My 1200 calorie story
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My maintenence is 1380 but I end up eating around 1200 most of the time. I truly cannot fathom eating that many calories. When I go up to 1500 I gain weight and plateu around 125/126 lbs. If I go above that I end up closer to 130.
Is 1380 your maintenance or BMR? I am assuming BMR which means with no exercise your maintenance would be about 1660, more on days you exercise.
I just check and I accidentally chose to lose .5 lbs! That explains a lot. I have a desk job so I am not active at the moment though I am thinking about starting weight training. My new setting is 1,570 cal/day. But I swear when I eat there I end up 125 not that 125 is horrible for being 5'6 but I like being closer to 120.
:You should try aiming for a body fat % goal versus a scale # goal. The scale is too unreliable in my opinion. I can gain up to 10-12lbs in water weight just before TOM.0 -
How do I figure out myTDEE and BMR? I was given a 1,200 goal by MFP too. However, I'm very short, only 5 ft. tall and I need to lose a lot of weight. 93 more lbs. I think everyon is different, I think it depends on your height and activity level. I'm only moderately active. I lift 5lb weights about a half an hour a day, which doesn't burn much, and my job is pretty sedatary. There's no way I can do a 2,000 or even 1,800 calorie goal, that's aboout what I've been eating all along, it's what made me put all this weight on to begin with. I don't notice any of these symptoms at all, in fact, oddly the VOLUME of food I'm eating now is much more than when I was eating 2,000. 1,200 fills me up and I never feel hungry becuase I'm eating every three hours. I'm not disagreeing with you at all, I appreciate your post. I'm just a little confused after reading this and don't know if I should increase my number, or not, because I don't know what my BMR or TDEE is.
I'm 5'1 and with tdee -20% I would be around a 1800-2000 cal goal. I do MFP's thing though at 1500 + exercise and still eat about that much.
Here's a link to a TDEE calculator http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/0 -
It seems I've got a lot to learn! I only registered here a few days ago, and was told 1200 calories for a loss of 1 pound a week (sedentary, back problem only allows a bit of walking).
MFP has such a write-up that I trusted their information. TBH my food this week hasn't been much different to what I'm used to...I was trying to lose weight on my own (very slow!)...I don't have problems with skin or hair or anything like that.
Why does mfp recommend 1200 cals if it's far too low? I admit I'm wary of upping my calories too much, but now I know about this, I'll be doing more reading, and will be willing to increase if necessary.
I'm off now to eat back todays exercise calories!
Thank you.
So the 1,200 is not too low. Check out the great examples above. The 1,200 would be your intake in food if you sat on the entire couch the whole day and did not move. If you went for a walk or went to the gym you're actually taking in MORE than 1,200 in food.
Nice simple explanation, thanks.
Some days I can't do much more than sit about, so on those days I should stick to 1200 cals.
But on the days I can walk, I can eat more!
Such a different concept to what I learned when younger.0 -
It seems I've got a lot to learn! I only registered here a few days ago, and was told 1200 calories for a loss of 1 pound a week (sedentary, back problem only allows a bit of walking).
MFP has such a write-up that I trusted their information. TBH my food this week hasn't been much different to what I'm used to...I was trying to lose weight on my own (very slow!)...I don't have problems with skin or hair or anything like that.
Why does mfp recommend 1200 cals if it's far too low? I admit I'm wary of upping my calories too much, but now I know about this, I'll be doing more reading, and will be willing to increase if necessary.
I'm off now to eat back todays exercise calories!
Thank you.
So the 1,200 is not too low. Check out the great examples above. The 1,200 would be your intake in food if you sat on the entire couch the whole day and did not move. If you went for a walk or went to the gym you're actually taking in MORE than 1,200 in food.
Nice simple explanation, thanks.
Some days I can't do much more than sit about, so on those days I should stick to 1200 cals.
But on the days I can walk, I can eat more!
Such a different concept to what I learned when younger.
DITTO0 -
^^ bump0
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Thank you for posting this...I feel I'm stuck at the weight I'm at right now and want to lose another 30 pounds or so. I try to stick to my 1450 calories a day, but find myself a little hungry on some days. This gives me a lot to think about. Enjoyed reading.
Thank you,
Jinger0 -
Difference in the exercise calories for TDEE and MFP:
MFP is designed for its users to eat their exercise calories back. The formula can be found on the goal page. So if you are following MFP, then Yes. You eat them back.
TDEE includes your exercise calories. Even if you do -20% or whatever, it is still calculated in so No, you don't eat your exercise calories back.
Ah-ha!!! Makes perfect sense to me now!! Thanks so much!0 -
Great post!0
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It seems I've got a lot to learn! I only registered here a few days ago, and was told 1200 calories for a loss of 1 pound a week (sedentary, back problem only allows a bit of walking).
