How do you know what a good cal deficit is for you?

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Geekyfatgirl
Geekyfatgirl Posts: 164 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've been trying to tweak mine forever so that I don't A. starve myself and B. lose weight. I've tried many different methods, and I either gain weight or maintain it. I do exercises as well and have a pretty active job. MFP wants me to only eat 1200 a day, and that seems a bit low to me, for all I'm doing (both weight training and cardio). I'm wondering if any of you have 'figured out' the best way to decide what caloric intake is best for you and has worked in losing weight. I'd love to learn any new tips and tricks to calculating this number for myself!

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  • tonynguyen75
    tonynguyen75 Posts: 418 Member
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    If you're doing exercise, you should be eating back some/most of your exercise calories so 1200 NET calories. Shouldn't matter how much exercise you do.
  • Geekyfatgirl
    Geekyfatgirl Posts: 164 Member
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    hmmm I suppose that is doable, though I would have to burn a lot if I want to eat more. XD And lifting weights doesn't burn as much as I wish it would. :P gotta put an extra 30 minutes into that cardio then I guess. I just always find 1200 carbs to be so little.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    I do exercises as well and have a pretty active job. MFP wants me to only eat 1200 a day, and that seems a bit low to me, f

    MFP wants you to eat 1200 PLUS Exercise - and if you have a pretty active job your activity level shouldn't be at sedentary so you get the needed calories from there too.

    Or just do the TDEE method - usually a higher number than MFP.
  • Geekyfatgirl
    Geekyfatgirl Posts: 164 Member
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    I do exercises as well and have a pretty active job. MFP wants me to only eat 1200 a day, and that seems a bit low to me, f

    MFP wants you to eat 1200 PLUS Exercise - and if you have a pretty active job your activity level shouldn't be at sedentary so you get the needed calories from there too.

    Or just do the TDEE method - usually a higher number than MFP.

    I think I've tried the TDEE method before, but it usually caused me to maintain my weight.

    The 1200 cals a day worked for about a week or two, but even eating them back, I was STARVING afterwards. That's never fun hehe.

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