Help with deciding on calories to eat

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vbvamsi
vbvamsi Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all, I am new to MFP. I started my diet 10 days ago and all is going fine at the moment. I have been going through the forum and see some posts which mention not to be on a very low calorie diet. In my case I am currently following the 1200 calories suggested by MFP.

I am a 32 year old man. I am currently 92Kg ( 94kg about 10 days ago). I have set a target weight of 70kg and wanted to lose 1kg every week in MFP. I was suggested a 1200 calorie intake per day. Currently I seem to have no problems with eating just 1200 calories. I am trying to atleast burn 300 calories with exercise every day. I got a fitbit yesterday and it looks like I have burnt more than 3000 calories for the whole day and fitbit suggests eating around 1700 calories today.

One thing I have noticed with the 1200 calorie diet is that almost everyday, I am over my recommended protein intake on MFP but under on fat, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. I feel that I am not getting all the nutrition required. Can you please give me some guidance on what should I be doing? continue with 1200 cal diet or increase my intake to around 1800.

Replies

  • Lemongrab13
    Lemongrab13 Posts: 206 Member
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    It's generally recommended on here to use this site http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/ instead of the MFP calculation.
    1200 is too low for a man of your size.
    And also if you continue to follow the MFP recommendation it expects you to be eating your exercise calories back.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    I would imagine you could eat more and still lose a decent amount of weight - 1200 seems incredibly low ...you should also eat back about 50% of your exercise calories

    The fitbit estimates calories over the day based on what you've already done so you don't get an accurate read on MFP until the next day ...eg yesterday I walked over 8 miles by lunchtime and MFP was showing that I earned 1500+calories - less showed on my fitbit during the day so I used that to guide me ...today my exercise calories for yesterday have been halved as I expected

    Hope that helps
  • tryclyn
    tryclyn Posts: 2,414 Member
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    Welcome and I would suggest some more reading.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1187899-in-place-of-a-roadmap-short-n-sweet-reposted
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/840082-a-sad-realization?hl=sad
    http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

    And a group to check out
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress
    (read the stickies)
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
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    1200 cal/day for a guys is absolutely way too low. You should be eating at least 1800 cal/day, but I'd recommend starting higher than that. What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~2200 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for a week. If you lose 1-2 lbs, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few weeks, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

    Check this video out that discusses the extreme calorie deficits.
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHHzie6XRGk

    What are your macros? How are you exercising?

    Allan
  • vbvamsi
    vbvamsi Posts: 13 Member
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    Hi all, thanks very much for your quick responses. I have started going through the links provided by tryclyn. This is really helpful info. I have already started eating more today :).

    terbusha, thanks for the recommendations. I will try with higher calorie intake going forwards as suggested. In terms of exercise, I am currently doing the below.

    1. Walking
    2. Elliptical
    3. Stationary Bike

    My avg heart rate during exercise is around 140. I am not doing anything high intensity at the moment as I have only started exercise last week after a long time. I am still unclear on what exactly to do.

    I didn't get your question "What are your macros?". Not sure what macros means?

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