1500 calories, 5'10" 200 lbs... will I lose weight?

cleenjones
cleenjones Posts: 21 Member
edited November 22 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm truly confused and hope someone can help. MFP says I should be eating 1200 calories a day to lose weight ( I'm a 54 yr old female), but that seems low. Is there a more accurate way to figure out how many calories I should eat each day?
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Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    How much weight do you need to lose and what did you ask the tool to do? "Lose 2 pounds per week" is for people with 75+ to lose (more or less.)

    Change your goals, you get more calories. Or you can manually set your calories. The "activity level" makes a difference, too. Be as honest as possible.

    How it is calculated: https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/410332-how-does-myfitnesspal-calculate-my-initial-goals-
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    Also read the stickies. Start here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest

    The "Sexypants" one is really good, start there.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Your BMR (what your body burns just to live) is 1600 calories, so absolutely
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,460 Member
    1500 or 1200? I am 5'10" 210. Mfp sets me at 1490 calories. I was losing weight, but too slowly for me, so I raised my calories to 1600. Seems to be better, but still too early to tell. It seems to me like mfp is really good at giving you a ballpark figure, but then you have to adjust from there.
  • jeichelb83
    jeichelb83 Posts: 172 Member
    1500, you'll starve at 1200. I'm only 5'2" and I lose half a pound a week at 1500. If I go any lower, I turn into Cookie Monster at night.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,756 Member
    corinasue1143 wrote: »
    1500 or 1200? I am 5'10" 210. Mfp sets me at 1490 calories. I was losing weight, but too slowly for me, so I raised my calories to 1600. Seems to be better, but still too early to tell. It seems to me like mfp is really good at giving you a ballpark figure, but then you have to adjust from there.

    I don't get the logic here?
  • maggibailey
    maggibailey Posts: 289 Member
    I am 5'10 158 pounds atm and 38 years old. I lose at 1500 give or take 100 calories any given day. Because you are heavier than me you can eat more generally speaking. Try the number mfp gave you for a month, watch the scale and adjust from there.
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,460 Member
    Should add I also eat back some of my exercise calories. Try to eat some carbs on the way to the gym, some on my way home. If I plan and take snacks with me, it keeps me from stopping at 7-11 and making some very bad decisions.
  • Kst76
    Kst76 Posts: 935 Member
    OP, haw fast do you wanna lose?
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    I'm 2 inches shorter than you and about 25lbs smaller and I've never eaten that little. I'm on 2000-2200 ish.
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
    I’m 5’10” and was 170 lbs. I got down to close to 155 lbs on 1600-1900 a day depending on my activity.
  • Blythmag
    Blythmag Posts: 252 Member
    Thats sounds awfully low.check it again , 1500 calories minimum for a patient weight loss imho
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    holycrosser wrote: »
    Thats sounds awfully low.check it again , 1500 calories minimum for a patient weight loss imho

    1500 is the minimum for men. Since the OP is female, her lowest would be 1200.
  • Blythmag
    Blythmag Posts: 252 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    holycrosser wrote: »
    Thats sounds awfully low.check it again , 1500 calories minimum for a patient weight loss imho

    1500 is the minimum for men. Since the OP is female, her lowest would be 1200.

    My point is at her height and weight she will lose at 1500 with a decent amount of exercise with a little patience, you agree?

    1200 seems like starve mode
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    holycrosser wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    holycrosser wrote: »
    Thats sounds awfully low.check it again , 1500 calories minimum for a patient weight loss imho

    1500 is the minimum for men. Since the OP is female, her lowest would be 1200.

    My point is at her height and weight she will lose at 1500 with a decent amount of exercise with a little patience, you agree?

    1200 seems like starve mode

    Starvation mode doesn't exist. But yes, 1200 is too low for her as others said. Many people on here aim for a goal that is too aggressive and end up being assigned the minimum amount of calories. Plus exercise isn't required to lose weight.
  • dwilliamca
    dwilliamca Posts: 325 Member
    Her BMR is 1587 and if she chose sedentary her NEAT burn would be 1983. It appears she chose to lose at least 1.5 lbs per week which would be 1983-750=1233. Unfortunately as we get older our BMR's drop drastically. If she wants to be more conservative on the weight loss then 1483 would be her goal for a pound a week or add in some exercise.
  • saraghali
    saraghali Posts: 63 Member
    maggibailey wrote: »
    I am 5'10 158 pounds atm and 38 years old. I lose at 1500 give or take 100 calories any given day. Because you are heavier than me you can eat more generally speaking. Try the number mfp gave you for a month, watch the scale and adjust from there.
    May I ask what's your starting weight?
  • dwilliamca
    dwilliamca Posts: 325 Member
    By the way. Read the explanation how MFP calculates the numbers under "Most Helpful Posts...General Diet and Weight Loss Help" article "Why eating too little calories is a bad idea". It explains BMR calculation, activity levels, and number of calories to lose a week very clearly.
  • misnomer1
    misnomer1 Posts: 646 Member
    edited October 2017
    Yes you will.
    If your activity level (non exercise daily chores, work movement etc) is low, 1500 (net after deducting intentional exercise) sounds good to me. If its high, you could eat a bit more.
    After 4 weeks track your actual weight loss and readjust.
  • cleenjones
    cleenjones Posts: 21 Member
    Thanks to everyone for contributing to this thread. It's been really helpful. I'll set my caloric goal at 1500 for the next month and see what happens I was hoping for 2lbs a week but will be happy as long as I see the scale start to move in the right direction....
  • pbbananacoffeechocolate
    pbbananacoffeechocolate Posts: 44 Member
    I'm 5'10", weigh 162 lbs, and have been losing weight at 1900 cals/day. I tried to speed things up by dropping to 1400 cals for a couple of weeks, and it slowed my progress almost to a stop. I actually lose faster at 1900 cals, plus I'm not miserable. :smile:
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    edited October 2017
    I'm 5'7" 62 yo and I lost all my weight at 1700.
  • natalieaspin5
    natalieaspin5 Posts: 1 Member
    If it helps....The NHS diet recommends 1400 with 30 minutes activity a day
  • cleenjones
    cleenjones Posts: 21 Member
    saraghali wrote: »
    maggibailey wrote: »
    I am 5'10 158 pounds atm and 38 years old. I lose at 1500 give or take 100 calories any given day. Because you are heavier than me you can eat more generally speaking. Try the number mfp gave you for a month, watch the scale and adjust from there.
    May I ask what's your starting weight?

  • cleenjones
    cleenjones Posts: 21 Member
    My start weight was 224. I dropped to 189, but put 10 pounds back on over the summer. I stopped logging and over-indulged on weekends. Lesson learned: I need to weigh my food and log to stay on track.
  • hesterific
    hesterific Posts: 23 Member
    My goal is 1700 cals per day. I had a nasty 3+ week plateau and discovered I was shorting my calories by about 500 per day. Yikes. I upped my calories and I'm back to losing like crazy. I don't like MFPs calculator, personally. I'm 41, 5'3", 178-179, goal 150 (I'm bony at 145)
  • cleenjones
    cleenjones Posts: 21 Member
    Moving my calories from 1500 to 1700, and hoping to see some weight drop in a couple of weeks from now. I think I’ve been eating too few calories based on what folks have been saying. I’ll post again in 2 weeks with an update (keeping fingers crossed)
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,460 Member
    Update. I have eaten 1600 calories for 1 week as opposed to 1500 before. I lost .5 pound this week as opposed to .4 average 4 weeks before. Not significant yet. Just interesting.
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