Daily calorie goal for losing weight

jenbob555
jenbob555 Posts: 36 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello! Sorry if this topic has been done to death, I wasn't able to find a specific post that answered my questions. So I am 5'6" and 141 lbs. My goal is to get down to 120 lb...although I'm realizing more and more that I'd prefer to be trim and toned, whatever that weight may be. I try to work out 5-6 days per week and am doing a combination of 30 day shred and powerwalking uphill on my treadmill. MFP has my calorie limit at 1200 kcal per day and I eat back 100% of my exercise calories because it's so hard not to.

My question is - should I really be eating more than 1200 kcal per day? In the past 4 weeks I've lost inches but no lbs (I know inches is way better than lbs but it's still a mental thing for me) and I've read a lot on the forums that too low of a calorie count can cause you to lose weight more slowly. The idea of increasing my calories is just scary because it seems counter intuitive, so I wanted to get some input from other people and what they've done. Another thing is that I know I need more protein - if I increased my daily calories but did so by adding in more protein (nuts, protein powder, greek yogurt), would that be better? There's just so much information everywhere it's hard to know what to actually trust.

Thanks!

Replies

  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
    As long as you're netting at least 1200 calories you should be fine.

    The water retention from your muscles repairing themselves from your workout is most likely masking some weight loss, along with any hormones/extra sodium can completely make the scale useless for someone first starting out (yes 4 weeks is still very little time in the grand scheme of things). Inches are a really great indication that you're losing fat. I think what you are doing is working and you should stick to it.

    Just be sure that your workout calories are accurate, sometimes MFP can overestimate calories burned, especially for things like the Elliptical or Zumba. I'd invest in a chest strap HRM if you haven't already, this will give you the most accurate estimation of calories burned.

    If you are finding yourself very tired, lethargic, losing hair, brittle nails ect... then yes I would up your net calories to 1300-1400 a day, your weight loss might slow down, but a higher percentage will be from fat, not muscle.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Plug your stats into here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    and set it to TDEE-10% since you're already at a healthy weight.

    You can definitely eat more than 1200 calories and lose weight. Although, if your goal is to become "trim and toned," ditch the cardio for some strength training a couple of times a week.
  • jenbob555
    jenbob555 Posts: 36 Member
    Yeah, my other thing for asking was because I calculated my BMR and TDEE last night on a couple different sites and they all said my BMR is 1400, so I was wondering if maybe my daily calorie limit should be around 1400-1500? I am pretty tired throughout the day, but it's always hard for me to tell if it's from overworking myself, diet, or stress.
  • alt1268
    alt1268 Posts: 159 Member
    i absoultely agree, check out scooby works and use your tdee. IT is way more accurate the mfp. People are so hung up on 1200. They wont budge and they will find that neither will that scale. They will end up in starvation mode and quite.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    ladynocturne has some good points about factors that will mask weight loss

    if you are tired try upping your calories for a week and see how you feel, you should still lose fine just maybe not as fast. Its great to get to you goal quick but we can't put our life on hold for it :) Sometime you just have to give your body time to adjust too, you can increase for a while and get used to that and then drop them back down later if you want.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Yeah, my other thing for asking was because I calculated my BMR and TDEE last night on a couple different sites and they all said my BMR is 1400, so I was wondering if maybe my daily calorie limit should be around 1400-1500? I am pretty tired throughout the day, but it's always hard for me to tell if it's from overworking myself, diet, or stress.

