what cals are you at?

stephyj528

if you dont mind me asking im just curious what cals people are at, were at, etc. and also how many pounds per week you are trying to lose? just wondering if people want their weight off fast or are just taking their time? what works for you?

DanaDark

I am trying to eat 1600 a day. (Difficult for me to do, am used to 1100 to 1250 a day)

My goal is about 1/2 to 1 pound of FAT loss per week.

My TDEE is about 1850 with a desk job. I add in a 20 minute walk 5 days a week on my lunch break and a 50 to 70 minute walk 3 to 5 days a week as well. I also go to the gym 2 to 3 times a week to lift weights.

jzaz903

I'm lightly active, 22 years old, female.
When I started MFP in January, it set me at 1920, to lose 1.5/wk at 270lbs.
Now I'm at 1590 to lose 1.5/wk at 221.
When it gets down to 1500, I plan on changing it to 1/wk. Well see where it goes from there.

I chose 1.5/wk because when I was starting, I wasn't ready to dive into the deep end of the pool- I needed to play in the shallow end for a little while before I got things under control. 1920 seemed like an attainable number, and it worked for me. I've made small changes to my diet because that's what I'm comfortable with.

cbevan1229

MFP started me at about 1440.

When I lost 10 pounds, it suggested recalculating my goals,and dropped my cals down to 1380. I know it was all in my head, but that felt defeating, like I was being punished for losing weight by having to restrict my calories further.

So, I made the executive decision to set my cals at 1500, and leave them there. I may lose a little slower, but I will still lose, and it helps keep me from feeling frustrated and defeated.

stephyj528

I'm lightly active, 22 years old, female.
When I started MFP in January, it set me at 1920, to lose 1.5/wk at 270lbs.
Now I'm at 1590 to lose 1.5/wk at 221.
When it gets down to 1500, I plan on changing it to 1/wk. Well see where it goes from there.

I chose 1.5/wk because when I was starting, I wasn't ready to dive into the deep end of the pool- I needed to play in the shallow end for a little while before I got things under control. 1920 seemed like an attainable number, and it worked for me. I've made small changes to my diet because that's what I'm comfortable with.

CONGRATS ON 49LBS! wow ok thats inspiring that u went slow but still lost. until 2 days ago i kept changing my goals..2lbs, 1.5, 1lb a week...active, not active, etc. now im at 1430 and i went over but its my 2nd day and i only went over by 53 cals so im like whatevs. thanks for your input!

stephyj528

I'm lightly active, 22 years old, female.
When I started MFP in January, it set me at 1920, to lose 1.5/wk at 270lbs.
Now I'm at 1590 to lose 1.5/wk at 221.
When it gets down to 1500, I plan on changing it to 1/wk. Well see where it goes from there.

I chose 1.5/wk because when I was starting, I wasn't ready to dive into the deep end of the pool- I needed to play in the shallow end for a little while before I got things under control. 1920 seemed like an attainable number, and it worked for me. I've made small changes to my diet because that's what I'm comfortable with.

CONGRATS ON 49LBS! wow ok thats inspiring that u went slow but still lost. until 2 days ago i kept changing my goals..2lbs, 1.5, 1lb a week...active, not active, etc. now im at 1430 and i went over but its my 2nd day and i only went over by 53 cals so im like whatevs. thanks for your input!

jzaz903

I'm lightly active, 22 years old, female.
When I started MFP in January, it set me at 1920, to lose 1.5/wk at 270lbs.
Now I'm at 1590 to lose 1.5/wk at 221.
When it gets down to 1500, I plan on changing it to 1/wk. Well see where it goes from there.

I chose 1.5/wk because when I was starting, I wasn't ready to dive into the deep end of the pool- I needed to play in the shallow end for a little while before I got things under control. 1920 seemed like an attainable number, and it worked for me. I've made small changes to my diet because that's what I'm comfortable with.

CONGRATS ON 49LBS! wow ok thats inspiring that u went slow but still lost. until 2 days ago i kept changing my goals..2lbs, 1.5, 1lb a week...active, not active, etc. now im at 1430 and i went over but its my 2nd day and i only went over by 53 cals so im like whatevs. thanks for your input!

Thanks! In my book, 53 over is still a win. Even at 1/wk you're at a 500 deficit, so if I go over by 100 or less, I'm okay with it I really thought about the activity level(I work at a Dunkin donuts, so I'm walking around all day), then I looked at what my calorie goal would be with 2, 1.5, 1/wk. and I chose what I thought I could handle. Weight loss isn't a sprint- its a marathon. You should choose something that you can handle every day.
Feel free to add me if you want!

