1200 Calories

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Replies

  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    MaryDrummer wrote: »
    jvt63 wrote: »
    I'm 5'2" and less than 10 pounds from my goal weight. I'm also not lifting--yet. Want to lose more fat before I add muscle. So, 1200, most days, works for some of us shorties. That said, I worked out hard today and was hungrier than usual, so it's 1300 today. It's all about being flexible.

    You should be lifting anyway. You will build practically 0 muscle on 1,200 calories. To really build muscle, you need to be eating in a calorie surplus. Lifting weights on 1,200 calories will help you maintain the muscle you have and give you more definition when you lose the fat. All you are doing is removing the fat so you can see the muscle you already have!

    You've probably been losing fat at a lower rate without the strength training than you would have if you were doing strength training. Hit those weights asap lady! :smile:

    This doesn't answer her question at all.

    Lifting weights to build muscle at a surplus is an entirely different goal from losing fat.
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    Funny is that there is no difference in allowed calories for me when i have my settings on 2 or 1.5 pounds a week.
    So if i have my goal at 2 pounds a week or 1.5 pound a week ( which i switched too 2 weeks ago because i have less to lose) My calorie amount was 1200 and still is 1200.

    I wonder what happens when i go to a pound a week. Because i still have a lot to lose but at one point i go to 1 pound a week.

    Time for a little test. brb
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    oke lol yep than it changes for me to 1400 calories
    Oke well still some to go before that change, i did it back to 1.5 pound :)
    But soon.......
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    TheOwlhouseDesigns wrote: »
    Funny is that there is no difference in allowed calories for me when i have my settings on 2 or 1.5 pounds a week.
    So if i have my goal at 2 pounds a week or 1.5 pound a week ( which i switched too 2 weeks ago because i have less to lose) My calorie amount was 1200 and still is 1200.

    I wonder what happens when i go to a pound a week. Because i still have a lot to lose but at one point i go to 1 pound a week.

    Time for a little test. brb

    This is because 1200 calories is the lowest that MFP will set for a woman (and 1500 calories the lowest for a man).

    So if you ask it to set you a higher deficit, it will set you up at 1200 calories.

    2lbs/week is a deficit of 1000 calories/day. 1.5lbs/week is 750 calories/day.

    This means you're probably burning less than 1950 calories/day from normal daily activity. Which means these goals are probably too aggressive for you.

    Somewhere in your goals section there will be something that says "calories burned from normal daily activity". Take that number. Divide it by 5. That should give you a rough idea of what your deficit can be. So if it's 500, that's 1lb/week. If it's 250, that's 0.5lbs/week. If it's somewhere in between, round up or down.

    Then, if you work out a lot, eat back roughly 80% of your workout calories on top of that.
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    For now i stick with what i am doing. This is a monitored program so not going to mess with it.
    :) But thank you for explaining i wondered about that one.

    But it wont be long before i go to 1 pound a week I thought 8 pounds to go. :)
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Yeah, it's just math in the end.
  • MaryDrummer
    MaryDrummer Posts: 5 Member
    segacs wrote: »
    MaryDrummer wrote: »
    jvt63 wrote: »
    I'm 5'2" and less than 10 pounds from my goal weight. I'm also not lifting--yet. Want to lose more fat before I add muscle. So, 1200, most days, works for some of us shorties. That said, I worked out hard today and was hungrier than usual, so it's 1300 today. It's all about being flexible.

    You should be lifting anyway. You will build practically 0 muscle on 1,200 calories. To really build muscle, you need to be eating in a calorie surplus. Lifting weights on 1,200 calories will help you maintain the muscle you have and give you more definition when you lose the fat. All you are doing is removing the fat so you can see the muscle you already have!

    You've probably been losing fat at a lower rate without the strength training than you would have if you were doing strength training. Hit those weights asap lady! :smile:

    This doesn't answer her question at all.

    Lifting weights to build muscle at a surplus is an entirely different goal from losing fat.

    I know. I'm not telling her to eat at a calorie surplus. I'm just telling her that NOT doing weights coz she doesn't want to put on muscle when she eats at 1,200 calories is not doing her any favours at all. She'd lose more fat by adding in the strength training.


  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    edited February 2015
    Indeed
    And last test result was that i burn with normal daily activity 1892 calories.
    So thats about right.

    Start was a 1000 deficit but because you cant get enough nutrition on 892 i was on 1200 the minimum.
    Than couple weeks ago i went to 750 deficit So means 1132 but under the 1200 still so i stayed on that level
    BTW i eat 1/4 back of my burned calories.

    So next level is to the 500 deficit which will indeed mean 1392 ( so same as the 1400 that MFP gives me)
    Plus ofcourse eating a 1/4 of my burned calories.

    But steady as it goes I feel marvelous and it is going great
    Stats are good, i feel good so win win situation ;)

    Just wondered about the MFP settings
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
    searsvls wrote: »
    Thanks for all of the advice. Because of y'all, I changed my goal to 1.5 and am now being given 1470 for the day. Sounds a lot better :)))

    That's a better bet for you - unless you're very heavy, 2 pounds a week is too aggressive (because it essentially means you're dropping 1000 calories/day below maintenance. For someone like me that maintains on 1600/day, I'd have to eat 600 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week, and that is obviously not acceptable.)
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Yep, sounds like you've got it!

    1/4 of your burned calories seems low. Try to eat back at least 50-75% of them.

    Also, remember that all of this math is based on calculators and estimates, which may or may not be accurate for your body. MFP estimates that I burn fewer calories per day than I actually do.

    The way to check is by how much weight you lose: If MFP says you should be losing 1lb/week, and over the next 30-60 days you're actually averaging 1.5lbs/week, then eat more calories. If you're actually averaging less weight lost, then drop your calories.
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    edited February 2015
    Yes know that :)
    And going perfect i lose 1.5 pound a week.

    I am on a monitored program so i wont mess with it till the next check up.
    1/4 eating back seems to be right for me.
    My average a day is 600 burned calories ( 6 times a week)
    So i end up around the 1325 calories a day

    The last test results were excellent, nothing to short of ( so to say)
    And i am fine with eating what i eat so no problems there. We are upping it slowly and see how i do.

    Lost 64 pounds so far since the first of October 2014 ( this is of course with the first ridiculous huge amount of water weight when i started)
    Now it is steady as we go ;)

    ( i do this for medical reasons btw)
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Sounds like you're doing great.

    Trying to stick to the OP's original question, though, since I feel like we've derailed her thread enough already. Hopefully the math explanation is useful for people.
  • jenglish712
    jenglish712 Posts: 497 Member
    segacs wrote: »

    This is because 1200 calories is the lowest that MFP will set for a woman (and 1500 calories the lowest for a man).

    I checked this out and either MFP doesn't know I'm a dude or it sets everybody's minimum at 1200. That is coincidentally what I would need to set it at for 2.1/lbs a week. I promptly re-set it to 2000 but it let me set those goals.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    jenglish712 wrote: »
    I checked this out and either MFP doesn't know I'm a dude or it sets everybody's minimum at 1200. That is coincidentally what I would need to set it at for 2.1/lbs a week. I promptly re-set it to 2000 but it let me set those goals.

    Okay, I hadn't actually tested this, I'd just been under the impression that 1500 was the floor calorie setting for men. Not sure if this is a glitch or a feature of the site. In any case, yeah, 2000 calories sounds way more reasonable for you.
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