Is it to low?

tschaff04
tschaff04 Posts: 296 Member
edited 1:59AM in Health and Weight Loss
Do you think 1200 cals is to low for someone who doesn't exercise much, and is trying to lose a pound to a pound and a half a week?

Replies

  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Do you think 1200 cals is to low for someone who doesn't exercise much, and is trying to lose a pound to a pound and a half a week?

    Intake needs depend on several factors. Most notably size and activity. There's not enough information given to answer your question.
  • djames92
    djames92 Posts: 990 Member
    as long as you can get all the nutrients you need from 1200 it sounds about right
  • djames92
    djames92 Posts: 990 Member
    Do you think 1200 cals is to low for someone who doesn't exercise much, and is trying to lose a pound to a pound and a half a week?

    Intake needs depend on several factors. Most notably size and activity. There's not enough information given to answer your question.
    also this lol
  • larnsperger
    larnsperger Posts: 161 Member
    1200 calories is what most women start out with here. Make sure your food is nutrient rich, and limit the processed junk.
  • tschaff04
    tschaff04 Posts: 296 Member
    5'5" 175 pounds :smile:
  • heather_huggins
    heather_huggins Posts: 194 Member
    when i first started on mfp, it had me starting at 1300 cals a day and i was doing insanity at the time. it just took my height and weight and my goal weight into factor. i wanted to lose 40 lbs so it started me off low. now i'm at 1840 cals a day and i exercise regularly. i've lost 32 lbs, the first month i lost over 10 lbs. i lost it fast. i've heard that losing weight fast isn't the best, you want to lose it slowly so your body can adjust better. slower loss=long term results (if you're doing it correctly) if you are getting good foods in w/ lots of water you should be ok. you just want to make sure you don't slow your metabolism down too much. i'm saying this because it happened to me, personally. i hit a plateau at 1300 calories and i had to adjust my goals. as soon as i did, i lost 2 lbs that week. if you feel you aren't eating enough, you might have to go in and adjust it yourself. good luck!!!
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    Try following this:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/682138-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    My guess is it's too low. Keep in mind sedentary means SEDENTARY, and most people who are ambulatory fall under "lightly active".
  • czapp1
    czapp1 Posts: 18 Member
    When i started i was 5'5 178. stuck with the 1200 (sucked at first but you get used to it real quick) and have lost 32 pounds. just do it. no excuses.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Do you think 1200 cals is to low for someone who doesn't exercise much, and is trying to lose a pound to a pound and a half a week?

    Given your stats I would suggest that you could increase intake a bit further.

    I would start somewhere around the following intake, assuming you are mostly sedentary (I would make an effort to increase activity if you are indeed sedentary):

    1600kcal

    130p
    65f
    125c

    I would eat mostly nutrient dense foods like vegetables, meats, fish, fruits, nuts, etc. You can even have some treats here and there if you fit it into you calorie budget.


    Get some exercise, ideally something with resistance would be beneficial.

    EDIT: For clarification -- the above model assumes you do not eat back exercise calories. This is a daily intake regardless of activity.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    ^this...

    ...but also, whatever you do, track everything consistently. Everything you eat, every exercise you do, log it. (Yes, it's just an estimate, but be consistent in your estimating.) Then, in 4-6ish weeks, evaluate your progress. If it's too fast or too slow, adjust accordingly. Without good tracking, you'll just be guessing at what needs to be tweaked.
  • pixiestick
    pixiestick Posts: 839 Member
    When i started i was 5'5 178. stuck with the 1200 (sucked at first but you get used to it real quick) and have lost 32 pounds. just do it. no excuses.

    This (from my experience).

    I set my goal to 1000 and eat back all of my exercise cals (-BMR for the time spent exercising... aprox. 1 cal per minute), so I consume between 1500-1700 cals a day. It worked wonders for me (50+ lbs lost this way).
  • tschaff04
    tschaff04 Posts: 296 Member
    Thanks everyone for the help!!! I will read through that info in that link, it looks very informative. :)

    The reason I asked is because I have been doing CC for about a month now. I was doing WW previously for awhile and lost a good amount on it(98 pounds). I have about 30 more pounds to lose to get to my big goal and am doing pretty well with CC and seem to be losing at around a pound a week or so. I was thinking about how many cals MFP has me intaking though, I see so many people here saying a lot of times the 1200 MFP tends to give people can be to low. I actually eat 1700 cals a day but that's because I feed my 7 month old son and the average nursing mother burns at least 500 cals a day so that's what we are suggested to add to our caloric intake each day. It's working for me but in reality that means I am eating 1200 cals a day of my own and am wondering if that's to low and will screw with my metabolism and my goals in general. Sometimes I still feel hungry after I have met my calories for the day and sometimes I don't even need to eat them all but try to do so anyway as not to mess with my nursing.

