When is time to up the calories

ultimuttginge
ultimuttginge Posts: 58
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, i've been on 1200 cals for about 6 weeks now and lost 9lbs in weight (go me!!).

But i was wondering how do you know, and what point, do you up your intake? I notice a few people on here increasing their calories. How do you know when to do that??

Replies

  • juleszephyr
    juleszephyr Posts: 442 Member
    How far are you from your goal? If you are only a few pounds away I would reset your goals on the site for half a pound a week loss and this will prob increase your cals to 1350ish... Really it's up to you but if you want to try adding do it slowly and track extra carefully.

    I have now started doing 1200 religiously mon to fri and more like 1600 to 1800 Sat and Sun and am still losing about a pound a week but I don't usually eat back my exercise cals...

    Trial and error I'm afraid!!!!
  • ultimuttginge
    ultimuttginge Posts: 58
    No i'm still about 10lbs away from my goal actually!
  • Ashshell
    Ashshell Posts: 185
    I would only make changes when I saw a decrease in my progress. If 1200 calories is working for you, stick with it. If you go a couple of weeks without weight-loss, change it up a bit.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    - If you're less than 20 lbs from goal, you should be aiming for only 1/2 lb per week.
    - why are you eating only 1200? That's too low for most people, especially with so little left to lose

    check out this thread:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    - If you're less than 20 lbs from goal, you should be aiming for only 1/2 lb per week.
    - why are you eating only 1200? That's too low for most people, especially with so little left to lose

    check out this thread:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy

    i agree - the weight is coming off but you are losing lean body mass in larger amounts than you would if you eat enough (which SLOWS your metabolism). I am 8 pounds from goal and eat 2000 calories per day (moderately active under TDEE method)
  • ultimuttginge
    ultimuttginge Posts: 58
    Well i just put my goals into MFP and that's what it threw back at me? 1200cals per day? I'm only 6 weeks into this MFP so just assumed MFP knew what it was doing? And 1200 IS working for me. I was just wondering at what point people started upping their intake?
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    I started at 1200 too - because I didn't know any better. Didn't bother any research until I plateaued for 4 months. So, to answer your question of when I upped my calories, it was almost a year after I started this journey...but I would not wait that long now if I could do it again - Now I am having to repair the damage I caused by under eating (loss of LBM, slowed metabolism, fatigue, flab!) for so long.

    I would change now, if I were you

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