Brandicaloriecountess

1800-1900 I have been losing about 2-3 pounds per month.

irisheyez718

I'm only set to lose .9 pounds a week right now, and my calories are set to net 1660. I'm not in a rush, I'd rather feel good and enjoy the things I like, while losing weight. :-)

DarcysMuse

Hi,

I follow a starch-based, primarily vegan diet. I custom set my goals to 1700 calories that consist of 65% carbs, 20% protein, 15% fat. Sometimes the fat goes over due to flax seeds or avocado
My carbs consist mostly of sweet potatoes, potatoes and brown rice. I eat 2-4 pieces of fruit a day plus a large salad and veggies.
I am losing about 2-3 pounds a week with this method. My goal is 1 1/2 pounds a week for an average.

Lisa

DanaDark

Hi,

I follow a starch-based, primarily vegan diet. I custom set my goals to 1700 calories that consist of 65% carbs, 20% protein, 15% fat. Sometimes the fat goes over due to flax seeds or avocado
My carbs consist mostly of sweet potatoes, potatoes and brown rice. I eat 2-4 pieces of fruit a day plus a large salad and veggies.
I am losing about 2-3 pounds a week with this method. My goal is 1 1/2 pounds a week for an average.

Lisa

The low carb people would flip on hearing this... he he

JB5349

I set mine at 1600 but I am eating more like 1800 -2000 because of the amount of exercise that I am doing - I have been losing about a pound or so a week. But I only weigh myself once every three weeks. I love the scale but in all honesty when it is up I lose motivation - I have learned that I can eat what I want but I have to make sure that I work for it.

For example today was my pig out day and I had a few ice-cream drumsticks, they were awesome, an hour hike in the bush, 10 min running, cycling for 15 min and some weight training..... it was all ok! Still under my calories... is this something that I would do everyday, ABSOLUTELY NOT. When I was eating them it seamed worth while, now that it is in my stomach and it is unsettled.... next time I would likely think again!

Rmfowler1990

I'm at 1340 which is nearly impossible for me to attain. I'm working on finding out what works for me. It's a hard task though.
Currently I weigh 160 (i lost a pound but gained it back). I set it to lose 1lb/wk

I'm trying to read as much as possible to find out if anyone else has been where I'm out and completely disagreed with MFP for the calorie max.

I've only been at this a couple weeks so it's still a work in progress.

Good luck everyone!!

miracle4me

I am experimenting started at 1650, than 1500, than 1400, 1200 I do not do well on 1200, so I upped it to 1300. I have never done what MFP goal for because it is scary to eat that many calories when I am trying to lose weight.

I also never lose the amount that MFP says we will lose on our goal per week. I always eat below 100 carbs try more to eat closer to 50 carbs.

sweetsong32

Mine is set at 1570. I am averaging about 2 pounds lost per week.

I have 142 MORE pounds to lose. Slow and steady wins the race! :-)

WaxMama

I have mine set at 1786 (my TDEE) but have been consistently eating 1500-1600 calories every day. Since I started doing that 2 weeks ago, I have lost 5 lbs... otherwise I was losing roughly .5 to 1 pound a week...

Willbenchforcupcakes

I'm set at 2020 to lose 1/2 pound a week, I'm 5'7.5", currently 179.6;bs. Add in 500 calories for breastfeeding, and most days anywhere between 500-1000 calories for exercise, and I'm between 3000-3500 calories most days.

CyberEd312

Currently eating 3200-3400 calories a day with a deficit to lose 1/2 lbs. a week.. Working on that last 15-20 lbs......

33neenaj

2000

Snail313

I was at 1750 to lose 1lb a week but I just changed it to 1350 to lose 2lbs a week. I am taking my time because I want to keep it off forever but I would love it if the weight just fell off really quickly. Patience!