    I eat A LOT of nutritious foods. I don't eat a lot of junk/processes food. I mean I have my splurge days where I might indulge but not a lot. I am a bit of a natural nut so I don't eat a lot of processed junk anyway.

    As for activity level I wouldn't consider myself sedentary at all. I am a stay at home mother to three children under 6 years old and I rarely get to sit down, lol. But I don't go out and do a hard solid work out. I have started doing the C25K program but that's it so far.

    Sorry to ramble, just trying to give some background and further detail. :happy:
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Thanks everyone for the help!!! I will read through that info in that link, it looks very informative. :)

    The reason I asked is because I have been doing CC for about a month now. I was doing WW previously for awhile and lost a good amount on it(98 pounds). I have about 30 more pounds to lose to get to my big goal and am doing pretty well with CC and seem to be losing at around a pound a week or so. I was thinking about how many cals MFP has me intaking though, I see so many people here saying a lot of times the 1200 MFP tends to give people can be to low. I actually eat 1700 cals a day but that's because I feed my 7 month old son and the average nursing mother burns at least 500 cals a day so that's what we are suggested to add to our caloric intake each day. It's working for me but in reality that means I am eating 1200 cals a day of my own and am wondering if that's to low and will screw with my metabolism and my goals in general. Sometimes I still feel hungry after I have met my calories for the day and sometimes I don't even need to eat them all but try to do so anyway as not to mess with my nursing.

    I eat A LOT of nutritious foods. I don't eat a lot of junk/processes food. I mean I have my splurge days where I might indulge but not a lot. I am a bit of a natural nut so I don't eat a lot of processed junk anyway.

    As for activity level I wouldn't consider myself sedentary at all. I am a stay at home mother to three children under 6 years old and I rarely get to sit down, lol. But I don't go out and do a hard solid work out. I have started doing the C25K program but that's it so far.

    Sorry to ramble, just trying to give some background and further detail. :happy:


    Given that you are nursing, please disregard my suggestion entirely as I wasn't considering that.
  • sarahstrezo
    sarahstrezo Posts: 568 Member
    Definitely make sure you are adding in the extra calories for nursing. That is your #1 most important thing right now, IMO.
    But.....I would not put your activity level as slightly active being a SAHM to 3 small kids...no way! You are most likely way more active than you are giving yourself credit for.
    I am also a SAHM to 3 small kids (2, 4 &6) and I have my base calories at 1900 and I eat back most, if not all of my excersise calories....so, today...I had over 2100 calories!
    I am a firm believer that you have to eat to fuel your body....for workouts, daily life with kids, etc.
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
    Definitely make sure you are adding in the extra calories for nursing. That is your #1 most important thing right now, IMO.
    But.....I would not put your activity level as slightly active being a SAHM to 3 small kids...no way! You are most likely way more active than you are giving yourself credit for.
    I am also a SAHM to 3 small kids (2, 4 &6) and I have my base calories at 1900 and I eat back most, if not all of my excersise calories....so, today...I had over 2100 calories!
    I am a firm believer that you have to eat to fuel your body....for workouts, daily life with kids, etc.
    This. Just because you don't "exercise" doesn't mean you are sedentary. I think that you should eat a little more and maybe plan to lose a little slower. Maybe a pound a week and lightly active? And when you do exercise, be sure to eat back your exercise calories. And because you are breastfeeding, look that up to see the calories it burns--might even want to go a little more active for that.
  • agent99oz
    agent99oz Posts: 185 Member
    Ok 1200 cals will bring out all ideas etc
    All I know is that I was stuck at a plateux for 9 months - eating my BMR minus 150 cals, so eating around the 1400 cal mark a day, tracking everything not even 100gms lost in that time
    I started Michelle Bridges - did 12 weeks on 1200 cals a day and lost 4kgs BUT 30cms in total. I am now doing a month of insanity training to keep the momentum going and I am still losing
    I would suggest you measure yourself with a tape measure - waist, Bust, hips, thighs, Biceps - you try the 1200 cal thing for a month and see how you go.
    I eat pretty clean - watch my sodium and drink plenty of water...
    I see people eating 1200cals of junk and wonder why they don't lose...it's all about choices :)

