1200 calorie goal?

RaccoTaco
RaccoTaco Posts: 9 Member
edited November 29 in Health and Weight Loss
I am a 5'8 woman and currently weight 150 pounds. I've been trying to follow the calorie amount give to me, but always seem to be hungry afterwards. It has gotten to the point where I'm getting headaches and just lack energy after lunch. I currently intake 300 calories for breakfast, 300-600 for lunch, and the remaining for dinner. Should I increase my calorie intake? Or is there a calorie-intake plan that someone can inform me with?

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    How many pounds per week did you tell MFP that you want to lose? For many women, anything over 1 pound will give them a 1200 goal. For me, 1 pound per week would give me a 1250 goal and I'm not exactly teeny tiny. Keep in mind that MFP's goal is increased when you add your exercise, and you are supposed to eat your exercise calories. But also consider lowering your weekly weight loss goal if 1200 seems prohibitively low.
  • Are you excersizing so that you can eat back those calories?! I think that's what its really designed for. If youre still starving increase your calorie intake.
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
    1200 calories is awfully low for someone your height. Further, you're well within the healthy bmi for your height and age. At 22.8 in fact. Much lower and you're going into unhealthy territory. Why are you trying to lose weight? What's the reason? Maybe it's not that you need to lose weight, but that you'd like to change your body shape (smaller tummy?) and that's got a lot more to do with toning up by exercising and very little to do with actual loss of poundage. Did you set your own calorie goal, or did MFP put you there?
  • RaccoTaco
    RaccoTaco Posts: 9 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    How many pounds per week did you tell MFP that you want to lose? For many women, anything over 1 pound will give them a 1200 goal. For me, 1 pound per week would give me a 1250 goal and I'm not exactly teeny tiny. Keep in mind that MFP's goal is increased when you add your exercise, and you are supposed to eat your exercise calories. But also consider lowering your weekly weight loss goal if 1200 seems prohibitively low.
    Well, I go jogging in the mornings for about 30 minutes, but my garmin counts it as just steps and gives me roughly an extra 50 calories from that. I'm not sure if that's good or not.
  • RaccoTaco
    RaccoTaco Posts: 9 Member
    1200 calories is awfully low for someone your height. Further, you're well within the healthy bmi for your height and age. At 22.8 in fact. Much lower and you're going into unhealthy territory. Why are you trying to lose weight? What's the reason? Maybe it's not that you need to lose weight, but that you'd like to change your body shape (smaller tummy?) and that's got a lot more to do with toning up by exercising and very little to do with actual loss of poundage. Did you set your own calorie goal, or did MFP put you there?
    MFP put me in that range when I first started out roughly a year ago after losing. I just came back to it ~2 weeks ago since I gained back 10. Should I re-input my information then?
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    RaccoTaco wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    How many pounds per week did you tell MFP that you want to lose? For many women, anything over 1 pound will give them a 1200 goal. For me, 1 pound per week would give me a 1250 goal and I'm not exactly teeny tiny. Keep in mind that MFP's goal is increased when you add your exercise, and you are supposed to eat your exercise calories. But also consider lowering your weekly weight loss goal if 1200 seems prohibitively low.
    Well, I go jogging in the mornings for about 30 minutes, but my garmin counts it as just steps and gives me roughly an extra 50 calories from that. I'm not sure if that's good or not.

    Again, how many pounds per week did you tell MFP that you want to lose?
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
    RaccoTaco wrote: »
    1200 calories is awfully low for someone your height. Further, you're well within the healthy bmi for your height and age. At 22.8 in fact. Much lower and you're going into unhealthy territory. Why are you trying to lose weight? What's the reason? Maybe it's not that you need to lose weight, but that you'd like to change your body shape (smaller tummy?) and that's got a lot more to do with toning up by exercising and very little to do with actual loss of poundage. Did you set your own calorie goal, or did MFP put you there?
    MFP put me in that range when I first started out roughly a year ago after losing. I just came back to it ~2 weeks ago since I gained back 10. Should I re-input my information then?

    Yes, MFP doesn't know that you've lost weight until you tell it so. It also doesn't know that you've aged or that you exercise unless you intput that. If your garmin isn't logging your jogging as jogging, you need to tell MFP that's what you did. Jogging burns way more calories than just taking steps. You could be eating drastically lower than what you need if you don't input this. And since you've only gained back ten, I'd for sure set your weekly loss goal a little lower if the other things don't work. 2lbs per week is reasonable for someone who has 50 lbs or more to lose, it isn't particularly healthy or safe for anyone not in that category. Try re-entering your info in MFP, picking maybe a pound a week goal, and see what it gives you. There really isn't any reason for this to be unpleasant. Getting your numbers right will make this process easy as well as fruitful.
  • RaccoTaco
    RaccoTaco Posts: 9 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    RaccoTaco wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    How many pounds per week did you tell MFP that you want to lose? For many women, anything over 1 pound will give them a 1200 goal. For me, 1 pound per week would give me a 1250 goal and I'm not exactly teeny tiny. Keep in mind that MFP's goal is increased when you add your exercise, and you are supposed to eat your exercise calories. But also consider lowering your weekly weight loss goal if 1200 seems prohibitively low.
    Well, I go jogging in the mornings for about 30 minutes, but my garmin counts it as just steps and gives me roughly an extra 50 calories from that. I'm not sure if that's good or not.

