MFP and 1200 calories for everyone no matter what?

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  • berri2529
    berri2529 Posts: 1 Member
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    No, my husband's amount was different. I was able to stay within that limit when I exercise. Those cals burned from exercise are added, which allowed me to have more than 1200 cals.

    Good luck!
  • Scottb4857
    Scottb4857 Posts: 38 Member
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    All depends on size and where you're at. Mine says 1620 for 2 lbs per week. But when actively working at losing I eat 2000 - 2300 hundred per day and will still lose 2-3 lbs per week. Of course that means 5 70 min hard cardio sessions and 2 or 3 lifting sessions per week. Eat well, work hard, lose weight, feel great!
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    MFP says "oh no! We can't possibly recommend less than 1,200!" And then defaults it to that.

    And good thing too, because then there would be a million posts per day askign what is the best way to stay below 800 and my favorite "I'm supposed to eat 1200 cals a day, I burn 1199 doing insanity, do I have to eat those back?"

    Oh I'm not arguing there. Agreed completely. If anything it helped me understand that with only 25lbs to lose 2lb/week was unrealistic.
  • 2EggsSeparated
    2EggsSeparated Posts: 107
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    No, my husband's amount was different. I was able to stay within that limit when I exercise. Those cals burned from exercise are added, which allowed me to have more than 1200 cals.

    Good luck!

    I'm just glad to know EVERYONE doesn't get the same numbers, I guess. Even if the majority get the low calorie numbers.
  • Sunshine2plus2
    Sunshine2plus2 Posts: 1,492 Member
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    Nope mine said 1380
  • sarahz1442
    sarahz1442 Posts: 136 Member
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    You can play with the numbers and see for yourself.

    I'm pretty sure it doesn't give that number for men, just women. If a woman is a lower weight and sedentary it will give her 1,200 calories to lose even 1 lb a week or less.
  • CkepiJinx
    CkepiJinx Posts: 613 Member
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    When I started I had it set to lose 2 lbs per week and it gave me 1790 calories per day, so no it does not give every one 1200 calories to lose 2 lbs per week.
  • jimshine
    jimshine Posts: 199 Member
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    Because I am tall, they have me at 1940 calories to lose 2 pounds a week. I usually eat somewhere around 1100-1400.
  • here
    here Posts: 69
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    When I started, they told me to eat 1200 calories and I didn't know any better and did. I ended up messing up my metabolism and stalling for a long time. Then I upped my calories and started losing again. Now eating about 1500-1800 a day, depending on my work outs.
  • cherryqb
    cherryqb Posts: 16 Member
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    It go by how much you want to lose and how fast you want to lose it!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Hey all,

    I'm curious, does MFP tell everyone no matter what size or sex that they can only eat 1200 calories per day to lose 2 pounds per week?

    I guess I just want o know if anyone else has got a different number?

    For most women, yes. 2 Lbs per week is roughly 1,000 calories per day deficit...so, for most women to lose 2 Lbs per week, they'd have to net around 1,200 calories...mind you, that's net...so when you exercise you're supposed to eat back those calories with the MFP method. Also, for many women, 1,200 net isn't even 1,000 calories deficit...but it's the lowest MFP will go.

    IMHO, it's too aggressive for anyone except the obese/morbidly obese. 1,200 net is simply not appropriate for cosmetic weight loss or even if you're just a bit over weight. Unless you're really obese, or really short and/or old, 1,200 even net of exercise is well below BMR for many women. I've known a couple guys who've done this as well...I deleted them from my FR because that's just stupid.

    Slow and low, that is the tempo for success.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,404 MFP Moderator
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    Because I am tall, they have me at 1940 calories to lose 2 pounds a week. I usually eat somewhere around 1100-1400.

    Unfortunately, that is not a recipe for success, especially for a man. Men shouldn't go less than 1500 and even then it's still too little most of the time. When you eat too little, you will just catabolize your muscle which makes reaching your goal harder as it will take longer to get a lean and tight body. Additionally, your RMR will adapt and burn a lot less calories, eventually, you will plateau for a while and you will have to follow it up by resetting your RMR by eating at maintenance for a few weeks. If you don't believe me, search on plateaus, you will see a very common theme.


