How many cals should I be eating?

jessym7910
jessym7910 Posts: 15 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've heard that I'm supposed to eat no less than 1200 calories (although I added 300 cals by working out today) but I've also heard that you lose weight by eating under your calorie minimum. According to my entries, I've had 784 calories today and I need another 757. Am I putting my body in starvation mode? I don't feel like I'm starving myself.
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Replies

  • Colbyandsage
    Colbyandsage Posts: 751 Member
    What are your stats? Weight, height, amount u want to lose?
  • jessym7910
    jessym7910 Posts: 15 Member
    What are your stats? Weight, height, amount u want to lose?

    I'm 4'10, 120.6 lbs, I've lost almost 5 lbs (Yay!), and I want to be at 105.
  • eatcleanNtraindirty
    eatcleanNtraindirty Posts: 444 Member
    Ah ok. I thought this said how many CATS should I be eating. The correct answer to that is 5.... 5 cats per day.
  • Shrelana
    Shrelana Posts: 248 Member
    From what I understand, 1200 is the bare minimum for the human body to function...
  • Mutant13
    Mutant13 Posts: 2,485 Member
    You lose weight by being under your BMR, which is higher than 1200 cals. Never eat less than 1200, and eat back all your exercise calories.
  • eatcleanNtraindirty
    eatcleanNtraindirty Posts: 444 Member
    Probably not starvation mode but be careful. If you get too low during a diet it's hard for the body to recover and is called "metabolic damage" where you slow your metabolism down too much over a long period of time that it stops burning calories effectively.
  • Mutant13
    Mutant13 Posts: 2,485 Member
    Ah ok. I thought this said how many CATS should I be eating. The correct answer to that is 5.... 5 cats per day.


    +100 internets for you
  • ChristyRunStarr
    ChristyRunStarr Posts: 1,600 Member
    Ah ok. I thought this said how many CATS should I be eating. The correct answer to that is 5.... 5 cats per day.

    No wonder I'm not losing as fast as I want...I thought it was 3 per day

    OP-you can answer this yourself...what's your BMR and TDEE? Check out this post and you can figure it out: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • xsmilexforxmex
    xsmilexforxmex Posts: 1,216 Member
    Check out the website http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/

    Use the military Body fat % calculator and then the BMR. It gives you goals based on how active you are.
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    Gack. No no no.

    So, you use energy all day long. You eat food to replace/fuel that energy expenditure.

    Exercises come in calories, food comes in calories.

    Your body uses a lot of energy to process toxins, and circulate blood, and exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen. BMR, your basal metabolic rate, is the amount of calories your body uses to perform those functions. Comatose in a bed, you burn your BMR.

    Never eat less than your BMR, because you need to circulate blood and process toxins and have hair that doesn't fall out.

    Now, over and above your BMR, you walk around. You pick things up and put them down. You have conversations and blah blah blah. The sum of all the energy you burn all day, including BMR and these extra things, is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure or TDEE.

    You lose weight by eating less than your TDEE. Conservation of mass, conservation of energy. More calories out than in equals weight loss.

    But if you eat too little, you can screw that up. Your metabolism is like a fire, and you want to keep it stoked and roaring with fresh fuel. If you stop fueling the fire, it dwindles. Your body doesn't perform certain functions optimally anymore to conserve energy. You're not as hungry anymore. Your caloric deficit isn't as great, and your weight loss hits the brakes.

    Edited to add: And absolutely, under no circumstances, EVER eat less than five felines of average weight per day.
  • Colbyandsage
    Colbyandsage Posts: 751 Member
    You lose weight by being under your BMR, which is higher than 1200 cals. Never eat less than 1200, and eat back all your exercise calories.

    Not true. Your BMR is the lowest you should go. Yours is around 1300. You don't want to dip too far under that number unless u like feeling weak. I also recommend eating back your exercise calories. You really don't have a lot to lose so take it slow if you want it to stay off. I lost 30 lbs by setting MFP at my BMR and eating back calories. I have HRM so it was pretty accurate calculations,

    You lose if you are under your TDEE. Go to fat2fitradio.com for more info under calculators.

