Considering increasing daily calories

real1
real1 Posts: 12 Member
edited September 29 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm thinking about increasing my daily calorie intake goal. I'm not really feeling hungry, but I'm not sure staying at 1200 is a good idea. Plus I usually try not to eat back my exercise calories, so I'm thining I might be "starving" my body.

Is anyone else out there only eating 1200 calories? How long have you been on that level? How is it going for you?

Has anyone else increased their calories to keep losing? How did it go?

Thanks!

Replies

  • Jenscan
    Jenscan Posts: 694 Member
    How tall are you?
  • real1
    real1 Posts: 12 Member
    I'm 5' 3" and my current weight is 149, goal weight is 130.

    I looked on Shape Magazine's site and they have a formula that says I should eat like 1690 a day to lose a pound a week. That seems like a lot to me since I'm now only losing a pound a week at 1200 (or less).
  • kcthatsme
    kcthatsme Posts: 5,136 Member
    bump
  • reddcat
    reddcat Posts: 314 Member
    bump
  • shefly
    shefly Posts: 81 Member
    bump
  • Jenscan
    Jenscan Posts: 694 Member
    I'm 5'3" also. I am eating 1250 + exercise calories. I bumped myself up to 1350 + exercise calories awhile back and stopped losing. A lot of people on here seem to be able to eat a LOT more and still lose, but not me. I eat back my exercise calories, and think eating part or all back is the way to go, especially for folks that are getting close to goal.

    I'd recommend strongly against going lower than 1200 net, as that's getting too low to maintain nutrition, and it'll drive you bonkers long term (not to mention possibly cause a plateau).

    Play with it, and see what happens. Since you don't have a lot to lose at all, your weight loss won't be as fast as someone like me with a ton of extra weight.

    1690 seems ridiculously high for someone at our height, unless it's factoring in exercise (that could very well be the problem there).
  • mabella17
    mabella17 Posts: 93
    I was at 1200 for a long time and I wasn't eating back my excersise calories either. I felt like I was at a stand still and I wasn't losing any weight. Then I upped my calories to around 1400-1500 and I feel like I'm doing better.
    And just in case anyone is wondering, I'm 5'11 :smile:

    Hope it works out for you!!! :drinker:
  • ivansmomma
    ivansmomma Posts: 500
    I've been on a plateau for a while, so upped my daily count from 1200 to 1400. Most days I am below the 1400, but have heard also this might help. I've started to increase my exercise, too.
  • djjohnson2879
    djjohnson2879 Posts: 13
    When I originally started I was at 1200, and quit losing after the third week. I bumped it up to 1540 and started losing again. I really think it depends on your body, so find what works for you and tweak it from there! Keep it up! :)
  • pnieuw
    pnieuw Posts: 473
    I appreciate that I'm a 6'5" guy, but I work in an office, and I eat 2,000 a day, have am losing almost 2 pounds a week, without killing myself on exercise (that starts next week, when my new gym opens).

    I'm always amazed at how anyone can eat 1,200 a day and not starve to death, but hey, I am a guy!

    I think the guideline of 1,690 a day may be on track. If maintenance is, say 2,200 a week for a 5'3", lightly active woman, then dropping to 1,600 is a calorie deficit of 500 a day. That is 3,500 a week, and a pound of fat is about 3,500 calories.
  • Angeloftheshore
    Angeloftheshore Posts: 227 Member
    I increased my calories to be what my maintenance cals would be for my ideal body weight. which is 1500. I eat most of my cals back usually and I am losing weight and feel great. I decided to do this so I would be livingit not dieting. It's working for me and I feel strong and my tummy is full ;.) My diary is open. I warn you, I do not always eat healthy, but for me, what you will see is a HUGE improvement to how I used to eat. I used to sit and eat whole bags of chips and candy. I hate hate hate veggies sadly, but I am getting there. As soon as hubby gets back from school (he is Navy) we are going to work in the kitchen together to improve ;.)

    The way I see it, I may lose slower than those at a 1200 cal diet, but I am looking to make a permanent change. The way to a permanent change for me is in making it habit. So I eat what I will be eating for the weight I will one day be ;.)
  • sister_bear
    sister_bear Posts: 529 Member
    I plateaued and went ahead and added 25 calories, so my baseline is 1225 per day. I also eat back my exercise calories. I've started losing again.
  • aymetcalf
    aymetcalf Posts: 597 Member
    I'm 5'2, and I had hit a plateau in April/May. I changed my goals to 0.5lbs/week which increased my calories to 1450/day. It worked because I'm losing weight again. don't be scared to make a small increase in calories (ie. 200-300 more per day). :flowerforyou:
  • AriesGrl
    AriesGrl Posts: 174 Member
    I am 6 ft 2in and I have been eating 1200 calories a day for 3 years now and have lost over 100 lbs doing so....but I have just recently started to plareau and think I may have to move up to 1400-1500 a day to see if that helps????
  • SoCalWoman
    SoCalWoman Posts: 2,384 Member
    I was at a standstill for quite some time at 1200 calories.
    I went on vacation, stopped logging, but still sort of watched what I ate...but ate different things..didn't really exercise, but was also "active"...and I LOST weight! I was shocked. It really hit home for me!
    The message I received from that is you need to change it up. ZIgzag your calories..and also your exercise routine a bit. change it up. I am a creature of habit and was sticking to a lot of the same foods, calories and exercises. My body got in a rut.
    Good luck!!
  • leahmolidor
    leahmolidor Posts: 17
    I'm at 1400 calories (5'4" and now sitting around 148lbs.) and I generally don't eat back my exercise calories. I've been losing 1 lb. a week pretty consistently. At first I was eating back all my exercise calories and I didn't find that I was losing much at all. Once I stopped eating my exercise calories my weight loss sped up a bit. I will eat my exercise calories on nights when I'm splurging (or drinking).
  • real1
    real1 Posts: 12 Member
    Thanks for all the feedback!

    Just wanted to share some interesting info I just looked at on my FitBit reports. According to the FitBit I've been burning an average of 1900 calories a day over the last month or so (I bought it in mid June). So maybe what I should do is increase my calorie intake to 1400 per day. That will put me at 500 less calories a day, and that would be a pound in a week!

    I think I might try it for a week or two and see what happens. As several of you have commented, everyone is different and we all need to tweek our routines to find what works for us.
  • real1
    real1 Posts: 12 Member
    I just found this very interesting calculator:
    http://www.quitehealthy.com/bmr-calorie-calculator/
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