Irritated and need advice

ZombieBubbles
ZombieBubbles Posts: 110 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok here goes. I'm 27 yrs old 5'4 and currently weigh 141.4. MFP has me eating only 1200 cals however my fb friend's are telling me that I should be eating 2200 cals. My activity lvl consists of working at a job where I stand in one place for 8 hrs out of the day. I do some lifting as a cashier but not a lot. I generally exercise 1 hr a day 5 days a week. My exercise atm consists of Jillian Michaels 30 day shred which is roughly 27 mins. The rest is a walk/ lite job. Other then that when I'm home I'm not doing much of anything.

My question is: Are my friends right or is MFP right? Do I have my settings wrong and that's why my calls are so low? Any advice is welcome as long as its constructive and not just rude. Thank you. :)

Replies

  • AbstractAsterism
    AbstractAsterism Posts: 153 Member
    Currently I'm on 1300 a day, but that's also doctor's orders. Honestly I'd ask your doctor to see if that's what you should be doing. Everyone is different. :) Good luck!
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    1200 is too low, in my opinion. I would estimate you should eat around 1700, but that's just a guess from personal experience. Search In Place of a Road Map on the forum, figure out your TDEE, and go from there.
  • yowla
    yowla Posts: 127 Member
    That is my advice as well. You need to reseach your calorie intake. Sometimes if you take in too low of calories you will not lose any weight because your body starves itself. You can find so many weight loss caculators on the internet to help you. They have me at 1200 a day but there is no way I can eat low of calories. I would starve and I weigh 173lbs.
  • Salt_Sand_Sun
    Salt_Sand_Sun Posts: 415 Member
    What do you have your setting set at to lose? If you are set at losing 2lbs a week MFP automatically puts you at 1200 cal a day. For *most* people that is too low.

    By my calculations you should be eating around 1529 per day (www.scoobyworkshop.com). That is your TDEE minus 20%. It is recommended that you do not eat below your BMR which is 1390. Doing so can cause damage to your metabolism as your BMR calories are needed just to survive (maintain organ function).

    If you've been eating at 1200 cal, I'd slowly up it by 100cal per week until you reach 1500-1600cal. Too large of an increase at once will shock your body and you'll gain. Remember to drink lots of water (min 80oz a day) and reduce sodium to avoid water rentention.
  • ZombieBubbles
    ZombieBubbles Posts: 110 Member
    Thanks all for answering my question. I will slowly up it by a hundred like Salt_Sand_Sun said. My setting is on Active and looks like it was on loose 1.5 lbs a week. that might explain some things. I just moved it to 1 lbs a week and it moved my cal intake to 1470. I don't want to sabotage myself by any means. However, I think I'll be keeping my fb friends out of my weight loss journey from here on out. They were confusing me way to much.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    Working a job you stand on your feet all day on MFP generally puts your "activity level" at lightly active. I know many people pick sedentary regardless of how they spend their work day. That and ticking off "lose 2 lbs a week" tends to get the 1200 calorie level regardless of whether or not it's actually accurate. ( I do understand that there are people who do remarkably well on 1200 calories and have no issue with them or their choice) Make sure you've set up your account properly.
  • ZombieBubbles
    ZombieBubbles Posts: 110 Member
    I went back to my settings and changed it. Ill see if it makes a difference over the next 2 weeks. My weight loss has kind of stopped any way so maybe raising my cals will help

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