5"11 and 1200 calories!

vnovit

Hi everyone,

This is my second day on this program. I'm from Canada, so please feel free to add me if you'd like to share stories.

I am 5"11 and 195 lbs. I used to be 145 lbs many, many years ago, but with work I definitely forgot what eating right is. My goal is to reach 145 lbs. So the app is telling me that I need to exercise 6 days a week for 45 min, and eat 1200 calories a day, which is nothing compared to what I used to eat. Does anyone else have something similar? :sad: But I'm motivated and know I can do it!

I'm also worried about maintaining those calories when I do reach my goal! Is there an app for that too?

TrulyJae

Our stats are almost the same 5'10 and started at 197. Down to 194 after almost 2 weeks. I was dying at the 1200 calories so I bumped mine up to 1400 after a few days :-)

lizziebeth1028

If you selected the option to lose 2lbs a week then the app most likely gave you a goal of 1200. That's too low for most of us. It's best to select 1lb a week or even 1/2. Weight loss will be slower but safer, healthy and more sustainable. I would be so grouchy on only 1200 calories a day!

vnovit

I think I will be bumping mine up too. Do your stats include exercise? I'm confused as to why 6 days of 45 min excercise would still leave me with 1200 calories..

vnovit

I have been staring at the banana on my desk for the past hour, but i only have 120 calories left and I still need to have dinner. I'm thinking 1200 is much too low

nancycaregiver

I'm 5' 10" and have lost 63 pounds to get down to 197! I can't even imagine 145! I weighed 113 in high school and college but that was ridiculously thin. My goal is 175. I'm already down to a size 12. I am doing low carb so I don't ever get hungry. And even though I don't worry about calories, MFP keeps up with them for me and I am rarely over 1200. I just can't imagine weighing 145!!

TyFit08

I'm 5'10 and 198. My goal is 145-150. I ate 1200 calories net for a while and I lost about 15lbs, but then I got off track and gained it back. . I didn't find it that difficult because I did low carb/high protein. I'm doing Insanity now so I am up to 1500 calories now I don't eat back my exercise calories. Remember that MFP has you on 1200 net, so you can eat back your exercise calories if you choose. So say you burned 400 calories through exercise, then you have 1700 calories for the day. If 1200 is two low, you can change your settings from 2lbs a week to 1lb or 1.5lbs. You just have to see what works for you.

MoreBean13

That's not enough calories. Reconsider your expectations of how fast you want to lose- 2lb/wk is probably not reasonable for your body fat, and reconsider if you chose sedentary as your activity level- most people who consider themselves sedentary actually shake out to be "lightly active" according to how MFP sets the levels- generally ambulatory people are too active for the sedentary setting here. Also, know that you're expected to eat your exercise calories back according to how the program works- whatever exercise you planned when you set your calories has ZERO impact on your actual calorie setting- it's just there as a personal goal for you. Confusing how they do that. Good luck.

sheppeyescapee

1200 seems very low for someone that tall. According to the MFP BMR calculator your BMR is 1731. You must be setting your goal at 2lbs a week to get a figure that low. I would try changing it to 1lb a week and you should get a more sensible figure.

drmerc

1200 seems very low for someone that tall. According to the MFP BMR calculator your BMR is 1731. You must be setting your goal at 2lbs a week to get a figure that low. I would try changing it to 1lb a week and you should get a more sensible figure.

Depends. 1200 metric or 1200 standard calories?

fit4lifeUcan2

I'm 5'11" and now 171 pounds. I am down to 1200 calories but many times go a little over. I eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies and lean meats such as chicken breast and salmon so staying around 1200 is not hard for me. When I started out on MFP i was doing the 1200 calories but didn't lose weight and was always hungry so I knew something wasn't right. I joined WW and with the amount of daily points I was given I was at about 1500 calories. With WW your points drop slowly as you lose weight. Now I'm down to the minimum of 26 pounds and with all the zero points fruits and veggies I eat I'm able to eat at 1200 or more calories and not starve. I even have my one dove dark chocolate every day if I want it. No I don't do a lot of exercise other than walking and basic daily things. I walk around campus and the house plus shopping. I'm pretty sedimentary other than that due to having MS and fibro but I get around as much as possible. I'm sure if I did major exercising like many here do I would need to eat more but this is working fine for me.

