Should I be under 1200 calories?

XxSarahKatexX
XxSarahKatexX Posts: 120
in Health and Weight Loss
I know 1200 seems to be the limit number here, but every other website says my BMR is like..1400-1500 and that would make my 500 calorie deficit 900-1000. So should I be eating less calories? Or am I just not understanding the math correctly? I have been on MFP for a pretty long time counting calories and all i ever lost was water weight..maybe this is why?
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Replies

  • SocWkrBee
    SocWkrBee Posts: 374
    Go to goals, set your activity level and choose the lose 1lb per week option. Whatever it says eat that. Eating too little calories is a set up for failure and why would you want to? Food can be so yummy!
  • XxSarahKatexX
    XxSarahKatexX Posts: 120
    Go to goals, set your activity level and choose the lose 1lb per week option. Whatever it says eat that. Eating too little calories is a set up for failure and why would you want to? Food can be so yummy!

    The thing is I could choose to lose .5 a lb or 2lbs and it will always say 1200 because that is the minimum MFP says. I don't want to eat too little, but When I do my math based of of all the other websites my deficit should mean i eat less than 1200 a day. :/
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    Your BMR is what you need to eat to keep your organs functioning. What you need to look up is your TDEE. That's the number of calories your body burns on a daily basis, including things like work and exercise. Take your 500-calorie cut from your TDEE not your BMR.
  • mystikalbeanz
    mystikalbeanz Posts: 192 Member
    You have to find out what your TDEE is and take 20% off of that to get your calorie intake. You can goto this website http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html and once it gives you your TDEE take 20% of that to find out how many calories you should be eating a day. Hope this helps.
  • Kenzietea2
    Kenzietea2 Posts: 1,132 Member
    Your BMR is what you need to eat to keep your organs functioning. What you need to look up is your TDEE. That's the number of calories your body burns on a daily basis, including things like work and exercise. Take your 500-calorie cut from your TDEE not your BMR.

    Yup.
  • fleur_de_lis19
    fleur_de_lis19 Posts: 926 Member
    sigh... the answer is no.. never below 1200. *smh
  • triathlete5301
    triathlete5301 Posts: 182 Member
    Your body will go into starvation mode if you go under 1200 calories- this is why MFP has this as a minimum.
  • ChitownFoodie
    ChitownFoodie Posts: 1,562 Member
    http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced

    This calculator is the closests to what my BodyMedia Fit says. Find out your TDEE and subtract 20%. Adjust your goals based on your TDEE.
  • Bumdrahp
    Bumdrahp Posts: 1,314 Member
    Out of curiosity I just did the TDEE calculator above ( fitnessfrog) and I feel like eating 1600 after the -500 is a lot of calories for me to be eating a day. I am currently eating between 1200-1400 a day, usually at 1200. I work out 2-4 times a week. Not lifting, just cardio and zumba... MAYBE I am wrong but, I wouldnt feel right eating 1600! Lol.
  • islandnutshel
    islandnutshel Posts: 1,143 Member
    You can increase your deficit by exercising. It is difficult to get the nutrition your body needs on 1200 calories, eating less would mean depriving your body of the fuel and nutrients it needs to maintain, heal and keep your immune system functioning. Focus on eating good foods and increase your deficit with exercise.
    Yes I am saying you don't have to eat back all your exercise calories. For those that are close to their goals, MFP will not allow for a large deficit becaue of the 1200 /day limit. In that case exercise is the only way to create a deficit. I do this but am careful not to allow my deficit to exceed 1000 calories/day. So I eat some back.
  • XxSarahKatexX
    XxSarahKatexX Posts: 120
    You have to find out what your TDEE is and take 20% off of that to get your calorie intake. You can goto this website http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html and once it gives you your TDEE take 20% of that to find out how many calories you should be eating a day. Hope this helps.
    ohh. oh kay thanks~
  • SocWkrBee
    SocWkrBee Posts: 374
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12?hl=2.0

    Sorry the first post wasn't very helpful. Read his post. It is very long, but informative. The short version of it is this. Take your measuments, waist, neck, and hip. Enter it into the military body fat calculator on fat2fitradio.com. After you get your body fat %, go to the BMR calculator. He says that you should enter you current weight as both current and goal weight. Take the result you get and subtract 20% from the lightly active number.

    Eat that number of calories, without adding exercise cals back in, because they are included in the number.
  • jennajocummings
    jennajocummings Posts: 104
    You have to find out what your TDEE is and take 20% off of that to get your calorie intake. You can goto this website http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html and once it gives you your TDEE take 20% of that to find out how many calories you should be eating a day. Hope this helps.

    Thanks for this but... Holy cow! That's A LOT of calories for me! My TDEE is 2848 so 80% is 2278. I eat 1200-1400 now. I couldn't imagine eating an extra 800-1000 calories. My head is spinning...
  • Wabbit05
    Wabbit05 Posts: 434 Member
    Read this:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/680246-tdee-bmr-what-they-are-and-what-to-do-with-them

    It absolutely helped me understand the BMR and TDEE.

    The BMR (basal metabolic rate) is like your minimum calorie intake for the day to keep your organs functioning properly. The least amount of calories your body needs to function throughout the day.

