Calories set too low?

Options
aethorne
aethorne Posts: 11
in Food and Nutrition
Hello all! I joined MFP awhile back and just recently started using it again.
I'm 28 years old and I'm 5 ft 2 in, 137 lbs and I would like to get down to about 125 lbs so I have about 12 to lose as of now.
When I first signed up for MFP it set me at 1200 calories a day. I feel like this is too low for me. I work 3 days a week so I go to the gym on my days off. I usually do an hour of cardio (running on the treadmill - I'm training for races) and I try to do atleast one or two weight lifting classes a week at my gym. The days that I work out, I feel I can make my goal calories because of the amount of calories I get from my cardio. But the days that I work, I feel like it's impossible to stay at or below 1200 calories.
Does anybody else have this problem? I know you can adjust the amount of calories you can have a day but then will I not lose weight?

Thanks for any info :)

Replies

  • amyh2006
    amyh2006 Posts: 8 Member
    Options
    I have this problem too when I work all day. I moved mine to 1400 and it seems to curb my hunger...however i only have done it for a couple days so I don't know if I will lose the weight or not.
  • Meganne1982
    Meganne1982 Posts: 451
    Options
    As you enter your workouts on the site it will factor in those as extra calories you can eat. So, you burn more calories and MFP ups your daily goal. Hope that helps!
  • kao708
    kao708 Posts: 813 Member
    Options
    It's probably just because of your height and weight...1200 is the minimum they like people to consume in a day and you are probably at it. Don't forget that you can also eat some of your activity calories so you can vary your total intake by day and not feel so deprived.
  • aethorne
    aethorne Posts: 11
    Options
    Thanks everyone!

    The days I work out gives me about 600 calories back from cardio which is great. So maybe the days that I don't workout I can change the amount of calories I can have for the day since I won't be burning as much? Or would that not help me lose weight?
  • btrflyflutter
    btrflyflutter Posts: 68 Member
    Options
    According to your BMR you should be eating 1305 cals a day...that is the bare necessity without exercise factored in :)

    I started at 1200 calories and was fine the first week and starving the next two weeks so I upped mine according to my BMR.
    From what I have read your BMR is the minimum amount of calories your body needs to do normal every day functions so if you exercise you should eat those cals or a portion of them as well.

    You should still lose weight as long as you don't pig out!! If you go too far below your BMR you will starve yourself...lose some weight but probably hit a plateau then gain it all back! I was told to play around with it...my BMR is 1480 but some days I don't eat it....I keep it inbetween 1200 and 1480...closer to 1480 if I can :) Then If I exercise I add those calories to my calories to eat but I don't usually/ever eat all of them.

    Hope that helped....
  • Jennplus2
    Jennplus2 Posts: 984 Member
    Options
    I was set for 1200 also (I'm 5'3") and for me that is WAY to low. I do much better at 1500+ calories per day and I am losing more now than when I was at 1200. Now I have my account set for .5 loss per week and am losing more like 1-2 lbs per week. When I was at 1200 I would lose .3-.5 per week but every time I had a bit more than the 1200 I would gain. And I am not talking 3000 calorie days, I am talking 1300 calories of healthy food for one day and a week worth of progress down the drain.

    EAT, your body needs the fuel!
  • Cookie22684
    Cookie22684 Posts: 585 Member
    Options
    I am 129 pounds as of right now, i do not eat any of my exercise calories, and i drink a lot of water and green tea , and i am steadily losing weight , but then again its different for everyone , hope u see some progress soon
  • leslielove
    leslielove Posts: 251 Member
    Options
    You're supposed to eat ~1200 (or whatever number MFP gives you) calories on the days you don't work out. The calorie goal you're given is NET calories. If you do 30 minutes on the ellptical and burn ~300 calories, your body will have taken those ~300 calories out of the ~1200 you ate for the day, leaving it to run on ~900 which is too few. You should eat some (if not all.. this response varies by person and what works best for you) of those calories back to get your body closer to the ~1200 NET calories.

    When you work out, you get to/should eat more to keep your body running so it can repair itself. Not to say that you should always rely on workouts to save yourself extra calories in order to eat crap, but you know what I mean. Hope that helps :)
  • aethorne
    aethorne Posts: 11
    Options
    I had my goal set for 1.5 lbs per week loss. I just switched it to 1.0 lbs per week loss and it changed me from 1200 calories a day to 1390. I'm going to try this out for a little and see if I feel better. So far over the past week I lost 1.2 lbs but I have been going over the 1200 mark and I've been increasing my running so I'm not sure which is doing the trick. We shall see! Thanks everyone!
  • eileeeneileen
    eileeeneileen Posts: 5
    Options
    **If I am understanding correctly I think the poster is talking about the days she is a the job/work and does NOT work out. On those days she won't have additional exercise calories to add to the 1200 calorie limit.

    I was concerned about that at first for the same reasons. I've had to separate trainers (one for weight lifting and one for running) and both said to focus less on my calorie counting and more on listening to my body. Sooner or later the weight is going to come off regardless and my body knows better than the MFP calorie counter what it needs. If I am real careful about food choices I can hit around 1200 but 1350 to 1400 tends to be where I end up on non-exercise days. I'm still losing too.
  • btrflyflutter
    btrflyflutter Posts: 68 Member
    Options
    Are most of you going with the 1200 calories that comes standard on MFP? Or are you actually figuring your BMR......
  • eileeeneileen
    eileeeneileen Posts: 5
    Options
    My RMR (resting metabolic rate; done at a facility with the mask and breathing apparatus) measured at 1440. I get some form of exercise (30 min - 60 min) 6 days a week and add calories back in so I am rarely anywhere near 1200.

    On my couch potato recovery day (no exercise at all) I eat and add up my caloric intake at the end of the day and I typically end up around 1350 - 1400. It's below my 1440 RMR but my trainer said as long as I am eating clean food when I am hungry and stopping when I am satisfied I should always trust my body over calculations. My body will tell me if it's not getting what it needs when it needs it. I have found that when I rely too much on the caloric number I miss what my body is telling me. I am always surprised that when I just eat and trust my body when I put it all into the database my caloric range is pretty much consistent.

Categories