    If your BMR is 1400, you should definitely be able to lose eating that amount and eating most of your exercise calories.
  • crispiecat
    crispiecat Posts: 3 Member
    I would suggest increasing your caloric intake to 1300 (still below your BMR, but above what it takes to meet minimum required nutritional values). Also, slightly increasing your caloric intake can help regulate your metabolism. Only eating 1200 calories per day is just above starving yourself. When you're running on "empty," eating at anytime can cause your metabolism to spike and drop more harshly as a result. If you're only eating 1200 calories and you have long gaps in between meals, it can lower your metabolism by up to 40% to prevent starvation, which really impedes weightloss. I'm not an expert, this is just knowledge from experience/research--good luck!
  • chispaza
    chispaza Posts: 153 Member
    I'm the same height and weight as you (5'6 and 142 lbs) and MFP gave me a daily calorie intake of 1410 in order to lose 1 pound a week. I'm also doing the 30 day shred and whatever other exercise I can squeeze in.
  • canwenotgothere
    canwenotgothere Posts: 12
    I think that's the 30 Day Shred effect - you'll lose inches rather than pounds. x
  • poorbikrchick
    poorbikrchick Posts: 18 Member
    I have to ask.... do you really need to lose weight at all? At 5'6" and 141 pounds, you are at a very health BMI. If you do get your weight down to 120, can you maintain it?
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    I have to ask.... do you really need to lose weight at all? At 5'6" and 141 pounds, you are at a very health BMI. If you do get your weight down to 120, can you maintain it?

    It's not that far-fetched. Vanity pounds, yes. Difficult to get down to 120, yes. But I have friends here that are 5'7" and 120, looking fantastic.
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
    Plug your stats into here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    and set it to TDEE-10% since you're already at a healthy weight.

    You can definitely eat more than 1200 calories and lose weight. Although, if your goal is to become "trim and toned," ditch the cardio for some strength training a couple of times a week.

    That scooby workshop told me I should be eating 1900 calories a day!! That cannot be accurate....
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Plug your stats into here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    and set it to TDEE-10% since you're already at a healthy weight.

    You can definitely eat more than 1200 calories and lose weight. Although, if your goal is to become "trim and toned," ditch the cardio for some strength training a couple of times a week.

    That scooby workshop told me I should be eating 1900 calories a day!! That cannot be accurate....

    It's pretty accurate. A lot of people on here use it. Did you include your exercise or did you label it as sedentary? That makes a huge difference.
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
    Plug your stats into here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    and set it to TDEE-10% since you're already at a healthy weight.

    You can definitely eat more than 1200 calories and lose weight. Although, if your goal is to become "trim and toned," ditch the cardio for some strength training a couple of times a week.

    That scooby workshop told me I should be eating 1900 calories a day!! That cannot be accurate....

    It's pretty accurate. A lot of people on here use it. Did you include your exercise or did you label it as sedentary? That makes a huge difference.

    I put that I work out 5-6 hours a week.

    It says that I should eat 3 meals. 641 calories per meal ....
  • jenbob555
    jenbob555 Posts: 36 Member
    Do I need to lose weight? No. But I'm about 10 lbs away from being overweight (on BMI scale, which isn't the best measure yada yada), which kind of scares me and I would much rather be in the low to mid range of the healthy weight for my height. Is it also vanity? Sure! I used to be very athletic and my weight naturally settled at 120-125 at that time and I liked how I looked, simple as that. I've gotten busy and lazy since then and would like to get back to that point.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Plug your stats into here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    and set it to TDEE-10% since you're already at a healthy weight.

    You can definitely eat more than 1200 calories and lose weight. Although, if your goal is to become "trim and toned," ditch the cardio for some strength training a couple of times a week.

    That scooby workshop told me I should be eating 1900 calories a day!! That cannot be accurate....

    It's pretty accurate. A lot of people on here use it. Did you include your exercise or did you label it as sedentary? That makes a huge difference.

    I put that I work out 5-6 hours a week.

    It says that I should eat 3 meals. 641 calories per meal ....

    TDEE includes your workouts, so 1900 calories sounds pretty accurate then. You would not eat your exercise calories burned since you figured them into your TDEE. Ignore the whole "eat 3 meals" part. That section is just there to give you ideas on how best to fill your macros.
  • turtledove773
    turtledove773 Posts: 122 Member
    Plug your stats into here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    and set it to TDEE-10% since you're already at a healthy weight.

    You can definitely eat more than 1200 calories and lose weight. Although, if your goal is to become "trim and toned," ditch the cardio for some strength training a couple of times a week.

