Women weighing about 220lbs - How many calories are you aiming for?

littlecrunchy190
littlecrunchy190 Posts: 53 Member
edited November 18 in Health and Weight Loss
So at some point I used a nutritional calculator and it told me in order to lose weight I should aim for 1400 calories a day. Does that seem right to you?
«13

Replies

  • dark_sparkles37019
    dark_sparkles37019 Posts: 114 Member
    It depends on how active you are. I started at 1800 last week and now I aim for 1500..but I go over. I'm on my feet 8 hrs a day Mon-Fri(factory) and I just started back working out last week.
  • kpkitten
    kpkitten Posts: 164 Member
    I'm 235 so a bit heavier than you but I aim for 1800-2000 most days. 1400 sounds very low unless you're genuinely sedentary, or you're adding your exercise separately and eating the extra calories back
  • laurenebargar
    laurenebargar Posts: 3,081 Member
    I started at 217 lbs and for 2 lbs a week was put at 1,200 calories. I changed it to 1.5 a week and sedentary and it was 1,340 then last week I changed it again to lightly active (per advice on the forums) and im much happier at this amount of calories. Im still loosing too!
  • laurenebargar
    laurenebargar Posts: 3,081 Member
    Forgot to add, now im at about 1,600 calories. I like this because if im starving I know I have extra room in my budget, but I still try to stay under.
  • mlevy47
    mlevy47 Posts: 1 Member
    1200 is more like what you need to be on

  • fbchick51
    fbchick51 Posts: 240 Member
    Without any exercise added in, I'm at 1640 a day to lose about 1lb per week. With exercise, I generally eat between 1800-2000 per day.
  • ronjsteele1
    ronjsteele1 Posts: 1,064 Member
    I'm exactly where you're at weight wise and I'm set for 1550. I exercise daily and I do eat back my exercise calories but I do not count my step calories. I'm still barely losing at 1/4-1/2# a week. I weigh and log meticulously but I also have several health issues that probably mean I should set my cals at about 1300-1400 but I can't go that low. So, for now, I'll settle for a slower loss rate, just so long as I'm losing.
  • DamieBird
    DamieBird Posts: 651 Member
    I started at 217 and my goal is 1850. Over the past 11 weeks, I had one full week in March and this past weekend where I ate closer to/at maintenance (due to vacation and out of town visitors), but overall I'm down to 201.2 as of this morning. I run/walk 3 miles 3x/week and 5 miles once a week, plus usually at least one 30+minutes walk a day. I never "eat back" any exercise calories over my 1850ish goal, and I keep the same goal regardless of if I'm active on that particular day unless I know that I'm missing more than one scheduled workout in the same week (in that case, I may scale it back a little).

    Unless you're very sedentary, 1400 may be too low.
  • Aftronthegreat
    Aftronthegreat Posts: 54 Member
    I'm 279lbs, and my goal for -2lbs a week is 1400/day, so I think it seems a bit low cal for you based off of your weight
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
    I started at 221, goal was 1550, lightly active and counted every step as exercise. Set to lose 2lbs/week. Made sure I walked 10k steps a day and didn't eat much of those exercise calories back. 14 weeks later, down to 194 and now at 1350. Will need to eventually move to 1lb/week of loss but have been averaging about 1.8lbs a week.
  • amandatapar
    amandatapar Posts: 246 Member
    Started at 228 last week. I eat arouns 1200 to 1500 a day. It just depends. I eat more fat and protein generally though so it is pretty filling.
  • pookiefatcat
    pookiefatcat Posts: 15 Member
    I am 215 and currently eat 1900cals a day. I am set to lose .5lbs a week and sedentary. I am 5 ft 11in though so that probably changes things a bit.
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
    I'm currently 180 lbs at 5'1'', I started at 215 lbs and was eating about 2200 calories to lose a pound per week (I usually track vie TDEE, so my exercise is already accounted for).
    I'm still eating 2200 calories but I've added some cardio to my routine and I'm still losing about a pound per week, previously I was just weight training.

