Calories

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ciclismolizzy
ciclismolizzy Posts: 8 Member
in Getting Started
Hi guys! I have 4 stone to lose and am slightly concerned that I've been given a daily target of only 1200 calories.

My job is semi active and I'm on my feet for 6 hours and have put myself in the lightly active category.

Workout wise (this is where my concern fits in) I run and cycle. Both burn nearly 500 Cals and more if I have a long ride.

Is this daily target realistic??

Replies

  • no_day_but_2day
    no_day_but_2day Posts: 222 Member
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    I recommend eating back half of your exercise calories if you're working out on top of an active work life. Do you workout like that every day?
  • ciclismolizzy
    ciclismolizzy Posts: 8 Member
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    Pretty much. I'd struggle to eat back calories too. I'm just surprised at the low daily recommended target!!
  • sllm1
    sllm1 Posts: 2,114 Member
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    How many pounds per week did you select? That's probably the issue - if you selected 2, you may want to change it to 1.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
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    @ciclismolizzy Welcome to MFP forums. I found if I set loss rate to 0.5 pound weekly it gave more calories to eat and at first you could eat your exercise calories back.

    Remember this is NOT a 100 yard dash but learning to find a 50 year Way Of Eating. While I lost some inches I did not lose 1 pound my first six weeks on MFP. If you can not lose weight with it set to 0.5 pounds weekly you CAN NOT lose weight with it set at 2 pounds weekly and there can be NO rushing it based on my experience at age 65 and messing up my health with yo to dieting for 40 years.

    If it takes you a while to get things figured out that is good long term. In my case it was finding the right macro to eat then the calories more or less managed themselves.

    Remember this is NO 100 yard dash and the scales numbers is not as important as becoming very healthy for the long haul. I do walk 1/4 mile per day and then just the getting up and going to work stuff. Weight is never lost and kept off long term with exercise because at some point we all break and have to put off exercising for some period of time. Read posts here to confirm my point.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited April 2016
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    The fact that MFP has given you 1200 calories (the lowest it will go for a female) is a good indicator that you're probably trying to lose too much too quickly. With 4 stone (56 pounds) to lose, 2 pounds per week isn't feasible for the long term. Here's a good set of guidelines for how many pounds you should be attempting to lose each week. The number in parentheses is how many fewer calories you should eat than your body burns each day to reach that goal:

    Pound per week goals
    75+ lbs: set to lose 2 lb range (-1000 calories per day)
    Between 40 - 75 lbs: set to lose 1.5 lb range (-750 calories per day)
    Between 25 - 40 lbs: set to lose 1 lb range (-500 calories per day)
    Between 15 - 25 lbs: set to lose 1 -.50 lb range (-500 to -250 calories per day)
    Less than 15 lbs: set to lose 0.5 lbs range (-250 calories per day)

    As you can see, to lose 2 pounds per week you need to be eating 1000 calories per day fewer than your body burns. It's pretty hard, if not impossible, to meet the 1000 calorie deficit unless you have a very large body mass or are spending hours at the gym. What all of this means is that even if you set MFP for 2 pounds per week, if you aren't reaching that 1000 calorie deficit daily you aren't actually going to lose that much because you aren't creating the necessary calorie deficit. All you're going to do is make yourself miserably hungry all of the time.

    Since you don't want to under-eat so much that you lose excessive amounts of lean muscle mass along with the fat, change your goal to 1 or 1.5 pounds per week, eat a little more and lose pounds in a way that's going to leave you more healthy when you're done.
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
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    SueInAz wrote: »
    The fact that MFP has given you 1200 calories (the lowest it will go for a female) is a good indicator that you're probably trying to lose too much too quickly. With 4 stone (56 pounds) to lose, 2 pounds per week isn't feasible for the long term. Here's a good set of guidelines for how many pounds you should be attempting to lose each week. The number in parentheses is how many fewer calories you should eat than your body burns each day to reach that goal:

    Pound per week goals
    75+ lbs: set to lose 2 lb range (-1000 calories per day)
    Between 40 - 75 lbs: set to lose 1.5 lb range (-750 calories per day)
    Between 25 - 40 lbs: set to lose 1 lb range (-500 calories per day)
    Between 15 - 25 lbs: set to lose 1 -.50 lb range (-500 to -250 calories per day)
    Less than 15 lbs: set to lose 0.5 lbs range (-250 calories per day)

    As you can see, to lose 2 pounds per week you need to be eating 1000 calories per day fewer than your body burns. It's pretty hard, if not impossible, to meet the 1000 calorie deficit unless you have a very large body mass or are spending hours at the gym. What all of this means is that even if you set MFP for 2 pounds per week, if you aren't reaching that 1000 calorie deficit daily you aren't actually going to lose that much because you aren't creating the necessary calorie deficit. All you're going to do is make yourself miserably hungry all of the time.

    Since you don't want to under-eat so much that you lose excessive amounts of lean muscle mass along with the fat, change your goal to 1 or 1.5 pounds per week, eat a little more and lose pounds in a way that's going to leave you more healthy when you're done.

    This needs to be added into the chart. :grin: I can never find that list when I'm looking fo rit.
  • BelleCakes2018
    BelleCakes2018 Posts: 568 Member
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    Yep I would not go to 1200 cals until I had a lot less to lose than 4 stone.. when i was calorie counting, I literally stayed at 1500 for a long long time.. until I lost about 2 stone I think.. then gradually cut it down by 50 cals a time.. I went to 1200 when I only had a stone left to lose and I was only "lightly" active. Weight came off at a sensible 1-2lb a week mostly.
  • ciclismolizzy
    ciclismolizzy Posts: 8 Member
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    Thanks guys. I set it to 1.5Ilbs and it's given me a more realistic goal!!!

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