How Many Calories Should I Budget?

Carla246

I've been on MFP for about 10 days, and I love it. I'm looking to drop about 25-30 pounds, and while I would love to do it as quickly as possible, it's WAY more important to me to develop a healthy, sustainable lifestyle and lose weight at a healthy rate.

I'm a bit confused as how to calculate my calories for each day. Right now, MFP set me at 1200 per day, and I can increase as I exercise. Some days I exercise a lot, and up with about 600 extra calories, but I have one day each week, for example, when I can't plan on any significant exercise because of my schedule. Most days, I burn about 200-300 extra calories.

Should I keep it at 1200, and eat my exercise calories? I was also thinking about setting it at 1500 and just sticking to that, regardless of how much I exercise. I'm just not sure how to think about this, and I would love to hear what has worked for you.

Thanks in advance.

omma_to_3

Whatever level you decide on (you will get lots of argument on the 1200 number), you need to decide if you prefer to 'reward' your exercise with earned calories, or make tracking easier by eating a set amount each day regardless of your exercise. MFP is set up to reward your exercise and that's what works best for me. But many people eat a set amount each day - which means on workout days, they may be slightly undereating, and on non-workout days, they may be overeating.

For me, I know I would get really lazy if I was aiming to eat a higher amount each day, basically counting my exercise before I do it. I'm just that kind of person LOL. There are many days where I had no motivation to exercise, but if I wanted to eat dinner, I needed to LOL.

Athena125

I go for 1200 net. I was working out a lot this past fall and wasn't eating my calories or focusing enough on nutrition...even though I was eating 1200 calories a day, I got adrenal fatigue. It was awful...low blood pressure, dizzy, nausea...don't want to go there again! I also worry that if I'm too low, then after five or ten pounds come off, I'll be stuck. I'd like the option to slowly lower my calories. I'm looking to lose 20-25 pounds too.

A word of note - I think I need to be really careful how I log exercise. I only log actual exercise (not cleaning the house, etc.). I want to be modest and pick "moderate pace" even when I think it's hard...because I know I think all exercise is kind of hard!