    Again, how many pounds per week did you tell MFP that you want to lose?
    I don't remember to be honest :\ It was probably 1-1.5 per week.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    RaccoTaco wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    RaccoTaco wrote: »
    jemhh wrote: »
    How many pounds per week did you tell MFP that you want to lose? For many women, anything over 1 pound will give them a 1200 goal. For me, 1 pound per week would give me a 1250 goal and I'm not exactly teeny tiny. Keep in mind that MFP's goal is increased when you add your exercise, and you are supposed to eat your exercise calories. But also consider lowering your weekly weight loss goal if 1200 seems prohibitively low.
    Well, I go jogging in the mornings for about 30 minutes, but my garmin counts it as just steps and gives me roughly an extra 50 calories from that. I'm not sure if that's good or not.

    Again, how many pounds per week did you tell MFP that you want to lose?
    I don't remember to be honest :\ It was probably 1-1.5 per week.

    Changing it to .5 a week will give you more calories per day.
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    I'm shorter than you are and sometimes am not hungry enough to eat over 700 or 900 calories, depending if I had a busy day or not. I say, listen to your body - if you're hungry, eat. Eat real foods, though, not junk.
  • RaccoTaco
    RaccoTaco Posts: 9 Member
    RaccoTaco wrote: »
    1200 calories is awfully low for someone your height. Further, you're well within the healthy bmi for your height and age. At 22.8 in fact. Much lower and you're going into unhealthy territory. Why are you trying to lose weight? What's the reason? Maybe it's not that you need to lose weight, but that you'd like to change your body shape (smaller tummy?) and that's got a lot more to do with toning up by exercising and very little to do with actual loss of poundage. Did you set your own calorie goal, or did MFP put you there?
    MFP put me in that range when I first started out roughly a year ago after losing. I just came back to it ~2 weeks ago since I gained back 10. Should I re-input my information then?

    Yes, MFP doesn't know that you've lost weight until you tell it so. It also doesn't know that you've aged or that you exercise unless you intput that. If your garmin isn't logging your jogging as jogging, you need to tell MFP that's what you did. Jogging burns way more calories than just taking steps. You could be eating drastically lower than what you need if you don't input this. And since you've only gained back ten, I'd for sure set your weekly loss goal a little lower if the other things don't work. 2lbs per week is reasonable for someone who has 50 lbs or more to lose, it isn't particularly healthy or safe for anyone not in that category. Try re-entering your info in MFP, picking maybe a pound a week goal, and see what it gives you. There really isn't any reason for this to be unpleasant. Getting your numbers right will make this process easy as well as fruitful.
    Had it at 1.5 pounds with 5 30-minute workouts and it still gave me the 1200 calorie option. I lowered it to 1 pound and now it gave me 1370. Better than what I have now. Thank you for the information!
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited January 2016
    I'm shorter than you are and sometimes am not hungry enough to eat over 700 or 900 calories, depending if I had a busy day or not. I say, listen to your body - if you're hungry, eat. Eat real foods, though, not junk.

    It's really hard to meet nutritional requirements under 1200. That's why it's MFPs lowest default minimum. If you are too full to reach 1200 calories perhaps you might look to add calorie dense foods: Nuts, nut butters, eggs, olive oil, avocado. Small portions - big nutrition. Hunger is not exactly an indicator of proper nutrition.

    I know you are not encouraging a VLCD (very low calorie diets) - you are telling OP to eat more.
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
    RaccoTaco wrote: »
    RaccoTaco wrote: »
    1200 calories is awfully low for someone your height. Further, you're well within the healthy bmi for your height and age. At 22.8 in fact. Much lower and you're going into unhealthy territory. Why are you trying to lose weight? What's the reason? Maybe it's not that you need to lose weight, but that you'd like to change your body shape (smaller tummy?) and that's got a lot more to do with toning up by exercising and very little to do with actual loss of poundage. Did you set your own calorie goal, or did MFP put you there?
    MFP put me in that range when I first started out roughly a year ago after losing. I just came back to it ~2 weeks ago since I gained back 10. Should I re-input my information then?

