my calories are preset to 1,200? to lose weight?... : (

Mine orginally had it set at 1200 too, but I found it was too low, so I manually entered mine at 1500.
For my body 1200 is far too low, and I'm constantly hungry even if I eat all my exercise calories back, it put me at a plateau! But you have to find out what works for you!

Some people may be set to maintenence if it is that high. Also, when you exercise you get calories added to your day so you have more calories to eat per day.

Its worked out on a number of variable such as your age, height, activity levels, how much you want to lose and what rate you want to lose it. I'm 5'8 and exercise at least 3 times a week, I have several stones to lose and am set at a target of 2lb per week loss. MFP has given me 1510 calories.
hope that helps you x

Keep in mind that when you exercise you earn back calories, so many people start with the 1200 but when they workout and burn say 300 calories, that 300 gets added back to make it a goal of 1500 for the day.

It's based on your goals as well. It calculates what your body needs to sustain daily activity based on your height, weight, and that activity level you set in the beginning. Then if you set your goal to lose 2 lbs per week, it subtracts the calories you need to cut out of your diet in order to accomplish that goal. One pound is 3500 calories, so 7000 calories, divided by 7 (days in the week) will be subtracted from your normal daily burn. If you are already small, it will automatically set you to 1200 if that calculation takes you below 1200 because 1200 is the minimum that you should not ever go below. If you change your goal to 1 lb per week, your calories may go up a bit.

i made the mistake of eating small portions of the old foods i loved, but ive now changed and am eating larger portions of healthy food, so im not hungry anymore, in fact, sometimes i find it hard to eat my suggested net, even before exercise

obviously i could eat half a mcdonalds burger, or a gorgeous grilled chicken and spices and veggies for roughly the same kcals, but i know the chicken meal keeps me fuller for longer as there is physically more food

1,200 is the lowest it will go. When I see someone has a goal of 1,200, I see it as a red flag. It usually means someone has chosen a weight-loss goal of 2 pounds/week, which in my opinion is entirely too aggressive for most people. Also, your calorie goal doesn't factor exercise into the equation, so if you are working out, you should enter your workouts into your Exercise Diary, and MFP will add the appropriate number of calories to your daily goal. At your current size (not very big), I'd encourage you to set your weight-loss goal at 1 pound/week — at the most — and then eat back all your exercise calories. Try it for a few weeks, and see how that works for you. It may seem like too many calories to be true, but I think you might be pleasantly surprised. :flowerforyou:

Yes as you are closer to your goal weight the lower the calorie goal but I want to emphasize that it has to do with how fast you want to lose. They recommend 1 pound a week. I find I lose at 1.5 pounds a week. Try 1 pound a week and if that doesn't work then set it for faster. If you put it for more it will give you less colories. I plan to set mine for 0.5 pounds loss when I get down near my goal weight. Good luck. Oh about the rice my husband is Chinese but he has finally started to love brown rice. It has taken 30 years and being overweight to get him to try it. My brother in law got Type II diabetes and lost weight by putting all his chinese food on lettuce. I heard he's back to the rice now. Hard to stay away from carbos in Hawaii.