Too few calories ??

sadiescully
sadiescully Posts: 40
in Health and Weight Loss
right , after reading an article from mr banks, iv raised my calorie intake from 1,000 to 1,200, im a bit scared of doing this but what ive been reading backs up that this is what i should be doing.. How many are you having ?? im 5.6 and currently 177lb,s
Does it really work better to have more than less ?? and if i exercise do i need to eat the extras they give me ?? thanks

Replies

  • sadiescully
    sadiescully Posts: 40
    bump ?? need help with this
  • lcfairbairn74
    lcfairbairn74 Posts: 412 Member
    If you are following the MFP method eat at the calorie level they give you. You should not be eating below 1200 calories a day and you should be eating your exercise calories back. If you have a heart rate monitor it is the best way to determine how many calories you actually burn when you exercise :smile:
  • cindy5761
    cindy5761 Posts: 28
    I was about your size and lost 35lbs 6 years ago. I was eating between 1350-1450 calories a day when I lost my weight. Eating too little and your body will go into starvation mode and try to hold onto fat. I would never go below 1200 but make it balanced...healthy carbs, proteins and fats. Good luck!
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Bumping up from 1,000 to 1,200 is scary only in that you think it's scary.

    Think reasonable and sustainable changes in diet and exercise.

    My guess is you'll start feeling crappy pretty quickly at 1,200. Tired and irritable is not a good scenario for lifestyle change.
  • missshyeviolett
    missshyeviolett Posts: 310 Member
    I'm 5'7 and 158 lbs right now, and I'm steadily losing weight (6 lbs in a month) at 1600 calories and I feel great. You need more if you want this to be a long term change!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    You should minimally be netting 1200...which means if you're eating a 1200 calorie plan, you should be eating exercise calories back. Your gross will be higher, but you're still netting the 1200. Anything less should really be supervised.

    The average woman can maintain at 1800-2000 calories. Throw in some exercise and that becomes 2000-2300 calories + depending on the exercise regimen. 1,000 calories...or 1,200 calories is nothing to be afraid of...it's pretty much nothing.
  • simoneg14
    simoneg14 Posts: 46 Member
    My daily intake is set at 1500 per day and between 1700-1800 on workout days to bring my next to 1200. I'm 5ft 9 and only started eating back my calories last week, I must admit today I found it hard to eat them back, was too full.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    right , after reading an article from mr banks, iv raised my calorie intake from 1,000 to 1,200, im a bit scared of doing this but what ive been reading backs up that this is what i should be doing.. How many are you having ?? im 5.6 and currently 177lb,s
    Does it really work better to have more than less ?? and if i exercise do i need to eat the extras they give me ?? thanks

    Eat more only if you want to lose fat and NOT muscle.

    The way MFP is DESIGNED .... the calorie deficit is built in before exercise .... so adding exercise increases the deficit further... this is why you eat calories back. Too large a deficit promotes muscle loss.
  • xoxobollywood2
    xoxobollywood2 Posts: 62
    I eat around 1100 - 1200 calories too..
  • sunshyncatra
    sunshyncatra Posts: 598 Member
    1,000 is too few. Stay over 1,200. I am 5'7" and losing 1-2 pounds a week with a goal of 1,300-1,500 a day.
  • alyhuggan
    alyhuggan Posts: 717 Member
    Just went from 3600+ to 2800 and dropping to 2500 soon to lose weight...
  • sadiescully
    sadiescully Posts: 40
    thanks so much for the advise and from people who have experience and knowledge , i am looking at this as a lifestyle change so i will raise it to 1300 then. After all, as you said it needs to be a sustainable change. they mfp did set me at 1200 but becausei put 2lb loss a week i think.
  • caramelcremebrulee
    caramelcremebrulee Posts: 13
    love this post because of all the replies that I needed to hear because I was struggling with the same the first few days. Myfitnesspal had me at 1200 calories for my current weight and goal, and I felt horrible. I got some advice from new friends I made the first day to increase to 1500-1800, and I'm about your same statistics. I went to 1500 and I felt great! The other advice I got was to eat back the exercise calories that I burned, but I have only done small walks, so once I get to the gym, I'll have to see how that all goes. 1200 is too low. I have dieted many times before and when I starve myself and make my body miserable it does just what everyone else was saying, it CONSERVES fat stores for survival, and loses muscle tissue AND EVERY TIME I HAVE GOTTEN SICK WITHIN TWO WEEKS! I vowed to do it different this time and get advice and support from MFP members. I'm so grateful for everyone's post!!
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    What everyone else said - follow mfp guidelines, which includes eating back every exercise calorie burned. 1200 is not a lot and typically not ENOUGH to fuel any adult human being.

    I, personally, prefer to eat the same amount each day so I use the BMR/TDEE method. I am 5'2" tall, 125 pounds or so, and eat 2000 calories to lose weight (I weight train 4.5 hours per week - moderately active). My TDEE is about 2300 so I eat at a 300 calorie deficit trying to take off the last 7 pounds.

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