1500 calories- did you lose eating this many?

24

Replies

  • thebobogrind
    thebobogrind Posts: 143 Member
    Thank you all, I'm beginning to feel more confident about this journey. My 1st week weigh-in is this coming Tuesday, and I'm hoping for a 1.5-2lb loss. I'll keep you all posted! :)
    I love reading about all these success stories!!!
  • OsricTheKnight
    OsricTheKnight Posts: 340 Member
    If you're only weighing once per week, I would only look for progress as the average of maybe 2 or 3 weeks worth of weigh ins. On any given day your weight could easily be up 2-3 lbs just due to water, it doesn't mean you're not losing.

    Osric
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    1500 is my sweet spot. I can lose on it now that I'm thin and most definitely could lose on it when I was overweight.
  • mfm143
    mfm143 Posts: 131 Member
    I have been on 1575 c/d for about 2 mo now and have lost close to 10 lbs - I average about 1.3lbs per week - I think if I ate any less it would be counterproductive -I lift 3x/wk and do HIIT 2x/wk - I too felt my weight loss was really slow as others mentioned but I realize that I am right on track - slow and steady wins the race ;)
  • Firefly0606
    Firefly0606 Posts: 366 Member
    Yes you can. I aim for 1500 a day. I have lost 7.5kg (16.5lbs) since mid-June.

    That includes having a few weekends in there where I ate everything in the house. The house itself is lucky to have survived.

    I work a very sedentary desk job. In regards to exercise I started karate classes and training for 1.5hours once and sometimes twice per week. As the weather warms up a little more I will walk the dog before work as well.

    MFP started me on 1200 as well. It didn't take me long to realise that it was too low for me. Sure, I'd lose weight faster, but someone would cross my path and surely die. Better to set my calories at a level where I am not HANGRY all the time, lose weight a little more slowly. At this rate I'm on track to be 17kg lighter than my starting weight by Christmas - and that is a number I am happy with.
  • jodybo2
    jodybo2 Posts: 116 Member
    MFP gave me 1200 and I just could not do it! I am 5'2" and 121, highest weight was 194. I lost the past 15 pounds averaging around 1700. I use the TDEE method, and do not count exercise calories because I found that mfp's exercise calories are exaggerated. I lift weights twice a week and walk a couple of miles a day. Be sure to eat lots of protein because muscle loss sucks!
  • mirki002
    mirki002 Posts: 47 Member
    If you plug your stats (current weight, height, age, etc.) into MFP and set your goal to "maintain my current weight", it will give you a daily # of calories at which your weight would stay the same. If you eat fewer calories than that #, you will lose weight (if you are logging accurately). I am guessing that you could eat more than 1,500 and still lose weight, although I don't know your height or other stats. If you don't feel 1,200 is enough, eat more and don't wear yourself down. Also exercise is a great way to earn more calories for your day. Good luck :-)
  • Jilliankosto
    Jilliankosto Posts: 216 Member

    [/quote]
    Change your setting to 1lb or 1/2 lb per week then you will get a higher calorie allowance.

    In answer to your question, I lost on 1460 calories ( so slightly under 1500)
    My starting weight was 72 kg and I lost the 10 kg that I wanted to lose.
    No I didn't exercise a lot
    [/quote]

    This is what i am eating at, 1460. I am going back and forth on the scale. Can I ask your height and SW? Thanks!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Never eaten less than 1650 (total). I'm 3 pounds from my goal weight.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    You'd be fine at 1500 I'm sure.
  • danaepoppie
    danaepoppie Posts: 15 Member
    You can only do that because you have the metabolism for it. Not everyone can. Everyone has a different rate of processing foods and burning calories.




