hi, anyone out there can offer some good advice ?

Sinope82

Hi, i was just wondering if anyone can offer me some advice? I'm fairly new to MFP although not new to dieting. I lost 90lb just over a year through dieting and exercise but i cut my calories to under 1000 per day and as a result made myself ill. I took some time away from dieting although i still exercise plenty i put a bit of weight back on and i now want to finish what i started but i want to do it right. I didn't realise that MFP will let you set a lower calorie goal than is healthy so ive been trying to keep to 1200 per day. However, i've now read a post which says i should be eating atleast my RMR which is nearer 1500. Is this right? I want to make sure i do things right this time but i'm worried if i up my calories to much i'll gain weight.

Please if anyone can offer me any advice it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help and i wish everyone on MFP the best of luck with their goals x

tallen3687

I certainly can't give you advice, but I wanted to say welcome to one the greatest tools to help you lose weight. I just entered all my information and MFP told me how many calories to eat and it works. Now if only it would exercise for me! Good Luck!

charneus

Key points here.

You don't want to eat too little - you'll wind up starving yourself, and that leads to binge eating. Yes, you can set your calorie goal individually, but it's not to set it lower than what it should be. MFP offers a generalized goal that you can modify based on doctor recommendations and precise calculations with your body in mind as well as your exercise regime.

As you mentioned, eating only 1000 calories a day made you ill. Your body probably went into starvation, not getting what it needed, and so you had to pay the price. 1200 is the BARE minimum you should set yourself for, and you probably should be closer to that 1500 calorie intake. Of course, it's going to depend entirely on your weight and height, too. A 4'8" 130lb woman is going to have a different calorie intake than a 5'5" 130lb woman, and even more so against a 6'0" 300lb man.

If you have any questions about caloric intake, see a nutritionalist or a doctor who specializes in weight loss. They can offer you the best insight on what you need to do. All we can do here is tell you what has worked for us, and truthfully, it may not work for you.

Welcome to MFP, and congratulations on your original 90lb weight loss. That's an awesome achievement.

funkycamper

I've been gradually upping my net calories since being here on MFP and find that I'm still losing the same amount per month by eating more. And I feel better, more energetic, and it's easier to stick to.

I suggest you might try sitting your calories at your BMR (found under Tools) and also eating back most of your exercise calories. I only say not to eat all of them because most of us will underestimate our intake a bit, even if measuring carefully, and I believe some of the calorie burns are too high based on what people with HRM's report. This is working well for me but you may have to play around with things a bit to find your own "sweet spot".

You might not lose for awhile after upping your intake. You might even gain a few pounds. But I strongly believe it's the way to repair your metabolism after eating very low calorie for so long. I figure it's more important to lose slowly but in a sustainable way that doesn't even feel like a diet and that will make it easier to maintain weight loss than it is to lose quickly.

Best wishes!

bcattoes

What has worked for me is to simply eat enough healthy food so that I am rarely hungry. I don't eat food I don't like, and I only occasionally eat foods that I do like that are unhealthy. That and regular exercise got me to a healthy weight and kept me there. My calories vary day to day since I use hunger as a guide, but I average around 1800 total (1400-1500 net).

But everyone is different, so you may need to adjust your calories several times before finding what works best for you. But whatever you do, don't starve yourself. Life is too short to live hungry.

Sinope82

Thankyou so much for your kind responses and encouragement to everyone who has been in touch. Its grest to know there are so many lovely people out there and your advice has been very helpful. I suppose it's just a bit un nerving trying to up the calories when you've tried to stick to a really low target in the past. I'm determined to do it right this time though so thanks again for your help x