MFP and 1200 calories for everyone no matter what?

2EggsSeparated
2EggsSeparated Posts: 107
in Health and Weight Loss
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?
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Replies

  • JustPeachy044
    JustPeachy044 Posts: 770 Member
    try fitnessfrog.com and/or fit2fatradio.com they will give you more accurate numbers. 1200 was and still is too low for me, not by a ton but enough that i was miserable when i tried it.
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    Heck no...that's what it gives you if you're trying to lose fast. I started out at 1610 a day. Its a bit lower now since I'm close to my goal. There's nothing magical or even practical about 1200.
  • tmauck4472
    tmauck4472 Posts: 1,785 Member
    That's the lowest they will recommend so depending on if you chose you sit down all day and don't exercise it will give you that. But you can put them where you want. Higher lower or whatever.
  • 2EggsSeparated
    2EggsSeparated Posts: 107
    I eat about 1900 calories most days. MFP gave me the 1200 initially (which I didn't even need the road map thing to know I couldn't live with that), so I was just wondering if anyone, ever, gets a different number.
  • KristyTonn
    KristyTonn Posts: 46 Member
    Depends on your weight, activity level and exercise amount. I have about 1500 per day, while being set on losing 2 lbs a week.
  • S0nsh1ne
    S0nsh1ne Posts: 218 Member
    Depends on your weight, activity level and exercise amount. I have about 1500 per day, while being set on losing 2 lbs a week.

    While based on the same info I have 1500 per day while trying to lose 1 lb a week.
  • kimberlyanne57
    kimberlyanne57 Posts: 6
    I started at 1200 but stopped seeing loss so I changed my goal to 1.5 a week. I just want the scale to go down! Slow but sure. I'm at 1350 now. But more atainable. And I try not to eat back my workout calories.
  • jen_u_win
    jen_u_win Posts: 9
    I started at 1320, I think, then went to 1230, and now it has me at 1,200...and I have a really long way to go! I have my settings at sedentary (desk job) with five 1hr. workouts per week.
  • elizabethis
    elizabethis Posts: 155 Member
    Also depends on your height. Shorties can get 1200 even if set to lose 1/2 pound per week. Of course, that is NET, so if any exercise is going on, those exercise calories need to be eaten on top of that 1200 each day.
  • 2EggsSeparated
    2EggsSeparated Posts: 107
    Depends on your weight, activity level and exercise amount. I have about 1500 per day, while being set on losing 2 lbs a week.

    And MFP gave you 1500, you didn't change the number on your own?

    And just to clarify, i'm not asking for advise. I eat way more then 1200 a day. I just want to know if everyone gets the same numbers.
  • SuzySu
    SuzySu Posts: 11
    Ha ha.....I've just started a similar thread!

    There's no way I can stick to 1200 calories and I don't think it's even healthy to try. I've 'upped' mine to 1500. I tried 1200 for a week and found I'd GAINED weight! I can't believe it and I'm still not sure why?

    Here's hoping 1500 will suit me better.
  • khandi_j
    khandi_j Posts: 9
    1200 is the number suggested by nedical professionals to prevent the body from entering starvation mode. Under that point the body begins to store fat in order to survive.


    While 1,200 calories per day is the general requirement, you can calculate the ideal number of calories for your own body. By taking your weight and then multiplying it by a value dependent on your daily level of activity, you'll get a better idea of the number of calories you need. An active male should multiply his weight by 15, while an inactive male should multiply by 12. Active females should multiply their weight by 12 while an inactive female multiplies by 10. The resulting number is the number of calories you need to maintain your weight, meaning you burn exactly as many calories as you intake.

    To lose a lb a week take the number that you typically burn and subtract 300 calories. Continue to reduce ur number by that number until you reach starvation point (the point of unhealthy weight loss).

    For example, I began at 176 and live an sedentary lifestyle and want to lose 1lb per week

    176*10=1760 - 300 = 1460

    My maximum healthy weight loss goal should be 1.87 lbs a week.

    Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/467331-does-your-body-really-need-1200-calories-per-day/#ixzz2Onbo405g
  • linsey0689
    linsey0689 Posts: 753 Member
    No I am at 1700 to lose 2lbs a week. But I am 259 pounds when I started at 285 I think I was at about 1860 calories a days. But what you have to think about if you are close to where you want to be as far as weight loss goes it might not be do-able or realistic for you to have that much of a change every week. Try looking at 1 pounds a week. Also the 1200 calories is just what they think you should eat because weight lose is pretty much a formula if you cut X amount of calories out each week you will have X results.

    Best of luck to you!
  • ThickMcRunFast
    ThickMcRunFast Posts: 22,511 Member
    at 5'9", and with only 10lbs to lose, yes, it gave me 1200 cals to eat per day. I selected '2lbs per week' because I didn't know any better. I was miserable for months before I started eating more. Not to mention that I lost 5lbs, then stalled entirely.
  • JoanB5
    JoanB5 Posts: 610 Member
    Healthy weight loss is 1 pound per week, so that would help, but the calculators recommended are really good to help you "see" what is going on with the calorie recommendations. You need to cut 500 calories per week per pound you want to lose.

    Most people only recommend cutting 20% from your RDEE, which works out to a pound a week.
  • thecakelocker
    thecakelocker Posts: 407 Member
    For the lulz, I just put my info into MFP and got 1260. My BMR is over 1800 and I lose 1-2 lb a week eating 2000. Yeah no ty.

    People -- please figure out your actual TDEE. Eat more. Be happier.
  • 2EggsSeparated
    2EggsSeparated Posts: 107
    For the lulz, I just put my info into MFP and got 1260. My BMR is over 1800 and I lose 1-2 lb a week eating 2000. Yeah no ty.

    People -- please figure out your actual TDEE. Eat more. Be happier.

    I love playing with the numbers.

    I'm losing a pound a week while still eating average 1900 a day. It just for some reason I was getting frustrated for others when I read threads like "1200 a day for 2 months. Starving. And no weight loss"
  • thecakelocker
    thecakelocker Posts: 407 Member
    It is frustrating! I've been losing weight steadily for a year now, if I was on 1200 cals I would have crashed and burned probably 10 months ago.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    No. It's just your over zealous weight loss goal. 1,200 means you maintain on 2,200 calories or less a day. This is pretty much most untrained females, untrained males, etc.

    If you select 2 pounds per week it subtracts 1,000 calories from your TDEE. If for whatever reason (let's say your TDEE is 1,800 calories) you would need to consume 800 calories per day. MFP says "oh no! We can't possibly recommend less than 1,200!" And then defaults it to that.
  • 2EggsSeparated
    2EggsSeparated Posts: 107
    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?"
  • berri2529
    berri2529 Posts: 1 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    Nope mine said 1380
  • sarahz1442
    sarahz1442 Posts: 136 Member
    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
    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
    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
    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
    It go by how much you want to lose and how fast you want to lose it!

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