Dumb Question of the Day - adjusting calorie intake

I believe 1200 calries is the lowesr recommended calories. It doesn't matter what your height is.

do NOT go below 1200 calories a day even with exercise. At that point your body is starving and will burn your muscle and as we all know muscle burns more calories than fat which would lower your basal metabolic rate (BMR). This is unhealthy, and puts a lot of strain on your body. Obviously the goal of this is to lose FAT, not muscle. For this reason, weight loss gets harder and slower as you reach your ideal body weight. If you do exercise you must consume those calories in food to compensate for the calories lost. It has been shown that really low intake of calories every day hurts your organs and can play a role with aging. Our bodies are very complex and need energy and nutrients to be healthy and energetic.

So hang in there and be OK with 1 lb or less loss a week. After all this is a lifestyle change, not a diet. And definitely not a race!

Good Morning -

So just wondering...

Started at 129 and am at 123 now. Do I need to readjust my weight and calorie intake on MFP? Since I was 5'2", 129 - I had 1200 calories allowed. If I'm at 5'2", 123 - do I need to adjust it (to 1100 or1000 calories) or does MFP do that or is there no need? I was wondering if the more weight you lose if you get less calories in order to lose weight....

I hope that made sense...

Just like Meglane said...do NOT go below 1200 calories. Your body will not be getting the nutrients it needs for normal function thus the message when you are below and you hit complete entry.
Now as you build muscle your maintenance calories increases because your metabolism increases. You get to eat more without gaining weight when you build muscle.

What's wrong with that is that over time you will destroy your metabolism. Your body needs at a minimum 1200 calories just to exist. As has been said, going below that gives your body no choice but to burn lean muscle for energy. The more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn doing anything. It IS about more than just the number on the scale if you want to be healthy.

less than 1200 calories puts the metabolism fire out, keep the fire stoked and dont go below 1200 calories

...another thing is I would focus more on building muscle. Muscle is your metabolism and the more muscle you build the more your meatbolism increases. Not only will you burn more fat but you're weight will drop and you'll be a happier fitter you.

Thanks for the words for motivation. its been set in my mind for so long eat less lose more. Am sure i speak for many of us, but i know this system works. just sticking to it and not seeing INSTINT results can really put a downer on things. but like you said its a life style change it should happen everyday and we will see the pounds drop off.

Thanks for your encouragement