    [

    quote="skinnymalinkyscot;33803293"]W


    ell I must be doing something wrong , I eat whatever I like, including carbs & sugar and the odd bar of chocolate if I want it and I eat between 1200 and 1500 calories a day. So far Ive lost 12lbs since August 1st and I LOVE carbs, I have toast , sandwiches or cereal every day, ETA I add honey to my ice cream, thats a sugar ...I eat baked potatos, those are carb too, Im losing weight no matter what I eat by eating the things I love by counting calories. Its nothing to do with not eating carbs, sugar etc that is only the atkins type of diet, im living proof of losing weight and eating carbs. 12 years ago I lost 5 stones and I ate carbs every day.

    Also both last time I dieted and this time, I dont do exercise of any description except for walking to town and back which is half a mile away, which I do twice a week. I force myself to do that due to arthritis in my ankles.

    So I managed to lose weight just fine and am losing this time by eating whatever I like, plus carbs every day and sugary stuff occasionally say once a week, and NOT MUCH EXERCISE at all, tbh I hate exercise unless its walking, going shopping for something fabulous or sex.

    Its energy in and energy out, those are calories of any description, although preferrably nutritious ones.

    Ive had a cold this last week and all I fancied at dinner time last night was 2 desserts , one chocolate and one tiramisu ( my diary is open), so I had them. I was roughly at my calorie goal for the day, cant remember if slightly over or under, but I had them and they were lovely.

    So Start at 1500, im sure you will lose and as you get nearer to goal weight you can reduce the calories a little to get to target weight.[/quote]

  • gaelicstorm26
    gaelicstorm26 Posts: 589 Member
    We have similar stats, OP and I'm losing nicely eating between 1500 and 1600 daily. I don't eat back exercise calories to account for any logging errors or tastes of things while I'm cooking.
  • thebobogrind
    thebobogrind Posts: 143 Member
    edited September 2015
    Thank you all!!! I have lost a little under 2 lbs after my first week
  • pruittjenn
    pruittjenn Posts: 2 Member
    My doctor mentioned a 1600 cal/day diet for general weight loss (given a normal person consumes around 2200 cal/day. But given my weight, goals, current diet (FAR more than 2200 cal!) and sedentary job, MFP still put me at 2,040 cal/day. Which is much, much more manageable to me than 1500. This is my FIRST day with MFP and with past experiences of weight loss I know I'm more successful being eased into something rather than a drastic, immediate change. Baby steps, so to speak. Perhaps you could consider doing say 1 lb loss per week for 2-4 weeks then changing back to 2 lbs if you think 1500 cal/day is too difficult. I surely couldn't go from my previous eating habits to 1500 cal cold turkey. GL to you!
  • Deleval417
    Deleval417 Posts: 9 Member
    YorriaRaine wrote: »
    I have no idea what your info is (heigh, age, etc. or what your goal weight is, and if your sedentary or not). So using the power of math, and pretending your 26 at 5'7" and sedentary, let me throw some math your way. (The same math mfp uses).

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-DLWjY06OfKTFZ5UGRaNjNlbFE/view?usp=sharing

    Keeping in mind 1500 is assuming net calories (meaning your eating exercise calories back). So its more than possible.

    I can redo that spreadsheet in like 2 seconds with your info if you give it. :wink:
    (I also have the thing in google spreadsheets if your interested in having a copy you can edit for yourself). That equation for bmr only applies to woman there is a different one for men I have in another sheet of same document. I also have a TDEE method sheet.

    I like spreadsheets :s

    YorriaRaineI think I could use the spreadsheet.

  • thebobogrind
    thebobogrind Posts: 143 Member
    @pruittjenn from what I understand/have calculated, my maintenance caloric intake (to maintain my current weight) would be around 2300 calories, so I figure anything under that should assist in weightloss. However, I think psychologically, if I can see 'some' progress sooner than later, it would be more encouraging. I understand that slow loss is better in the long run, but I couldn't eat 2000-2200 calories for example, and only lose 1-2 lbs a month, I mean I 'could', but I wouldn't want to.

