How many calories/day?

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samurairogers
samurairogers Posts: 16
in Motivation and Support
I weigh 135 or so. I'm trying to get to 125, or a toned 130. I just wanna lose enough to get rid of the fatty love handles and thin out my thighs... I just feel chubby now. :(

I'm 5'6", And I eat between 1000 and 1200 calories a day, and I work out for 45 mins to an hr a day. All but 10 or 15 minutes of that is cardio, and that little bit is strength training.

But I was just reading that sometimes, you will quit losing weight if you aren't eating enough calories...

So, basically, I hve no idea where to start here. Lol
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Replies

  • janemem
    janemem Posts: 575 Member
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    Where did you get your 1000-1200cal goal from?

    What has MFP set for you?

    Are you eating back your exercise calories?

    I'd say you're definitely not eating enough. Is your diary open?
  • samurairogers
    samurairogers Posts: 16
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    MFP set that for me. That's what it says my limit is on my phones. ANd I'm not sure, I can check if it's open.

    ETA: Just looked. I set it to public.
  • ObtainingBalance
    ObtainingBalance Posts: 1,446 Member
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    http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/
  • quietHiker
    quietHiker Posts: 1,442 Member
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    I was 5'6" and started here at 135-ish and wanted to lose 7 lbs. I'm now floating around 124lbs and enjoying maintenance mode. For most of my weigh loss journey, I was eating at least or close to 1300 calories. I think MFP had set me at 1280 for losing 1 lb. per week and I did just about that.
  • melissafaith24
    melissafaith24 Posts: 251 Member
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    you need healthier choices for sure...but eat more in general.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    set your goal to 0.5 lbs per week and eat all the cals mfp tells you to, including the ones you burn from exercise (or at least most of them).
  • shelbyfrootcake
    shelbyfrootcake Posts: 965 Member
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    I'm 5'4" and am currently 123lb down from 140lb. I gave myself an allowance of 1350 a day, which I calorie cycle in tandem with the 5:2 fast, and eat back most of my exercise calories. I changed to this after plateauing for 3 months on 1200 a day, and have lost 5lb in 3 weeks seemingly as a result of the change.
  • samurairogers
    samurairogers Posts: 16
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    Well, this is pretty much the stuff that work feeds us. And I'm always running so it's hard to eat how I would like to..
  • 77tes
    77tes Posts: 7,957 Member
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    Eat more and strength train to tone. I doubt that you really need to lose much. Don't diet yourself fat like I did.

    Good luck learning to ear right and be fit for your whole life.:flowerforyou:
  • holly3585
    holly3585 Posts: 282 Member
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    fat2fitradio.com/tools Find out what your BMR really is..... then don't go under that! I am not sure if you log all of your food, because some days were empty, but the days that were logged were grossly under, and the choices were terrible :noway:

    Start your day with some Quick Oats in a container, add in blueberries or raspberries for sweetness, some almond butter or natural peanut butter for creaminess, and then you can just add hot water when you are ready to eat! Also, snack throughout the day! Fresh veggies are GREAT!! Even mix a sour cream dip if your not a huge fan of plain veggies!! Roasted unsalted almonds are filling and up those calories. Focus on getting a large serving of lean protein (chicken, fish, cottage cheese, ext) in each meal, as well as a veggie in each meal. Fruits are GREAT but do not over do for the sugar, and eat more often!
  • samurairogers
    samurairogers Posts: 16
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    fat2fitradio.com/tools Find out what your BMR really is..... then don't go under that! I am not sure if you log all of your food, because some days were empty, but the days that were logged were grossly under, and the choices were terrible :noway:

    Start your day with some Quick Oats in a container, add in blueberries or raspberries for sweetness, some almond butter or natural peanut butter for creaminess, and then you can just add hot water when you are ready to eat! Also, snack throughout the day! Fresh veggies are GREAT!! Even mix a sour cream dip if your not a huge fan of plain veggies!! Roasted unsalted almonds are filling and up those calories. Focus on getting a large serving of lean protein (chicken, fish, cottage cheese, ext) in each meal, as well as a veggie in each meal. Fruits are GREAT but do not over do for the sugar, and eat more often!