    For me, 1400 was not enough. I lost almost 3 lbs a week when I was eating that much in the past, it was not sustainable for my typical amount of activity.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    5'1", started at age 48, 212 pounds and as I recall I had a little over 1500 calories.
  • RAVERSTACE1983
    RAVERSTACE1983 Posts: 20 Member
    I'm 5 ft 8 and 245lbs my calorie goal is set at 1890 lightly active. 1 stone 10lbs lost in 2 months. Some days I eat less than that can be 1400 to 1600 some days. I don't drink alcohol either so my calories are just based on the food I eat and all I drink is water. I'm getting more active now I'm losing weight
  • DamieBird
    DamieBird Posts: 651 Member
    gamerbabe14 wrote: »
    I started at 221, goal was 1550, lightly active and counted every step as exercise. Set to lose 2lbs/week. Made sure I walked 10k steps a day and didn't eat much of those exercise calories back. 14 weeks later, down to 194 and now at 1350. Will need to eventually move to 1lb/week of loss but have been averaging about 1.8lbs a week.

    That's awesome progress!! Great job!!
  • glassofroses
    glassofroses Posts: 653 Member
    Mine is set to maintain at sedentary level, I like to add my exercise cals and then eat back, which is 1840 and I'm still losing (I'm 5'10, 145.6lbs, started at 220lbs) so it's all relative but 1400 does seem low. You want to be eating as much as you can (while in deficit) as long as you can so you have options if you should plateau. If your calories are too low you'll have nowhere to go.
  • hnstotler
    hnstotler Posts: 11 Member
    I am 230, I actually went and saw a nutritionist and she put me at 1473. Im 5'2" for what it's worth and 31 year female.
  • Kimmber45
    Kimmber45 Posts: 6 Member
    I'm 5'10. Weighing in at 271. Based on my goal my calories for the day are 2030. I'm not sure what you mean by "eating" exercise calories? Could someone explain? Most days I stay between 1600 - 1800 calories.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    kimnbeav1992 wrote: »
    I'm 5'10. Weighing in at 271. Based on my goal my calories for the day are 2030. I'm not sure what you mean by "eating" exercise calories? Could someone explain? Most days I stay between 1600 - 1800 calories.

    MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back.

    My FitBit One is far less generous with calories than the MFP database and I comfortably eat 100% of the calories I earn from it back.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    littlecrunchy190 wrote: »
    So at some point I used a nutritional calculator and it told me in order to lose weight I should aim for 1400 calories a day. Does that seem right to you?

    Seems low to me but I'm 5'6" and was only aiming to lose a pound a week. If you are shorter and have a more aggressive weekly weight loss goal, your number would be different.

    Why complicate things? Just plug your stats into MFP, choose a weekly weight loss goal appropriate for the number of pounds you want to lose total, and experiment with what percent of your exercise calories you can safely eat back.
  • kayeroze
    kayeroze Posts: 146 Member
    edited May 2017
    I started at 208#, 5'2 and my starting calorie amount was 1310, and has decreased to 1270 with weight loss and calculations for 1.5 lb a week loss. If you're short and sedentary, 1400 doesn't sound too low to me personally. I do add about 80-90% (sometimes 100%) of my exercise calories, and will average closer to 1400-1600 some days.

    And as an edit, I'm losing between 1-2 lbs a week on average, about where I should be.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    I am 5'6" and started at 256lbs. MFP gave me 1250 calories for 2lbs per week weight loss. Considering how overweight I was, I should have started with .5 lbs per week loss and enjoyed those extra calories. I ended up with a pretty significant vitamin D deficiency. I feel like I would have had close to the same success without the feeling yuckiness part. Maybe start with the highest # of calories while you adjust to weighing your foods and stuff, and then adjust according to how you feel and your rate of loss.
  • LeahMaria85
    LeahMaria85 Posts: 10 Member
    It really just depends on how active you are and also how tall you are. I'm 5'11" and weigh 230. I'm eating between 1500-1600 calories per day and I'm losing every week.
  • sarah4284
    sarah4284 Posts: 29 Member
    At about 225 right now, I'm current at just under 1600 calories a day, to lose 2lbs a week. I set mine as lightly active, don't work out but am on my feet between 6-8 hours a day 5 days a week and some extra walking on weekends, the calorie goal it gives me as I update my weight has been very accurate for losing around 2lbs a week for months now.
  • ursulastrong
    ursulastrong Posts: 1 Member
    edited May 2017
    1200 for me and getting results.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    I'm sorry to be dense here, but doesn't MFP calculate this for you in the settings?

    (Generally, set for sedintary, 1 lb per week loss, and be honest about your height/weight.)
  • littlecrunchy190
    littlecrunchy190 Posts: 53 Member
    Correct, and it sets other macros as well but those are not what I am using either!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories