What is your MFP-recommended daily calories?

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kimby303
kimby303 Posts: 36 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I reset my daily calories/nutrients goal today and MFP dropped it to 1,200 calories - which seems kinda low to me (I used to have it on 1400-1500). I'm just curious what your calorie goals are (if they were also set by MFP). For comparison sake, I'm female and 217lbs. currently.
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Replies

  • changing4life
    changing4life Posts: 193 Member
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    How tall are you and how old are you? I am 5'5", weigh 225 and am in my 50s, and MFp sets my goal at 1530, which is slightly high. According to my FitBit, my calorie goal should be 1450-1500, depending on how active I am that day

    Also,how active are you? What activity level are you set out. The more active you are, the more calories you can eat...
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
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    1970 calories.
    Male 220 pounds


    1200 seems low - really low
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
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    Male 205 (BING) 2340 currently.
  • Kaimana94
    Kaimana94 Posts: 165 Member
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    The lowest MFP will go is 1200. So if put in to lose 2 pounds a week and that would put you under 1200, then MFP sets to 1200. Mine is 1200.
  • daphnec1994
    daphnec1994 Posts: 71 Member
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    They set mine at 1200 but I changed it higher to 1300. I can even eat higher but I tend to go over anyway so I picked 1300. I'm 5 2 150 pounds. I would eat more if I were you. 1200 is way to low.
  • Raclex
    Raclex Posts: 238
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    Hmmm... depends on activity level, etc... I'm 5'7'', 163 and I workout 4 times a week, approx. 1.5 hour a day. My calories are set at 1750 and that's by MFP. However, I've lowered (manually) my carbs and upped my protein just a little. And lowered sodium as well.

    I'm looking to lose 0.5 lbs a week. So many factors play into your daily calorie intake. Hope this helps!

    I do find 1200 low....
  • RachelSteeners
    RachelSteeners Posts: 249 Member
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    1,200 but I rarely eat that little
  • goodgirlsue41
    goodgirlsue41 Posts: 6 Member
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    I'm a 5'6" female, 44, and my daily calories were set by MFP at 1200 per day. This happened a couple of weeks ago when I lost another 10 pounds. If I exercise, which I do--almost daily--I can't count those calories. I have continued to lose weight so far at 1200 calories per day with exercise, but I must admit that I do go over sometimes (well, I've been going over a lot recently).
  • Lynn_SD
    Lynn_SD Posts: 83 Member
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    You didn't mention what you input for your weekly weight loss goals. Adjust that and see what you get for recommended daily calorie intake. Try putting in a goal of 1 lb or 0.5 lb weight loss per week and see what your recommended calorie intake is then. If you are short-statured and sedentary, you may have to adjust expectations. But if you are able to exercise more, you can eat more.

    For example, I am only 4' 10" female, 57 y.o. and unable to exercise right now due to medical issues. So even a goal of 0.5 lb weight loss per week is only 1290 calories per day. But hopefully you are taller and have potential to be more active. So what calorie numbers do you get if you adjust your goal to lose 0.5 lb per week?
  • kimby303
    kimby303 Posts: 36 Member
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    How tall are you and how old are you? I am 5'5", weigh 225 and am in my 50s, and MFp sets my goal at 1530, which is slightly high. According to my FitBit, my calorie goal should be 1450-1500, depending on how active I am that day

    Also,how active are you? What activity level are you set out. The more active you are, the more calories you can eat...

    I am 5'6". My activity level is set to Sedentary because I sit all day at my job. I have JUST started working out consistently, which should amount to at least 5x per week. Maybe I need to change my activity level?
  • kimby303
    kimby303 Posts: 36 Member
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    You didn't mention what you input for your weekly weight loss goals. Adjust that and see what you get for recommended daily calorie intake. Try putting in a goal of 1 lb or 0.5 lb weight loss per week and see what your recommended calorie intake is then. If you are short-statured and sedentary, you may have to adjust expectations. But if you are able to exercise more, you can eat more.

    For example, I am only 4' 10" female, 57 y.o. and unable to exercise right now due to medical issues. So even a goal of 0.5 lb weight loss per week is only 1290 calories per day. But hopefully you are taller and have potential to be more active. So what calorie numbers do you get if you adjust your goal to lose 0.5 lb per week?