    Sorry I just re-read your above post - If you are nursing THEN you need extra cals! But choose good ones :)
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Ok 1200 cals will bring out all ideas etc
    All I know is that I was stuck at a plateux for 9 months - eating my BMR minus 150 cals, so eating around the 1400 cal mark a day, tracking everything not even 100gms lost in that time
    I started Michelle Bridges - did 12 weeks on 1200 cals a day and lost 4kgs BUT 30cms in total. I am now doing a month of insanity training to keep the momentum going and I am still losing
    I would suggest you measure yourself with a tape measure - waist, Bust, hips, thighs, Biceps - you try the 1200 cal thing for a month and see how you go.
    I eat pretty clean - watch my sodium and drink plenty of water...
    I see people eating 1200cals of junk and wonder why they don't lose...it's all about choices :)

    Personally, I'd rather OP start at a higher amount and see if she needs to dial it down. It's much easier (and IMHO healthier) to dial back than it is to ramp up.

    And that's before the nursing comment. I would absolutely under no circumstances try to restrict calories to 1200 while nursing. In fact, I'd be a little concerned about anything under 1600 while nursing (but admittedly, I am not a doctor and I haven't done much research on this very important consideration).
  • Phaedra2014
    Phaedra2014 Posts: 1,254 Member
    Definitely make sure you are adding in the extra calories for nursing. That is your #1 most important thing right now, IMO.
    But.....I would not put your activity level as slightly active being a SAHM to 3 small kids...no way! You are most likely way more active than you are giving yourself credit for.
    I am also a SAHM to 3 small kids (2, 4 &6) and I have my base calories at 1900 and I eat back most, if not all of my excersise calories....so, today...I had over 2100 calories!
    I am a firm believer that you have to eat to fuel your body....for workouts, daily life with kids, etc.

    Great reply.
  • danasings
    danasings Posts: 8,218 Member
    Definitely make sure you are adding in the extra calories for nursing. That is your #1 most important thing right now, IMO.
    But.....I would not put your activity level as slightly active being a SAHM to 3 small kids...no way! You are most likely way more active than you are giving yourself credit for.
    I am also a SAHM to 3 small kids (2, 4 &6) and I have my base calories at 1900 and I eat back most, if not all of my excersise calories....so, today...I had over 2100 calories!
    I am a firm believer that you have to eat to fuel your body....for workouts, daily life with kids, etc.

    Great reply.

    Agreed!! I'm a SAHM of two boys and tried maintaining my weight at @2200 cals/day for two weeks...ended up losing four pounds! I work out a lot, so I am considered "highly active," though. As you are breast feeding and caring for your older children, I'd say that the 1700 you eat daily should be your absolute minimum. Best of luck!! :happy:
  • TinaS88
    TinaS88 Posts: 817 Member
    5'5" 175 pounds :smile:


    I say too low. I am taller and weigh less and I eat more than that. Not much, but for not really being active I still eat more than that. And then when I DO exercise, I eat even more. And that is with me sitting around not doing anything.

    If you are nursing and have 3 young kids, I am sure you are burning way more than you might expect (especially with nursing) Personally, I wouldn't concern myself with weight until you are done nursing. You don't want your baby to miss out on important nutrients. You will burn like 500 cals a day just from nursing!
  • jenj1313
    jenj1313 Posts: 898 Member
    If you're still nursing, like it says in your profile, I'd guess that's too little. I mean, personally, I think it's too little anyway, but I won't get into that debate... you can just search "1200" in the forums and get more than enough ranting and raving on the subject. But I'd do some research on what nursing does to your calorie demands. I don't have kids, but I would guess that eating too little may not be enough for either of you.
  • cooky571
    cooky571 Posts: 1 Member
    even eating that low you may not lose weight until you do exercise grab some frends to walk:: :smile:
  • tschaff04
    tschaff04 Posts: 296 Member
    Definitely make sure you are adding in the extra calories for nursing. That is your #1 most important thing right now, IMO.
    But.....I would not put your activity level as slightly active being a SAHM to 3 small kids...no way! You are most likely way more active than you are giving yourself credit for.
    I am also a SAHM to 3 small kids (2, 4 &6) and I have my base calories at 1900 and I eat back most, if not all of my excersise calories....so, today...I had over 2100 calories!
    I am a firm believer that you have to eat to fuel your body....for workouts, daily life with kids, etc.

