Losing Calories

mrsparker31
mrsparker31 Posts: 13 Member
edited September 26 in Food and Nutrition
Ok, so when I first started MFP I had 1310 calories, then it went down to 1290, then 1270, then today 1250!!!! I have lost almost 20 pounds during this time but I am beginning to get worried, when will they stop reducing my calories??? Is there a limit that they will keep me at????

Replies

  • Hollie721
    Hollie721 Posts: 20
    They won't put you any lower than 1200 as that is what is seen as still healthy, i'm on 1220 a day but i dont have too much to loose now! Good luck!
  • jolteon00
    jolteon00 Posts: 89
    You're getting less calories because the less you weigh, the less you burn. They will limit you to 1200, but you can change your settings so that you lose more slowly as you get closer to your goal :)
  • sdirbder
    sdirbder Posts: 159 Member
    I think that as you lose weight your body needs less to run it. So you need less base calories. This doesnt include excercise calories though.
  • ndking21
    ndking21 Posts: 24 Member
    i totally understand because after 15 lbs lost they lower be by almost a 100 calories. I didn't think it was going to be that difficult, but i had trouble staying under 1540. I'm still a big girl and have at the very least another 70 lbs to lose so I hope they don't drop my calories for at least another 15-20 lbs. This whole weight loss thing sure does take some getting used to.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    Try recalculating your goals. If you're set at 1lb loss per week, change to .5lbs, etc. This will bump up your calories which won't hurt you. Your body will probably thank you for it if you are exercising.

    I bumped up from 1250 to 1470 a while back and I'm still losing. Bumped up again to 1600 this week. (I have a BodyMedia Fit which measures calorie burn 24/7. When I set it up it didn't ask my activity level (I get in about 5000 steps a day at my sedentary desk job) they asked me what my exercise habits were in the last 30 days and how it affected my weight).
    Our normal activity level changes from day to day. (lowest burn: 1641; highest burn: 2323).

    I'm doing P90X weight lifting/resistance training and a session of cardio here and there.

    Keep that metabolism revved up by lifting some heavy weight!! (intense cardio and calorie restriction cause muscle loss along with fat loss - gets worse as you get to healthy weights and this slows your metabolism)
  • kimmerroze
    kimmerroze Posts: 1,330 Member
    You are getting close to your goal weight, they will reduce it to 1200 no lower, I would suggest bumping your goal up from 2 pounds a week to 1 pound a week loss, if that is what you have it set at, as you get closer to your goal, your body is going to require more food for your body. the reason it keeps lowering it is because in order for your body to lose 2 pounds a week you have to eat 1000 calories below your maintianence calories, meaning, if your maintenece is 2200 calories a day you would have to eat 1200 calories a day (numerically) in order to lose 2 pounds a week. When you are smaller your maintainence calories will become lower because your body doesn't require as much calories to maintain your weight, so this means that if your maintainence level drops to 1800 calories a day, you would have to eat 800 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week.

    this is COMPLETELY unhealthy, so MFP will only reduce you to 1200. That being said, as you work out (which I am assuming you do) your body is building muscle, MFP cant calculate your muscle to fat ratio, the more muscle you have the MORE you need to eat in order to lose weight as you get closer to your goal.

    I would change your goal to 1 pound a week loss.
  • W0zzie
    W0zzie Posts: 262 Member
    @ndking21 - unless you update your goals (in which case it will recalculate when you update) it will only auto adjust when you weigh-in and go down by total of 10lb since last adjustment. Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on that - but that's the way I think it works.
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