

ZombieChaser

Right now I am at 1200 / day, however as my activity level increases I will have to adjust that number. I am working on about a 2 lb a week loss.

Me too!

RippedNShredded

When I first started I was 190lbs, I cut my cal intake to 1400-1600. Progress was a bit slow with intense exercise. I went to 1900 and started seeing my weight drop. Started Jan 2011 - Sept 2011 I got to 174.

On a brand new workout. Went over my training/food log from last year and totally changing it around. I'm at 179 and want to drop to 165. for the first 3 weeks i'm going to play around with 2100 cal.

AandJsMommy

You can adjust the goals on the site to fit what you're aiming for - it's under Settings, and you can tweak quite a few things. Finding that made my day, so I don't have all these red numbers screaming at me from the screen. lol

I went in and changed it to what I needed to for my calories and stuff like that. I love that feature on this site.

dlibonati

I aim for 1360 net a day - hoping for a 1.5lb/week loss. I do try and eat back more of the calories on days I play hockey tho...

GreekByMarriage

You can adjust the goals on the site to fit what you're aiming for - it's under Settings, and you can tweak quite a few things. Finding that made my day, so I don't have all these red numbers screaming at me from the screen. lol


If you're interested, here are the notes I took down from our session on Saturday:


To get your BMR, the amount of calories your body needs just to function if you were lying down all day and doing nothing, you can look it up online here: http://health.discovery.com/centers/heart/basal/basal.html

---

To calculate your approximate daily caloric intake, take your goal weight in pounds and multiply it by:

1. Very sedentary, bedridden - 13
2. Sedentary, most people - 14
3. Moderate, weekend sports - 15
4. Very active, vigorous workout min 3x/week - 16

Average caloric intake should be 1500-2500 cal/day for women and 2000-3500 cal/day for men.

If your goal is weight loss, it is important that your caloric consumption is not below the bottom end of the range.

You need to ensure that your consumption does not fall below your BMR (resting energy expenditure).

If you consume too few calories your body's metabolism will go into starvation mode (calorie hoarding), which will make weight loss efforts extremely difficult. You won't have energy to work out and you may not meet your nutritional needs.

---

Exercise boosts your metabolic rate by increasing your muscle mass. Muscle mass is more metabolically active, meaning it burns more calories than fat, so you will burn more calories doing everything.

---

Approximately 300 calories/day is the average number of calories Canadians are consuming above their daily requirement - this equates to 31 lbs per year of potential weight gain.

---

Fat Grams per day - take your goal weight's caloric intake, multiply by 20%, then divide that number by 9. That gives you the minimum fat grams you should have per day. Then do it again but instead of 20%, do 35%. That gives you your maximum.
(calories x 20%) / 9 = minimum fat grams
(calories x 35%) / 9 = maximum fat grams

Carbohydrates should be 45%-65% of total calories.
(calories x 45%) / 4 = minimum carb grams
(calories x 65%) / 4 = maximum carb grams

Protein should be 10%-35% of total calories.
(calories x 10%) / 4 = minimum protein grams
(calories x 35%) / 4 = maximum protein grams

Sodium should be less than 2300 mg per day.

Fiber should be minimum 25 grams per day for women and 38 grams per day for men.

So according to this post I should totally adjust what MFP has down for me? I am 5'2 180 pounds... at a weight loss of 1.5 pounds a week MFP has me -
1200 Calories
165g Carbs
40g Fat
45 g protein (which I always go over)

If I have a goal weight of 130pounds then I should be doing the following?
1820 Calories
40-70g Fat
204-295g Carbs
45-159g Protein

I don't understand how I can loose weoght taking in 1820 calories a day? That seems like alot to me? I have been following the 1200 calories a day since Saturday and have dropped 3.6 pounds so far.

I am not saying the MFP is right... I just want to make sure I am following the best directions possible!

meribethd

I set mine manually to 1350, which should theoretically have me losing a little under a pound a week. I workout most days and when I do I eat about 1500-1600 calories.

jadedone

I have a goal of 1700 to lose 1.5 per week. I haven't been very active lately, so I am eating around 1500. When I go back to incorporating exercise, I will definitely up it a bit and consume a portion of exercise calories, but I'll stop at 1800 or 1900 and see how that's working.