Hello :) New with a quick question...

alexandrarae90
alexandrarae90 Posts: 61 Member
edited September 27 in Introduce Yourself
I really like the setup here and feel like it's going to help me out a lot. But I have a question about my sisters calorie intake. She signed up, filled out the info but it says to only eat up to 1200 cals a day which seems *very* low to me. I don't want it to end up being some kind of mistake and have her be unhealthy because of it.. Does anyone else have a really low cal intake?

Replies

  • jackiegirl23
    jackiegirl23 Posts: 1
    hahahahah hi al. thanks for looking out for me :)
  • dietcoke281
    dietcoke281 Posts: 226 Member
    Mine is 1290 and I'm not overweight. Don't worry about it :)
  • lisamarie1227
    lisamarie1227 Posts: 88
    mines 1200:)
  • 1life2live_cjg
    1life2live_cjg Posts: 75
    Mine is only 1200 calories
  • anacsitham5
    anacsitham5 Posts: 810 Member
    I was overweight when I started and it set me for 1200 calories a day. I am in the normal range now and it is still 1200. It will never go lower than that because it would cause a starvation mode for your body. It ony has me go over 1200 calories when I log exercise. Good Luck!!!
  • MzBug
    MzBug Posts: 2,173 Member
    1200 is the lowest suggested that a woman go in order to get the proper nutrition. Your calorie allowance all depends on how you set up your profile and what you want MFP to do for you. MFP will only go as low as 1200. You do have the option of using your exercise calories too! So...the more you move the more you get to eat.
  • alexandrarae90
    alexandrarae90 Posts: 61 Member
    Awesome! Thanks so much!
  • jagianotti
    jagianotti Posts: 18
    mine is 1200 too, don't forget you get extra calories for exercise, but I try not to use all of them. It is very cute that you are looking out for you sister!:flowerforyou:
  • registers
    registers Posts: 782 Member
    Here is a caloric calculator, make sure it's close to the caloric intake of myfitnesspal, if it's not, then something is wrong.
    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
  • Jenni268
    Jenni268 Posts: 202 Member
    If 1200 seems too low or undoable, then I'd suggest changing the goals. When I first signed up, I had a goal of losing 2 pounds per week. This put me at 1200 cals a day and losing about 1.75 pounds a week, since MFP won't suggest going UNDER 1200, not matter what.

    I had a very hard time with the 1200. I felt deprived and irritated, so I changed my goal to 1 pound a week. I am losing at that rate, and don't feel like I'm depriving myself of anything. Granted, some of the feelings in the beginning were probably just because I was just starting out and had to adjust to my new lifestyle. I could probably go down to 1200 cals now that I am established, but I really like the way I'm going for now.

    I'm not sure what your sister's goals are, but she could reassess them. But just know that MFP won't go under 1200 cals, since going under that can be harmful and counterproductive. Good luck to you and your sister!!!!!!!! I'm glad to see you guys doing it together!
  • MeliciousMelis
    MeliciousMelis Posts: 458 Member
    I started out at 1200 and did fine...but I did seem to plateau after a few months. I upped it to 1400 and lost some and then upped again to 1600. It's got me at a 1 lb. loss a week, and so far so good.

    Sometimes you just have to tweak things to see what works best.

    Going UNDER 1200 though, is a big no no. So if there is exercise involved, be sure to eat back those exercise calories.

    You both are in the right place, MFP is AWESOME. :happy:
  • Sugarchef
    Sugarchef Posts: 319 Member
    To asmcriminal, I checked the link and I like it! I exercise a lot and I knew 1200 per day was really low. I was always hungry! I think bumping it up to 1500 will help a lot. Thanks for the info! :smile:
  • dwjohns
    dwjohns Posts: 1
    Hi, try the BMR calculator on the site. I am male, 5' 11", 182 lbs and mine is 1700 per day with a recommended calorie intake of 1200. Usually 500 per day less than the BMR. 500 calories per day for 7 days is 3500 per week for a 1 to 2 pound weight loss. It's really just the basic math. Add in the calories burned if you or your sister are extremely athletic.
  • paperpromisesx3
    paperpromisesx3 Posts: 67
    Going under 1200 is not exactly unhealthy. If anyone here watches Biggest Loser, you would have seen that at the beginning of the season, the "Unknown Team" was eating around 1,050 calories a day. I found a formula (your weight x 12 - 500) to figure out the calories you should be eating to lose weight. I currently consume 960 calories a day, and while yes, it is difficult, I always feel satisfied.
  • weewifie
    weewifie Posts: 3
    I'm on 1200 a week too. I'm on day nine and have lost 6lbs. I'm 29 and 5ft 0 tall. I work as a nurse.

