1200 or 1500... that is the question

I believe you should do 1200 if you are wanting to the lose the weight a little faster. I am 5'2 have a 10 month. I recently went from a 134 to 110 in about 10 months. Now I am eating 1500. I never deprived myself of anything. Just moderation. There were a few weeks I struggled but I still made it. If you are exercising you do need to eat your calories. Good luck.

Slower weight loss is always best, because it will end up being permanent weight loss in the end., despite the desire for fast results. And you have to take into consideration that 1200 is the very minimum amount of calories you can intake so your body has enough energy for its daily functions. You also have to think about all the other things it does (walking around, doing dishes, so on) that burn a couple hundred more calories throughout the day. eating 1500 calories a day is healthy, and still puts you at a deficit if you exercise regularly.

And what Mellie13 said too

My thoughts on this is that MPF has me at 1200 a day, but if I burn 300 calories excercising etc. there is the 1500 calories my Dr told me. If I eat the excercise calories, I have the 1500.

I have also been advised that 1500 is better for me.

For my BMI, the total calories to maintain my current wait would be 2005, so I decided that if I knock mine down to 1500, that's 3500 per week less than to maintain, which equates to a weightloss of 1lb per week. Then when adding exercise, you will burn off more calories so may increase your weekly weightloss.

If you drop your calories too low, your body will get used to it and then hold onto excess fat etc.. hence you will stop losing. At least if you start on 1500, you have the opportunity to drop calories at some point.

1500 is the correct and healthy way to go!

You are probably thinking, why should I listen to you, you haven't lost a bean! Although I have only joined today and haven't lost anything yet, I have dieted in the past and been very successful going from a UK size 22 to a UK size 10-12, however, due to depression and many other factors, I piled it all back on ...now it's time to take stock and get slim again!! Good Luck to you

I was eating 1200 but wasn't really losing. I listened to my wellness coach and bumped my calories up to my BMR and started losing again. I eat about 1534 per day. But I dont eat back my exercise calorie because I have that calculated into my daily intake. You have to find what works for you. You can calculate your BMR here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

I originally started out using MFP's calculated goals. After talking to our nutritionist at work, he suggested that I was eating to few calories at 1200, and should bump up to 1500. So I manually reset my data on MFP, and the first day that I input my food, the thing at the bottom "if everyday were like today" was, to say the least, discouraging. Am I setting myself up for slower weight loss if I switch to 1500 calories? I am 5'1, I currently weight 175, and I have a moderately active lifestyle. Am I better off switching to 1500, burning those extra 300 calories and not eating them back? Should I stick to 1200 or bump to 1500? I don't find myself feeling hungry at 1200, and if I want to splurge on something with a few more calories, I'm willing to work it off. Please help, want to do what's best!

Have you recalculated since losing your 20 lbs? If so, then I'd go with that. MFP and some other things have put me at 1200, low activity with my maintenance varied depending on the calculator I used. I jacked mine up to 1500 and in a week, gained 2 lbs. Not cool. I put it back down to 1300 and in a few days noticed the trend continuing - just slower. I just put it back down to 1200 and I intend to stay under it with or without exercise (but I do burn about 300 a day currently and sometimes I'll eat them back, sometmes I won't). I'm 5'1" also, btw. I'd say recalculate for every 10 lbs you lose because your body will burn faster with less weight. And maybe Kaitlinj was right about the confusion in the conversation with the nutritionist, which would be consistent with the above.

sorry.. didn't mean to post that twice.

MFP also set mine at 1200 and I'm also 5'1 .. it really wasn't working for me so have bumped them up like the others based on my BMR, and have included exercise cals within that so don't eat the ones that I log from exercise! Seems to be working now

Good to know. I've recently done something similar. Too soon to see if it changes anything, but I need to figure out how to bust through this plateau.

One thing to remember is that most doctors won't recommend ever going below 1200 calories because dropping below that will make your body save more fat and think it is being underfed.

I started loosing weigh in May of last year and have just been going for more of a steady life style change focus more then just dropping weight. If your goal is long term I say go slower and start thinking long term then just a quick drop. And make sure you eat back your exercise calories!