Post Your Maintenance Calories!

marchegt
marchegt Posts: 156 Member
edited September 28 in Food and Nutrition
Hey all! I am interested in seeing where everyone stands for maintenance calories! Right now the maintenance calories that MFP gives me are quite a bit lower than what other sites have given me.... so I thought I would check on here and see what everyone else is given! If you're interested, post your height, age, gender, weight, fitness level (more from exercise than daily activity... so how much you actually work out) and maintenance calories! I'd just love to see where I stand among everyone else!

5'6
23 years old
female
128lbs
fairly active- workout 30-60 minutes a day at least 6 days a week
1690 calories
«13

Replies

  • kerrbear79
    kerrbear79 Posts: 229 Member
    I noticed that too about this site having the maintenance calories lower. Other sites tell me close to 1600 and on here it is more like mid 1400's!! I've been slowly trying to increase mine and am up to 1350 now. Guess I'll see when I hit 1500 if I start gaining. =0
  • mapexdrummer69
    mapexdrummer69 Posts: 445
    5'7
    Male
    173 lbs.
    Desk job, lift weights 4 days a week.
    2850 on rest days, 3300 on workout days
  • Angela4Health
    Angela4Health Posts: 1,319 Member
    I'm 26
    5'2
    110lbs
    maintenance calories are 1490
  • aprilshowers13
    aprilshowers13 Posts: 105
    female, age 30, 5'8, 167lbs, I stand on my feet during the day
    mfp gave around 2000, I didn't believe it especially if my bmr is 1527

    Last month I gave myself a "diet break", but continued lifting and ate around 2300-2700 cals a day for the month of May. My weight stayed between 167-168.
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
    5'7"
    146-149 lbs
    36 years old
    desk job. ~135 minutes weight lifting and ~60 minutes HIIT per week

    My maintenance seems to be about 2500. But I have it set it to 2250 to allow a margin of error in my logging.

    MFP gives me some low number, several hundred calories less. I only followed the MFP #'s for the first couple of weeks here.

    edit: added my activity level
  • stevemcknight
    stevemcknight Posts: 647 Member
    Musician
    34 y/o
    Lift 3-4x a week, basically no cardio. I walk a lot.
    175 lbs. - 6'2

    I find that 3200 of clean food seems to keep me around the same weight.
  • up2me2lose20
    up2me2lose20 Posts: 360 Member
    I just went to Maintenance Mode over the weekend. MFP gives me 1730 calories. I'm 5"6, 35 y/o female, 125lbs, light activity throughout the day, exercise 6x week at 45 min per day.
  • spaz2phreek
    spaz2phreek Posts: 6
    27 y/o female
    5"0'
    115lbs
    very sedentary
    1120 cal for maintenance....

    Just started trying to make changes. Will be working on slowly getting more active so I'll be watching my maintenance calories to make sure I'm still always eating enough.
  • Barneystinson
    Barneystinson Posts: 1,357 Member
    Having tested this out a few times, I can consume around 2000-2200 calories and still maintain.

    Female, 5'0", moderately active

    Mmmm...food.
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,078 Member
    I have no idea what my maintenance weight will be, if it's not much higher than what i'm put on for losing (1200) i would not be able to cope.

    I wonder why this site gives so much less calories than others do for both losing and maintaining?
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    27 y/o female
    5"0'
    115lbs
    very sedentary
    1120 cal for maintenance....

    Just started trying to make changes. Will be working on slowly getting more active so I'll be watching my maintenance calories to make sure I'm still always eating enough.

    There is no way your maintenance is 1120 - if you were in a coma that would be your maintenance. That's likely your BMR, so times it by 1.2 if you are sedentary so it should be around 1350-1400 minimum.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    Having tested this out a few times, I can consume around 2000-2200 calories and still maintain.

    Female, 5'0", moderately active

    Mmmm...food.

    That's approximately mine as well (I'm 5'3" and 110 pounds). I workout 4-5 hours a week and I don't have a desk job so I'm not sitting all day.
  • xcrystalx
    xcrystalx Posts: 19
    I'm 19
    5' 1"
    108lbs
    Fairly sedentary
    My maintaince calories is about 1200, i know that just through experience, i dont bother using online calculators because different ones give me different amounts!
  • Hannah_Banana
    Hannah_Banana Posts: 1,242 Member
    Per my body bugg, my maintenance is around 2100/day.

    23
    5'3
    209lbs
    Sedentary (desk job)
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
    5'8"
    171lbs
    deskjob. weights x 3, mmax 3 per week
    Maintenance approximately 2800-2900.

    No idea what MFP would tell me as I don't use the recommended ones either. I've been doing this long enough to know what I need.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    35
    5'5"
    120 lbs
    Moderately active

    I set my activity to Very Active and still lost weight (I'm a teacher, not a bike courier!) although I eat back exercise calories too.

    My maintenance seems to be 2300-2400. I'm glad to see this thread because I keep worrying that I must be ill to need to eat so much!