Fatty_Melt

I'm sedentary, 24, and female.
MFP started me off at 2700 calories to lose 1lb a week.
It's really hard to hit that mark while making healthy choices and watching my sodium intake. I just recently added in cardio and strength training to my daily routine, so some days I have as many as 3100 calories to take in! I never thought I would have such a problem finding things to eat.

dtucker3800

For the first 12 months of my diet I kept my calories to 1250 a day. That was hard, but I was able to lose 34 pounds during the year. I bumped it up to 1440 (maintenance) a few weeks ago as I'm on a plateau. I had stopped losing weight at 1250 a day, but I have only lost 1/2 pound in 23 days at 1440 a day. Everyone here seems to be eating more. I was only eating 1600 when I weighed 34 pounds more so I don't want to get back in that rut. I have hypothyroidism so that means I can't eat as much as others without this problem.

sarah2954

I started at 1200/day in mid-January (I was actually not even eating that much for the first month, not good). I did that until early May. I upped to 1300 and started running. Then I started eating nack my exercise cals and the weight loss slowed, so I now eat 1500 and do not eat back exercise cals. I'm 5'2", SW 198, CW 136, GW about 115.

ChassityDawn

I am 25 and sedatary.
MFP puts me at 1200 a day just for 1 lb a week, That is hard for me. I had my first meeting with a trainer today and he told me to eat 200-300 cal every 3 hours with one of those meals being a little bigger. Not sure which to go by? How do I put in my own number instead of MFP on my diary?

KuroNyankoSensei

1200 ;3. It's actually a lot when you eat the right things~ I lose about a pound a week on average.

_stephanie0

i aim to net my bmr always eat exercise cals. so i net 1400ish

thewestwifey

I'm at 1340 which is nearly impossible for me to attain. I'm working on finding out what works for me. It's a hard task though.
Currently I weigh 160 (i lost a pound but gained it back). I set it to lose 1lb/wk

I'm trying to read as much as possible to find out if anyone else has been where I'm out and completely disagreed with MFP for the calorie max.

I've only been at this a couple weeks so it's still a work in progress.

Good luck everyone!!

I am 24 F, 5'4" with a SW of 220 and sedentary desk job - MFP set me at 1200 cal per day... I tried for a week just eating that and I had extreme headaches, and I thought to myself well my body is just in shock. The next week I started adding cardio, and I was struggling to maintain the 1200 cal per day so I would eat past, and then I would feel bad and I was spending all my time in the gym to burn off my additional calories. So essentially I was exercising to eat = not good. I agree with other people who posted, if you have a splurge day or know that you will be over then you need to "pay for it" by making sure you schedule time in to work it off. I did a lot of research about everything and my best suggestion is listen to your body. Do what makes you comfortable. You do not want to be in the gym 2-3 hours a day 6 days a week, and you do not want to have headaches. I have since upped my calories to 1500 day, and I can manage to meet that without having to go to the gym and work it off. However, if I do make into the gym to do cardio I do not eat back my calories. It is what I have found that works best for you. Just experiment with trial and error - you may see the scale go up, but it is like tuning your body to configure it to be what works best for you. Be patience, it will work! This place is a good motivator! Good Luck!

peachyxoxoxo

My goal is 1900 calories per day. I exercise 6 days a week (doing Insanity) and my goal weight loss rate is 0.5 - 1 pound per week.

I'm 5'7, current weight 156, and my goal is 135.

graelwyn

Average around 2500 calories, with 600-800 burnt in workouts each day, so I net around 1800-2000 basically.
Mind you, I have been overeating recently and have been hitting closer to 3000.

I am on maintenance, or was, lol.

AmyRhubarb

i aim to net my bmr always eat exercise cals. so i net 1400ish

Me too! :happy:

I started with the 1200 per day - hungry, tired, cranky, not enough energy for workouts. Upped it to I dunno, 1400 or something, still not enough. Raised my activity level & set my goal to lose .5lb a week, and calories went up to 1580 or so. Eventually plateaued, and then I found this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Great info there, and I found my BMR, the amount of calories I need to lay in bed all day, and my TDEE, total daily energy expenditure (based on my activity level, age, gender, weight, height, etc, etc,). I set my daily calories to 1800 a day (roughly 20% below my TDEE, so there's a deficit), and I make sure that I my net calories always come in at my BMR, but not over my TDEE. And it's working!

I'm almost to my goal, so my losses at this point are slow, and show more in how my clothes fit rather than what the scale says - but I have lost another pound this week. :drinker: And I bought size 4 jeans yesterday! :drinker: :drinker:

Summary: calories set to 1800, but no worries if I go a little over because I know I'm still under my TDEE at the end of the day.

Suaso

I'm set at around 1500 (I set my goals manually).
I generally eat around 1200 and net 400-600.
I work out 4-6 times a week (all cardio..soon to mix in weights) for roughly an hour and a half.
I'm losing between 2-3 pounds a week.