HELP<3Amount of calories

emastringer
emastringer Posts: 7 Member
edited November 18 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi! I am just starting! I'm ;
5'1 Female
27 years old
Secondary lifestyle
Currently 198lbs
Goal weight ;135/125

How many calories should I be eating? MFP has it set to 1200 but I feel like that is really low. Will I lose a good amount each week at 1350 ? Or what should my calorie goal be? I have about 73lbs to lose and would not like it to take years so I want to make sure I'm eating at a good calorie goal to lose weight in a realistic but good amount of time.

All my fitness experts and goal crushers what do YOU suggest? 1200,1350 or another calorie goal?

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Are you set to 2 pounds a week? Change your goal to 1.5 pounds a week and it should give you a few more.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    Get some exercise - even 30-45 minutes of brisk walking will "earn" you some calories. 1200 is really low for a young woman. If you have any type of job or go to school or care for small children, you're not Sedentary. Change your Goals to "Lightly Active" and you'll get more calories.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    also look at your goal - what did you select as your weight loss amount (2lbs a week)

    using your stats - this gives you 1385 a day which would be about a 1lb loss a week - https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&g=female&age=27&lbs=198&in=61&act=1.2&f=1 (based on a maintenance of about 1830)

    you could probably do 1500 and have a slightly slower loss
  • roxskow
    roxskow Posts: 29 Member
    Hey there and welcome! I would try just tracking your calories that you normally eat for a week or two, then try and lower from there. It's all about making small, sustainable changes that work FOR YOU. I wouldn't worry too much about the calculation that MFP gives you, just work on making healthier choices working from your current habits :)
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    emastringer wrote: »
    Hi! I am just starting! I'm ;
    5'1 Female
    27 years old
    Secondary lifestyle
    Currently 198lbs
    Goal weight ;135/125

    How many calories should I be eating? MFP has it set to 1200 but I feel like that is really low. Will I lose a good amount each week at 1350 ? Or what should my calorie goal be? I have about 73lbs to lose and would not like it to take years so I want to make sure I'm eating at a good calorie goal to lose weight in a realistic but good amount of time.

    All my fitness experts and goal crushers what do YOU suggest? 1200,1350 or another calorie goal?

    1200 is before exercise. So if you plan exercise, plan on eating more.

    I would try something a bit higher to start anyway. Staying full, planning meals, and staying within calories is an adjustment. Having more calories at the start gives you more options. Then when you get the hang of things you can go lower if you want to.
  • Luna3386
    Luna3386 Posts: 888 Member
    I personally recommend starting with the smallest deficit possible to leave wiggle room down the road. Once you start losing weight, you caloric needs will go down.

    How many calories does it give you for 1 pound a week? Are you truly sedentary?
  • emastringer
    emastringer Posts: 7 Member
    I guess lightly active. I go to school , not working right now as I'm a full time student.
  • animatorswearbras
    animatorswearbras Posts: 1,001 Member
    If you think the 1350 is manageable I'd go for that and eat your exercise calories back, basically it's a bit of trial and error finding something you can do long term, remember it's a marathon not a sprint, if you crash diet you may burn yourself out quickly quit and go back to square one (I've yo yo'd before doing exactly this)

    a good rule of thumb is:-

    sedentary is if you get in less than 5000 steps a day
    lightly active is 5-10k steps a day

    I sit behind a desk for my job so I have my settings set to sedentary however I log my walks (I am technically lightly active most of the time and get around 7-8k steps a day but on the odd day I might get a lift back from work or bum around on a weekend at home I leave it sedentary) I also do circuit training twice a week and eat back all my cals (sometimes I'll save them for the weekend though as I'm more likely to indulge/be lazy)

    Anyway try it for a week, if you're gnawing your arm off reduce your loss per week and up your cals. It's best to do something you can maintain for the long haul. x good luck.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    emastringer wrote: »
    Hi! I am just starting! I'm ;
    5'1 Female
    27 years old
    Secondary lifestyle
    Currently 198lbs
    Goal weight ;135/125

    How many calories should I be eating? MFP has it set to 1200 but I feel like that is really low. Will I lose a good amount each week at 1350 ? Or what should my calorie goal be? I have about 73lbs to lose and would not like it to take years so I want to make sure I'm eating at a good calorie goal to lose weight in a realistic but good amount of time.

    All my fitness experts and goal crushers what do YOU suggest? 1200,1350 or another calorie goal?

    It is low, and you're sedentary and short. Your calorie targets are based on your physical stats, activity level, and desired rate of loss. If you exercise and/or are otherwise more active, you can eat more. My guess is that you also have it set to 2 Lbs per week which is a 1,000 calorie deficit from your estimated maintenance which is fairly aggressive...you could change it to 1.5 or 1 Lb per week. I'm sure you would lose on 1350 as well.
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