What's considered reasonable calorie intake?

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Kbmom03
Kbmom03 Posts: 24 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi everybody. I'm trying to lose at least 25 more pounds. I"m 5'8 and weigh roughly 172 lbs.. I'm just trying to figure out if 1200 is enough or is 1400 too much? Thoughts are appreciated. I'm a female by the way.. Also, I need some motivated on reaching my goal to finish Couch to 10k. I'm on week 5.

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  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    1800 to 2000 is reasonable for the average woman. 1200-1400 is awfully low.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,659 Member
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    Hi everybody. I'm trying to lose at least 25 more pounds. I"m 5'8 and weigh roughly 172 lbs.. I'm just trying to figure out if 1200 is enough or is 1400 too much? Thoughts are appreciated. I'm a female by the way.. Also, I need some motivated on reaching my goal to finish Couch to 10k. I'm on week 5.
    Well if you're 30 (I took a guess) then your BMR is 1581. That means that's what you burn daily sitting on the couch doing nothing. Add in daily chores and activity along with your exercise and you're probably well into the 2000 range.
    At least eat your BMR.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
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    You probably should try a variety of the online calorie calcultors and see what they say. I put your data into one and just used my age for yours, left the activity level at "lightly active" (I dont' know what Couch to 10k would qualify as), and the results looked like this:

    you need 2129 Calories/day to maintain your weight
    you need 1629 Calories/day to lose 1 lb per week
    you need 1129 Calories/day to lose 2 lb per week
    you need 2629 Calories/day to gain 1 lb per week
    you need 3129 Calories/day to gain 2 lb per week

    As you can see, you can still be only "lightly active' and eat up to 2128 calories to lose weight, all depending on how quickly you want to do it. However, you're doing an exercise program, so it's very possible your needs will be higher than the results this calculator generated. Personally, I'm also in the "at least eat your BMR" camp. The calculator I used said 1549 calories, which is why I like to consult multiple different equations to see that they're at least all in the same ballpark.


    The calculator I used was the one on the link, below, but there are others out there you can try. (scoobysworshop.com seems to be a popular resource for this).
    (http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html?ctype=standard&cage=30&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=8&cpound=172&cheightmeter=180&ckg=60&cactivity=1.375&x=43&y=9)
  • MinatoandClover
    MinatoandClover Posts: 160 Member
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    The minimum you (or anyone else, for that matter) is 1200 a day. As for a maximum amount to be eating, that really depends on your weight and lifestyle. If you're heavier or have an active lifestyle, the amount of calories you should consume will be greater. If you're thinner or less active, the amount of calories you should consume would be less. I'm 5'2", 83kg, and my daily goal is 1200-1450 calories per day. I wouldn't lose if I ate more than that. Really, it depends on your body.
  • myfitspiration7
    myfitspiration7 Posts: 25
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    I am doing T25, they recommend if you are 130 pounds are higher to have 1600 calories a day

    Of course 1600 clean calories a day :) hope that helps!!.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    From your name, sounds like a mom.

    Change MFP - Settings - Diet/Fitness profile to:
    Activity level Lightly Active, because you are with kids.
    Weight loss goal to 1 lb weekly, because you need reasonable deficit to have reasonable eating goal.
    Don't worry about the fitness goals, they have no bearing on the diet goal math, and vast majority don't even notice them.

    There, now you have an eating goal for non-exercise typical daily life, that is 500 cal less than what you are expected to burn.

    If you exercise and burn more, keep that 500 cal deficit by eating more. In other words, use MFP as designed, log your exercise, and eat back those calories, the 500 cal deficit is still there.

    Log your food accurately, measuring is for liquids only, weighing is for anything else. At least spend 2 weeks to see how far off your estimates are on things, and keep weighing those foods at least.

    Meet your goals daily, especially the protein which is too low really, then fat, then carbs, and always calories.

    1200 is recommended minimum for sedentary person for safety reasons, to get all required nutrients in with average diet.

    Much like minimal building codes are for safety - not for performance, not for aesthetics, not for longevity.
    You wanna perform better, look better, live longer?

    Don't do the bare minimum for safety reasons.
  • TheGr8Kimbini
    TheGr8Kimbini Posts: 92
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    I am that height and weight and I aim for 1500.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    1200 is not "reasonable" for most people.
  • AnDiallo
    AnDiallo Posts: 131 Member
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    I'm 5'4'' and weigh 146lb, and am losing steadily at 1500 calories a day. Don't deprive yourself too much when you could get by on a higher caloric intake. :)
  • Kbmom03
    Kbmom03 Posts: 24 Member
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    Thanks everybody!! :)

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