Am I eating enough?

KittyPancake
KittyPancake Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Right now my weight is at 157lbs. I'm 5'7" and 32 years old. I was given 1,200 calories to eat in a day. Is that right?
I don't really need to lose much weight. I would like to get back down to 140lbs.
I joined MFP on August 10 and I've lost 3 pounds. I'm stuck at 157lbs. I can always get down to this weight and then I can't lose anymore. I just want to make sure I'm doing this right so I can stay healthy. Thank you!

Replies

  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    Don't set MFP to lose 2 lbs a week.. that is unrealistic at your size. 1 lb at the most, and then eat back estimated exercise calories.
  • Melissa26point2
    Melissa26point2 Posts: 177 Member
    I would put your goal to lose .5 per week. It is going to take longer since you don't have that much to lose. If you are exercising, your body needs more than 1,200 calories a day. I think that you should be eating AT LEAST 1,600 a day. I am 130lbs 5'3 and eat 1,800-2,000 a day at maintenance. there are a lot of TDEE and BMI calculators on the web. Find one and use that to calculate what you should be eating.
  • mulecanter
    mulecanter Posts: 1,792 Member
    What they said. At 32 you should be exercising like crazy so 1200 won't be enough. If you aren't exercising you are wrong!:tongue:
  • KittyPancake
    KittyPancake Posts: 2 Member
    Thank you so much for the help. I will change my goal.
    I haven't been exercising as much as I should. I hurt my shoulder a few weeks ago and now I'm having trouble getting back into it.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Along with the 1/2 pound per week, make sure your activity level is set correctly. Even if you work a desk job, you may be fairly active before and after work - cleaning, cooking, gardening, etc so lightly active may be more accurate. Also, you should be eating back at least half of the burned exercise calories. Not to push you back too quickly but there are a lot of things you can do with a bum shoulder - trust me, my left one has chronic issues so I'm always working around it. If all else fails, go for a walk - it's better than nothing.

    I like to go with a calorie limit no lower than your goal BMR. Per Scooby's website (link below), for you that would be 1421 calories per day. If you haven't heard of BMR before, that's your Basal Metabolic Rate which is the estimated number of calories your body needs for basic function - heart beating, brain function, digestion, etc - as if you were in a coma.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • aurora_simone
    aurora_simone Posts: 10
    I'm kinda where you are. I am 5'8" ...starting at 160 and would like to get to at least 145lbs. I set my activity to slightly active and MFP set me at 1450 so 1200 seems a bit low. I was using another program and it set me at 1200 and I lost no weight and was always hungry. I am hoping the shift up with calories will boost me with the weight loss.

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