I am new. Do I just ease myself into 1200 calories per day?

i would spend the first week or so eating like you normally do and learning to weigh and log your food accurately. Then you will know where you stand and can ease into your deficit.

1200 is likely too severe. I am smaller than you (height and weight) and eat 1500 and lose just fine.

1200 seems too low for your height. I'm almost 5' tall and I'm set at 1300 calories a day.

If you use to eat 2000 and all of the sudden do 1200 you will be starving. The only way to eat 1200 and feel full is to eat lots of veggies but in a week time you will start to get bored! (I have already done that!) you can do 1400-1500 with exercise it won't be too hard I think. Just my opinion.

Here you go:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/jacklifts

I would eat 1800 calories a day. Keep up your dog walking, make it 60-80minutes if you can. Only decrease your calories when you lose weight.

You can do it and not be hungry. Log your food for a day and at the end of that day take a good hard look at what you are eating. I found that I was consuming empty calories. Meaning calories that did not satisfy my hunger. Then the following day make smarter decisions. Logging your food really does work, it's a great way to see in black and white what you can cut or add daily. I find myself to be under my calorie goal often and not hungry because of all the good low calorie foods I eat all day. Good luck!!

Your goals are too aggressive. That's why you are getting that calorie target and why you think it is unrealistic. It's unrealistic. Slow down. You didn't gain the weight quickly and you won't lose it quickly either. Make lifestyle changes that you can maintain the rest of your life. Then you can keep the weight off and avoid yo-yo weight loss and gain.

mygalsal76 wrote: »

Hi, I am new. Currently, I am 5'4" and have weighed 177 (give or take 20 pounds) for the last year. I tracked my calories last month eating normal (for me) and I average about 2000-2400 calories per day. Other than walking my dog for 30-45 minutes at a brisk pace each day and working out my arms with dumbbells, I really don't exercise much. Really, I should probably weigh significantly more. I am not looking to "cheat" on calories already, but I wonder if instantly cutting approximately 1000 per day is a good idea. I'm too worried I'll stick with that for few weeks, lose a bunch of weight real fast, then gain it right back (like usual). Any suggestions on how many calories I should start by cutting each day, and how much more I should continue to cut each week? My short-term goal is to lose 17 pounds by April 23 (my 40th birthday, eek!) and to be down to 130 (with at least a couple months maintaining that weight) by the end of the year.

Any suggestions would be enormously appreciated. Thanks so much!

Eat the most calories you can while still losing. A 1000 calorie deficit is probably too aggressive to sustain.
I would set your goal to lose 1 lb a week (500 calorie deficit).
I would stick to what MFP tells you to eat to lose 1 lb a week and not lower calories again until you have lost at least 10-15 lbs.

mygalsal76 wrote: »

Hi, I am new. Currently, I am 5'4" and have weighed 177 (give or take 20 pounds) for the last year. I tracked my calories last month eating normal (for me) and I average about 2000-2400 calories per day. Other than walking my dog for 30-45 minutes at a brisk pace each day and working out my arms with dumbbells, I really don't exercise much. Really, I should probably weigh significantly more. I am not looking to "cheat" on calories already, but I wonder if instantly cutting approximately 1000 per day is a good idea. I'm too worried I'll stick with that for few weeks, lose a bunch of weight real fast, then gain it right back (like usual). Any suggestions on how many calories I should start by cutting each day, and how much more I should continue to cut each week? My short-term goal is to lose 17 pounds by April 23 (my 40th birthday, eek!) and to be down to 130 (with at least a couple months maintaining that weight) by the end of the year.

Any suggestions would be enormously appreciated. Thanks so much!

I see many similarities so I will share my system with you!

I am 5'2 and weigh 84.3 kg atm, wanna be 55 kg, at 19/1/2016 I weighed 89.8 kg! I would recommend this

- Choose if you want to ease unto 1200 a day from 2400, 2000 or your BMR amount per day and consult your physician about it. If he/she gives you the go ahead, you can start

I started with my BMR my GP said it was fine!

- Calculate your BMR with the Mifflin St Jeor method (I use an app called Bodycal)

Mine was 1558 I believe

- Round that number up

For me that was 1600

- Eat that amount of calories for one or 2 weeks

I change things up every week. After 3 weeks I up the exercise and freeze my intake for 3 weeks.

- After that week (or those if it's 2) subtract your daily intake with 100 kcal and repeat till you are at 1200 a day. Keep an eye on how you feel if you are not used to the new amount after week(hence dizzy have a hard time focusing etc) , go back to the old one. Keep an eye on your nutrients.

I have been doing this for 2 weeks and I'm now at 1400 a day

- Keep track of everything you eat before putting it in your mouth. Adjust after eating if you ate more than expected. Also keep track of your exercise. With a fitness tracker your expenditure is more accurate than the generic calculations online.

I never forget to do this because my weight loss depends on it.

- Exercise for at least 30 min per day, 5 days per week

Today is day 15 and I've lost 5,5 kg so far (11 lbs?)

- Get yourself a fitness tracker with a heart rate monitor to track if you are actually doing enough of an effort during your exercises

I am waiting for my Xiaomi to be delivered

- Weigh yourself at the same place, using the same scale, on the same day of the week within your chosen period

I do it on Sundays, every week

- After you have exercised 5 times a week for 3-4 weeks add another exercise moment. But always have at least 1 day of rest.

Mine are Mondays and Tuesdays

- Eventually you will be exercising in the morning and evening, thus sandwiching which will help you lose weight faster

I hope this helps!