    So yes 1500, 1600, even 1800 calories would be good, but I'm doing ok on 1500 calories for now, so I wouldn't want to increase it. MFP gave me 1200 calories to start, and after the 3rd day, I realized I couldn't do it long term as I was left hungry towards the end of the day. I increased to 1500, and after the 1st week, I feel it is do-able long-term. I hope so anyway!

    I'm thinking when I start back at the gym, doing intense cardio and some weight lifting, I could eat more, maybe around 1700-1800 calories (or my BMR), to net 1500 (right now I am not engaged in an excercise regime).

    I'll update everyone in another week, and see what happens :smiley:

  • quafferj
    quafferj Posts: 45 Member
    Deleval417 wrote: »
    YorriaRaine wrote: »
    I have no idea what your info is (heigh, age, etc. or what your goal weight is, and if your sedentary or not). So using the power of math, and pretending your 26 at 5'7" and sedentary, let me throw some math your way. (The same math mfp uses).

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-DLWjY06OfKTFZ5UGRaNjNlbFE/view?usp=sharing

    Keeping in mind 1500 is assuming net calories (meaning your eating exercise calories back). So its more than possible.

    I can redo that spreadsheet in like 2 seconds with your info if you give it. :wink:
    (I also have the thing in google spreadsheets if your interested in having a copy you can edit for yourself). That equation for bmr only applies to woman there is a different one for men I have in another sheet of same document. I also have a TDEE method sheet.

    I like spreadsheets :s

    YorriaRaineI think I could use the spreadsheet.

    I would like a copy of the spreadsheet too!!! That's a great tool!
  • YorriaRaine
    YorriaRaine Posts: 370 Member
    edited September 2015
    quafferj wrote: »
    Deleval417 wrote: »

    YorriaRaineI think I could use the spreadsheet.

    I would like a copy of the spreadsheet too!!! That's a great tool!

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iBlI6DjAroZC8nCVUyGlSZxPxfhEWPOod8UVyu6RhFE/edit?usp=sharing

    Here you guys go, if you have a google drive, just go to file -> make a copy. If you want me to do it for you let me know just send me a message with your age, height, starting weight, your goal weight and the minimum calories you know you don't want to go below (1200 for women, 1500 men is absolute lowest you should go but i know i personally don't find those numbers sustainable so an example for me would be 1400).

    If you guys see mistakes let me know so I can fix, let me know if you have suggestions for improvements, and if you pass it around please credit me for it.

    The last two sheets are fitbit related if that pertains to you let me know.

    There are sheets for two methods, one where you pick the calories, and another for TDEE method.

    Feel free to friend me and then if i Improve the spreadsheets I'll let everybody know in my feed.
  • quafferj
    quafferj Posts: 45 Member
    thank you!!
  • thebobogrind
    thebobogrind Posts: 143 Member
    Hello everyone :smiley:

    So today was my 3rd week weigh-in and I've lost 4.2 pounds total! :smiley: That's right around the 1.5 lbs loss stats given to me my MFP.

    I did follow mirki002's suggestion on this thread and calculated my maintenance calories, and then set MFP for 1.5 lb loss, which increased my cal intake from 1500 to 1580, so that is what I've eaten at for the past week.

    I'm feeling very proud of my success- although it's only a 4.2 lb loss, I 'look' like a lost more...? My face, my back, and even my belly look smaller? Only after 4.2lb? I'm assuming this 4.2lb loss is not really water weight then?

    I can remember when I did other diets I would lose 5 lb the first week, and I definitely did not look or feel the way I look/feel now?

    Can anyone attest to that?

