Want to eat 1500 cal a day

KristyStuebe

I think 1200 calories is just not sustainable for my life style habits. I need to determine what I need to do that will allow me to be at 1500 calories a day. Any suggestions? such as: walk 1 miles each day, or zumba 2x a week?

shelbiejo

If you are a 1200 calorie diet you can still eat more if you are exercising. Whatever calories you burn from working out you get back. So do something the burns 300 or more calories. I usually don't eat all mine back but from what I hear a lot of people do(:

workoutgirl23

very one's calorie need are different. i originally started at 1200 calories a day. but then felt like i was starving all the time. so I upped my calorie intake to 1500 calories, and it seems to be working good for me.

LottieLou13

I'm on 1550 a day which is my TDEE - 20%. I also eat back my exercise calories. I'm losing weight steadily and feel much better than when I was on 1200.

the_green_midget

You could go for a jog for half an hour, or you could take an hour-long walk, or you can do circuit training for half an hour. Just go through the exercise database and find an exercise you like, and see how long you'd have to do it to burn 300 calories.

Josie_lifting_cats

At 1,475 calories I've lost a ton of weight. Seriously. And I'm not a consistent exerciser.

I would calculate your BMR (there's a calculator in the tools here). 1,475 is my BMR. I'm still eating below what I "burn" every day by being alive and working and such.... so it's still a deficit.

Do it. Switch it up. Because I could not sustain at 1,200, and I wasn't losing weight. A month later I pretty much gave up, started "cheating", and started losing weight at the same time. At 1,400-1,500 my lifestyle is much more sustainable, I'm happier, and I get to eat some fun things still. It just worked so much better for me.

Feel free to add me as a friend if you want. You can peruse my diary all you want!

lostsanity137

MFP set me pretty close to 1200 cals and that was just too low for me. Even when I did eat back my exercise cals I was still starving. I've upped my cals to 1500 and I still eat my exercise calories when I want and I am still losing 1-2 lbs a week. I also don't get too concerned when I eat over my limit a couple times a week as I am thinking of upping the calorie limit again. So many people on here lose weight on here eating way more that I do that weigh less than I do!

Do whatever you think will work best for you, and try things out until you get it right.

Louise1247

Im in the same boat. I eat 1200 a day but im SO scared of increasing... and i cant figure out how to increase it!! I have a small budget

manderson27

Have a look at this list it may give you some idea of the burn from different activities.

http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist.htm

The burn can vary depending on your weight, height, how hard you work at them etc but it will give you a ball park figure.

ETA I started at 1200 but was hungry all the time. Through trial and error I have found 1600 much more sustainable I vary a lot from day to day and excercise days eat more. Seems to be working for me.

Verity1111

I just eat what feels right at the time and I rarely get the chance to exercise, but I lost at least 10lbs since April. I delivered our son March 15, 2012. I actually have lost 14-16lbs (water on water off LOL) from my pre-pregnancy weight, which was 185lbs. I also "dieted" while pregnant, by which I mean I exercised and ate better than I would normally. I'm 5'4", 170 or so pounds, and my calories are set around 1500.

angelina2585

I eat 1750 calories a day based on a 15% cut from my TDEE that I got from http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ I used the 3-5 hour activity level so my exercise is all included and I don't have to vary my calories every day.

I just prefer this method to having a lower target then eating back calories burned.