Edit to add my goal weight is 155. I was as low as 145 a few years ago but not going to push for that weight. If I make it to 145 then fine. At my lowest I was 135 but looked sickly. I'm currently in a size 10 eeking down to an 8

Kitty7814

I used to eat about 3,000 calories a day and couldn't believe the net 1,200 but I've managed pretty comfortably for the past 3 weeks. I've been working out way more than the 30 minutes/500 calories a day though.

PikaKnight

If you want, check out this link by MFPer Heliotsdan - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

It'll give you a detailed walkthrough (with pictures even) on finding your TDEE and calculating what you should be eating.

Also, if you are worried about the calorie intake, I also suggest you read this thread that has numerous people who met their goals and are maintaining. Some for years and they also provide their calorie intake and how often they work out.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/816542-let-s-hear-it-for-maintainenance

TyFit08

1200 seems very low for someone that tall. According to the MFP BMR calculator your BMR is 1731. You must be setting your goal at 2lbs a week to get a figure that low. I would try changing it to 1lb a week and you should get a more sensible figure.

Online BMR calculators are very inaccurate. So I wouldn't base my calorie intake on that. If you want to know your true BMR, there are metabolic tests that can be done at local gyms or doctors

sandradev1

The MFP calculators work for some people, but they are quite vague as they have to cover all types of people. Better calculators are available and the following link gives you access to some of those and a explanation of how to work out how many calories you should personally be eating.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Whilst eating fewer calories may help you to lose more weight in the beginning, eating at the right deficit will be more sustainable and healthy for the length time it takes to get to your goal and also future maintenance is more achievable.

Plucking a figure 'off the peg' may work for you, but have a 'tailor made' one is much better in the long run.

n0ob

too late, time has passed for that one...

DontStopB_Leakin

I'm 5'10", 154 lbs. I'm technically at goal weight, though I'm cutting my BF%, so I'm still in a deficit.


I'm set at 1600, and that's not including any exercise calories. I would murder people if I only ate 1200 a day.

ksavy

Your BMR is probably higher than 1200 so you should be eating a little bit more than that. I am 6'0" and I started at 193lbs, my BMR was around 1550. My happy spot for losing weight was/is between 1500-1900 cal a day depending on how much exercise I do. I was also losing between 1 and 1.5 lbs a week at this amount. I have been maintaining for a couple months between 154-158 and am going to start working down towards 150 after New Years.

Junken_Diraffe

I'm 6' and started at about 195 on mfp. It set my calories at 1200. I worked out and ate right for 3 weeks and nothing happened. I read a lot about eat more to weigh less, and upped my calories to about 1600. I lost 30 lbs in the next 3 months. I would up it if I were you. Also, make sure you eat back your exercise calories, especially if you decide to stay at the 1200. Mfp already has you set at a deficit.

Good luck, and stick with it! Just try different things out until you find something that works! I'm down to my ultimate goal of 152-155, depending on the day. You'll get there too!

UncleRiotous

I spent a couple of months hitting a NET of 1200 calories and doing a lot of cycling (often 1400 cals a day which meant I was eating 2600 calories). It worked for me but I tend to be very goal orientated and find that easier than a more sensible 1lb a week target. I'm 5' 11" tall and when I got down to around 180lb I found that I was fed up with being constantly hungry and I plateaued.

I'm currently aiming for 1600 cals a day (I'm 168 lb) and don't want to get down to less than about 165lb. It's a lot more comfortable and I'm finding it much easier going. Once I hit 165lb I'm going to set the goal to maintain and see how many calories that gives me to play with, I'm really looking forward to that.

If you're trying to hit 1200 calories (remember it's NET so eat back exercise) then you need to watch that you're actually hitting that value or you're really going to suffer. You need to keep a long term goal in mind and work to that.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

I'm 5'9", 160lbs, and eating 2000 to lose.

EAT MORE.

twinketta

You have already posted a topic about this..

Maybe wait to carry on getting lots of replies on the first topic?

Here is your first topic post maybe 1 hour ago....

Hi everyone,

I only recently joined this website and downloaded the app (and it's amazing!) I am 5"11 and 195 lbs. I am looking to go down to 145 lbs. The app is telling me to intake 1200 calories a day. I did this today (I have about 160 calories left) and I am already starving.

My only concern is - how will I maintain this weight? I go to the gym everyday and run for about 30 mins, and do weight training for another 30. I worry about maintenance because I have seen many people lose weight and gain it back right away.

