Total amount of calories a day

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loublou807
loublou807 Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I am 5'3" and I currently allow myself 1200 calories a day by doing this I

have lost 2 stone. I aim to loose another stone but not sure if I should stick to 1200 a day or increase my amount ? Any advice would be gratefully received

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Replies

  • Phoenix_Down
    Phoenix_Down Posts: 530 Member
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    It would depend on how quickly you lost the 2 stone. The closer to goal you are, the slower you want weight loss to be. Aim for .5-1lb a week and whatever calorie intake that may be, stick to it.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    A woman should never eat less than 1200 calories per day for weight loss.
  • avocados9
    avocados9 Posts: 38 Member
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    I'm confused about your "goal" calories and "net calories". If my goal says 1200, does that mean I need to net 1200? Because I ate 1200, but burned 400, therefore net 800, and I'm not sure if that's okay....
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
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    avocados9 wrote: »
    I'm confused about your "goal" calories and "net calories". If my goal says 1200, does that mean I need to net 1200? Because I ate 1200, but burned 400, therefore net 800, and I'm not sure if that's okay....

    You should net 1200. Meaning that if you burned 400 cal, you should eat 1600. 1600-400=1200 net calories.

    MFP already has your calorie deficit built into your calories without accounting for exercise. If you exercise you should eat back your calories, or you will lose faster than you are planning to.
  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
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    avocados9 wrote: »
    I'm confused about your "goal" calories and "net calories". If my goal says 1200, does that mean I need to net 1200? Because I ate 1200, but burned 400, therefore net 800, and I'm not sure if that's okay....

    You won't die, but you probably won't have the energy to sustain productive workouts, or, long term, daily chores.
  • avocados9
    avocados9 Posts: 38 Member
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    SingRunTing wrote: »
    avocados9 wrote: »
    I'm confused about your "goal" calories and "net calories". If my goal says 1200, does that mean I need to net 1200? Because I ate 1200, but burned 400, therefore net 800, and I'm not sure if that's okay....

    You should net 1200. Meaning that if you burned 400 cal, you should eat 1600. 1600-400=1200 net calories.

    MFP already has your calorie deficit built into your calories without accounting for exercise. If you exercise you should eat back your calories, or you will lose faster than you are planning to.
    Thank you!
  • loublou807
    loublou807 Posts: 9 Member
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    Hi everyone. I started MFP may 2013 and half way through last year i lost 2 stone. I want to loose another stone then i will be happy. What i am thinking is by now should i increase my daily allowance of calories from 1200 ( but not sure what to ). When i go to the gym and for example burn 500 calories i still make sure that i hit at least 1200 because i dont want my body to go into starvation mode. Would increasing to 1350 be okay or should i increase to 1400 a day.
  • _KitKat_
    _KitKat_ Posts: 1,066 Member
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    loublou807 wrote: »
    Hi everyone. I started MFP may 2013 and half way through last year i lost 2 stone. I want to loose another stone then i will be happy. What i am thinking is by now should i increase my daily allowance of calories from 1200 ( but not sure what to ). When i go to the gym and for example burn 500 calories i still make sure that i hit at least 1200 because i dont want my body to go into starvation mode. Would increasing to 1350 be okay or should i increase to 1400 a day.

    This would probably be best in its own thread, it will also receive more answers.

    Starvation mode is a myth, that had to be stated first. As for your calories, I can not remember the conversion for stones but the smaller amount you need to lose, you adjust your weight loss goals. Nearing goal you should only aim for 1/2 or 1 lb loss per week.

    You may also want to search the forums for "TDEE", many of us here use that method.....if you ever see someone log exercise and only 1 calorie was burned... Most likely they have their goals set with TDEE numbers.


  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    loublou807 wrote: »
    Hi everyone. I started MFP may 2013 and half way through last year i lost 2 stone. I want to loose another stone then i will be happy. What i am thinking is by now should i increase my daily allowance of calories from 1200 ( but not sure what to ). When i go to the gym and for example burn 500 calories i still make sure that i hit at least 1200 because i dont want my body to go into starvation mode. Would increasing to 1350 be okay or should i increase to 1400 a day.

    Congratulations on your 2 stone loss
    - on losing your final stone you know what you're doing so keep at it but at a lower rate of loss - eg 0.5lbs a week, this will automatically increase your calorie allowance
    - tighten up on counting and exercise burns (eg 50 - 75% of MFP database) as the slower the loss, the lower the cut and the more accurate in estimating you need to be
    - make sure you're lifting / working at resistance to maintain as much as LBM as possible
    - there is no such thing as starvation mode as you are using it - however you are right not to net less than 1200 too often
    - you just have to try it and give it a week and see - it depends on your height, weight, activity level so nobody can give you a number

  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    Funny that someone said that starvation mode in the way the term is being used is a myth when the only thing the previous poster mentioned was 1200. It seems to me that the 1200/1500 minimum is the appropriate use of the term starvation mode. However the 1200/1500 minimum is a limit on total intake, not on net calories.
  • loublou807
    loublou807 Posts: 9 Member
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    Hi,

    Thank you for the advice, i have just amended my total amount of lb to loose a week from 2lb a week to 1lb a week and its worked out at 1220 calories a day which i can work with i think if i upped it to 1400 calories a day i will struggle to eat that amount of calories or near to that amount. I am going to give it a go at what MFP has worked out for me and see how i go. I know that loosing the last stone will not be as easy as it was in the beginning. I think my body has got used to 1200 a day.

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