What were your calories/day??

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KEAVES13
KEAVES13 Posts: 90 Member
For those of you who have lost your weight and/or are being successful at losing now, how many calories did you allow yourself each day? I need to lose about 60 lbs, so I am wondering about people similiar to me, that have had or do have quite a bit to lose. I just feel like 1200 for me is not enough...

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  • rose555005
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    I am trying to lose 75 pounds currently and I have a daily intake of less than 1590 cals. It's working so far. I've lost 4 pounds in two weeks. :smile: Hope that helps!
  • ParkerH47
    ParkerH47 Posts: 463 Member
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    I would google a couple things if i was you. Find out your Basal metabolic weight (BMR) and try not to eat below that. Then find out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and never eat above that. Then find out which number in that range feels best for you :) it might be closer to the BMR if you are looking to lose the weight a bit faster

    just to clarify what those numbers mean - BMR is the amount of calories you body uses just to lay still and live. TDEE includes your daily activity, walking around and exercise. If you ate at your TDEE you would maintain the weight you're at now.

    Hope that helps!
  • bnorris2013
    bnorris2013 Posts: 256 Member
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    For those of you who have lost your weight and/or are being successful at losing now, how many calories did you allow yourself each day? I need to lose about 60 lbs, so I am wondering about people similiar to me, that have had or do have quite a bit to lose. I just feel like 1200 for me is not enough...

    For every person it is different because of weight, lifestyle, how much your trying to lose, and how much work your willing to put into it

    What you could do if you are interested in more calories is try to lose the weight slower such as 1/2 a pound a week or 1 pound a week OR you could make sure you add 30-60 minutes of cardio this could be running, riding a bike, the eliptical, zumba, etc this way you are earning calories from exercise which you can eat

    Also at first I thought this is gonna be hard no way this is enough calories for me but you find other ways to switch foods like instead of eating bread I eat flat outs or tortilla wraps, instead of sausage i eat turkey sausage, low fat cottage cheese instead of whole cottage cheese - As you go you will find it will get easier and easier to go under your calories - If you can eat veggies then that is a big filler item that can be extremely low calorie
  • climbamnt
    climbamnt Posts: 190 Member
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    I started at 190 lbs, and was eating 1800 calories. MFP seems like they default to 1200 and that is way too low! Start making healthy swaps, lots of water, and track your fiber. Feel free to add me, I am down to 155 now, and I am trying to replace the fat with muscle now. Still eat about 1800 calories (calculater using TDEE and my FitBit), and aim for higher protein and healthy fats, and mid range on carbs. Good luck!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    Like someone else said above, a cal goal in between these two numbers will be healthy.

    P.S. I always thought I was sedentary, and would choose that for my profile. When I got a pedometer I was able to get a better guage of my activity level and found I was under-eating.
  • Willowana
    Willowana Posts: 493 Member
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    I'll be about 40 lbs. down in a week or two. I started on 1200 and lost a little. Then I plateau'd.

    Now, I fluctuate between 1300-1600 calories. Fluctuating my calories and keeping them inconsistent has helped me. (But I AM consistent with tracking my food and remaining in that range.) 1500 calories is my -500 calorie deficit based on my TDEE.

    Not having the same calories allotment everyday seems to have helped my weight loss.

    I'm just now trying intermittent fasting, paying more attention to my macros, and weight lifting. I've only been doing it for 2 weeks now, so it's too soon to say what the results will be. I'm still in the learning process and tweaking things as I go.

    Edit: I should note my average weight loss is 2-3 lbs. per week.
  • krickeyuu
    krickeyuu Posts: 344 Member
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    I would google a couple things if i was you. Find out your Basal metabolic weight (BMR) and try not to eat below that. Then find out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and never eat above that. Then find out which number in that range feels best for you :) it might be closer to the BMR if you are looking to lose the weight a bit faster

    just to clarify what those numbers mean - BMR is the amount of calories you body uses just to lay still and live. TDEE includes your daily activity, walking around and exercise. If you ate at your TDEE you would maintain the weight you're at now.

    Hope that helps!

    ^^This is very sage advice.^^ Just one other clarification. If you use TDEE and factor exercise in to your calculation, then don't eat back exercise calories. If you want to see your exercise calories and eat them back, then use TDEE, sedentary, to set your calorie goal.
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
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    1700. 1200 is not enough to keep you healthy unless you're thin-boned and about 4 ft. tall.
  • chinalavy
    chinalavy Posts: 104
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    I'm at 1200 calories a day ; Exercise every second day . I'm loosing 1 !/2 to 2 1/2 pounds every week I stay at 1200 calories even if I exercise and get more to eat but I found is better if I stay at 1200 for me is working -25.5 pounds so far.
  • KEAVES13
    KEAVES13 Posts: 90 Member
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    Thanks to you all..after calculating my BMR and myTDEE...i'm gonna try to stay between 1700 and 1800 cal/day and see how that works =))
  • Energizer06
    Energizer06 Posts: 311 Member
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    For those of you who have lost your weight and/or are being successful at losing now, how many calories did you allow yourself each day? I need to lose about 60 lbs, so I am wondering about people similiar to me, that have had or do have quite a bit to lose. I just feel like 1200 for me is not enough...

    Use This: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/943139-weight-loss-cheat-sheet-ipoarm
  • kazzsjourney
    kazzsjourney Posts: 674 Member
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    ive lost 188 pounds with another 17-35 pounds to go and i eat 1800 cals and have for most of my journey. Feel free to add me to see my diary :)
  • unnur16
    unnur16 Posts: 140 Member
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    I´ve lost 46 lbs already and about 30 to go. but i´ve been eating 1250 for a week and then 1580 next week and then back to 1250 and back to 1580 and so on. This have worked for me =)
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
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    I've been netting right around 1500 for the past two months (with one day a week at maintenance), and I'm down 28 pounds. I'm pretty comfortable there.
  • bobf279
    bobf279 Posts: 342 Member
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    TDEE-20% is working for me
  • Onaughmae
    Onaughmae Posts: 873 Member
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    I am getting about a 20% cut from TDEE.
  • upnorthmj77
    upnorthmj77 Posts: 38 Member
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    1350 calories per day for me (and some days +200/300 from light exercise - I eat back my exercise calories earned). I have lost 8 lbs in a month. :)
  • mumtoonegirl
    mumtoonegirl Posts: 586 Member
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    I have only been tracking since I started on here a few months ago, when I joined I was already 58lbs down, since joining here I lost another 11lbs, on non-workout days I am 1100, on workout days around 1400, high protein.

    I have changed my eating since tracking on here, big one is knowing how much protein I was consuming and increasing that, increasing healthy fats and drastically cutting my sodium.

    Those changes allowed for the latest 11lbs to come off, and hopefully the last 10 before I reach my maintenance weight.

    I do a hard workout out 6x a week.
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