    Yes, MFP doesn't know that you've lost weight until you tell it so. It also doesn't know that you've aged or that you exercise unless you intput that. If your garmin isn't logging your jogging as jogging, you need to tell MFP that's what you did. Jogging burns way more calories than just taking steps. You could be eating drastically lower than what you need if you don't input this. And since you've only gained back ten, I'd for sure set your weekly loss goal a little lower if the other things don't work. 2lbs per week is reasonable for someone who has 50 lbs or more to lose, it isn't particularly healthy or safe for anyone not in that category. Try re-entering your info in MFP, picking maybe a pound a week goal, and see what it gives you. There really isn't any reason for this to be unpleasant. Getting your numbers right will make this process easy as well as fruitful.
    Had it at 1.5 pounds with 5 30-minute workouts and it still gave me the 1200 calorie option. I lowered it to 1 pound and now it gave me 1370. Better than what I have now. Thank you for the information!

    You're welcome:) It can be mentally/emotionally difficult to worry about how long it will take, so just try to focus on how much EASIER it will be to eat more and still lose weight. You get the same end result, with less pain and a little more time, and most importantly it'll set you up to maintain your weight later because it won't be so drastic of a jump from your losing calorie allotment to your maintenance one. Teaches good habits. Best of luck:)
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    RaccoTaco wrote: »
    RaccoTaco wrote: »
    1200 calories is awfully low for someone your height. Further, you're well within the healthy bmi for your height and age. At 22.8 in fact. Much lower and you're going into unhealthy territory. Why are you trying to lose weight? What's the reason? Maybe it's not that you need to lose weight, but that you'd like to change your body shape (smaller tummy?) and that's got a lot more to do with toning up by exercising and very little to do with actual loss of poundage. Did you set your own calorie goal, or did MFP put you there?
    MFP put me in that range when I first started out roughly a year ago after losing. I just came back to it ~2 weeks ago since I gained back 10. Should I re-input my information then?

    Yes, MFP doesn't know that you've lost weight until you tell it so. It also doesn't know that you've aged or that you exercise unless you intput that. If your garmin isn't logging your jogging as jogging, you need to tell MFP that's what you did. Jogging burns way more calories than just taking steps. You could be eating drastically lower than what you need if you don't input this. And since you've only gained back ten, I'd for sure set your weekly loss goal a little lower if the other things don't work. 2lbs per week is reasonable for someone who has 50 lbs or more to lose, it isn't particularly healthy or safe for anyone not in that category. Try re-entering your info in MFP, picking maybe a pound a week goal, and see what it gives you. There really isn't any reason for this to be unpleasant. Getting your numbers right will make this process easy as well as fruitful.
    Had it at 1.5 pounds with 5 30-minute workouts and it still gave me the 1200 calorie option. I lowered it to 1 pound and now it gave me 1370. Better than what I have now. Thank you for the information!

    The five 30 minute workouts don't add or subtract anything from your MFP goal. It's confusing because you think they would since they are on that page but you could change them to 100 45 minute workouts or 0 0 minute workouts and your goal would remain the same. Add your exercise whenever you do it on the exercise log page.
  • IILikeToMoveItMoveIt
    IILikeToMoveItMoveIt Posts: 1,172 Member
    Eating more protein helped me with hunger. I was eating carb heavy and was always hungry soon after eating. I was miserable. You can get protein from plant based sources if that is you thing...
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    RaccoTaco wrote: »
    RaccoTaco wrote: »
    1200 calories is awfully low for someone your height. Further, you're well within the healthy bmi for your height and age. At 22.8 in fact. Much lower and you're going into unhealthy territory. Why are you trying to lose weight? What's the reason? Maybe it's not that you need to lose weight, but that you'd like to change your body shape (smaller tummy?) and that's got a lot more to do with toning up by exercising and very little to do with actual loss of poundage. Did you set your own calorie goal, or did MFP put you there?
    MFP put me in that range when I first started out roughly a year ago after losing. I just came back to it ~2 weeks ago since I gained back 10. Should I re-input my information then?

    Yes, MFP doesn't know that you've lost weight until you tell it so. It also doesn't know that you've aged or that you exercise unless you intput that. If your garmin isn't logging your jogging as jogging, you need to tell MFP that's what you did. Jogging burns way more calories than just taking steps. You could be eating drastically lower than what you need if you don't input this. And since you've only gained back ten, I'd for sure set your weekly loss goal a little lower if the other things don't work. 2lbs per week is reasonable for someone who has 50 lbs or more to lose, it isn't particularly healthy or safe for anyone not in that category. Try re-entering your info in MFP, picking maybe a pound a week goal, and see what it gives you. There really isn't any reason for this to be unpleasant. Getting your numbers right will make this process easy as well as fruitful.
    Had it at 1.5 pounds with 5 30-minute workouts and it still gave me the 1200 calorie option. I lowered it to 1 pound and now it gave me 1370. Better than what I have now. Thank you for the information!

    The five 30 minute workouts don't add or subtract anything from your MFP goal. It's confusing because you think they would since they are on that page but you could change them to 100 45 minute workouts or 0 0 minute workouts and your goal would remain the same. Add your exercise whenever you do it on the exercise log page.

    THIS
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