How many calories should I be eating?

m13a
m13a Posts: 41 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone. I'm wondering how many calories I should be eating. After reading through a bunch of posts I'm as confused as ever.

I'm on my 2nd week of MFP and trying to consistently eat close to a net average of 1200 calories a day. I am female, 5 ft. 8 inches, and about to turn 26 years old. Before starting, I was just into the range of "overweight" by strict BMI standards. Though I understand there may be issues with this measurement, I also wanted to lose weight for other reasons. Some health issues I am currently dealing with are hypothyroidism, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and a gluten intolerance. I hope that some weight loss will help me feel better and I intend to lose approximately 15 pounds.

I don't exercise much - never have. I tend to be low energy and have always been much more into playing music and reading books. Instead, I've started on Pilates, which may not burn many calories but generally helps my body feel better and stronger. Over the past week I've lost approximately 1/2 a pound.

I have read in different conversations that 1200 calories is not enough - and that people have felt hungry at that amount, but I must say that I do not. I tend to eat a few small meals throughout the day and have tried to be very aware of when I feel hungry. I am using a scale and measuring cups to prepare my portions so I believe my food diary (which is public) is quite accurate.

Should I be eating more, even if I don't feel my body is asking for it? What do you suggest? Any help is much appreciated.

Replies

  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
    Need to know your weight to determine if you're eating enough. =)

    I love Pilates and yoga, they don't burn a lot of calories, but they really make you strong and fit

    It seems that you're close to my height and weight, most people recommend not eating below your BMR for max fat loss and to reduce lean muscle loss, which is most likely higher than 1200 for you and closer to 1500. Eating closer to your BMR will also help keep you from plateauing as quick.

    I would recommend eating closer to your BMR and continue to eat back 80-90% your exercise calories.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
    Log what you normally eat for 2 weeks.

    Take 500 off.

    Done.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    I used this to work out your TDEE, since you don't have much to lose I put you at minus 10%, that's about a half pound loss a week, o good healthy loss. Approx. your TDEE -10% is 1962, doing this you don't need to eat back your exercise calories, they are already added and have you set set at light exercise. Hope this helps. Good luck. :)

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • jamiecrick3582
    jamiecrick3582 Posts: 18 Member
    I'm 5'8" and am down to 173. My BMR is 1590 and I have MFP set to 1500. Occasionally I eat more - occasionally less but for the most part stay at 1500.
  • m13a
    m13a Posts: 41 Member
    My weight at the moment is 162.5. I began at 165 with a goal of 150, and was actually closer to 169 before I began seriously tracking my foods and doing pilates.
  • talk2elles
    talk2elles Posts: 124 Member
    I don't know what to suggest but I can tell you what I have been doing and my stats. I am 27 years old, I am 5'4, I aim to eat as close to 1400 as possible, I haven't been exercising yet and I have been steadily losing about 1lb a week. Starting weight was 177.4lbs and currently 155.6lbs
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    It sounds like you're pretty sedentary except for the pilates, so conservatively, your maintenance calories are 1800 a day, so for a 15% deficit, you should eat about 1550 calories a day, 1200 is definitely too low, you'll break down muscle as well as lose fat which is not what you want
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    1200 is pretty low even for short people ..... and since you are not short I would increase it. If you are nervous .... you could start by increasing to 1300 calories each day, and try that for a week. Then increase again the next week to say 1400.

    If you are feeling run down or drained .... then you are definitely not eating enough. Better to lose slow & retain muscle mass. Muscle is harder to build back up than it is to keep.
  • m13a
    m13a Posts: 41 Member
    In terms of my energy, I haven't noticed a difference but it's really difficult to tell with hypothyroidism and the fact that I tend to be low-energy anyway. However, I can't say that I'm less energetic than I was while eating the amount of calories I did to gain weight.

    Thank you, everyone. I appreciate your help. I will try to up my calories starting today and see how that goes over the next week or two. If it works - or doesn't - I'll be sure to check back and let you know.

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