I don't understand the weight loss approach of 1200 calories

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amyoliver85
amyoliver85 Posts: 353 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, here is what I get:

We are told that the human body needs 1200 calories per day to survive.
We are told to eat back all of our exercise calories.

Here is the problem I face.

If I eat 1575 calories per day. And 1200 are burned by being alive and then 375 are burned by exercise (like TODAY on my diary), then I am at ZERO. That's break even. That's not a deficit.

So how on Earth do you create a deficit?

Is there something I don't understand or am not getting here?

To be frank...when I put in enough food to make 1575 calories on today's chart, I end up with less than half a pound of weight loss per week. But the plan I am following on here is supposed to help me lose about 1.5lbs per week.

So I am in a weird spot.

I am planning to include more veggies and fruits in my diet--I just didn't get paid until today so I had to work with what was in the house this week. But it seems to me that if I eat the same number of calories in fruits and veggies as I do in other foods like proteins and good carbs, I will still be looking at the same amount of weight loss.

I feel like I am missing something.

Please someone tell me what it is.

Replies

  • Panda86
    Panda86 Posts: 873
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    Go to your home page and click on the GOALS tab. It explains it all there. MFP sets you up with a deficit.
  • ErrataCorrige
    ErrataCorrige Posts: 649 Member
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    You burn more than 1200 calories being alive. This site is set so that a non active person eats 1200 calories because a typically non active person actually burns about 1700 calories a day (depending on age and weight). This leaves you a safe 500 calorie defiict for the day.
  • RaeannePemberton
    RaeannePemberton Posts: 382 Member
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    my bodybugg/bodymedia fit shows that i usually burn 2600 a day. that means that if i did 1200 calories, my body would literally start to consume itself. :-) thus, i eat 1900-2000 and still lose weight.

    i love my bodymedia fit!!

    you will find if you go too low your body will stall out, and i finally realized that was what was happening to me.
  • JillyCornwall
    JillyCornwall Posts: 376 Member
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    I think that if MFP has set you1200 cals then it has already made the deficit by the fact that your BMR would be about 1700-2000 cals for a normal day...it does not include your exercise sessions. The 500-800 cal deficit per day should give you around 1lb - 2lb weight loss a week..if you add exercise you should eat back some or all the calories so that nett cals is never below 1200.
  • madhavprabhu
    madhavprabhu Posts: 1
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    Hello,

    You have to first identify your daily calorie count goal for reducing weight. This will depend on your wight goal, your BMR, your body's reactiveness to certain foods (some times body reacts positively or negatively for certain foods and depends on body type- this is identified by trial and error.
    If 1575 is your daily calorie intake and your BMR is 1200 calries, and if you eat within that goal and you exercise (asuming you burn 375 calories), you will maintain weight. This is because the extra calories are balanced by exercise. (1575-1200-375=0)

    If you need to reduce, the calorie intake will need to reduce between 1575 to 1200. So e.g. if you eat food equivalent of 1400 calories, you are creating a deficit of 175 calories daily which will slowly start showing results. (1400-1200-375 = -175).

    Hope I was able to address your query.




    if
  • wease1204
    wease1204 Posts: 31 Member
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    they say to try NOT to eat back the energy you've burned. My day consists of a fair bit of excersise and so I "gain" extra calories, but I still like to keep my diet restricted to 1200 or, at least no more than 1400. In that way I lost about 1kg (or 2 lb) a week. therefore the deficit is there and you are "in the green". also make sure you are eating AT LEAST every 4 hours to keep your metabolism in fat burning mode. After 4 hours your body starts to think its dying of starvation and stores fat. I like to eat every 3 hours in small amounts. Just so long as you've put something in your mouth, your metabolism will kick start again.

    I hope this helps. also keep an eye on your carb sugar intake as this is empty calories that could put you over for nothing. keep your calorie intake for things that you know will be beneficial to you.
  • Sparklewolfie
    Sparklewolfie Posts: 271
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    MFP is set up so you lose weight without exercising. Go check your BMR and you will see that it is above 1200 so even if you never exercise you would lose weight. If you are not losing weight as fast as the site says, it just means that your body is different than the mathematics behind the site (obviously we are all different) or that you are gaining muscle from exercise :smile: which is a good thing!
  • JennLifts
    JennLifts Posts: 1,913 Member
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    dont make up for your exercise calories..
  • cutmd
    cutmd Posts: 1,168 Member
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    my bodybugg/bodymedia fit shows that i usually burn 2600 a day. that means that if i did 1200 calories, my body would literally start to consume itself. :-) thus, i eat 1900-2000 and still lose weight.

    i love my bodymedia fit!!

    you will find if you go too low your body will stall out, and i finally realized that was what was happening to me.

    Did you find the bodybugg daily burn value to be more or less than what websites give you?

    Yes, OP, you are missing the fact that you multiply your BMR x your activity level (still 1.2 even f sedentary) to get your daily burn, and MFP subtracts from that before exercise to give you your deficit. In theory, you can eat back all your calories, but you should be SURE of what you ate and what you burned if you do that, IMO. Otherwise you could accidentally eat your deficit away!

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