how many cals?

mum23
mum23 Posts: 248 Member
edited September 22 in Health and Weight Loss
i have another stone to loose, my calorie target per day is set to 1200.
im really confused tho.
i just entered my details on another place and was given 1600 as what i should eat.
i know we are meant ot have a 500 cal deficit, but if that b4 of after exercise?
women are 'meant' to have in general 2000 cals a day, right, so then 500 less makes 1500 per day. so why is it set to 1200?
and if you ate 2000 but done 500 cals worht of workout, would that still count?

Replies

  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
    this might help !


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits


    please read this
  • sharonuk10
    sharonuk10 Posts: 277
    In things I have read. You can cut the 500 a day either by exercise OR less food intake. Or a bit of both. I will not go below 1500 a day plus I do eat some of my exercise calories.
  • carolww
    carolww Posts: 143 Member
    In things I have read. You can cut the 500 a day either by exercise OR less food intake. Or a bit of both. I will not go below 1500 a day plus I do eat some of my exercise calories.

    And with 49lbs lost - this lady knows what she is talking about!!
  • lcole1961
    lcole1961 Posts: 5
    1200calories seems too low. At some point ( I believe it is the 1200 range) your metabolism will slow down. Your body say that is is in a starvation mode and stores as much energy as possible. I would not go below 1400 calories. You can eat more if you burn more with your exercise. However, I never use all my bonus calories. I try to use less than half of what I am allotted.
  • mamacremers
    mamacremers Posts: 183 Member
    my research has told me that you need to find YOUR caloric intake for YOU to maintain your weight and then take off that. Everyone's metabolism is different. The calorie calculators were telling me my losing intake was 1800 something. but I think my maintain is even less than that, so my dailly losing intake is 1200. It's been working for me...
  • BoresEasily
    BoresEasily Posts: 582
    mamacremers, there's no way your maintenance calories are less than the calculator gave you for a deficit. A BMR calculator uses math with the information its given. If the information isn't complete or inaccurate than the BMR calculator will be off. But it won't be off as far as you're talking. Yes I know everyone's bodies are different and all that but BMR is a baseline it can never be that far off.

    I'll say this. The best information I read on how many calories you should eat a day is to eat for a few days like you normally would or would have. Once you have an average over 2-3 days, then you take the number and subtract 500-1000 from it and that way you won't feel like you're starving every day. Much better for those that are just starting out or are in the mode where they feel like they're starving themselves every day. For the ones that feel as though they are starving I would suggest adding 250-500 calories and see what a difference that makes.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    i have another stone to loose, my calorie target per day is set to 1200.
    im really confused tho.
    i just entered my details on another place and was given 1600 as what i should eat.
    i know we are meant ot have a 500 cal deficit, but if that b4 of after exercise?
    women are 'meant' to have in general 2000 cals a day, right, so then 500 less makes 1500 per day. so why is it set to 1200?
    and if you ate 2000 but done 500 cals worht of workout, would that still count?

    Are you set up to lose 1 lb/week or 2, if you are set up for 2 the caloric deficit is 1000. If you are at 1200 and exercise for 400 calories your daily amount to eat will increase by that 400 to 1600. Maybe the other site took into account your workout. MFP sets you at 1200 plus your workout calories.

    I am a guy, and my maintenance is less than 2000. Most women's maintenance calories will be below 2000, unless they have a lot to lose as the heavier you are the higher your maintenance calories.
  • BoresEasily
    BoresEasily Posts: 582
    i have another stone to loose, my calorie target per day is set to 1200.
    im really confused tho.
    i just entered my details on another place and was given 1600 as what i should eat.
    i know we are meant ot have a 500 cal deficit, but if that b4 of after exercise?
    women are 'meant' to have in general 2000 cals a day, right, so then 500 less makes 1500 per day. so why is it set to 1200?
    and if you ate 2000 but done 500 cals worht of workout, would that still count?

    Women are meant to have no less than 1200 calories a day. If you are set to 1500 and you burn off 500 calories exercising than you are now sitting at 1000 calories, so you would need to eat some if not all of those calories back, you could eat half of them back and be sitting at 1250. Yes you could eat 2000 and burn 500 to get your deficit that way. Something such as 1800 might be even better and it also depends what a BMR calculator says and what your weight loss goals are.
  • stephcodie
    stephcodie Posts: 1
    ive only eaten 1282 today but i feel like i have eaten heaps. Is this the same with everyone else? today ive had nutrigrain for breaky. Chicken salad roll for lunch. dinner was fettucine alfredo with garlic bread. snacks were tuna in a can, i piece of bacon, cucumber, 3 cherry tomatoes and half a boiled egg (in a salad) 2 funsize crunchies and a funsize cherry ripe. My BMR is set to 1660. I have done a little bit of walking which shed 262. I'm confused on this should i eat more?? even tho im not hungry?
  • BoresEasily
    BoresEasily Posts: 582
    That puts you at just over 1000 calories so I would eat back the exercise calories but don't force yourself, even half would be better than none.

    Right now I'm in the opposite boat, I feel famished, I'm devouring cucumbers and carrots and can't get enough but then I did some calculations and I'm way below on my calories for the day. I'll probably have a bunch of almonds or maybe a bowl of cereal and see what that does.
  • alantin
    alantin Posts: 621 Member
    ive only eaten 1282 today but i feel like i have eaten heaps. Is this the same with everyone else? today ive had nutrigrain for breaky. Chicken salad roll for lunch. dinner was fettucine alfredo with garlic bread. snacks were tuna in a can, i piece of bacon, cucumber, 3 cherry tomatoes and half a boiled egg (in a salad) 2 funsize crunchies and a funsize cherry ripe. My BMR is set to 1660. I have done a little bit of walking which shed 262. I'm confused on this should i eat more?? even tho im not hungry?

    @stephcodie
    The Basal Metabolic Rate isn't the baseline to which you introduce the deficit. That would make the deficit far too large.
    The site calculates the MBR for you and adds some based on the information, you supplied. For example, if you do sedentary work, your maintenance calories would be somewhere around BMR + 400 (just of the top of my head), and that's where you reduce 500 Kcal/day to lose the 1 pound a week. You also need to add all exercise calories that you burn to keep the deficit steady.

    This made easy, MFP does all these calculations for you, so set your desired pace of weight loss to1 pound a week, log all your exercise, and eat the amount of calories that the site tells you to eat each day.
    If you have hard time to eat all that you need, plan ahead, eat more often, add canola oil to food for good fats, use regular products instead of fat free, etc...
  • mamacremers
    mamacremers Posts: 183 Member

    I'll say this. The best information I read on how many calories you should eat a day is to eat for a few days like you normally would or would have. Once you have an average over 2-3 days, then you take the number and subtract 500-1000 from it and that way you won't feel like you're starving every day. Much better for those that are just starting out or are in the mode where they feel like they're starving themselves every day. For the ones that feel as though they are starving I would suggest adding 250-500 calories and see what a difference that makes.

    That's what I was trying to say. I guess I'm just not too articulate today. Good thing I kept my mouth shut at work... :happy:
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