Is 1700 too many calories?

I'm not ready to maintain yet. I can tell you that when I started MFP at 254 lbs, 5'3", I was put on 1710 to lose weight. I'm now on 1630 and still losing, 30 lbs later. Try it for a week or two. If you're still losing, you should be eating more. If you're gaining, you should eat less. (And you probably don't need anyone pointing out that you might want to eat less on days where you're not getting as much exercise.)

If you are not trying to lose weight I suggest weighing yourself once a month. You don't have to start working unless you are gaining or losing about 5lbs.

I understand about not wanting to let the weight creep back on while rationalizing it. We also need to be realistic. Most of need to set a 5 lb range for maintenance to accommodate normal weight fluctuations. If I get to the top of the 5 lb range, then it's back to deficit eating til I get to the middle of the range. I've tracked daily weight for 1.5 years and am used to seeing fluctuations.

mariesofi4108 wrote: »

I'm 18, 5'6 and weigh 130 lbs. I've been eating 1700 calories on average daily, and run daily or go to the gym for a spin class, 5 days a week. Is this too many calories? Some days I eat 1300 and other days I got crazy and eat like 2400... I'm worried cause last time I exercised and ate 1700 on average over the holidays I gained almost a pound... what do you guys think? Not used to maintaining after working to loose 20 pounds forever lol!

Im 5'6 1/2 and Im eating 1700 calories(I weight 167). if you gained a lb or are worried about gaining weigh all your food on a digital food scale.and pick correct entries.that lb could have been water weight or it could have been actual weight gain or a fluctuation. there is no way to tell really.so its not too many calories,but Im willing to bet your maintenance is probably actually higher than 1700 calories and the reason you gained(if true weight gain) was you were eating more than you thought. you dont say whether you weighed everything while in a deficit or not.

I maintain on about 3000 calories per day, but I'm at 205 pounds and I ride a bicycle most days. Given that you are exercising daily, I wouldn't expect 1700 calories to be enough. I would expect 2000 calories to be closer to right, but it could be that your "crazy" days are pushing your average up higher.

Owlfan88 wrote: »

1700 is likely not enough. I'm 5'7" and 50 years old. I log about 10-12,000 steps a day and I maintain on 2000-2100 calories a day. I try to maintain 135 +/- 3 lbs, so 132-138. I do weigh daily and use a weight trending app, so that I can see that one high or low day is not really indicative. It helps my peace of mind a lot!

1700 may be enough for the op I get about 13-15,000 steps and eat 1700 calories and then I eat some of what I earn back which is how MFP is set up. you are supposed to net what your calorie goals are. so if you eat 1700 and burn 500 you are supposed to eat that 500 calories back,but many only eat 25-50% because exercise calorie burns are estimates.my maintenance is around 2500 calories according to calculators/my fitbit but I have a metabolic issue so my BMR is lower than MFP gives me..sure according to my fitbit I burn between 2300 -2500 on a slow day and on a good active day 3000.I was eating at this level for months and was maintaining my weight for awhile,now Im starting to lose a little but thats because Im netting a little lower(not much).It all depends on their TDEE. its possible too that the OP may be eating more especially if he/she doesnt weigh food.I was gaining on 1700 calories before too and I weighed everything(been doing so almost 3 years).This time around I maintained on it.

I am 41, 5'2" and started at 161. I eat between 1200-1250/day. I haven't started working out yet, until I get my eating under control. I also sit at a desk 5 days a week. I am beginning to see and feel a difference.

I think that 1700 is probably low for your true maintenance, ie, TDEE. I'm 5'2 and 120 lbs over 20 years older than you, and my TDEE is 2200.

You mentioned recently losing 20 lbs - congratulations! Did you follow the MFP method for doing that, ie setting a calorie goal from stats you entered and a reasonable rate of loss, then logging your foods accurately and eating back your exercise calories? If so - what calorie goal were you following during your weight loss phase? Were you eating back those exercise calories? What rate of loss did you have - were you losing steadily at around 0.5lb or 1 lb/week?

If you were using this approach for losing, you can do the same for maintenance. You can set up MFP with your current stats and select "maintain my weight" for your goal. MFP will calculate a calorie target for you that excludes exercise, which is a NEAT goal. When you exercise, you should eat at least a portion of that exercise burn back, to take you up to your Total Daily Energy Expenditure or your TDEE - which is the amount you burn in a day given all your activity and your exercise.

As others have mentioned, it is important to note that weight fluctuates, especially for women. Things like your menstrual cycle, hormones, stress, eating out of the norm sodium heavy or carb heavy meals (like what happens around the holidays) cause water retention which is temporary and gone within a few days usually. For me, weighing daily helps me understand that these things are natural - whereas weighing less often would mean that I might always hit one of those high numbers and never see the eventual lower number when the water weight subsides.

It is also normal in maintenance to have a weight range to accommodate these fluctuations - I'm in maintenance and my weight averages between 118-122 so I just say that 120 is my weight and I don't stress about fluctuations within the 4 lb range.

mariesofi4108 wrote: »

Thanks everyone! I lost the 20 pounds by running cross country 5 days a week (4-6 miles) and eating around 1300 calories. I know that sounds low, but my basic resting metabolic rate is 1330 calories and I had been trying for so long to loose that I finally put me mind to it and dropped 2 pounds a week! it'd be nice to loose another 5 pounds but the cold weather is in motivating

if you arent obese you should never eat below your BMR.and 2 lbs a week with less than 20lbs to lose is too aggressive