    I don't feel under nourished on the 1200 either, but I make sure I do exercise and I get extra cals. If I want a blow out night - I try to do a bit more walking etc to make up for what I'll eat/drink alcoholically later.

    It's working for me for sure.

    I did think at first though 1200 cals!!!!!!! argh! but seriously - it's been fine.
  • kseier
    kseier Posts: 91 Member
    i cannot eat 1200 calories a day. like no. hahah. here's a good calculation that i get from my turbofire workout book that makes more sense to me:

    First you need your Resting Metabolic Rate. (RMR) (This is what you burn by being at rest)
    Take: You're current body weight x 10= ______

    Next is your daily activity burn. (DAB) This is what you do BESIDES your excersize. Say if you have an office job, you probably sit a lot. Or you're a mail person you're always moving.
    Sedentary (Office)- RMR x 10%=____
    Moderately Active (Retail Sales person)- RMR x 20%=____
    Very Active (Mail Deliverer)- RMR x 30%=____

    Step 3 is your daily excersize. SAy you burn 300 calories a day on average. That's what you'll add. Turbofrie for instance burns 650 calories a day. that's what i add. (DE)

    Now you will tkae a calories DEFICIT (CD): A deficit of 500 cals will help you lose 1 lb. a week. it is not reccommended to get UNDER a 1000 CD.

    Now you put it all together!

    (RMR + DAB + DE) MINUS your calorie defecit. = your target. you do this about every 3 weeks as your body weight changes, or if you change jobs or start excersizing more or at a higher intensity.

    here's an example:

    my body weight is 163. my RMR is 1630.
    i'm moderately active, so my DAB is 1630 x .2= 326
    i do turbofire so my excersize is 650.
    my CD is 800. to lose almost 2 lbs a week.

    1630 + 326 + 650 - 800= rounded down to 1800. <--- that's how much i eat :) and i lose about 1.3-.6 ish each week!


    Also, you will eat less from your RMR as your weight goes down BUT once your weight loss slows down you decrease your calorie dfecit. Say when I want to maintain my weight at 130, I'll be eating 300 less cals from my RMR but i'll gain back those 800 defecit calories from when i was trying to lose.

    Just message me if this doesn't make sense to anyone that's interested in trying to use that formula lol
  • paperpromisesx3
    paperpromisesx3 Posts: 67
    Your way is very similar to my calculation. I got 920 calories per day your way. My way, I get 959
  • anbegley
    anbegley Posts: 163 Member
    I was at 1200 when I started. After about 1.5 weeks I was really cranky as I was hungry all the time. I bumped it to 1350 (which you can manually do) and I have been losing.
    Good luck
  • alexandrarae90
    alexandrarae90 Posts: 61 Member
    Thank you everyone! All of your responses have been very helpful. We are both really looking forward to this journey. I have been reading through the message boards for the last hour and I am really, really happy to have found this. I tried Weight Watchers before but never stuck to it... it became a burden. But this seems so much more motivational and *fun*. Especially with all the support.

    Thanks a lot! :)

    xo
  • brandijo2011
    brandijo2011 Posts: 5
    Mine is only 1200 also(:
  • sister_bear
    sister_bear Posts: 529 Member
    I had a really hard time with 1200 calories, but I've done my homework and I know it makes sense. I was coming from a diet of 2k-3k calories a day though. Woops.

    It was a gradual process to get down to 1200 calories and feel full. Optimally, I eat 3-5 times a day. I try to keep my meals between 300-400 calories and then I have two snacks to fill the gaps.
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