    It seems mfp uses a more up-to-date equation than some, but I think the old-fashioned one fits me best :laugh:
  • fromaquasar
    fromaquasar Posts: 811 Member
    23
    5"5
    122 Pounds
    Sedentary job but 6x cardio workouts a week
    Maintenance cals currently -1708
    Goal weight (118.8) maintenance - 1663

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/113609-relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner is a great post I use for this stuff
  • rlysrh
    rlysrh Posts: 244
    on my goals page on here it tells me my maintenance is 1,830 (:
    I'm 19
    5'6
    148lbs
    and I set my daily activity to sedentary
    I don't really ever work out but if I have to go somewhere I always walk
  • QueenofCups
    QueenofCups Posts: 365 Member
    Female
    30 y/o
    5'4'"
    150lbs
    Stay at home Mom, so lightly active throughout the day
    workout 5-6 days a week 30-45 minutes (usually cardio like running, aerobics, kickboxing) with some strength training
    MFP sets my maintenance at 1870
  • NHGirl23
    NHGirl23 Posts: 2,657 Member
    46 year old female
    5"5'
    138lbs
    8-hour desk job, but I try to do 360 minutes of exercise each week, mostly cardio
    Just hit my goal last Friday, and MFP gives me 1,580 calories for maintenance
  • volume77
    volume77 Posts: 670 Member
    5'6'
    24
    112
    F
    No set exercise schedule
    I have a standing job
    I'm usually at 1500-1700. . I seem to maintain on that
  • tachyon_master
    tachyon_master Posts: 226 Member
    Still trying to figure this out to be honest...I *should* be maintaining, but I'm not.

    5'2", 32 years, female
    95 lbs
    Train 7 days a week (but take a rest day if my body needs it), for about 90 minutes a day. Burn between 1000-1500 a day. Yes, I do have a reason for training this much that has nothing to do with my weight.
    Mostly sedentary job - with bouts of insane fieldwork built in.
    Theoretically I should be maintaining at around 2400-2900 (including exercise). I'm eating over 3000 at the moment and still losing. I'll figure it out eventually!
  • RunDoozer
    RunDoozer Posts: 1,699 Member
    Per my body bugg, my maintenance is between 3500 and 4000 calories. Gonna be a pain in the *kitten* if i ever decide to bulk.

    30
    6'0
    217lbs
    Light - moderately active
  • saltedcaramel86
    saltedcaramel86 Posts: 238 Member
    26 year old female
    5"5
    133lbs (usually)
    Sedentary job, but work out 30-60 mins a day about 5 days a week including cardio and weights

    MFP gave me 1810 on maintenance but other sites have my TDEE at 2186 so I've set it at 2000 to see how I get on as I seem to have dropped down to 130 according to my scales. I'll re-evaluate in a few weeks.
  • Shadowknight137
    Shadowknight137 Posts: 1,243 Member
    18
    Male
    165cm(5'5)
    55kg (121lbs)
    Activity level? No idea - I'd say maybe lightly active or moderately, maybe. Lift three times a week and do a bit of walking to, from and in between Uni.

    Maintenance cals were 2000, but now might just be 2200; I've reached a plateu on that number, and have had to up them lately.
  • tami101
    tami101 Posts: 617 Member
    I have no idea what my maintenance weight will be, if it's not much higher than what i'm put on for losing (1200) i would not be able to cope.

    I wonder why this site gives so much less calories than others do for both losing and maintaining?

    The calorie goal is set low on MFP because it is designed for you to eat your exercise calories back. Even when you get to maintenance.

    For me, maintenance calories for my goal weight is 2150. Which is close to what my calorie goal for losing is on other sites that have exercise already figured in the plan.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    Hey all! I am interested in seeing where everyone stands for maintenance calories! Right now the maintenance calories that MFP gives me are quite a bit lower than what other sites have given me.... so I thought I would check on here and see what everyone else is given! If you're interested, post your height, age, gender, weight, fitness level (more from exercise than daily activity... so how much you actually work out) and maintenance calories! I'd just love to see where I stand among everyone else!

    5'6
    23 years old
    female
    128lbs
    fairly active- workout 30-60 minutes a day at least 6 days a week
    1690 calories

    I'm very close to you in weight, i.e. 130lb. I'm also older than you (37) and less active than you.

    MFP gives me something ridiculously low, like 1500 cals/day. I not only lose at this amount, I have bad effects from not eating enough (grumpy, excessively hungry, light headed) - this is what MFP predicts for maintenance, and it's actually too low even for a calorie deficit for me!

    I'm currently testing whether 1850 cals/day is my real maintenance by eating this amount for at least a couple of weeks and seeing if my weight is stable. This actually may be a deficit and I could be burning more than this. Katch McArdle predicts 1870 cals/day for maintenance for me, and in the past I think this was the correct maintenance calories for me, but now I think I'm more active than I was in the past, hence this number being more like a very slight deficit.

    Definitely question the MFP calories, but no calculator is going to give you a totally accurate result, you need to look at your real world results, and adjust them from there. If you think the number you've been given is too low based on real world results, then I'd say you're correct.
  • larnsperger
    larnsperger Posts: 161 Member
    54
    5'6"
    132
    Desk job
    Pure Barre 4x week (55min session HRM burn = 380-480)
    MFP = 1530
    Just raised to 1678 based on last 5 weeks numbers.

    I already know from past experience to maintain this weight I can't have many calories without exercise.
  • fitnessjoes
    fitnessjoes Posts: 68
    5'9
    35 years old
    Male
    200lbs
    set to sedentary and I just add all my workouts and eat the Calories.
    2054

    My deficit is 500 calories so I usually get around 1600 on my non workout days and 1900 on my workout days depending on how many calories I burn....
  • Mutant13
    Mutant13 Posts: 2,485 Member
    22 female
    130lb, 5"8
    Lift heavy 3xweek no cardio

    My regular maintenance is around 1800. Afterthought current bulk it will probably be a little higher
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