1200 calories??

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shelbywilkerson14
shelbywilkerson14 Posts: 7
in Getting Started
I just signed up recently and setup my profile. I'm 5'8", 48 years old and weigh 218 (217 now) and selected sedentary since I have a desk job. It gave me a daily allowance of 1200 calories. I was just surprised by this a little bit, I thought 1200 was the lowest a person was to do? With my being 217 won't it then drop down to a lower amount as I lose weight?

Should it be starting me out at 1200??
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Replies

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    1200 is minimum recommendation for sedentary person.

    But don't worry, log your workouts that you do, and correctly eat back your exercise calories, you'll get to eat more as it's appropriate to.

    You might view it as that is indeed a tad low, but eating back all your exercise calories will help balance the rest days out - if you can at least exercise every other day.

    Because with exercise you aren't sedentary anymore.

    Now - you sure you are sedentary with that baby?

    Many using the FitBit's and such discover they are actually Lightly Active level even with sedentary desk job.

    When you get down to 40 lbs left to lose, switch to 1.5 weekly, 20 lbs, 1 lb, 10 lbs left 1/2 weekly.
  • batman12
    batman12 Posts: 16 Member
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    The formula for calculating your basal metabolic rate (how many calories you burn per day just to stay alive) is as follows and based on the Harris-Benedict method:

    Woman's BMR = 655 + (9.6 X weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age in yrs)

    You then multiply that by "activity factor" to come up with your TDEE, or total daily energy expenditure (the amount of calories you need to consume to maintain current weight). Sedentary lifestyle is worth a multiplier of 1.2.

    Your BMR should be about 1665 calories per day, so your TDEE should be at right about 2000 calories per day. As stated above, this is to maintain your current weight. If you are trying to lose weight, you should reduce your calorie consumption by about 20% of your TDEE, which would put you at 1600 calories/day. That should be a good place to start.

    Obviously the body does not work like a perfect calorimeter, but this formula is widely used throughout the fitness industry to aid in establishing a baseline from which you can adjust and tweak as needed.

    References:
    "Basal Energy Expenditure: Harris-Benedict Equation." 2000. Cornell University. Retrieved from http://www-users.med.cornell.edu/~spon/picu/calc/beecalc.htm
  • Bubble2223
    Bubble2223 Posts: 13 Member
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    YOU CAN DO THIS! ONCE YOU FIGURE OUT HOW TO ADJUST YOUR FOOD AND RUN WITH YOUR SHOPPING CART FROM THE CAR TO THE SUPERMARKET YOU WILL BURN. RUN UP AT STAIRS, PARK THE CAR FAR AWAY. THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO BURN. GOOD LUCK!:smile:
  • courtkizer
    courtkizer Posts: 15 Member
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    Why does it tell her 1200 calories, if your saying 1600 is the correct one?

    I'm curious because I'm given 1680 calories @ weight loss of 2lbs. per week. I'm always been listed at 5"11, but wonder if I should double check just in case at 5"10 I'm told to eat less calories… hmm
  • BostonStrong617
    BostonStrong617 Posts: 117
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    1200 is a ridiculous MFP number that comes from somewhat legitimate sources but works for very few people/lift styles because it is the bare minimum. Batmans post is dead on. I am 5'3 and 122 pounds, I am a teacher + waitress part time so I am on my feet but only consider myself "lightly active" I've been maintaining this weight eating between 1800-2000 calories a day (meaning that's around my TDEE) and I've been losing weight averaging 1400 calories a day but I have also added in exercise. A lot of times people will say 1200 is for short/petite people but it really doesn't work for the vast majority of those people either, it ends up being too much of a deficit. So you'll lose weight but also platue quickly/be hungry all the time or end up "yo yoing". I lost weight at 1200 several times and have ALWAYS gained it back
  • shelbywilkerson14
    shelbywilkerson14 Posts: 7
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    Ok, so are you stating I should adjust to 1600? I know before when I lost weight (I went from 252 to 201 and have gained a few lbs since) I used Calorie Kind and it had me at 1800 when I was 250 and then adjusted as I lost down.
  • Rays_Wife
    Rays_Wife Posts: 1,173 Member
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    If you feel 1200 is too low for you, I suggest setting your calorie goal to 1 lb/week weight loss (assuming you need to lose 50 pounds per your weight loss ticker) for a higher calorie allowance.

