What should my daily calorie intake be?

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I'm a 24 year old girl who is morbidly obese at 497 pounds. My activity level is sedentary. Myfitnesspal says I should eat 2700 calories a day to lose weight while the Calorie King calculates that I should eat 1900-2100 calories a day to lose weight. I need some advice.

Replies

  • tgcake
    tgcake Posts: 59 Member
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    I would go with what MFP tells you. But a couple of questions:
    - How tall are you?
    - How much do you want to lose per week?
  • Hello_its_Dan
    Hello_its_Dan Posts: 406 Member
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    I'm a 24 year old girl who is morbidly obese at 497 pounds. My activity level is sedentary. Myfitnesspal says I should eat 2700 calories a day to lose weight while the Calorie King calculates that I should eat 1900-2100 calories a day to lose weight. I need some advice.

    2000
    And do everything you can to simply walk daily. Shoot for 3000-5000 steps for now.

    How's the blood work?
  • rachelstack214
    rachelstack214 Posts: 4 Member
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    I think you should fo what the app suggests. I am proud of you and support you on your journey. YOU GOT THIS!!!!
  • size102b
    size102b Posts: 1,370 Member
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    I'm a 24 year old girl who is morbidly obese at 497 pounds. My activity level is sedentary. Myfitnesspal says I should eat 2700 calories a day to lose weight while the Calorie King calculates that I should eat 1900-2100 calories a day to lose weight. I need some advice.

    2000
    And do everything you can to simply walk daily. Shoot for 3000-5000 steps for now.

    How's the blood work?

    That's a lot of steps for someone nearly 500 lbs there's no rush if they aren't at all active 250 steps a day for 2 weeks is best then double them for 2 weeks
    I was very very ill in 2015 sepsis late baby loss and 11 blood transfusions I could only walk 5 minutes as was ill

    I'd not go too low in calories either start as high as the highest calculator says otherwise you will fall off plan you've gone from probably eating thousands of calories to very little
    There's no rush it's not a race
    Start very slow and steady :)
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 657 Member
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    I'd start with 2700. When you have that much to lose you are probably used to eating way more than that anyway. If you go from eating, let's say, 3700 calories a day then it would be much easier to cut 1000 calories verses nearly 2000 a day.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
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    What specific problems are you having? You've been struggling to start for over a year now. I had to wait until I was ready and you may not be there yet.

    When you are ready, start somewhere. 2700 would be fine. Once you get into the hang of eating at a deficit, you can make adjustments later.

    The important part for weight loss is to consume fewer calories than your body uses. You have to make changes and stick to them. They can be small changes a little at a time but you have to be ready to do that.
  • fatty2sixpack
    fatty2sixpack Posts: 67 Member
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    tgcake wrote: »
    I would go with what MFP tells you. But a couple of questions:
    - How tall are you?
    - How much do you want to lose per week?

    I'm 5 feet 7 inches. With what I weigh my goal is to lose 2 to 3 pounds a week.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
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    tgcake wrote: »
    I would go with what MFP tells you. But a couple of questions:
    - How tall are you?
    - How much do you want to lose per week?

    I'm 5 feet 7 inches. With what I weigh my goal is to lose 2 to 3 pounds a week.

    go with what MFP says, 2700 will do you just fine an get you into the dieting/tracking routine and you can worry about lowering it later depending how your losses are looking...Just realize you WILL lose alot fast at the start, It WILL slow down, Dont let it freak you into lowering your calories prematurely. Its just water weight and then turns into fat losses.
  • fatty2sixpack
    fatty2sixpack Posts: 67 Member
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    seska422 wrote: »
    What specific problems are you having? You've been struggling to start for over a year now. I had to wait until I was ready and you may not be there yet.

    When you are ready, start somewhere. 2700 would be fine. Once you get into the hang of eating at a deficit, you can make adjustments later.

    The important part for weight loss is to consume fewer calories than your body uses. You have to make changes and stick to them. They can be small changes a little at a time but you have to be ready to do that.

    I specifically have problems with eating and committing to starting a healthy lifestyle. Right now I have no motivation or discipline but I need to start losing weight r I won't make it to age 30.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited March 2017
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    seska422 wrote: »
    What specific problems are you having? You've been struggling to start for over a year now. I had to wait until I was ready and you may not be there yet.

    When you are ready, start somewhere. 2700 would be fine. Once you get into the hang of eating at a deficit, you can make adjustments later.

    The important part for weight loss is to consume fewer calories than your body uses. You have to make changes and stick to them. They can be small changes a little at a time but you have to be ready to do that.

