What's the lowest amount of calories I can eat?
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beckygirl177
Posts: 19 Member
Like the baaaaaare minimum ?
0
Replies
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It is recommended that women do not go under 1200 calories a day. However that also depends on how much you have to lose. It is also recommended that you not lose more than 2 pounds per week or you could be losing lean muscle with the fat. What did the MFP calculator give you?0
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Typically 1200 net1
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It is recommended that women do not go under 1200 calories a day. However that also depends on how much you have to lose. It is also recommended that you not lose more than 2 pounds per week or you could be losing lean muscle with the fat. What did the MFP calculator give you?
Mm that makes sense. Yeah the mfp calculator gave me 1200 calories.0 -
MFP won't go lower than 1200 for a woman. And it gives the daily calorie allotment based on the information we enter. Many women have a 1200 calorie goal because they set their weight-loss for 2 pounds per week. That might not be the best goal--unless you have 75+ pounds to lose. 50-75 generally means 1.5 pound loss per week; 25-50 corresponds to 1 pound per week and if you have less than 25 pounds to lose .5 pounds per week is recommended. People can lose at a slower rate, but losing at a faster rate can set you up for binge eating (due to over-restricting) and a greater loss of lean mass due to a lack of nutritional support.
Have you calculated your BMR or TDEE to know what you're working with as a start?2 -
The better question is what is the amount of calories and workout plan that will help you hit the ideal body. Severely cutting calories comes with a lot of problems to include malnutrition, muslce loss (we means less fat loss), brittle nails, hair falling out and metabolic slowdown past that of normal adaptive thermogenesis.
And over the 7 years i have been here, no one ever gets to their ideal body that eat.7 -
Funny , I wanted to know what the most amount was that I could eat and still get away with losing.28
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beckygirl177 wrote: »Like the baaaaaare minimum ?
Zero. And then you will get sick and eventually die. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation
1200 for women and 1500 for men are the minimum recommended calories to get adequate nutrition. Most people can lose weight eating much more than those amounts. MFP will give you an appropriate safe calorie goal based on your age, weight, height and activity level.
If you are 50 lbs or less overweight trying to lose 2 lbs a week is too agressive for most people. Set your goal to 1 lb a week. If you are really close to a healthy weight already then choose .5 lbs a week. Eat a portion of the calories you earn from exercise.0 -
None. But that would be unhealthy over a prolonged period, and why?0
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Typically 1200 net
This^
You may have read about very low calorie diets. For safety, these are generally doctor prescribed for OBESE patients (vitamin injections, heath check-ups, etc). These are not do-it-yourself projects.
1200 net helps you reach minimum nutritional requirements. As other posters have pointed out....the trade off for fast weight loss is often losing a higher % of lean muscle mass. Healthy weight loss helps you lower your body fat %.0 -
Alluminati wrote: »Funny , I wanted to know what the most amount was that I could eat and still get away with losing.
Good plan. Much better plan - healthier - than the 'bare minimum' plan.
OP, focus on finding the calorie level that you can sustain over the long haul, and that hits healthy nutrition targets. Then review your diary periodically to identify foods that 'cost' too many calories for the amount of satisfaction & nutrition they bring you. Replace those foods with something else you like that better meets your goals. Rinse & repeat. This will help you learn how to eat forever in a way that keeps you at a healthy weight.4 -
MFP won't go lower than 1200 for a woman. And it gives the daily calorie allotment based on the information we enter. Many women have a 1200 calorie goal because they set their weight-loss for 2 pounds per week. That might not be the best goal--unless you have 75+ pounds to lose. 50-75 generally means 1.5 pound loss per week; 25-50 corresponds to 1 pound per week and if you have less than 25 pounds to lose .5 pounds per week is recommended. People can lose at a slower rate, but losing at a faster rate can set you up for binge eating (due to over-restricting) and a greater loss of lean mass due to a lack of nutritional support.
Have you calculated your BMR or TDEE to know what you're working with as a start?
BMR: 1586
TDEE: 2074
okay, so where do I go from here ?0 -
The better question is what is the amount of calories and workout plan that will help you hit the ideal body. Severely cutting calories comes with a lot of problems to include malnutrition, muslce loss (we means less fat loss), brittle nails, hair falling out and metabolic slowdown past that of normal adaptive thermogenesis.
And over the 7 years i have been here, no one ever gets to their ideal body that eat.
Okay so what do I need to do to get my ideal body0 -
Alluminati wrote: »Funny , I wanted to know what the most amount was that I could eat and still get away with losing.
Good plan. Much better plan - healthier - than the 'bare minimum' plan.
OP, focus on finding the calorie level that you can sustain over the long haul, and that hits healthy nutrition targets. Then review your diary periodically to identify foods that 'cost' too many calories for the amount of satisfaction & nutrition they bring you. Replace those foods with something else you like that better meets your goals. Rinse & repeat. This will help you learn how to eat forever in a way that keeps you at a healthy weight.
Okay, sounds good. So how many calories should I eat a day though
Like maybe not bare minimum, after reading these comments I realizes that's not a good idea, and I just want to be less chunky I feel gross0 -
How old are you and how much do you weigh?0
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beckygirl177 wrote: »MFP won't go lower than 1200 for a woman. And it gives the daily calorie allotment based on the information we enter. Many women have a 1200 calorie goal because they set their weight-loss for 2 pounds per week. That might not be the best goal--unless you have 75+ pounds to lose. 50-75 generally means 1.5 pound loss per week; 25-50 corresponds to 1 pound per week and if you have less than 25 pounds to lose .5 pounds per week is recommended. People can lose at a slower rate, but losing at a faster rate can set you up for binge eating (due to over-restricting) and a greater loss of lean mass due to a lack of nutritional support.