    Mine is about yours, 1550. I set that has my net calorie goal for the day because it is the absolute minimum you should go.

    The TDEE is the Today Daily Energy Expended. Now this depends on your activity level. For sedentary, mine is about 1850 (according to the website the link forum provides). But that's to maintain.

    In order to lose weight, I subtract 15% of my TDEE which gives me a little over 1570. That means, I need to hit around 1570 cals with no exercise to lose weight but not go under 1550.

    HOWEVER, if you are exercising, you are burning those calories you consumed. But the body needs that minimum 1550 cals to work. That's why the program is set up to eat back your calories.

    Hope this helps!
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    Everyone has different nutritional needs. I changed up my numbers and portions every week until I began to see some progress. Ultimately, I had to change my macros in order to get the scale to start moving down. Just keep switching things up until you find something that works for you.
  • terrappyn
    terrappyn Posts: 324 Member
    :smile:
    You have to find out what your TDEE is and take 20% off of that to get your calorie intake. You can goto this website http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html and once it gives you your TDEE take 20% of that to find out how many calories you should be eating a day. Hope this helps.

    Thats a great little website you shared!
  • richellekramer
    richellekramer Posts: 42
    So If the TDEE says that my number is 2900 and I eat about 1500 calories net per day. Is it really possible for me to not be losing weight because I am not eating enough? I seem to be stuck...... seems to weird!
  • CurveAppeal86
    CurveAppeal86 Posts: 272 Member
    Richelle, that's exactly while you're stuck. If you take 20% off of your TDEE you are at 2320 calories!
    Your body is in starvation mode and it's holding onto the fat in your body because of it.

    Under 1200 calories is not right!
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
    Have you ever considered exercising?
  • aubreykkkk
    aubreykkkk Posts: 147 Member
    1200 calories isn't the "magic intake minimum" like it is so often portrayed as. Like you, I have a lower bmr (mine is actually less than 1200!), so we can eat much lower than that! It doesn't make sense that 1200 is the minimum for everyone. If I ate that amount, I would gain! And, if some people want to lose the normal 2 pounds a week, you might have to go lower than 1200!
  • LadyIvysMom
    LadyIvysMom Posts: 391 Member
    I suck at math. It says me TDEE is 1725. So does that mean I should be eating 1380? And is that net? Because I find it hard to even net 1200 per day now let alone all the way up to 1380 if I excercise.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    I suck at math. It says me TDEE is 1725. So does that mean I should be eating 1380? And is that net? Because I find it hard to even net 1200 per day now let alone all the way up to 1380 if I excercise.

    1380 is a 20% cut off 1725 yes.

    If the exercise isn't in the 1725 then eat some of the exercise calories as well. If it is in the 1725 just eat the 1380.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    I suck at math. It says me TDEE is 1725. So does that mean I should be eating 1380? And is that net? Because I find it hard to even net 1200 per day now let alone all the way up to 1380 if I excercise.

    If you included your exercise in the TDEE calculation then you don't need to eat back your exercise calories because they're already included.
  • LadyIvysMom
    LadyIvysMom Posts: 391 Member
    Thanks guys.
  • mhouston2011
    mhouston2011 Posts: 155
    Good grief, no wonder so many people stay confused all of the time. Quit worrying about this percent or that percent. Take your own calories and bump them a little to see how that changes things. It really isn't as complex as everytime tries to make it out to be. Quit overthinking everything!!
  • Ge0rgiana
    Ge0rgiana Posts: 1,649 Member
    The short answer: NO.
  • dkoroschetz
    dkoroschetz Posts: 67 Member
    My TDEE is 1970 and I've only been eating about 1200. I'm currently stuck on the scale but I've still been working out 5 hours per week, minimum with my trainer and boot camp classes.

    I've been told to consume about 10 cals per pound of body weight - and this is pretty darn close to my TDEE minus 20%. So I think that's a pretty good formula :)

    I was told to increase my intake gradually, about an additional 100 cals per week because I'm not eating enough. But I don't even know what else to add in! I'm already eating 5 small meals and day and I'm hardly ever hungry!!
  • mnlght535
    mnlght535 Posts: 84
    bump for later
  • kazey901
    kazey901 Posts: 33
    I eat 1749 a day (always under by 100-400 calories though) and my tdee is 2628 so I need to eat 2102.

    That seems crazy to me. I am losing a lb. a week like I wanted.

    So should I up the calories or stay where I am?
  • tashaa1992
    tashaa1992 Posts: 658 Member
    I know 1200 seems to be the limit number here, but every other website says my BMR is like..1400-1500 and that would make my 500 calorie deficit 900-1000. So should I be eating less calories? Or am I just not understanding the math correctly? I have been on MFP for a pretty long time counting calories and all i ever lost was water weight..maybe this is why?
    Find your bmr, your bmr is the amount your body needs to just stay alive, as far as I'm aware. Whereas your tdee is the amount your body needs to maintain your weight and your activity level is included in your tdee. You deduct from your tdee to get your cut, therefore because you are not eating your tdee, you will lose weight. I'm hoping that makes sense?
    I use http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/
    Remember, the calculations are just estimates, your bmr and tdee may be higher or lower. Good luck xxx

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