1250 calories?

clschaan

This is the amount mfp has calculated I should eat .. I am 170 lb 5'6" 36 yrs old female .. this seems like too few calories

angieleighbyrd

If you never leave your couch it's ok.


But I shouldn't talk, that's usually where I am at even with exorcise.

LovingLisa2012

how many pounds per week did you select ?
for me even though i have well over 100 pounds to lose, i chose 1 pound a week ,so i get 2110 calories

also make sure you put the right activty level and eat your workout calories..

im sure more people will chime in ..

naomi8888

I would eat a bit more. I normally have about 1500 or so and I'm about the same height as you. I've dropped about 10 lbs and am at my goal weight. You can always reduce your calories later on if you want to.

misskerouac

Change your weekly goal, I'm 5'7" 173lbs (28 years old) and mine is set to 1 lb a week at a sedentary level and mine is 1430

juliekaiser1988

That's incredibly low, and not sustainable. You'd be unsatiated and end up falling off the wagon. Re-adjust it, quickly!!

HonkyTonks

Set up your goals to be 1lb a week and not 2lbs per week and you should be fine. You can also adjust it manually.

akiramezu

If you are relatively active, a physical job or just working out 3-7 days a week
you need to eat higher than that. You are a 36 year old female? i don't know your exact stats
but depending on your height and activity level, it can range from 1500-2000 calories for effective weight loss.
Just my opinion, in the end it's trial and error to see what works for you. Although no matter what anyone says,
1200 calories is way too low =P

beckylawrence70

Do u want to lose weight?? They set me at 1200 and I lost 17 lbs in 11 weeks. Now maintaining and they gave me 1230.

beckylawrence70

I hate it when people say 1200 is not sustainable, yes it is, we eat wayyyyy too much food, that's why we're fat!

beckylawrence70

sorry they now gave me 1530

brookepenni

That's incredibly low, and not sustainable. You'd be unsatiated and end up falling off the wagon. Re-adjust it, quickly!!

Wow that's incredibly opinionated!

As you can see - the answer is varied. You need to find some middle ground to what you want to achieve and how you think you can do it. If you think it's too low, it probably is. Some of us don't think it is. Some others consume twice (or more) that.

I say do some research and enter what you think you can actually eat in a day (or do it over a couple of days) and see if you think that's sustainable....

Don't rely on others opinions. It's too fickle, varied and often bro-science... Do what works for you.

JBsCrazyGirl

When I was set to 1200 calories, I thought the same thing, but I tried it out to see and found that not only does it work for me but sometimes I actually need to feed myself more calories because I am still under... But every one is different. I would say try it out, see if it works for you, and make changes where necessary. Good luck to you !

Articeluvsmemphis

might be too low. try it out, see how you feel, adjust accordingly

mom2five69

Im 5'6 very active and weigh 190 they set me at 1260 and i am doing fine. Im never hungry.

delilah47

Yeah, change your weight loss goal.. or exercise like heck every day so you get some extra calories to eat!

yuckidah

I hate it when people say 1200 is not sustainable, yes it is, we eat wayyyyy too much food, that's why we're fat!

Yep, well said.

HonkyTonks

Do u want to lose weight?? They set me at 1200 and I lost 17 lbs in 11 weeks. Now maintaining and they gave me 1230.

1230 to MAINTAIN? You poor thing Even at my goal weight, my maintenance would be 1700 calories.

ShortInSeattle

This is the amount mfp has calculated I should eat .. I am 170 lb 5'6" 36 yrs old female .. this seems like too few calories

As others have said, adjusting your goal may help a bit. I'll throw in that I'm 5'1" and I lose quite handily on 1300 cals/day. It's part speed (.5 vs 1 vs 2 lbs per week) and part metabolism. Why not fiddle with your number, try it for a few weeks, and see how it goes? You can adjust as you learn more about your body.

SIS

juliekaiser1988

I hate it when people say 1200 is not sustainable, yes it is, we eat wayyyyy too much food, that's why we're fat!

Ya, I would have no idea what I'm talking about. Did you notice my weight loss? Hello???

kimdwl

I am set to 1310 and most days struggle to clear the 1200 mark.
I am never starving and have plenty of energy for the day, far more than I did filling my body with junk all day.

I say try it out, have fun choosing great foods, spread it out all day so your not eating it all at once.
Get in some exercise to earn some more calories each day if you need to.

If you just cant make it work for you then adjust your weight loss goal or manually set it to give you a bit more each day.



Now I am off to research what the heck I can eat to fill the 500 cal gap I have tonight.

skyeashlee

Hey! It depends how much u entered into lose aswell - and def the exercoise u plan to do!
As a personal example - i started at 83KG and MFP told me to consume 1440cals a day (with the goal to workout 4 times a week at 40mins)

Now Im 74.5Kg (lost 8.5kg / 19lb) and have injured my back so currently entered 1x40min workout a week and MFP put me on 1250 to lose!!!! which is hard, but as Im learning, it's about what foods you eat ..... one lot of carbs can leave me stranded for the day, otherwise if I have lotsa right foods (veg, fruit, seeds etc) then Im generally sweet.....