    I go in spurts. Some days, I will eat like 1300 calories, and other days, I won't even go over 300. It depends. But the days that do have stuff logged, that's everything. Because I thought that the 1200 MFP gave me was the max I want to go. I'm bad at this. Before I had my daughter, I could eat 3000 calories and not gain an ounce. Lol

    But I will try that out!! I don't like instant oatmeals usually, but I will try to find that!
  • PLUMSGRL
    PLUMSGRL Posts: 1,134 Member
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    use this site for BMR and TDEE, use total # of hours of exercise, not how hard you think you're doing the exercise:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    eat more than your BMR, preferably TDEE-15% (no more) for weight loss.
    Your exercise is already calculated into these numbers, so don't eat your calories back.
    Take a "diet break" every 6-8 weeks eating at TDEE for a week

    see this site for more info as to why under eating is counter productive.

    http://eatmore2weighless.com/faqs/resources/


    good luck on your journey~
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    I'm close to your height, and also 135lbs. My calorie goal is 1500 NET. I can't see how you have a lot of fat to lose. At this point, you really want to look at body fat percentage rather than weight. Your weight is healthy so it's irrelevant now.

    Start lifting heavy weights. Eat more. You may even see a slight increase in weight over the course of a few months, but I guarantee you'll see an improvement in your body composition.
  • Ezada
    Ezada Posts: 207 Member
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    Hello!

    I looked through your diary, you do need to eat more and choose better foods. I know that it is hard with work and running around, but believe me, if you are dedicated and make the choice to eat better you can find time. Most of the foods I prepare for the week I make on a Sunday, then I portion it out and freeze it so that all I have to do is toss it in a lunch box and microwave it.

    I work 8 hours a day with a 1 hour commute too and from work, Tuesdays and Thursdays I have to leave an extra hour early to go to my Grandmothers to help her (she is recovering from pneumonia) and Wednesday Nights I do all her shopping for her. My weeks are busy busy busy lol.

    It takes a while to adjust to a schedule that you can be comfortable with, but you can do it and you have a fantastic community here that can help you!!!

    The only question I have, is it mandatory that you eat what they feed you at work? (no snark, genuinely interested if boss or someone buys food for everyone every day)
  • peuglow
    peuglow Posts: 684 Member
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    http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/

    This. Feel free to msg me if you have questions on the above. I am starting to refrain from posting some things here because people get all butthurt.
  • samurairogers
    samurairogers Posts: 16
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    I'm close to your height, and also 135lbs. My calorie goal is 1500 NET. I can't see how you have a lot of fat to lose. At this point, you really want to look at body fat percentage rather than weight. Your weight is healthy so it's irrelevant now.

    Start lifting heavy weights. Eat more. You may even see a slight increase in weight over the course of a few months, but I guarantee you'll see an improvement in your body composition.

    I don't care how much I weigh (as long as I don't go over 140, since the army doesn't like that) but I'm tired of everything between my ribs and mid thigh. It's all... blah. I'm going to start incorporating more strength and weights. I don't do much of that right now... I'm mostly just lost with this diet thing...
  • kstep88
    kstep88 Posts: 403 Member
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    Everyone is unique but I'd say you're not eating enough with all of the physical activity.
  • samurairogers
    samurairogers Posts: 16
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    Hello!

    I looked through your diary, you do need to eat more and choose better foods. I know that it is hard with work and running around, but believe me, if you are dedicated and make the choice to eat better you can find time. Most of the foods I prepare for the week I make on a Sunday, then I portion it out and freeze it so that all I have to do is toss it in a lunch box and microwave it.

    I work 8 hours a day with a 1 hour commute too and from work, Tuesdays and Thursdays I have to leave an extra hour early to go to my Grandmothers to help her (she is recovering from pneumonia) and Wednesday Nights I do all her shopping for her. My weeks are busy busy busy lol.

    It takes a while to adjust to a schedule that you can be comfortable with, but you can do it and you have a fantastic community here that can help you!!!

    The only question I have, is it mandatory that you eat what they feed you at work? (no snark, genuinely interested if boss or someone buys food for everyone every day)

    I work 745A to 6P every day. Plus I work out for an hour or so after work. And my drive is about 30 minutes each way. Plus I have two little kids. Lol.

    It's not mandatory, but they don't really have any place for me to store any food that I bring in. And I try to not eat stuff from a box or things with a lot of sugar. I try to get the most healthy food I can when I stop at fast food, or when they order it for here...
  • samurairogers
    samurairogers Posts: 16
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    http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/

    This. Feel free to msg me if you have questions on the above. I am starting to refrain from posting some things here because people get all butthurt.

    I'm not one to get butthurt... Lol. I'm a part of a pretty harsh parenting forum. THis is no big deal to me. Lol. I will check that out! (right now even, unless IT has it blocked...)
  • SARgirl
    SARgirl Posts: 572 Member
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    I am 5'5" and have met and exceeded my original goal (133) and currently weigh 124. I have never ate less than 1370 and I always eat back at least half of my exercise calories. So, I would say set it at .5 pounds lost a week and see what it gives you. You may also want to consider strength training to get the "look" you want rather than worrying about the scale number.

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