Do you stick with the 1200 cals/per day suggested by MFP?

ShirleyVJ
ShirleyVJ Posts: 16 Member
edited November 25 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm thinking that 1200 cals per day is too low for me and my weight, even if I want to lose 2lbs per week. IIFYM gave me 1900 per day and 160 grams of protein versus like 60 grams of protein from MFP?
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Replies

  • nicole2792
    nicole2792 Posts: 23 Member
    Bump
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited October 2015
    Apples........and oranges.

    MFP asked how many pounds you want to lose each week. You chose an aggressive goal, so MFP defaulted to 1200 (the minimum). Then MFP gave you a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise. So you log exercise, you earn more calories.

    IIFYM includes exercise up front. With the calorie difference between MFP & IIFYM.....you must have a lower weekly weight loss goal in IIFYM and/or you intend to intend to exercise quite a bit.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    MFP uses NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenisis) as its caloric model. It does not include exercise and expects you to eat exercise calories back to maintain a net caloric intake.

    Most other sites use TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) as their caloric model. Those include exercise in the calorie goal.
  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
    The trick is to eat as much as you can and lose weight

    I did 1200 for months lost weight
    Now going towards maintenance and there are days i eat 2000 and there re days i eat 1500 and still lose weight fine.

    What IIFYM gave you is TDEE (daily activity WITH exercise )
    What MFP gave you is NEAT method ( So your daily total WITHOUT exercise) So you eat back your exercise or a part of it.


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  • ShirleyVJ
    ShirleyVJ Posts: 16 Member
    Okay I get it! The calorie difference was exercise or 600 calories. I'm going to be over with MFP since today is a rest day. I see now, I CAN eat the calories MFP gives me I wasn't sure. Another bump, I'll get over it.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    I'm not sure about the post. There is a question mark, but it comes at the end of a declarative sentence, so I'm going with the question in the thread title.

    No, I don't stick with my calorie goal. I go over or under, depending on how busy/hungry/sick I feel. It all averages out in the end, though. :)

    I really wish I was one of those people who had exactly the same amount of hunger every day of their lives, but I'm just not. So, fluctuations.
  • ShirleyVJ
    ShirleyVJ Posts: 16 Member
    Oh Kalikel, I thought I posed at clear question didn't know it came across as a statement of fact. I was asking the community if they stuck with the 1200 or not. Thanks for replying. It was helpful.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    IIFYM is horse-puckey - pay no attention to it.
  • lauraleefaith
    lauraleefaith Posts: 578 Member
    I'm at 1500.
  • ShirleyVJ
    ShirleyVJ Posts: 16 Member
    Thanks Yi5hedr3
  • jnv7594
    jnv7594 Posts: 983 Member
    I've been doing this for over a year, and I've never eaten 1200 calories. That's just not enough calories to keep me satiated. My calories right now are at just over 1700 even after losing 100 pounds. Perhaps two pounds a week is too aggressive for you. I have mine set to lose 1 pound per week, and as I get closer to my goal, I am going to adjust it to 1/2 a pound a week weight loss.
  • ShirleyVJ
    ShirleyVJ Posts: 16 Member
    Ok I will eat tomorrow and really try to listen to my hunger. Maybe I need to adjust my weight loss goal?
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
    Yi5hedr3 wrote: »
    IIFYM is horse-puckey - pay no attention to it.

    In what sense? Someone already explained the difference between IIFYM's and MFP's calorie goals.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    ShirleyVJ wrote: »
    Ok I will eat tomorrow and really try to listen to my hunger. Maybe I need to adjust my weight loss goal?

    The closer you are to your weight loss goal, the slower you should be losing... basically, if you have a lot to lose, you can lose aggressively, at 2 pounds per week, but if you have less to lose, you need to have a less aggressive goal of a pound per week or even less. As you approach maintenance, you will want to increase calories so that the deficit is smaller, and you adapt to eating more. This makes the transition easier, rather than just going from eating a calorie deficit while losing to a maintenance level.
    (I hope this makes sense to you, if not, I will try again, let me know)
  • mahafhassan895
    mahafhassan895 Posts: 5 Member
    Hi every body I began my diet 3 days ago and am not exercising am just too lazy too am just eating 1200per day sure plus the exercise calories they never over 200 calories ,do you think that's enough to lose 10 kilos or I just need to exercise with the diet. Wish you all to achieve your goals
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
    edited October 2015
    I do actually..and I really haven't had much problem sticking to it BUT I'm not a huge eater to begin with, and I am small built so I don't require a huge amount...if I happen to drink on the weekend, I'll go over my calories easily after 2 drinks, and I'm good with that...Life first, my waistline second...lol :wink: I digressed there..sorry...end point is it all evens out in the end...just live life xo
  • insearchofcheese
    insearchofcheese Posts: 45 Member
    I tried eating strictly 1200 calories, while ignoring eating back my exercise calories and (sometimes netting negative calories and always less than 1200) and while yes, I lost quite a bit of weight that way, 6 months on, my hair has started falling out by the handful, I've become very iron deficient, B12 deficient, I'm fatigued and irritable and have trouble making it through my workouts. But damn, my jeans look good on me! Seriously, though, I'm on high dose iron now and have upped my calories to include no less than 50% of my earned exercise calories. For the last couple of weeks I've eaten an average of 1600 and I'm still losing weight. I'm feeling better, but my hair isn't going to grow back overnight and it's going to be awhile before I undo the damage done. I guess the moral of my story is, be smart about getting the right amount of calories to sustain the needs of your body.

