What should my "goal" calories be set at?

*Should it be 1200 and log exercise calories so I make sure I eat them back but net to 1200?

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Try that first for 2-3 weeks. If you don't see a change in weight, EAT MORE please. Eating less will only hurt your body. Good luck!

You will have to try things and see where it leads you..... I would try eating your 1200 calories and then your exercise calories and see if that works. You will have to do it for 2-3 weeks in order to see a difference.


Also I don't know what your eating, but try playing with your carbs... a lot of times this makes a difference.

I just read in a fitness mag that you take your current weight and multiply that by 13. This will give you the number of calories needed to maintain. Subtract a few hundred a day to lose. HTH!

Unless you are a STICK FIGURE and sit on your behind all day, 1,200 calories is WAY too low! I'd say up your calories and start doing interval training at least 2X a week. What kind of exercise are you doing now? If it's steady state, you'll have to up your intensity, then let your heart rate come back down, then up it again -- cycle that 4-5X to increase your metabolism. Also, are you weight lifting? I almost never lose weight when I'm only doing cardio. Adding weight training will increase your muscle mass and how much you burn. Good luck!

change your goals to lose 1 lb/week...

when i did this i was allowed 1370 cals from 1200 and i started losing weight immediately (was on a 2 month plateau)

I'm stuck on a plateau.....and stuck on that "mysterious" number of 1200 calories. I havent lost any weight in about 4 months, sigh. I've read many times that I should increase calories, also try zigzagging. So, my question is how should I have my calories set in MFP?

*Should it be 1200 and log exercise calories so I make sure I eat them back but net to 1200?
*Should I have it set to my BMR (based on different calculations, it's btwn 1935 & 2185 calories) and log exercise?
*Should I have it set to approx 500 cal below my BMR? Do I log exerice calories?
*Am I just thinking about this way too much (which is a strong possibility)!! :laugh:

What is working for you?

Thanks for your help!

Try setting to maintain weight. That will increase your daily calories and then still eat back any exercise calories. This will at least get you towards eating more. Dropping below 1200 on occasion is okay. You just don't want it continuously.

I increased my calorie goal from losing .5 per week up to maintain and I'm still losing weight. And just as fast as I was before.
I think even the Maintenance calories is a little low. Mine shows as 1480 (I have a desk job but I'm not chained to it for 8 hours). I recently purchased a BodyMedia Fit - and armband meant to be worn 24/7. My absolutely laziest day I've had since I purchased it - we're talking laying in front of the TV, taking a 2 hour nap and sleeping for over 8 hours - I burned 1660 calories. The highest burn was over 2300. I'm 5'2" and 122.6lbs.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits?hl=your+guide+to+calorie+deficits

You are very, very close to an ideal weight.

The above link will take you to a great explanation of how to figure a good "goal". Short answer: you could even get to it with some patience and an MFP goal of .5 pounds a week.

Unless you are a STICK FIGURE and sit on your behind all day, 1,200 calories is WAY too low! I'd say up your calories and start doing interval training at least 2X a week. What kind of exercise are you doing now? If it's steady state, you'll have to up your intensity, then let your heart rate come back down, then up it again -- cycle that 4-5X to increase your metabolism. Also, are you weight lifting? I almost never lose weight when I'm only doing cardio. Adding weight training will increase your muscle mass and how much you burn. Good luck!

This is true. If you are only dieting and doing cardio you are actually losing lean muscle mass along with fat mass.

4 months? Wow! I'd try doing a couple of those at once. Set your BMR to your normal daily activities, NOT including exercise. Maybe try setting your weight loss to 1 pound a week instead of 2? Log the exercise separately so it's more exact. Personally I am doing NET calorie goal and just started zig zagging using that site many have posted (but I changed the baseline to 1200 calories). I zig zag by basing it off my base net calorie goal (aka I'm NOT including exercise). Does that make sense? Lol

For example:
Monday 1200
Tuesday 944
Wednesday 1456
Thursday 1200
Friday 1072
Saturday 1328
Sunday 1200

So take Tuesday for example. I will put in 256 quick calories in order to make my goal 944. If I exercise 350 calories then I will eat those back too. On Wednesday I don't need to put in quick calories I just mentally make sure my goal is at least 200 over my 1200 calorie goal. If the day is a low calorie day make sure you exercise in order to let your body bring in extra nutrition.

Also make sure you are making those calories count by choosing healthy/lean options and that you start eating when you wake up and continue to eat all throughout the day. Bumping up the exercise probably wouldn't hurt either as long as you eat them back!