If you dont feel comfortable with it after experimenting, then perhaps consider upping them to 1280 or 1300 !! Its your body, MFP is only a generalised guide :O)
Best of luck!! Please feel free to add me (just dont judge my dinner tonight - hungry jacks! hehehe)
xxx from aus

CindyCountingCalories

If I put my goal to 1 pound a week on lightly active I get 1400 calories a day, if I set it to sedentary I also get 1250. But I'm not really lightly active, workout 5 days a week, the rest of the day I sit... I'm going to change it to sedentary and see how it goes with 1250 a week.

Pabs1

I have read thru the posts on this topic and found a great varied opinions from my experience 1250 is attainable

I'm a 31 yr old male and i have a target of 1300 calories before exercise. On days i don't do exercise i find it very manageable, its really just about the foods you eat and experimenting with difference combinations. But there are definitely foods that are wasted calories on days you don't do workouts, bread, rice, pasta, execessive fruit, steaks being the major ones

I eat 5 meals a day, with 2 larger meals and 3 smaller meals.

Vegetables and chicken breasts are a great low calorie main meal.
finding breakfasts that are low calories are a great help too, muesli with milk works for me
Having a large milk drink (blueberry, yoghurt and milk) fills me up for one of my snacks, as does an apple.

The foods i eat are very affordable and can be boring at times, but I'm not heavy, just a few kilos over my goal weight now and haven't found my weight loss decreasing as i get closer to my goal, but I have my priorities and a weight loss is it atm.

When i wanna go out or eat a carb heavy meal i wait til a day that im doing exercise and i earn it. Ive lost 1kg a week since signing up to myfitnesspal and have always been 20-50% above my protein requirement, and fulfilled my fibre requirements while keeping all other nutritional categories well below their levels. I'm definitely never starving, mal-nutritoned or resulting in weight loss due to muscle loss.

runnercheryl

I hate it when people say 1200 is not sustainable, yes it is, we eat wayyyyy too much food, that's why we're fat!

Ya, I would have no idea what I'm talking about. Did you notice my weight loss? Hello???

And what about all the people who've lost weight eating 1250ish calories? They don't count, because you lost weight eating more? Everyone is different.

moonsforeyes

That's incredibly low, and not sustainable. You'd be unsatiated and end up falling off the wagon. Re-adjust it, quickly!!

Wow that's incredibly opinionated!

As you can see - the answer is varied. You need to find some middle ground to what you want to achieve and how you think you can do it. If you think it's too low, it probably is. Some of us don't think it is. Some others consume twice (or more) that.

I say do some research and enter what you think you can actually eat in a day (or do it over a couple of days) and see if you think that's sustainable....

Don't rely on others opinions. It's too fickle, varied and often bro-science... Do what works for you.

^this!

chelltune

This is the amount mfp has calculated I should eat .. I am 170 lb 5'6" 36 yrs old female .. this seems like too few calories

I'm 33, 5ft 5. I think when I had it set to lose 1lb per week it gave me 1330 cals and I was able to stick to this. I'm using MFP now to maintain my weight. I think it has me at approx 1700 now. To be honest i fiddled with the settings no end of times. I think last week I had it set to lose 1/2lb and it gave me 1500.

I've lost weight at 1300/1500 and 1700. There are loads of debates about whether or not to eat your exercise calories too. As others have said, just experiment and see what works for you. It is also how you feel week to week about your weight loss.

If a meal looks small then make a massive salad to go with it. It is low in cals/fat and makes your plate look full/more satisfying. Your body soon adjusts and you get used to eating less. Weigh your foods so you know you are tracking accurately.

laccy40

I'm a 5'7" female age 42 starting weight 170lb so very similar stats to the op. I set my activity level to sedentary (desk job) and goal as 1lb a week and it gave me a target of 1430 cals per day. I do between 100-200 cals of exercise every day so eat about 1550 cals. This week my cals have been reduced to 1300, I guess because I am within 7 lb of my goal. So if the op feels 1200 cals is too low it is probably because she's set her weight loss at 2lb per week and changing it to 1 lb per week will give her more calories.

ebony__

I hate it when people say 1200 is not sustainable, yes it is, we eat wayyyyy too much food, that's why we're fat!

I agree. And If your eating the right kinds of food 1200 can totally fill u up.

I made a huge salad the other day, mostly with cucumber and the whole thing only came to 70cal.



Having said that though I'm new to this so I wouldn't qualify to give advice and I think if u feel like your starving up he cals.. Or if im super hungry I'll eat more and just exercise more

But any starts a good start and if it's feeling way to hard your not as likely to stick to it.

brookepenni

I hate it when people say 1200 is not sustainable, yes it is, we eat wayyyyy too much food, that's why we're fat!

Ya, I would have no idea what I'm talking about. Did you notice my weight loss? Hello???

You are MY HERO.... Does that feel better now??

Seriously, congrats on YOUR success. You aren't the only one that has found what works for them. I say continue merry on your way and let others work out what's best for them.

tarak83

I hate it when people say 1200 is not sustainable, yes it is, we eat wayyyyy too much food, that's why we're fat!

It most certainly is. Look at my food diary.. I eat roughly 1200 calories, but I'm actually eating a hell of a lot more than I was when I was shoving junk down my throat.

I went from approx. 230 to 135 by following a 1200 calorie diet along with exercising most days. I was in no way starving... I was just filling myself with healthy food.

If you are eating healthy food then 1200 calories is just fine. Just don't fill your allowed calories with junk, otherwise you will be starving.