My calorie intake

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karirenae
karirenae Posts: 106 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Why is it I read that someone can totally lose weight on 1500-1700 calories a day, at 170-200lbs, but when I use the MFP calorie count, it says I can ONLY eat 1200 a day to lose weight.. Ive googled 1000 calorie counters and theyre all saying the same thing. :( 1200 a day is very hard for me! Any thoughts? Has anyone been given a goal of 1200 but eaten more and still lose?

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  • karirenae
    karirenae Posts: 106 Member
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    I am 5'4 at 170 by the way.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Sounds like you set your goal to lose 2 pounds per week. 1200 is the minimum number of calories MFP will give a female. If you switch to 1 pound per week, you'll probably end up in that 1500-1700 calorie range.
  • Wickedfaery73
    Wickedfaery73 Posts: 184 Member
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    When MFP asked you about activity level what did you enter? I think the way it works is the calorie goal is BEFORE exercise is entered and then as you add exercise you get more calories to eat.
  • karirenae
    karirenae Posts: 106 Member
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    I see, I entered sedentry because I work in an attorney's office and literally sit in front of a computer all day, I try to go to the gym 3 days a week. but I was afraid it would overestimate me if I entered slightly active :/
  • Wickedfaery73
    Wickedfaery73 Posts: 184 Member
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    and what @malibu927 said LOL
  • punkrockgoth
    punkrockgoth Posts: 534 Member
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    If you've just started out and 1200 is drastically below what you're used to (for a many people, that's less than half of what they were consuming before), it might take some time to get used to. There are lots of people here who eventually adjust to 1200 calories. I am not one of those people, so I settle for slower weight loss and a higher calorie goal. This is also an option available to you.
  • Wickedfaery73
    Wickedfaery73 Posts: 184 Member
    edited April 2016
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    I understand , I was afraid of that too lol. I think it told me like 1200 as well. I've played with it so much I am not sure what it thinks I do now LOL... I think I have it manually set for 1400 and I try to make sure I get at least 30 minutes of "out of breath" cardio a day, I normally eat between the 1400 and 1600. I go a little over sometimes. I've been losing 1 to 3 lbs a week so far. However that is just me. You could start off at like the 1lb a week setting see how that goes. Make sure you weigh everything, ya cant trust them spoons n cups with much more than liquids.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    I lost all my weight eating at least 1800 a day. I could never do an aggressive goal of losing 2 pounds a week, I would end up bingeing.
    I would rather lose weight slowly and feel satisfied.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    Reset yourself to losing .5lb/week and sedimentary and see what the result is. Use an app and a HR monitor to track your exercise at the gym and allow yourself (if you need to) to eat back 50% of those calories and you should still net up to 1lb per week if you work hard at it. There's nothing wrong with 1lb per week loss. It actually gives your skin time to conform/tighten to your body better than if you lose 2lb or more a week.

    Want to lose a little faster; simply work harder at the gym and don't eat back those calories. If you can roughly burn 600 calories 3x per week at the gym then you can lose an additional .5/lb per week on top of your existing .5lb/week. It's just going to take either getting used to eating less, or working harder. Me, personally, I choose to work harder so I can eat more and still loose lol. I love food too much.
  • fit4itall
    fit4itall Posts: 101 Member
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    In addition to adjusting to 1lb a week, you should check the activity level and make sure it's accurate. If you are staying home with young kids, for example, or are a school teacher there's no way you're sedentary and you should at least be set to "Lightly active". Lowering to 1lb a week will give you more calories, but I intentionally have mine set to 1.5lbs a week which lowers my calorie goal, and I know I technically can eat a couple of hundred more and still lose (but in the 1lb/week range instead of 1.5 or 2). I usually stay within 50-100 calories of the range and having it set lower seems to help...so even if 1200 is too low you might find it helpful to keep that setting.

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