Have you calculated your BMR or TDEE to know what you're working with as a start?
BMR: 1586
TDEE: 2074
okay, so where do I go from here ?
So you could do:
20% cut - 1659 calories per day (0.83 lb per week loss)
15% cut - 1762 calories per day (0.64 lb per week loss)
1 lb per week - 1574 calories per day
0.5 lb per week - 1824 calories per day
or
You could set MFP to 0.5-1 lb per week, select the correct activity level for what your day is like without exercise and eat that calorie goal when you don't work out. Then eat that goal + 50% of your exercise calorie burn when you do workout.2 -
OP what are your current stats: height, weight, and activity level. Do you have a goal weight in mind? Do you exercise? What sort of exercise do you do currently?1
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beckygirl177 wrote: »MFP won't go lower than 1200 for a woman. And it gives the daily calorie allotment based on the information we enter. Many women have a 1200 calorie goal because they set their weight-loss for 2 pounds per week. That might not be the best goal--unless you have 75+ pounds to lose. 50-75 generally means 1.5 pound loss per week; 25-50 corresponds to 1 pound per week and if you have less than 25 pounds to lose .5 pounds per week is recommended. People can lose at a slower rate, but losing at a faster rate can set you up for binge eating (due to over-restricting) and a greater loss of lean mass due to a lack of nutritional support.
Have you calculated your BMR or TDEE to know what you're working with as a start?
BMR: 1586
TDEE: 2074
okay, so where do I go from here ?
If those are accurate, i would eat 1600 calories, and do some resistance/weight training and some cardio.. and recognize that ideal bodies can take a lot of time. And that really depends on your definition of an ideal body.4 -
beckygirl177 wrote: »Alluminati wrote: »Funny , I wanted to know what the most amount was that I could eat and still get away with losing.
Good plan. Much better plan - healthier - than the 'bare minimum' plan.
OP, focus on finding the calorie level that you can sustain over the long haul, and that hits healthy nutrition targets. Then review your diary periodically to identify foods that 'cost' too many calories for the amount of satisfaction & nutrition they bring you. Replace those foods with something else you like that better meets your goals. Rinse & repeat. This will help you learn how to eat forever in a way that keeps you at a healthy weight.
Okay, sounds good. So how many calories should I eat a day though
Like maybe not bare minimum, after reading these comments I realizes that's not a good idea, and I just want to be less chunky I feel gross
I don't disagree with the calorie-level suggestions of those who've comment above, as a starting point. If you have less than 20 pounds to lose, pick a higher calorie level (slower loss rate). If you have more than 50 pounds to lose, pick one of the lower calorie levels (faster lost rate) initially, and taper it to be less aggressive as you get lighter.
Either way, assess how you feel. If you're at a higher loss rate, and feel fatigued, or have trouble sticking with it, increase your calories & lose more slowly, but more reliably/achievably. If you don't feel satisfied, experiment with your food & nutrient mix (within an healthy range) and eating timing, until you feel more satiated. If you're at a low loss rate in theory, but don't lose at all (over a period of a few weeks, not a few days), then reduce your calorie level gradually to find a reasonable loss rate.
Bonus: You'll learn a lot about your body and your metabolism along the way, so that when you reach your target weight, you'll know exactly how to eat in a healthy way to maintain that weight.0 -
That is a question for your doctor and a nutritionist.. not people here. Quicker isn't always better when it comes to weight loss and you may find that a low amount of calories that works for one person is miserable for you.0
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beckygirl177 wrote: »Alluminati wrote: »Funny , I wanted to know what the most amount was that I could eat and still get away with losing.
Good plan. Much better plan - healthier - than the 'bare minimum' plan.
OP, focus on finding the calorie level that you can sustain over the long haul, and that hits healthy nutrition targets. Then review your diary periodically to identify foods that 'cost' too many calories for the amount of satisfaction & nutrition they bring you. Replace those foods with something else you like that better meets your goals. Rinse & repeat. This will help you learn how to eat forever in a way that keeps you at a healthy weight.
Okay, sounds good. So how many calories should I eat a day though
Like maybe not bare minimum, after reading these comments I realizes that's not a good idea, and I just want to be less chunky I feel gross
I don't disagree with the calorie-level suggestions of those who've comment above, as a starting point. If you have less than 20 pounds to lose, pick a higher calorie level (slower loss rate). If you have more than 50 pounds to lose, pick one of the lower calorie levels (faster lost rate) initially, and taper it to be less aggressive as you get lighter.
Either way, assess how you feel. If you're at a higher loss rate, and feel fatigued, or have trouble sticking with it, increase your calories & lose more slowly, but more reliably/achievably. If you don't feel satisfied, experiment with your food & nutrient mix (within an healthy range) and eating timing, until you feel more satiated. If you're at a low loss rate in theory, but don't lose at all (over a period of a few weeks, not a few days), then reduce your calorie level gradually to find a reasonable loss rate.
Bonus: You'll learn a lot about your body and your metabolism along the way, so that when you reach your target weight, you'll know exactly how to eat in a healthy way to maintain that weight.
Whats wrong with 1600? Its less than 1lb per week.0
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