    Good luck!
  • rburd12
    rburd12 Posts: 15
    You lose weight by being under your BMR, which is higher than 1200 cals. Never eat less than 1200, and eat back all your exercise calories.

    Actually, you should not eat below your BMR. This is the number of calories your body would burn if you were in a coma state. If you eat less than this your metabolism will slow down in response.

    So far what's worked for me is calculating TDEE and subtracting 15-20%. My BMR is a little above 1400 and I'm eating about 1650 a day.
  • Colbyandsage
    Colbyandsage Posts: 751 Member
    Gack. No no no.

    So, you use energy all day long. You eat food to replace/fuel that energy expenditure.

    Exercises come in calories, food comes in calories.

    Your body uses a lot of energy to process toxins, and circulate blood, and exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen. BMR, your basal metabolic rate, is the amount of calories your body uses to perform those functions. Comatose in a bed, you burn your BMR.

    Never eat less than your BMR, because you need to circulate blood and process toxins and have hair that doesn't fall out.

    Now, over and above your BMR, you walk around. You pick things up and put them down. You have conversations and blah blah blah. The sum of all the energy you burn all day, including BMR and these extra things, is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure or TDEE.

    You lose weight by eating less than your TDEE. Conservation of mass, conservation of energy. More calories out than in equals weight loss.

    But if you eat too little, you can screw that up. Your metabolism is like a fire, and you want to keep it stoked and roaring with fresh fuel. If you stop fueling the fire, it dwindles. Your body doesn't perform certain functions optimally anymore to conserve energy. You're not as hungry anymore. Your caloric deficit isn't as great, and your weight loss hits the brakes.

    Edited to add: And absolutely, under no circumstances, EVER eat less than five felines of average weight per day.

    Good description! Eat, I swear I was the fattest non-eater out there until MFP! I would eat less than 1200 calories for a few days, get cranky then quit and consume 3000 cals for awhile until I felt like crap... Rinse and repeat for many years :)
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    You lose weight by being under your BMR, which is higher than 1200 cals. Never eat less than 1200, and eat back all your exercise calories.

    Incorrect, you lose weight by being under your TDEE but above BMR. For most people, 1200 is below their BMR. However the OP is only 4'10 so her BMR may be close to 1200.
  • jessym7910
    jessym7910 Posts: 15 Member
    Ah ok. I thought this said how many CATS should I be eating. The correct answer to that is 5.... 5 cats per day.

    haha that's funny. I'm gonna have to figure out what my TDEE is and whatever that other thing was.
  • Sincere24
    Sincere24 Posts: 126 Member
    taking you're height into consideration as i'm about 5'2 i think the sweet spot for those around our height with a moderate active lifestyle is 1300-1500kcal. You can try this range and/or zig zag your way as in eating 1500 when you exercise and 1300 when not to lose a healthy amount.

    You can certainly add me, as i'm still working this out myself and have a somewhat similar goal (110ish). Good luck and kudos on the weight loss so far!
  • Mutant13
    Mutant13 Posts: 2,485 Member
    You lose weight by being under your BMR, which is higher than 1200 cals. Never eat less than 1200, and eat back all your exercise calories.

    Actually, you should not eat below your BMR. This is the number of calories your body would burn if you were in a coma state. If you eat less than this your metabolism will slow down in response.

    So far what's worked for me is calculating TDEE and subtracting 15-20%. My BMR is a little above 1400 and I'm eating about 1650 a day.

    I did mean to say TDEE, it's early in the morning over here and my brain hasn't caught up.
  • edennew
    edennew Posts: 231 Member
    I've chosen to eat dogs instead of cats. How many?
  • jessym7910
    jessym7910 Posts: 15 Member
    Check out the website http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/

    Use the military Body fat % calculator and then the BMR. It gives you goals based on how active you are.