Any advice would help.

I appreciate all of it.

Thanks!

yoovie

I would suggest eating between 1400 and 1600 and a little more on the days you exercise. Im tall too and we actually need fuel to be ABLE to burn off excess fat. The only way to give your body what it needs to do that, is making sure we arent on a calorie plan for someone who is either half our height (by half, I mean 5'5" or under) or is much less active than we are!

Best of luck!!

yoovie

PS there isn't anything wrong with posting in different areas to get advice from different demographics, pretty smart. A bunch of tall girls on this site formed groups, you can go in there and they can let you know alot of the advice they've ventured into the forums and collected already, and you can search for other people your height who have posted this too.

:drinker:

ilovemybuggy

You have already posted a topic about this..

Maybe wait to carry on getting lots of replies on the first topic?

Here is your first topic post maybe 1 hour ago....

Hi everyone,

I only recently joined this website and downloaded the app (and it's amazing!) I am 5"11 and 195 lbs. I am looking to go down to 145 lbs. The app is telling me to intake 1200 calories a day. I did this today (I have about 160 calories left) and I am already starving.

My only concern is - how will I maintain this weight? I go to the gym everyday and run for about 30 mins, and do weight training for another 30. I worry about maintenance because I have seen many people lose weight and gain it back right away.

Any advice would help.

I appreciate all of it.

Thanks!

THEY'RE ALSO IN DIFFERENT AREAS. She can ask for help as much as she wants. That's what forums are for.

CoachJake83

Don't use the app to figure out your calories or track your exercise. Only use it to track your calorie / macros. Use this --> http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/ to figure out your calories. Hope that helps =D

twinketta

You have already posted a topic about this..

Maybe wait to carry on getting lots of replies on the first topic?

Here is your first topic post maybe 1 hour ago....

Hi everyone,

I only recently joined this website and downloaded the app (and it's amazing!) I am 5"11 and 195 lbs. I am looking to go down to 145 lbs. The app is telling me to intake 1200 calories a day. I did this today (I have about 160 calories left) and I am already starving.

My only concern is - how will I maintain this weight? I go to the gym everyday and run for about 30 mins, and do weight training for another 30. I worry about maintenance because I have seen many people lose weight and gain it back right away.

Any advice would help.

I appreciate all of it.

Thanks!

THEY'RE ALSO IN DIFFERENT AREAS. She can ask for help as much as she wants. That's what forums are for.

Of course she can. No need to shout hun!

I am just suggesting that the OP waits for responses to the same question that she asked earlier before asking the same question.

I am all for people asking for advice and help

ilovemybuggy

You have already posted a topic about this..

Maybe wait to carry on getting lots of replies on the first topic?

Here is your first topic post maybe 1 hour ago....

Hi everyone,

I only recently joined this website and downloaded the app (and it's amazing!) I am 5"11 and 195 lbs. I am looking to go down to 145 lbs. The app is telling me to intake 1200 calories a day. I did this today (I have about 160 calories left) and I am already starving.

My only concern is - how will I maintain this weight? I go to the gym everyday and run for about 30 mins, and do weight training for another 30. I worry about maintenance because I have seen many people lose weight and gain it back right away.

Any advice would help.

I appreciate all of it.

Thanks!

THEY'RE ALSO IN DIFFERENT AREAS. She can ask for help as much as she wants. That's what forums are for.

Of course she can. No need to shout hun!

I am just suggesting that the OP waits for responses to the same question that she asked earlier before asking the same question.

I am all for people asking for advice and help

Wasn't shouting. And I was just saying, you point out that she posted it twice, but she posted it in different sections as to yield more answers. Doesn't mean she's being impatient.

axialmeow

If you had 100+ lbs to lose then setting your goal at 2lbs a week is more realistic. You should redo your settings and go for 1 lb a week.

alanlmarshall

The 1200 calories includes what you burn exercising, so you will probably eat about 1600 or more.

twinketta

FYI if you type in cap lock then it is considered shouting.

But I was suggesting to the OP that she post her topic and wait for some answers to her question before starting a new topic of the same question.

Of course it is up to her to ask for as much help as she would like from the forum, but sometimes it is better to answer the people that have replied to the first topic before posting a new topic of the same question.

That way it has more replies and gets better responses?