    Feedback welcome :smile:

    Thanks!
  • littlecrystal
    littlecrystal Posts: 110 Member
    Yes you can. I average 1500kcal a day. 1000kcal and 2000kcal on alternating days. I lost 20lbs in 2.5 months. My metabolism keeps going.
  • Trishfitz78
    Trishfitz78 Posts: 69 Member
    I've lost 29 lbs so far on 1500 calories per day and I eat some of my exercise calories back too! :)
  • LexGN
    LexGN Posts: 24 Member
    i lost at 1450 calories a day, and eating back only 1/2 exercise calories. I wore a heart monitor, so i knew my exercise calories were pretty accurate, so on high intensity workout days I'd burn 600 calories, and I'd eat back 300 of those, and I still lost pretty quickly.
    So if you exercise you should be able to eat that much. you could try staggering too...eat 1200 one day, 1500 the next. : )
  • allenpriest
    allenpriest Posts: 1,102 Member
    Two pounds per week is too much to start out. Set it at one half pound per week and ease into it. You didn't get fat overnight and you won't lose the weight quickly and keep it off. Slow and steady wins the race.
  • thebobogrind
    thebobogrind Posts: 143 Member
    @ allenpriest I did set it to 1.5lb a week... 1.5 *3 is 4.5pounds... I lost 4.2....
  • mommarnurse
    mommarnurse Posts: 515 Member
    At your weight you could and should really be at 1800-2000 and you'd still lose weight. A good amount too.
  • zikarra
    zikarra Posts: 16 Member
    edited September 2015
    I lost ~ 28 lb eating around 1500-1600 in 3-4 months with no exercise and I eat whatever I fancy - that makes for about 0.8kg a week which is the calculated target.

    I try to include protein where possible as it is more saturating,that way 1500 is easy for me to do without being hungry or greedy. I didnt stick to it all the time and I don`t log everything anymore but I`m still loosing and I probably eat 1600-1700 half the week.

    I find that MFP has taught me a lot about calories and portion sizes,I can pretty much give you the calories for every food just by looking at it and I adjusted all my recipes down to suit f.e 500kcal as a dinner which is now normal for us.

    I also wanted to lose weight fast when I started but its demotivating as you either have to exercise a lot or cut down on your calories (1200)- I love cooking and I`m a foodie so 1500 is perfect for me, I just need to be patient and make sure I don't eat my calories in just carbs as it will leave me hungry.

    It all depends on how much time you have too,I have a household to run,I'm in university and I have my own business - I really don't have much energy to put into proper exercise.

  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member
    edited September 2015
    I personally can't eat more than 1200 calories ( I am a bit under 4' 11" and almost 70 years old ), but am an exception. Most people who have been really successful with weight loss have done so eating 1500 calories or more, depending on their age, height, weight and activity level.
    Imo there is only a very small % that can justify eating 1200 calories, because for the average person it is not sustainable, just as aiming for a 2 pound loss ( unless a person is really obese ) a week until goal is also not sustainable.
    I lost 65 plus pounds aiming for .5 pounds a week. The process was relatively easy and so far I don't even have any saggy skin.....yay !
    Without a food scale I would never have been able to do it.
  • BakerAcer
    BakerAcer Posts: 27 Member
    Hi, I started about 2.5 months ago at 208 and am down to 192. I net a little over 1500 a day and frequently average about 1000 over my net goal for the week. I set myself on moderately active (I'm probably actually active) and eat back most of my exercise calories. I did realize that using MFPs calorie count for workouts was too high, but have started using Strava to log workouts and its counter seems much more realistic. I weigh myself everyday (in the morning when I'm lightest) and it fluctuates a ton! I definitely retain at least 5 lbs of water weight before my period.

    Good luck!!
  • kb1927
    kb1927 Posts: 32 Member
    My weight has bounced around a good deal the past few years (I'm on my 5th pregnancy since 2010 with a lots of bed rest, plus I started out too heavy) but at about 200 pounds, I lose steadily at 1800, even eating back exercise calories. Right now I'm pregnant, weigh 230, and I'm loosing slowly at 2400, which seems impossibly high.

    You are right to think 1200 is low. I read somewhere on here that a good strategy is to figure out calories required for goal weight, and work on eating that. Then maintenance is not a shock because you've already been eating that way for some time. It might be a little slower than the 1200 calories plan, but I have been trying to take advice from long time maintainers, since they seem like the experts.
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