    I just looked at that site, and i don't know if i am the only one but it confuses the heck out of me.. am I just an idiot?
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
    Plug your stats into here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    and set it to TDEE-10% since you're already at a healthy weight.

    You can definitely eat more than 1200 calories and lose weight. Although, if your goal is to become "trim and toned," ditch the cardio for some strength training a couple of times a week.

    That scooby workshop told me I should be eating 1900 calories a day!! That cannot be accurate....

    It's pretty accurate. A lot of people on here use it. Did you include your exercise or did you label it as sedentary? That makes a huge difference.

    I put that I work out 5-6 hours a week.

    It says that I should eat 3 meals. 641 calories per meal ....

    TDEE includes your workouts, so 1900 calories sounds pretty accurate then. You would not eat your exercise calories burned since you figured them into your TDEE. Ignore the whole "eat 3 meals" part. That section is just there to give you ideas on how best to fill your macros.

    I've been only eating 1400...so that is interesting...maybe I need to up my calories??
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Plug your stats into here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    and set it to TDEE-10% since you're already at a healthy weight.

    You can definitely eat more than 1200 calories and lose weight. Although, if your goal is to become "trim and toned," ditch the cardio for some strength training a couple of times a week.

    That scooby workshop told me I should be eating 1900 calories a day!! That cannot be accurate....

    It's pretty accurate. A lot of people on here use it. Did you include your exercise or did you label it as sedentary? That makes a huge difference.

    I put that I work out 5-6 hours a week.

    It says that I should eat 3 meals. 641 calories per meal ....

    TDEE includes your workouts, so 1900 calories sounds pretty accurate then. You would not eat your exercise calories burned since you figured them into your TDEE. Ignore the whole "eat 3 meals" part. That section is just there to give you ideas on how best to fill your macros.

    I've been only eating 1400...so that is interesting...maybe I need to up my calories??

    Well, you can do it one of two ways:

    1) You can set your calories to 1900 and not eat exercise calories burned during workouts.

    2) You can eat 1400 calories and eat most of your exercise calories burned during workouts.

    Both methods are correct and just a matter of preference. If you've been successful so far, I wouldn't change it.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    Plug your stats into here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    and set it to TDEE-10% since you're already at a healthy weight.

    You can definitely eat more than 1200 calories and lose weight. Although, if your goal is to become "trim and toned," ditch the cardio for some strength training a couple of times a week.

    I just looked at that site, and i don't know if i am the only one but it confuses the heck out of me.. am I just an idiot?

    Which part confuses you? No, you're not an idiot. :flowerforyou:
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
    Plug your stats into here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    and set it to TDEE-10% since you're already at a healthy weight.

    You can definitely eat more than 1200 calories and lose weight. Although, if your goal is to become "trim and toned," ditch the cardio for some strength training a couple of times a week.

    That scooby workshop told me I should be eating 1900 calories a day!! That cannot be accurate....

    It's pretty accurate. A lot of people on here use it. Did you include your exercise or did you label it as sedentary? That makes a huge difference.

    I put that I work out 5-6 hours a week.

    It says that I should eat 3 meals. 641 calories per meal ....

    TDEE includes your workouts, so 1900 calories sounds pretty accurate then. You would not eat your exercise calories burned since you figured them into your TDEE. Ignore the whole "eat 3 meals" part. That section is just there to give you ideas on how best to fill your macros.

    I've been only eating 1400...so that is interesting...maybe I need to up my calories??

    Well, you can do it one of two ways:

    1) You can set your calories to 1900 and not eat exercise calories burned during workouts.

    2) You can eat 1400 calories and eat most of your exercise calories burned during workouts.

    Both methods are correct and just a matter of preference. If you've been successful so far, I wouldn't change it.

    I had been doing 1400 without eating my calories burned back ... so I would think that is too few.

    Thanks for the info! I've lost 3 pounds in 1 month...so maybe I will try to eat a few more a day and see. I just dont wanna eat too much....

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