    Or, go here to find an appropriate calorie goal for you: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    Some people can do a 1200 cal diet. I, however cannot :laugh:
  • charmedp326
    charmedp326 Posts: 16
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    I agree with most of the other posters here. My estimated for losing 2 lbs per week is 1300, but I find that I actually lose more weight when I eat 1500 calories per week. I feel like my body goes into a sort of weird 'starvation' mode if I eat at 1300 every single day, and I'm lucky to lose half a pound over a week. If I eat 1500 I will lose anywhere between 1.5 - 2.5 lbs per week basically guaranteed. I definitely recommended eating at the very least 1400, you'll have more energy and be a lot happier. Do not eat 1200 - I really don't think MFP should even be telling people it's alright to eat that low of calorie numbers in a day.
  • Rays_Wife
    Rays_Wife Posts: 1,173 Member
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    FYI, I agree with the 1600 calorie goal for sedentary. I plugged your numbers into scooby and thats what it came up with for a 20% deficit. Of course if you exercise, you should eat more.
  • Jess_Catts
    Jess_Catts Posts: 3 Member
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    Yes you should adjust to 1600. MFP is wonky with their 1200, I've never trusted it and never will. My TDEE is around 1800. With 20% taken away, my intake each day without exercise should be around 1400. There are a lot of arguments for/against eating back exercise calories, my personal opinion is that you should, but do your research to see what will work the best for you. If you're really stuck, go to a doctor and ask about it, I've yet to do that but I don't always believe what I read on the internet so my intake will be around 1400 until my doctor tells me otherwise.

    Good luck, feel free to send a friend request, and if you're looking for more help visit reddit.com/r/loseit
  • kkmalay
    kkmalay Posts: 88 Member
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    yep you get really hungry on 1200, im at 1800 with 20 min exercise everyday and losing weight, 1600 when i was sedentary.
  • shelbywilkerson14
    shelbywilkerson14 Posts: 7
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    Ok, I have adjusted mine to be 1580 per day, couldn't get it to hit the 1600 even mark. I know before when I lost weight, the program has me on something similar and I lost just fine. This is why I was surprised this program started me out at 1200. I chose not to use the other program because it costs to sign up for it.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    makes sense. according to fat2fit (they use the same formula as scooby) these are your numbers to maintain

    Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 2036
    Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2333
    Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2630
    Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2927
    Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 3224



    saying that you are sedentary and get no exercise, means you'd maintain at 2000. to lose 2 pounds a week you'd have to eat 1000 calories, but that's too low.

    you could either change your expectations to 1 pound a week loss and stay sedentary to eat 1500 calories or get more active 1-3 days a week and eat around 1600 to lose 1.5 pounds a week.
  • MyFoodGod
    MyFoodGod Posts: 184 Member
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    Focus on healthy foods and see how you do at 1200-1400. Are you hungry? Is your diet full of sugary, fattening foods?

    It's possible to eat that amount and not be hungry. Many overweight people confuse hunger with other emotions that cause them to overeat. Differentiating between the two is the real challenge.
  • Rays_Wife
    Rays_Wife Posts: 1,173 Member
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    Focus on healthy foods and see how you do at 1200-1400. Are you hungry? Is your diet full of sugary, fattening foods?

    It's possible to eat that amount and not be hungry. Many overweight people confuse hunger with other emotions that cause them to overeat. Differentiating between the two is the real challenge.

    lol No. Just no.
  • partdeux
    partdeux Posts: 7 Member
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    MPF seem to give everyone 1200. I am eating about 1400, does anyone know how you can change this manually so I can log accurately?
  • murat143tepe
    murat143tepe Posts: 7
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    burn more eat more simple but stay on a deficit each day
  • photozoe
    photozoe Posts: 1
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    Im new to this whole thing.

    Im being told to consume 1200 calories. But if i exercise everyday and burn around 200 calories- does that mean i can consume 1400? Or stick to 1200 and let it go into minus?

    If anyone can help me figure it out it would be very much appreciated!
  • cazlouise86
    cazlouise86 Posts: 2
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    this really surprised me im 5ft 8 female 27 yr old and 184lb, MFP put me on 1200 cals a day, (i do insanity 6 times a week and log it) did the scooby calculator and im menna be on 2053 if im doing insanity or if i just do 1/3 hours light exercise a week 1607! i cannot believe im missing 400 calories a day haha! so im adjusting mine in my preferences because 1200 isnt long term sustainable!
  • BrainyBurro
    BrainyBurro Posts: 6,129 Member
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    Why does it tell her 1200 calories, if your saying 1600 is the correct one?

    I'm curious because I'm given 1680 calories @ weight loss of 2lbs. per week. I'm always been listed at 5"11, but wonder if I should double check just in case at 5"10 I'm told to eat less calories… hmm

    she got 1200 because she chose the maximum loss rate of 2/lbs per week. that's a 1000 calorie deficit per day.

    2000 - 1000 = 1000

    however, MFP will NEVER go lower than 1200, so MFP "bottomed out" at 1200.

    if OP wants to lose at 2lbs/week, she needs to do enough cardio every week to earn back enough calories to eat to feel satiated.

    "eat less, move more" contains 2 parts to it... you eat less AND you move more.

    you can lose weight just eating less or just moving more, but doing both has the maximum effect. if the OP weighs ~220lbs, then she'll get a pretty good return on her cardio investment for the first few months and 2lbs/week is an easily achievable weight loss goal so long as she adds enough cardio per week to up her calories to where she can meet her nutritional goals and satiate her hunger.

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