Caloric Intake

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ICanDoThisIGotThis
ICanDoThisIGotThis Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all....Newbie here. I apologize if this has been asked and answered but I can't seem to find a thread.

When I "signed up" for MFP I added my weight and all info and was given a daily caloric intake of 1200. I am eating the recommended serving size of whatever I eat.

How do I know this is enough? the correct amount? And with me going to the gym daily?

I guess the correct person to ask would be a doctor but I do not have one yet =(

Thank you in advance for all the input =)

Have a wonderful day

Replies

  • SugaryLynx
    SugaryLynx Posts: 2,640 Member
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    Most people can eat much more than 1200 and lose weight. It would depend on how much you have to lose. Less weight means a less aggressive deficit. I, for instance, am 5'3.5" and lost my weight eating around 1650 net. I don't think 1200 is suitable for most people. This would be a great read to get you started:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • farway
    farway Posts: 1,264 Member
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    First off, weigh your food, do not use serving size portions or cups

    exercise, depending how you in put your figures,either change the figures, or just add exercise as you do it,. Watch out BTW, MFP over estimates calories burned in exercise, assume half
  • ICanDoThisIGotThis
    ICanDoThisIGotThis Posts: 4
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    Thank you =)
  • christinalong1991
    christinalong1991 Posts: 74 Member
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    First off, weigh your food, do not use serving size portions or cups

    exercise, depending how you in put your figures,either change the figures, or just add exercise as you do it,. Watch out BTW, MFP over estimates calories burned in exercise, assume half

    I have found the oposite to be the case for logging exercise. I use a heart rate monitor for everything and I burn TWICE as much as what MFP says usually.

    I personally tried 1200 calories total, it didn't work out well for me at all, trying 1200 net calories worked much better! With that, you eat 1200 calories PLUS whatever you burn in exercise at the gym or wherever. For me, it seems to usually be between 1500-1800 when i eat the way I should (which isn't often enough anymore! :( )
  • joshbond85
    joshbond85 Posts: 28
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    Heart rate monitors can be deceptive. Your cardiovascular system can increase it's performace a lot faster than the pounds drop off. Work done by a system (calories consumed) is depends on the distance a mass is moved. Your heart rate is a function of how efficiently the body can move fuel and oxygen through the blood stream with each pump.

    Now, a higher heart rate will burn more calories simply because the heart is "flexing" more times in a given period of time. These calories are not significant enough to double your burn though. If you run daily, you'll notice that after a week or two, your measured heart rate will drop for the same cardiovascular activity.

    Heart rate is a good indicator of your cardiovascular fitness and is great for making sure that you don't overdo your training. MFP uses your weight and distanced (pace and time calculation) to figure out the work you did.

    You can easily trick a heart rate monitor into thinking that your exercising a lot harder than you actually are. Drink 2 cups of black coffee and breath quickly and heavily for about 5 minutes and you can boost your heart rate 20-30% and get a calorie "burn" from it. I promise you, if it was that easy to cook off calories, we'd all be a lot thinner.

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