  • KrisiAnnH
    KrisiAnnH Posts: 352 Member
    I stuck to 1200 for 2+ months with no problem, and was averaging about 2lbs a week. Now that I'm closer to my goal I'm on 1350 for a 1lb a week loss, but some days I'm a little more lenient and go over. As I get closer to my goal I'll probably up it by 100 or so calories every now and again until I reach my goal and/or get to maintenance calories :)

    1200 is doable, but as many people say 'the winner is the person who can eat the most and still lose weight'. 1400 may not seem like much but those extra 200 calories a day can actually make (or at least feel) like a huge difference on a day to day basis :)
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    There is no way I could stick with 1200 gross calories. Eating back my exercise calories is the only way I could do it.
  • MAJdansk
    MAJdansk Posts: 145 Member
    senecarr wrote: »
    Yi5hedr3 wrote: »
    IIFYM is horse-puckey - pay no attention to it.

    In what sense? Someone already explained the difference between IIFYM's and MFP's calorie goals.

  • MAJdansk
    MAJdansk Posts: 145 Member
    Hi. I've been doing 1200 cal/day for about a month now....losing about a pound/week. It's gotten easier. I do a protein drink in the mornings to keep me full 'till lunch and it's only 160 cal....so that helps. I can't exercise because of an injury, and losing weight will help healing, so I'm super motivated to stay at 1200. Good luck with your journey.
  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,706 Member
    mahafhassan895 wrote: »
    Hi every body I began my diet 3 days ago and am not exercising am just too lazy too am just eating 1200per day sure plus the exercise calories they never over 200 calories ,do you think that's enough to lose 10 kilos or I just need to exercise with the diet. Wish you all to achieve your goals

    How can you eat your exercise calories, if you don't exercise ? At least that is what I understood. Please, forming real sentences with periods at the end would help a great deal in understanding.

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    1200 is your base and you earn more through exercise. That 1200 is based on what you inputed as your goals, so lowering the aggressiveness, will give you more calories and be more sustainable.
    You can go in and change your macros from the default setting. Good luck!
  • ShirleyVJ
    ShirleyVJ Posts: 16 Member
    Yes. I may have to adjust. And good for you justmisstracy, you have no trouble dieting and you're already quite small... Funny.
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
    edited October 2015
    ShirleyVJ wrote: »
    Yes. I may have to adjust. And good for you justmisstracy, you have no trouble dieting and you're already quite small... Funny.

    Sorry..I didn't mean dieting...I meant staying within my calorie goal..I don't call it dieting...and I'm small, but still could lose a pound or two, I meant my frame..As info..I did start this at 178 lbs...am now at approx 128......but ya, I can see where you would find it funny..!
  • hyperbeth1
    hyperbeth1 Posts: 70 Member
    I eat anywhere from 1200 to 1600 calories depending on how much exercise I do during the day. Some days I am hungrier than others.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    "Do you stick with the 1200 cals/per day suggested by MFP?"
    When I started, I gave MFP my stats, activity level and said I wanted to lose 1 lb per week. My starting calorie goal was 1330. It was fine. I stuck to it and lost at the rate I wanted. As I lost weight my goal lowered to 1270. I did not want to lower it to 1200 as MFP eventually recommended. I decided I wanted a slower more comfortable loss. For awhile I raised my goal to 1440 but currently I have it set at 1340. I try to eat between 1200-1500. I eat a portion of my exercise calories. I look at my calories for the whole week.
    ShirleyVJ wrote: »
    I'm thinking that 1200 cals per day is too low for me and my weight, even if I want to lose 2lbs per week. IIFYM gave me 1900 per day and 160 grams of protein versus like 60 grams of protein from MFP?

    I think 1200 is a hard place to start out because you can't really go any lower. If you have 100 lbs to lose you can probably do 2 lbs a week for awhile but you might be better off setting your goal to 1 lb a week. You could eat more than 1200 calories and lose weight.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    Yi5hedr3 wrote: »
    IIFYM is horse-puckey - pay no attention to it.
    Yet many people have successfully lost plenty of weight (or maintained/gained muscle) and maintained perfect health doing IIFYM.

    This advice is as poor as the rest of the (consistently poor) advice you dish out. You demonstrate a total misunderstanding of both nutrition and training principles. No offense, but I'd recommend you read a lot more and post a lot less.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    When I started with MFP it suggested 1460 not 1200 but that was based on my goals of 1lb a week....now that I have lost most of my weight (actually more than my initial goal) it gives me 1460 for 1/2lb a week. I eat anywhere between 1500-1800 to lose 1/2lb a week.

    I use an activity tracker and eat most of my adjustment back typically.

    At maintenance I could eat anywhere between 2k and 2400.
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
    MFP gave me 1200 calories per day. With respect to the MFP way, I find this whole method totally over complicates things for me (having to eat back 50-75% exercise calories etc). I use the TDEE method which includes me exercise - I'm on recomp now but I ate around 1400-1500 to lose weight and was successful :)
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