MFP has such a write-up that I trusted their information. TBH my food this week hasn't been much different to what I'm used to...I was trying to lose weight on my own (very slow!)...I don't have problems with skin or hair or anything like that.
Why does mfp recommend 1200 cals if it's far too low? I admit I'm wary of upping my calories too much, but now I know about this, I'll be doing more reading, and will be willing to increase if necessary.
I'm off now to eat back todays exercise calories!
Thank you.
So the 1,200 is not too low. Check out the great examples above. The 1,200 would be your intake in food if you sat on the entire couch the whole day and did not move. If you went for a walk or went to the gym you're actually taking in MORE than 1,200 in food.
Nice simple explanation, thanks.
Some days I can't do much more than sit about, so on those days I should stick to 1200 cals.
But on the days I can walk, I can eat more!
Such a different concept to what I learned when younger.
You are most welcome! And that's the great thing about MFP it does those calculations for you. (thank goodness!)0 -
I'm really glad I read this.
I have a hard time hitting 1200 calories a day. I know most of you are probably like 'holy crap' about that, but I do. But this is coming from someone who easily can go days without eating.
I'm definitely one of those people who is scared of eating more than 1200 calories. Especially since I'm not allowed to exercise right now. Increasing is scary too. Its something I'm working through in therapy (I'm in recovery for an eating disorder). Slow and steady.
I'll get there though. I have to say it seems far less scary now.0 -
Thank you for this post! I'm really glad I read this too. While I've been eating 1500-1600 calories a day, I have recently been having a hair loss issue and this totally clicked. I workout 5x a week (high intensity) and just calculated my TDEE which is WAY more than 1600! I'm going to switch it up.0
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A very insightful and helpful post. Thanks, OP!0
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Great post! Thanks for sharing your story :-)0
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Walla
Voila0 -
This is my story, take it for what it is. Some will agree and some will disagree with what I am doing. I am not telling anyone to change but for those who are frustrated there are other options, that's all I want you to take away from this.
Good luck to everyone in this journey for it is one of the, if not the, toughest battle of your life.
Only read page 1 but I really hope no one will disagree with what you are doing. The only information anyone really needs is that it is working the best for you. You are healthy, happy, and losing the weight you want to lose. I can't think of a reason in the world for anyone to disagree with that. (If you were telling everyone that because it's your number, it can be their number too, that would be reason for disagreement, but you aren't doing that.)0 -
Thanks so much for your post! I needed to hear this! Today is the first day that I have tried the TDEE method. I am terrified of gaining weight instead of losing this way. I was eating about 1200-1350 calories, but netting 800-950 each day. I felt fine, but I want to build lean muscle and not just be 'skinny' so I am giving this a shot. I ate about 1500 calories - and I feel pretty sick. Just too much food for what I am used to. Since I am using the TDEE method, I did not eat back calories, but I ended up at 1178 net. Still not at 1200 but a big improvement. I am just terrified that I will gain 2 lbs cause of it! I know - it is all in my head! I seriously had to eat a cup of ice cream to get to the number. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it. It is hard because it goes against everything you are taught about not eating if you aren't hungry. I'm trying though - and you are an inspiration!0
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Yes. I started this week. First I felt great, now I'm sluggish and angry at everything and depressed. I will look at this thing you guys call TDEE and see if I need to make a change. I'm kinda small at 5'2 and only have 5 lbs to goal so I was sure 1200 was right for me.0
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Did you have MFP set to lose 2 pounds per week? 1200 seems very low to me for your height / weight. With only 20 or so pounds to lose, I would adjust it to lose .5 or 1 pound a week. (or switch to TDEE as you mentioned!) Good luck! I'm 5'6.5" with 30-40 to lose, and I'm losing steadily on 1500 calories PLUS eating back at least some of my exercise calories.
I tried both MFP (set to lose 1pd/week) and TDEE after joining this board (never heard of TDEE before then!) My number goal is actually pretty similar, assuming I set them up the same way. (Example: I have MFP set at 1500 calories + exercise to lose 1 pound. TDEE says 1556 for sedentary or 1783 for lightly active, which is probably closer what I average eating with exercise to lose 1 pound) I'm personally sticking with MFP because I like the visual of 'earning more calories' - but that's just a mental thing! Find what works for you!
Quick question. If you're at 1500 and only eating back "some" of your exercise calories aren't you regularly falling below 1,200 NET for the day? Just curious.
Not everyone is exercising for the time or intensity (or has the body size) to burn more than 300 calories. And many say that the MFP database burns are overinflated compared to HRM. Some people who only walk for exercise may not burn that much, depending on their size.
I've since changed it and upped to 1700 , I had it set to 1.5 a week, but now it's lower to .5. I am also eating back my excerise points, however am starting weight training so will probably be upping the calories quite a bit more to make sure I am eating a healthy amount to build muscle. I am not looking for a short term loss, but long term results. And am not overly concerned about weight loss, but fat loss and muscle gain.0 -
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