    I put that I wanted to lose 2lbs per week. At 217lbs, I don't think that's all that unreasonable. With the sedentary activity level and trying to lose 2lbs a week, I'm guessing that's what's kicking it down to 1,200. I only put "sedentary" because I sit all day at my job, and sometimes in the evening, as well. Maybe I need to change that based on my (new) workout schedule of 5x per week(?). However, I just went back to look at the descriptions and this is what it says:

    How would you describe your normal daily activities?
    Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
    Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesman)
    Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)
    Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)

    Based on my job, I am definitely sedentary. I am relatively tall for a female (5'6"). I'm also 49yo.
  • melindabrock
    melindabrock Posts: 91 Member
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    Im 28 5'8 and started at 252...MFP set mine for 1400 calories. Two of my friends that are trainers said that was way to low and that's why I started getting headaches. They recommended 1800 cals so i adjusted it to 1600 and now Im fine :)
  • kimby303
    kimby303 Posts: 36 Member
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    Im 28 5'8 and started at 252...MFP set mine for 1400 calories. Two of my friends that are trainers said that was way to low and that's why I started getting headaches. They recommended 1800 cals so i adjusted it to 1600 and now Im fine :)

    Yeah, I *did* have mine at 1500 before I changed it today. I think I'm going to push it back up 1400.

    Thanks everyone for the input.
  • MsBetteDavis
    MsBetteDavis Posts: 118 Member
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    Mine was set by MFP. My daily goal is 1770 which is for maintenance as I'm not trying to lose any more weight (I'm 5'3'' and 121 lbs). When I was trying to lose weight (.5 lb per week) it had me at 1330 cals a day.
  • MissMamaAndrea
    MissMamaAndrea Posts: 99 Member
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    MFP says 2000 I'll eat whatever my body tells me some days 1500 others 2300... I'm 29 yrs old 5'9 down 26 lbs in less than a month... I love food!
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    How tall are you and how old are you? I am 5'5", weigh 225 and am in my 50s, and MFp sets my goal at 1530, which is slightly high. According to my FitBit, my calorie goal should be 1450-1500, depending on how active I am that day

    Also,how active are you? What activity level are you set out. The more active you are, the more calories you can eat...

    I am 5'6". My activity level is set to Sedentary because I sit all day at my job. I have JUST started working out consistently, which should amount to at least 5x per week. Maybe I need to change my activity level?

    MFP expects you to log workouts & then eat the calories back. This is what they call "net" calories. That prevents the deficit from becoming too large. HOWEVER, calorie burns are hard to estimate, MFP and many machines are pretty generous. Many MFP users just eat back 50-75%.

    A large deficit makes is hard for your body to support lean muscle. Unless you have a ways to go.....you could lose lean muscle + fat....instead of just fat.
  • codycsweet
    codycsweet Posts: 1,019 Member
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    I'm 5'3 34 yr female and 182 on lightly active I get 1610 calories and I eat extra calories from my exercise and Fitbit adjustments.
  • AllieLosingIt
    AllieLosingIt Posts: 150 Member
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    Female, 5'10" and my calorie goal is set at 2180 right now. My days usually vary from 1400-2200 though, it depends on how hungry I am or how hard I worked out that day.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I reset my daily calories/nutrients goal today and MFP dropped it to 1,200 calories - which seems kinda low to me (I used to have it on 1400-1500). I'm just curious what your calorie goals are (if they were also set by MFP). For comparison sake, I'm female and 217lbs. currently.

    Depends on what I put my activity level and loss goal at.

    Currently it gives me 1400 at active and 1.5 lb loss, but anything less than active I'd get 1200 (also 2 lbs and active).

    I'm 5'3, 157 currently, and also eat back exercise calories to the extent I exceed "active" based on additional exercise.

    IMO, 1200 can be fine as a base goal if you are sedentary and have a lot to lose (me when I started--I did 1250 and it worked for me until I got more active) and if you understand that you are supposed to eat back exercise calories and do, at least some of them (often reduced due to MFP's overestimate).
  • irisheyez718
    irisheyez718 Posts: 677 Member
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    I have mine set at my BMR which is 1686. I'm 5"5 and 211 pounds. I do work out 5 days a week, pretty hard usually, so I get most of my deficit from exercise. It makes it a little easier to stick to on my rest days, and I don't feel like I'm starving most of the time.

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