Is 1,700 calories too much?

TavistockToad wrote: »

xLucha_Dorax wrote: »

I set it to light I work in an office but try to work out 5 days a week. Looking to lose 4 stone

i would set it to sedentary and then eat back your exercise cals.

This.

The activity level on mfp doesn't include exercise.

Yeah, as others have said, just give it a go and see how it works. I've been losing weight starting at 2400 kcal (I weighed 14.8 stone at the time, assuming Google converted correct) and have been gradually reducing about 100 calories a month. It's not an enormously high rate of loss, maybe 2-3 lbs a month because I'm not especially active, but it's been insanely doable and low stress. My target weight is 9.6 stone, which MFP estimates would have me eating about 1700 kcal to maintain. The real key here is logging accuracy. With your stats and activity level you almost certainly can lose weight for some time eating 1700 kcal, but you have to make as sure as possible that's what you're actually eating. Way too many people end up logging inaccurately and overshooting their goals, then blaming their failure to lose weight to not enough exercise/too much bread/sugar/having too high a goal. The problem is almost always their logging.

jrotando wrote: »

Hi guys, I started this program 14 days ago, at 172.2 lbs (67 in). I am 70.5 yrs old, and wanted to get back to about 158 lbs. The program assessed my caloric need at 1700 and set 1500 as the limit to reach my goal with about at 1.1 lb loss per week (average). I am averaging around 1000 - 1400 over the period, and after 14 days I am at 165 lbs. I also balance food with intense walking (4 - 5 miles per day at 4.0 mph) and am losing well. If you keep hydrated (important!) and focused, you can exceed the amount, but you have to "read" your body. If you feel excessively weak or strained, then you have gone too far. How you feel, balanced with your losses, is probably the best way to go...A lot of folks seem to be at the 1700 range as a maintenance caloric intake.

Just because you feel okay doesn't mean its advisable. Excessive deficits increase the chances of muscle loss. No one wants to lose more lean mass than they have to when dieting. Its a hard and slow process for females to regain muscle mass.

not sure who said it, but its true - the winner is the person who can eat the most and still lose weight

deannalfisher wrote: »

not sure who said it, but its true - the winner is the person who can eat the most and still lose weight

A wise rabbit used to say that.

I'm 5'2" and I would never lose on that. But I'm on a bunch of medication so I don't know.