Daily calorie intake

bandit0609
bandit0609 Posts: 18 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all, i was wondering if someone could please help me with this.. I set my calorie intake to 1200 as i thought that is what a female should be eating but it keeps changing it to 1980 when i update! Am i eating less calories then what my body needs? some days i feel hungry but others i feel satisfied with the foods i eat.. think its just all in my head sometimes haha

Thanks.. feel free to add me :)

Replies

  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Why did you think it should be just 1200, and what it causing it to change to 1980?
  • bandit0609
    bandit0609 Posts: 18 Member
    well ive been on lite n easy diet plan before and they give you a 1200 daily limit so i suppose i just assumed i'd stick to that as it was working..
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Does the lite and easy diet plan take into account your age, weight, activity level and all that? Is MFP giving you the 1980 goal?
  • photojunkie28
    photojunkie28 Posts: 292
    Go to scoobycaloriecalculator.com and input your information. Eat according to the number it gives you (it would likely be closely related to the number MFP gives you. Eat too little and prepare for consequences
  • bandit0609
    bandit0609 Posts: 18 Member
    no lite and easy doesn't take all that into account, they just have 1200 meals for females and i think 1500 for males. I went to that scooby website and its telling me BMR 1611 and daily is 1998 which is close to what MFP has calculated.. is the BMR the minimum calories for what my body needs to get my metabolism working for the day? I just feel like 1980 calories is a lot. I have lost weight since i started but my weight loss journey has been a little up and down and i think it prob is because im not eatin eating enough and then want sweets.. so ill go off diet for a day or two then go back on.. Dieting is so hard lol
  • langsyne
    langsyne Posts: 106 Member
    MFP has given me a 1200 calorie diet. Most days I go over. I have checked by TDEE on a couple of other websites and one is 1860 and the other is 1936. To err on the side of caution, I am going with 1800 as a TDEE so I figure I'm safe if I go to 1400 calories in the day. This is mainly because I've had a back injury and have to limit my physical activity until it's healed. I'd be a bit concerned that 1200 is too low - some days I can stick with that but it's really hard, and leaves me hungry and thats when the cravings can sneak up.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    <
    Losing fat on 1800 calories a day, which is my TDEE minus 15% now. Food is fuel, and the body loves being fueled - eat too little and you're giving it a reason to store fat.

    Stop thinking of it as a diet, and change your lifestyle - go with the higher calorie amount MFP is giving you, or that you are figuring on your own. Eat between your BMR and you TDEE and you should lose - easy peasy. And that way, you can still enjoy life - parties, holidays, dinners out, and not have that anxiety that you're going to go over that 1200.

    My diary is open, I am enjoy steady fat loss eating plenty of calories and not being hungry. I have energy for my day and my workouts, eat plenty of healthy foods, but also enjoy burgers, pizza, alcohol, and desserts on a regular basis. Didn't even gain any weight over Christmas and I was over my daily goal and enjoyed all the foods during that time.

    Don't give your body a reason to store fat - feed it - it works!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • bandit0609
    bandit0609 Posts: 18 Member
    sorry, fairly new to MFP.. what does TDEE stand for?
    Same, im good one day bad the next.. the scooby calculator gave me 1998 maybe i should just take 200 off that?
    Thanks for the help guys
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    TDEE is total daily energy expenditure - the amount of calories you burn all day long just going about your daily life, and based on your activity level. The scooby calculator is good - a lot of MFPers use his stuff with good results.

    How did you arrive at the 1998 number - is that your total cals based on activity level? If so, depending on how much weight you have to lose, subtract 15-20% from it and set that as your goal.

    There are instructions in the thread I liked above on how to manually set your goals here at MFP.
  • bandit0609
    bandit0609 Posts: 18 Member
    ahh thanks for that! i was getting a little bit confused lol.

    Scooby gave me that number with medium activity level, so ive taken off 15% and its given me close to 1700, so ill try that :)

    Thanks heaps Amy

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