    I make sure to eat those extra 500 cals. I wouldn't jeopardize my supply. :) I just worry if the 1200 is enough. I feel content most days but some days I am ravenously hungry still and go over and then feel guilty.

    And you're probably right...I rarely get to sit down but I have a hard time convincing myself I'm active enough, plus I would have no idea how to track it to input it.
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
    .
  • tschaff04
    tschaff04 Posts: 296 Member
    I tried to edit my OP but don't know how so I will just post here to clear up the confusion. I don't eat just 1200 cals a day. Yes, I am nursing and have nursed over 3 years between all of my kids so I have done my research and know I need a bare min. of 500 extra cals to produce what I need. I do eat those extra 500 cals. So I ACTUALLY eat 1700 cals a day. I just don't consider those 500 part of my intake at the end of the day because those are burned up by nursing. So it's like I have an intake of 1200(which is what MFP calculated for me) and then I add on those 500 cals. I hope that makes sense. lol

    I would NEVER eat 1200 cals alone while nursing. That would cause a lot of problems in myself, baby gets what baby needs but if you aren't getting what you need baby is taking it from your own supply and causing problems for mom. So I know the importance of that. But I greatly appreciate all the replies. I have been losing at a nice slow pace of a pound a week(on WW I was losing 2 pounds a week so this is slow for me) and I am ok with that I just don't want to screw up my metabolism by eating to few cals. I guess I will have to play around with this and see what works best for me(only going up in cals...not down. )
  • sarahstrezo
    sarahstrezo Posts: 568 Member
    Definitely make sure you are adding in the extra calories for nursing. That is your #1 most important thing right now, IMO.
    But.....I would not put your activity level as slightly active being a SAHM to 3 small kids...no way! You are most likely way more active than you are giving yourself credit for.
    I am also a SAHM to 3 small kids (2, 4 &6) and I have my base calories at 1900 and I eat back most, if not all of my excersise calories....so, today...I had over 2100 calories!
    I am a firm believer that you have to eat to fuel your body....for workouts, daily life with kids, etc.

    I make sure to eat those extra 500 cals. I wouldn't jeopardize my supply. :) I just worry if the 1200 is enough. I feel content most days but some days I am ravenously hungry still and go over and then feel guilty.

    And you're probably right...I rarely get to sit down but I have a hard time convincing myself I'm active enough, plus I would have no idea how to track it to input it.

    You are right...daily activity is hard to track. But...if you are stalling on weight loss, then try upping your calories and see if that helps. It did me. When I first started here, I had my cals set to 1400 (plus excersise cals), my loss stalled and I was hungry, tired and cranky. I upped to 1600 and did ok for a bit then had the same hunger. I'm now lifting heavy 3 times per week and my base is 1900 (on non lifting days) and while the scale isn't going down....my BF % sure is :)
  • tschaff04
    tschaff04 Posts: 296 Member
    Definitely make sure you are adding in the extra calories for nursing. That is your #1 most important thing right now, IMO.
    But.....I would not put your activity level as slightly active being a SAHM to 3 small kids...no way! You are most likely way more active than you are giving yourself credit for.
    I am also a SAHM to 3 small kids (2, 4 &6) and I have my base calories at 1900 and I eat back most, if not all of my excersise calories....so, today...I had over 2100 calories!
    I am a firm believer that you have to eat to fuel your body....for workouts, daily life with kids, etc.


    I make sure to eat those extra 500 cals. I wouldn't jeopardize my supply. :) I just worry if the 1200 is enough. I feel content most days but some days I am ravenously hungry still and go over and then feel guilty.

    And you're probably right...I rarely get to sit down but I have a hard time convincing myself I'm active enough, plus I would have no idea how to track it to input it.

    You are right...daily activity is hard to track. But...if you are stalling on weight loss, then try upping your calories and see if that helps. It did me. When I first started here, I had my cals set to 1400 (plus excersise cals), my loss stalled and I was hungry, tired and cranky. I upped to 1600 and did ok for a bit then had the same hunger. I'm now lifting heavy 3 times per week and my base is 1900 (on non lifting days) and while the scale isn't going down....my BF % sure is :)


    That's awesome!! Bf loss is way better than weight loss in my opinion. Great job! And if I start stalling I will definitely try upping my cals a bit. Seems like that would be backwards, but I know it's not.
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