The right amount of calories per day?

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lauz45
lauz45 Posts: 243
in Health and Weight Loss
MFP has set my daily calorie allowance at 1200, but I feel the most satisfied eating a bit more than that, I wonder if the nature of my job means I should up it to 1300 or 1400? I'm a gas engineer (yes, a girl!) so when i'm not driving around in my van i'm taking boilers to bits, going up and down stairs, carrying my tools around, climbing ladders, and battling with stubborn screws and bolts!

I started taking my diet really seriously in the last couple of days and already i've gone from 144.5lbs to 142.75lbs :) Once I smash that stubborn 140lbs barrier i'll be well on my way!

On a side note, the biggest difference i've noticed is from cutting out sweetners, i've had them in 5-6 mugs of tea every day for as long as I can remember, (probably 14+ years) I took after my mum early on in that way (who's still a serious serial dieter), and i've finally managed to drink my tea unsweetened! :) Apart from dropping a couple of pounds in 2 days, i've noticed my...er...bathroom habits have vastly improved. which just goes to show sweeteners are bad, bad, bad and they are out of my life for good! I used to use saccharin or splenda, goodbye chemicals!

So, sorry for the ramble, any thoughts on upping my calorie intake? I'm staying away from white bread too, evil stuff!

Replies

  • nikjo_13
    nikjo_13 Posts: 1
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    My current limit is similar and if I eat less than 1200 calories, there's a little message that pops up at the bottom of the screen when I complete by food journal for the day telling me I need to eat more. This tells me that 1200 is the very minimum ANYONE should be eating. If you are active, you should definately be eating more.

    If you log your work activities under the exercises, you will get more food calories, thus being able to eat more. I think 1200 is only what you need to lose weight if you are sedetary all day. If you are up and about, you should definetely be taking in more calories so your body doesnt go into starvation mode.
  • kjjurczakowski
    kjjurczakowski Posts: 1
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    I got told to do 1200 too, but I want to maintain my weight loss so upped it to 1600 (Which for my 174cm height is about what my body needs to survive just doing normal everyday activities. I started calorie counting Monday and have lost just over 2 kilo's (5 pounds) already! If I stop losing, I'll drop it then, but I refuse to starve my body, as it has lost too much muscle already :)
  • Amandaprice27
    Amandaprice27 Posts: 8
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    The fitness program I am doing also set my daily caloric intake at 1200 but if I exercise I am supposed to eat in calories what I burned off to make sure I am maintaining my 1200 calories a day.

    For instance If I eat my 1200 calories and then exercise and say I burn 2 or 3 hundred calories I then have to eat an extra 2 or 3 hundred calories to make sure I am getting my 1200 for the day!

    My biggest problem is trying to figure out how many calories I am burning for the activities I am doing.
  • lauz45
    lauz45 Posts: 243
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    Thanks everyone, that makes sense, that's my problem too though, i've no idea how many calories I burn! Yesterday I ran up and down the stairs about 15 times in someone's house trying to sort something out, so I logged that as activity, but don't know about all the other stuff? I think that's why I find it hard to exercise, I just want to veg out on the sofa when I get home.

    I'm going to make sure I exercise on my days off though, at least on EA active on the Wii, or trying the couch to 5K program in the woods near my house. I'll try and do some after work too when we move house, because then we'll have 2 tv's and my boyfriend can watch tv in the bedroom whilst I exercise in the living room! At the moment I would have to do it in front of him and it feels a bit silly.

    Maybe i'll try 1400 and see how I go on that? I always like a healthy snack in the evening if i've had dinner quite early, like yesterday I had a bowl of porridge with blueberries, but I had it with water instead of semi-skimmed milk to keep the calories down! I'd rather not scrimp on healthy calories like that.

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