How many calories?

I did 1200 before and its hard takes alot of thought and planning to get filling meals!
Im on 1550 and I have to be careful but still can fit snacks in and im not hungry. Not great to go too low x good luck x

I am 1200. Been doing it for 3 weeks now. I kinda seem to eat a lot of the same things cause it makes it easy.

Only 5ft tall and on 1200 calories (I set MFP for 1lb/week). It's been OK - very rarely do I get hungry. But I do eat back half my exercise calories so average about 1300 calories for the week. But I am wondering if I have been overestimating too much (to be safe). DH says I look more tired and have been acting fairly scattered in this past week (only 3 weeks in).

I am considering eating back all MFP's generous allowance of exercise calories to bump me up to an average 1400 a day. I just got a food scale on Saturday - so we will see. Going to weigh carefully plus continue to monitor trendweight. If I continue losing too fast (currently averaging 1.6lbs/day) by the end of the week, I will increase my intake.

It's interesting that I've been pretty full today and struggling a little to eat more. I've hit 1300 calories today and still have another 142 calories to go (and this is only counting half today's exercise calories). Quite seriously considering attacking to caramel popcorn (which I haven't had since before I started this). But having a hard time justifying the "empty calories" and keep thinking I should just get a fruit instead.

enterdanger wrote: »

I started at 1200 and lost a lot of weight quickly (like 35lbs in 3 months, but found I couldn't stay at 1200 without being a complete *kitten* to everyone around me. Now I'm at 1490 and much happier. I'm only losing about a pound a week but I don't feel as deprived.

This^

OP - 1200 is MFP's default minimum (before exercise). Sometimes we get "assigned" 1200 because it's appropriate (petite and/or senior) and sometimes we get "assigned" 1200 because our weekly weight loss goals are aggressive.

Either way, find a number you can live with for awhile. I eat more (5'5" - 54 YO) because losing slower helps me retain a larger percentage of lean muscle.

"The scale won't budge" - for how long? When you get within 10-15 pounds of goal, a 1/2 pound a week loss is good progress. A 1/2 pound loss can easily be masked by water weight (high sodium, TOM, sore muscles retain water)....one week is not a very long time.

Double check your entries. Some foods are entered incorrectly (by MFP users). Measure solids with a scale for the best accuracy.

I'm 5'1 and 168 and on 1300 Cal. I was actually kind of wondering if I anyone else was near that. I feel like it sounds low but any macro calculator I try gives me about that number.

morey235 wrote: »

I am really depressed today. Going on 4 weeks now, I go down 1 lb and then gain 2 lbs.. keeps going on and on,
I stay on 1200 actually a little less, but NOTHING>

Are you sure this isn't a logging issue?

I'm with you ladies. I was on 1200 since the beginning of January, but decided to change it to 1400 couple of days ago.

It was really hard for me to stay satiated, even though I was eating healthy and I didn't loose any significant weight either.

My mental well being was in danger as well. I started to feel sad after logging in breakfast consisting of 1 egg, slice of Ryevita bread and some cucumber and avocado. I couldn't understand how small things like that made the numbers grow so fast! I had to cut my fruit intake, to 1 a day, sometimes not even that, because there was too many calories is them and I love me some fruit!

It made me feel really deprived. I I was still hungry, but didn't have any wiggle room for any snacks, not even a veggie smoothie or an apple.

This morning I'm 1kg down, so hopefully 1400 is the way forward.

Me. 1200 calories plus exercise. I have lost 9.8 lbs

Under 1200 is not enough.

briezyt23 wrote: »

I'm on 1200 cals and I feel STARVING constantly

If you are hungry all the time, then either
a) consider the types of foods you are eating - are they satiating?
b) are you genuinely hungry or are you thirsty (try a big glass of water first), habit eating, or emotional?
c) exercise more so you can eat more calories
d) reconsider your plan and up those calories. it's OK if you slow down your weight loss - losing slowly is better than losing too quickly and then giving up.

I was hungry in my first week as I got adjusted and learned what real hunger was (vs thirst, habit, etc). I am actually satiated on a 1200 cal diet. BUT, I have upped my cals because it was endlessly frustrating dealing with social situations. Now I can easily handle social stuff.