How many calories will be Maintenance for you?

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  • _namaste_
    _namaste_ Posts: 246
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    I'm 5'6 and 139lbs and when I was eating at maintenance a while ago I was eating around 2000 - 2200 kcals a day and not gaining.

    I am at 1880 right now to try and give my body a big boost since I'm just starting p90x. My scale broke over a week ago though so I have no idea if I've lost any. I wouldn't imagine so, if anything I've maintained or maybe lost a tiny bit I believe. Will know for sure when I get a new scale shortly, lol! :)
  • weese17
    weese17 Posts: 236 Member
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    I'm 5'8" and 142 pounds (not sure what my BMI is, but I lift heavy things 6x a week, so I'm pretty well muscled). I am also still nursing my son, who is 18 months old. I pay no attention to the calories MFP tells me I should have, because *I* know that my maintenance calories are about 3100 - 3500/day, depending on how hard I work out and how much my son is nursing.

    Lucy
  • weese17
    weese17 Posts: 236 Member
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    OOPS!
  • weese17
    weese17 Posts: 236 Member
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    I owuld double check your activity level. I have a desk job, but had to set mine to a high activity level to get it to line up with my actual maintenance number (which is around 2100 at 5'3"). The only way to know for sure is to try it.

    The best way to try is to err on the side of more calories, and back off if you gain weight, because coming in from the other side, too little calories, and you may be artificially lowering your TDEE, cheating yourself out of food! Don't be afraid of going over a little- it would take 500 extra calories a day to gain a lb in a week, so you would really have to go way over to do any serious damage. If you end up gaining 1/2 lb, you can take it back off in another week. It shouldn't be terribly stressful.

    EXCELLENT advice.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
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    Probably 1300 for sedentary days. Exercise days will vary of course.
  • nicleed
    nicleed Posts: 247 Member
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    Also, don;t pay attention to that little note from MFP when you complete for the day. It's not an exact science! I continued to lose weight on what MFP said was "maintenance".
  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,721 Member
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    My maintenance is ~1750 this is over an average of the last three months... probably closer to ~1600 when I'm not exercising or working or at school.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Maintenance according to MFP is 1650 for me. I ate that much yesterday and it said I will stay at 155 if I continue to eat 1650. I am 5ft 5inches.. that sure don't seem like much. I played with it and when I enter more it says I will gain...

    Keep in mind that it will also depend on how you are set up in MFP. I'm currently set up as sedentary and I log exercise and eat those calories back. I get a lot more exercise than I used to and when It's all said and done, I will be doing some form of aerobic activity 5-6 days per week and heavy lifting 3 days per week. When I get to that point, I'm going to re-evaluate my setup and probably go to "active". I've already done some preliminary calculations and it seems about right, but I'll probably have to make a few manual adjustments to my goals just as I did for losing weight.

    At my current weight and MFP settings, my maintenance goal would be 2,250 (I think closer to 2,320 based on the tweaks I've already made)...If I change to "active" and don't log or eat exercise calories back, MFP says 2,610...I'm thinking probably closer to 2,700 but I'll have to play with it.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
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    Mfp's maintenance for me, as a teacher was 1700kcal + exercise calories or so (5'5", about 121lb at the time) but I kept losing, so upped the activity level and soon was on 1990, which mfp thought I'd need as a bike courier, and still kept losing!

    Eventually I found I stopped losing at 2400ish plus exercise. Now I can lose on 2400 (with no exercise calories), if I wish to lose. I'd start maintenance before reaching goal weight, or set a higher goal, if I did it again.
  • lilteeraw
    lilteeraw Posts: 261
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    Depends on how active you are. The more active you are.. the more you need to maintain(: mine is around 2100 calories.
  • TazzytheMotivator
    TazzytheMotivator Posts: 646 Member
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    1800 calories a day
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
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    MFP tells me my maintenance is around 2000 (before workouts/exercise) Yet I can lose fairly easily on around that.

    It's a good guide, but don't hold too much faith in what a computer program tells you. The best way I've found, is to go by trial and error.
  • jayche
    jayche Posts: 1,128 Member
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    Not sure, currently maintaining at 3000-3200 cal at 145-148 pounds. My activity level outside of the gym includes much sleep and sitting in front of a computer/watching TV.
  • Going4Lean
    Going4Lean Posts: 1,077 Member
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    2170 for sedentary
    2340 for lightly active
  • niknokd
    niknokd Posts: 127 Member
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    You should probably be at more than 1650 if you're 5'5. I'm 5'0 and I get 1600 for maintenance. Are you really sedentary or something? Maybe you need to change your activity level.
  • sarah6336
    sarah6336 Posts: 108 Member
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    I am maintaining at about 1600 calories a day. Sometimes I eat less, but I just make sure I don't go over.
  • chickentunashake
    chickentunashake Posts: 165 Member
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    my maintenance for me is 1550, I am 5'6". And it seems about right. Even though I am not losing much if I eat less either. But, I am not trying to lose, and I am not a big eater either, so I am fine with it
  • NeverGivesUp
    NeverGivesUp Posts: 960 Member
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    I will play with it once I get there. I don't think I will track my calories though since that in itself makes me obsess about food. I will let my clothes guide me once I get to my right weight.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
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    I maintained at 2850 calories the last time. It will likely be slightly higher since I added about 9 lbs of muscle during my recent bulk.
  • dinosnopro
    dinosnopro Posts: 2,179 Member
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    I wear a body media fit from time to time, my maintenance is around 4,000 calories.

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