    OP, there are a few reason why people get 1200 calories; first, they set an aggressive goal (2 lbs per week) or two, they don't include exercise into their lifestyle.
  • pspetralia
    pspetralia Posts: 963 Member
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    Because I am tall, they have me at 1940 calories to lose 2 pounds a week. I usually eat somewhere around 1100-1400.

    Unfortunately, that is a recipe for success, especially for a man. Men shouldn't go less than 1500 and even then it's still too little most of the time. When you eat too little, you will just catabolize your muscle which makes reaching your goal harder as it will take longer to get a lean and tight body. Additionally, your RMR will adapt and burn a lot less calories, eventually, you will plateau for a while and you will have to follow it up by resetting your RMR by eating at maintenance for a few weeks. If you don't believe me, search on plateaus, you will see a very common theme.



    OP, there are a few reason why people get 1200 calories; first, they set an aggressive goal (2 lbs per week) or two, they don't include exercise into their lifestyle.

    I think you mean this is NOT a recipe for success...
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
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    First, I want to address the 1200 calorie absolute minimum net calorie recommendation when assuming a goal of 2 lb weekly loss.

    Not everyone oxidizes fat at the same rate. However, for the sake of simplicity, one would need a deficit of say 1000 calories to reduce weight by 1lb per week. Thus, a person would need to provide the body with 1000 calories less than what they need to maintain weight relative to activity level. If I require 2900 calories to maintain weight, then I would need to eat approximately 1900 calories to elicit a loss of 2 lbs per week. Unfortunately, we can not decide how much fat our bodies oxidize in a 24-hour period.

    One major failure with MFP is that the customization page does not provide any guidance regarding selecting the appropriate weekly weight loss goal. Basically, your weekly weight loss goal is dependent on the amount of fat mass you have vs how much you wish to lose. This means leaner individuals can not pursue huge deficits like someone starting with a higher level of body fat despite sharing a similar end goal weight. Thus, the 1200 estimate is usually provided because, based on the stats and goals entered, your actually recommended intake would be lower than 1200 - thus 1200 net is the minimum the site will recommend. These reasons contribute to why it comes up so frequently.

    Regarding your last topic, I always feel it's best to establish what your true total daily energy needs are by actually eating the maximum amount of calories for a few months to experience relative weight homeostasis. That way people will accurately know how much they need to eat to presently maintain weight relative to activity level rather than guessing which can lead to lots of frustration and wasted time. After knowing a true baseline value from chronically eating the maximum amount, then people can correctly choose the appropriate deficit to assume.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Because I am tall, they have me at 1940 calories to lose 2 pounds a week. I usually eat somewhere around 1100-1400.
    Wow. I eat more than you do (and I KNOW my BMR is less than yours).
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
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  • MidwestAngel
    MidwestAngel Posts: 1,897 Member
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  • thecrasian
    thecrasian Posts: 2
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    Ugh, I only have 3-5 lbs to lose and I'm set on 1200. I run almost daily and am usually right around 1200 per day and the scale is not budging!
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
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    Ugh, I only have 3-5 lbs to lose and I'm set on 1200. I run almost daily and am usually right around 1200 per day and the scale is not budging!
    If you are exercising almost daily, and only need to lose 3-5 lbs, you should make sure you chose no higher than a 0.5 lb week weight loss goal. This would require you to eat roughly 250 calories below what you need to maintain relative to present activity. Also, please note that 1200 calories is net, not gross amount you eat. Is it telling you that you have X number of calories left to eat when you close out your day?
  • emergencytennis
    emergencytennis Posts: 864 Member
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    My TDEE is about 1800 and my BMR is about 1300. If I tell MFP I want to lose 1lb a week it tells me to net 1200, which is clearly too little. If I tell it I want to lose 0.5lb a week it tells me to net 1300. It is just a calulator and the numbers don't work if you are at or near goal, I reckon.

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