How low can you go?

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michele040673
michele040673 Posts: 71 Member
in Getting Started
I am a 42 year old woman, 5'2. Just turned 42 yesterday!!! Anyways... I want to lose a pound or two a week. I am moderatley active, I have three jobs.. most of them on my feet. 1200 calories seems to low for my daily calorie intake. Do you think I could go up to 1300 or so and still lose a pound or two a week? Any input would be appreciated. :)

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  • greenlizard72
    greenlizard72 Posts: 76 Member
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    I am a complete newbie at this calorie counting, but 1200 seems really low. I am a 42 year old 5'11" male with 1 sedentary job aiming to lose 1 or 2 pounds a week and I am at 1560 without counting exercise. It has worked so far. 23 lbs down.

    Happy birthday
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    What did you put in to MFP for your desired weight loss per week and activity level?

    1200 is on the lower end but you're female and not very tall - both of which aren't in your favor, unfortunately :(

    I'm a 5', 28 years old and with MFP set at 0.5lb/week and sedentary activity, I get 1280 calories. I have a Fitbit Flex synced to my account and that earns me back some calories so I can eat more.

    You may want to set your weigh loss goal a little higher so you get more calories. If you lose more, great! But you don't want to be hungry all the time :)

    ~Lyssa
  • alias1001
    alias1001 Posts: 634 Member
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    I eat 1200 calories a day (5'1"). You'll be hungry for the first couple of weeks, but you can get used to it. One of my tricks has been to add veggies at every possible opportunity to make meals look bigger and feel more satiating.
  • onehappypickle
    onehappypickle Posts: 74 Member
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    1200 is a preset calorie intake value set by MFP. If you want to fuel all the muscle to burn that fat off, you probably should aim for at least 1600 a day... But I'm newer to this, too, but have read a LOT of opposing information on weight loss. Just do your research, and do what you think will work for you! There is no right answer that applies to every person. And, happy birthday!
  • nonoelmo
    nonoelmo Posts: 3,941 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Happy Birthday!!!!!

    For comparison -
    I am 4'11" and I set my goal to 0.5 per week and I get 1240 / day. I am often walking around at work so just working I earn back more calories (i.e. I walked the equivalent of six miles at work today all inside.)
  • eckhofft
    eckhofft Posts: 6 Member
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    The trick is you have to find out how many calories you can eat and maintain your weight. Then you create a calorie deficit from that. In my opinion, MFP tends to set the calorie goal on the low side. I am a 51 year old 5'2" female with a sedentary job. I do workout consistently though. I figured my TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) at 2000 calories. TDEE is the number of calories you can eat to maintain your weight. After figuring out my TDEE I ate approximately 2000 calories daily for six weeks. My weight and measurements stayed exactly the same meaning the calculator and info I put into it were spot on! Sometimes it takes some tweaking up or down with the calories to figure your TDEE exactly. Now I'm moving on to my weight loss phase so I'm creating a 500 calorie deficit from my 2000 calorie TDEE and am aiming for 1500 calories daily. I just started this a week ago and I'm not weighing or measuring until my six weeks is up.

    One thing you don't want to do is eat below your BMR (basal metabolic rate). Your BMR is the number of calories you need to survive without doing anything but sitting on the couch. My BMR is 1380 so eating 1200 calories would definitely help me lose weight, but it would mess up my metabolism.

    I'm providing a couple of links that might help you understand some of this.
    MFP Post about BMR & TDEE - This is a great explanation from someone on MFP
    TDEE calculator - make sure you set the sex to female and then input your data as best you can
  • onehappypickle
    onehappypickle Posts: 74 Member
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    That calculator is the single best thing that I've seen posted in here! That is going to help me out so much! I knew about TDEE, but goodness, that just nails it down for you! So helpful, thank you!

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