    The military Body fat % calculator isn't working. Is there another one I should use?
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    You have a BMR of 1362.9 per here: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
    Your TDEE is calculable here: http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator

    Not too much magic, just don't eat too little because it'll be counterproductive and don't eat too much because that's what got us all in this mess in the first place :-) At the end of the day, this is all I've really been doing for the last year and pounds have been falling off me at a fairly regular clip. Not fast, but trending consistently.
  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
    I've chosen to eat dogs instead of cats. How many?
    There's one in every crowd.
    *sigh*
    Dogs just don't have the same nutritional content. You will need to supplement your diet with mouse essence if you want to be a Dogivor
  • bigjretrac
    bigjretrac Posts: 80 Member
    *sigh* So the 1590 calories I've been consuming are too little?
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    *sigh* So the 1590 calories I've been consuming are too little?

    I would think so.
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    *sigh* So the 1590 calories I've been consuming are too little?

    Unless you're deceptively short, probably. Don't get down about it though. It takes quite some time, from what I understand, to do irrevocable metabolic damage.

    Try to run your numbers and arrive at a reasonable deficit from TDEE. In measuring progress, look at long trends and not daily fluctuations, and I think you'll see consistent losses. Works for everyone as long as you estimate your TDEE within a broad margin and you don't cheat or inaccurately measure food.
  • bigjretrac
    bigjretrac Posts: 80 Member
    *sigh* So the 1590 calories I've been consuming are too little?

    Unless you're deceptively short, probably. Don't get down about it though. It takes quite some time, from what I understand, to do irrevocable metabolic damage.

    Try to run your numbers and arrive at a reasonable deficit from TDEE. In measuring progress, look at long trends and not daily fluctuations, and I think you'll see consistent losses. Works for everyone as long as you estimate your TDEE within a broad margin and you don't cheat or inaccurately measure food.

    Gotcha. I'm 5'11", 221 pounds. Thanks for reassuring me about any permanent damage, I was so worried at first.

    What type of deficit do you recommend from the TDEE? Is there some sort of formula? I've had pretty consistent weight loss, so I'm scared of undoing it.

    Thanks, again! I was getting annoyed because I felt like 1590 was rather restrictive for a guy my size :-)
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    Holy crap! That's low intake for your size. Good news, you can and should eat more.

    Try 15- 20% less than TDEE. You may notice a short term fluctuation but you won't undo your work. I got big eating whatever whenever, not from being a hundred calories off in my deficit. :)
  • bigjretrac
    bigjretrac Posts: 80 Member
    Holy crap! That's low intake for your size. Good news, you can and should eat more.

    Try 15- 20% less than TDEE. You may notice a short term fluctuation but you won't undo your work. I got big eating whatever whenever, not from being a hundred calories off in my deficit. :)

    Thank you SO MUCH!!! You have no idea how much agony you've saved me.

    I'm going to swing for 2200-2300 a day and see what happens.

    Edit: Should I even pay attention to MFP's projections? Now it's saying I won't even lose a pound in a week.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    The projections won't mean much now. If you reset your goal manually to a deficit off TDEE, then do not log exercise calories, eat to your calorie goal regardless of exercise.
  • bigjretrac
    bigjretrac Posts: 80 Member
    The projections won't mean much now. If you reset your goal manually to a deficit off TDEE, then do not log exercise calories, eat to your calorie goal regardless of exercise.

    So if I run my TDEE calculation without excersise, can I log it then? I kinda liked having my activity logged and seeing my numbers go up and down :(
  • Mads1997
    Mads1997 Posts: 1,494 Member
    You lose weight by being under your BMR, which is higher than 1200 cals. Never eat less than 1200, and eat back all your exercise calories.

    Actually, you should not eat below your BMR. This is the number of calories your body would burn if you were in a coma state. If you eat less than this your metabolism will slow down in response.

    So far what's worked for me is calculating TDEE and subtracting 15-20%. My BMR is a little above 1400 and I'm eating about 1650 a day.

    Actually you can eat under your bmr with no problems depending on your weight. I am under the care of a dietician and she says it is not a problem, my doctor also said the same thing

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