    I specifically have problems with eating and committing to starting a healthy lifestyle. Right now I have no motivation or discipline but I need to start losing weight r I won't make it to age 30.

    Absolutely start at 2700 then. If you fail to even come close to it keep in mind its not a fail, If you say no to a food that day you know you dont need thats a win. Smaller portion? win. No seconds? no thirds? wins. Focus on adding more wins to your day and gradually ease into it. Honestly at this point every win counts, Even a minor one like a short walk.

    Change your mindset to just have more wins, Vs thinking you need to completly change everything at once. Pat yourself on the back and do your best. No need to stress when beggining.

    Iv lost alot of weight now just focusing on fitting my food i like into my calories. You dont NEED a huge lifestyle change. That said you are large i assume you eat alot of bad foods, Which for now is fine in smaller amounts, But id definatly start trying to mix in some good healthy foods aswell and trying to find new ways to eat the foods you love, Maintaining the satisfaction but lowering the calories. Think baked chicken with a delicious sauce vs deep fried breaded chicken. Or grilled chicken in a wrap with veggies vs crispy with mayo.

    Dont complicate it, Dont overwhelm yourself taking it all at once and burning out. Just focus on winning more each day than you fail. Think long term
  • fatty2sixpack
    fatty2sixpack Posts: 67 Member
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    size102b wrote: »
    I'm a 24 year old girl who is morbidly obese at 497 pounds. My activity level is sedentary. Myfitnesspal says I should eat 2700 calories a day to lose weight while the Calorie King calculates that I should eat 1900-2100 calories a day to lose weight. I need some advice.

    2000
    And do everything you can to simply walk daily. Shoot for 3000-5000 steps for now.

    How's the blood work?

    That's a lot of steps for someone nearly 500 lbs there's no rush if they aren't at all active 250 steps a day for 2 weeks is best then double them for 2 weeks
    I was very very ill in 2015 sepsis late baby loss and 11 blood transfusions I could only walk 5 minutes as was ill

    Thatsa great idea on how to fit in cardio to my weight loss journey. I have had no blood work done. Thanks.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited March 2017
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    seska422 wrote: »
    What specific problems are you having? You've been struggling to start for over a year now. I had to wait until I was ready and you may not be there yet.

    When you are ready, start somewhere. 2700 would be fine. Once you get into the hang of eating at a deficit, you can make adjustments later.

    The important part for weight loss is to consume fewer calories than your body uses. You have to make changes and stick to them. They can be small changes a little at a time but you have to be ready to do that.

    I specifically have problems with eating and committing to starting a healthy lifestyle. Right now I have no motivation or discipline but I need to start losing weight r I won't make it to age 30.
    My recommendation is that you don't commit to starting a healthy lifestyle right now. You need to stop gaining and start losing. In order to do that, you need to get your calorie intake lower than what your body is using.

    Commit to eating items with less gravy and sauce than you use now. Commit to eating a small order of fries rather than a large order. Commit to eating more slowly and only going back for seconds of the less calorie-dense foods in your meal if you are still hungry. Commit to drinking a glass of water for every caloried drink that you have so that you end up drinking fewer calories overall.

    Start paying attention to amounts. Log everything before you eat or drink so that you can decide to consume less of the high-calorie items and more of the low-calorie items.

    Exercise is great. Even just getting up and moving around once per hour during the day would be helpful. Walking around the block or on your treadmill is useful. Just like with calorie intake, you don't need to make big changes to see positive results.

    Don't try to change everything at once. Baby steps.
  • wndlady
    wndlady Posts: 70 Member
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    You are worth taking care of. Please commit yourself to loving yourself enough to make the steps you need!
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,994 Member
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    Do you log your food yet? Make that a first step. Just commit to logging everything you eat. Just the simple act of consciously acknowledging to yourself what you're eating can get you started making better decisions about what and how much you are eating.
    seska422 wrote: »
    What specific problems are you having? You've been struggling to start for over a year now. I had to wait until I was ready and you may not be there yet.

    When you are ready, start somewhere. 2700 would be fine. Once you get into the hang of eating at a deficit, you can make adjustments later.

    The important part for weight loss is to consume fewer calories than your body uses. You have to make changes and stick to them. They can be small changes a little at a time but you have to be ready to do that.

    I specifically have problems with eating and committing to starting a healthy lifestyle. Right now I have no motivation or discipline but I need to start losing weight r I won't make it to age 30.

    This is your motivation.