how many calories should I be set at?

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bprague
bprague Posts: 564 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I keep hearing people say that their calories were automatically set too low and I am wondering if I should up my calories or not. I also eat my exercise calories. MFP has me set at 1200 calories.

what sort of deficit should I be striving to? I'm 5'5", sedentary, and 132 pounds.

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  • nolafitchick
    nolafitchick Posts: 46 Member
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    I use a Calorie Calculator (http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm) to figure out mine. Hope this helps.
  • MiNiMoNkI
    MiNiMoNkI Posts: 447 Member
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    Why not start at what MFP sets and see what happens, its all about trial and error, im 5.2" and weighed 140llbs to start with i stuck at MFP's cals and since end of feb ive lost 28llbs
  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
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    I keep hearing people say that their calories were automatically set too low and I am wondering if I should up my calories or not. I also eat my exercise calories. MFP has me set at 1200 calories.

    what sort of deficit should I be striving to? I'm 5'5", sedentary, and 132 pounds.

    as your BMI is 22 you are not relly over wieght...

    Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
    With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
    With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
    With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
    and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle tone, and reducing fat. This means is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode)


    Also this might be helpful http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/00trayn/view/how-to-bust-a-3-month-plateau-87677

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat



    Good luck on your journey
  • Jdine
    Jdine Posts: 36 Member
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    You should strive to have about a 500 deficit a day. At your ht and wt it probably takes about 1700 cal to maintain. eating 1200 a day you will withdraw 500 from your stored energy/calories(aka fat) 500x7 = 1lb of fat withdrawn from your stores. Wt gain and wt loss is an accumulative process if you need 1700 and eat 2200 you will gain a lb of fat. Remember most fast food meals are about 1000 calories. the average american consumes upwards of 3000 to 4000 a day.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I keep hearing people say that their calories were automatically set too low and I am wondering if I should up my calories or not. I also eat my exercise calories. MFP has me set at 1200 calories.

    what sort of deficit should I be striving to? I'm 5'5", sedentary, and 132 pounds.

    at that weight and height you don't have much to lose (less than 10-15) so I would suggest a weekly goal of 0.5 lbs/week for safe fat loss (if you deficit is too large you risk burning muscle instead of fat). So set your goal at 0.5lbs/week and eat back most of the calories you burn from exercise would be ideal, given your stats and goals.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    You should strive to have about a 500 deficit a day. At your ht and wt it probably takes about 1700 cal to maintain. eating 1200 a day you will withdraw 500 from your stored energy/calories(aka fat) 500x7 = 1lb of fat withdrawn from your stores. Wt gain and wt loss is an accumulative process if you need 1700 and eat 2200 you will gain a lb of fat. Remember most fast food meals are about 1000 calories. the average american consumes upwards of 3000 to 4000 a day.

    With the amount she has to lose a 500 cal deficit is probably too large and she would risk burning muscle along with the fat at that rate.
  • nickikole1
    nickikole1 Posts: 21
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    I've also heard and experienced that after a certain point, increasing your caloric intake will increase your metabolism. You'll end up finally getting off the plateau and losing weight because your body doesn't feel like it is risking anything by burning more calories.
  • nickikole1
    nickikole1 Posts: 21
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    Added note - this only works if you are at a plateau.
  • End6ame
    End6ame Posts: 903
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    I keep hearing people say that their calories were automatically set too low and I am wondering if I should up my calories or not. I also eat my exercise calories. MFP has me set at 1200 calories.

    what sort of deficit should I be striving to? I'm 5'5", sedentary, and 132 pounds.

    at that weight and height you don't have much to lose (less than 10-15) so I would suggest a weekly goal of 0.5 lbs/week for safe fat loss (if you deficit is too large you risk burning muscle instead of fat). So set your goal at 0.5lbs/week and eat back most of the calories you burn from exercise would be ideal, given your stats and goals.

    At your height and weight 1200 calories is below your BMR, which is not a healthy way to lose weight. I would aim for between 1300 and 1400.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    I keep hearing people say that their calories were automatically set too low and I am wondering if I should up my calories or not. I also eat my exercise calories. MFP has me set at 1200 calories.

    what sort of deficit should I be striving to? I'm 5'5", sedentary, and 132 pounds.

    When i started i was 140 pounds, (5ft5) and lost consistantly with 1200 cals. when i got down to 130, which was 4 pounds from my goal weight, i changed the loss to 1/2 a pound per week, which gives me 1380 cals, which i must admit i do like better, i dont feel as i am on a diet as most things fit in my cals, especially when i have had a decent work out.

    You just need to try it for a few weeks and see how you get on and how you feel.
  • bprague
    bprague Posts: 564 Member
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    I'm a plateau: I haven't lost a pound in two months. Thanks everyone! I'll be raising my calories accordingly. I think 1400 will be a good way to go for me right now.
  • Jdine
    Jdine Posts: 36 Member
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    No she wont.. Her body will not catabolize her muscle unless she enters starvation mode. below 1200 cal. Muscle has a high maintenance level 50- 70 cal per lb. fat has a low maintenance level 4-7 cal to maintain. If you start starving your body will catabolize your muscle to maintain itself on lower calories. If she is doing wt training that is a stimulus to the body that the muscle is needed and they will not be used for energy. I have been a personal trainer for 13 yrs and bodyfat reduction is my specialty. If you want to lose fat the quick and healthy way you need to eat clean (lean protein source, chicken&fish plenty of veggies and fruit and no fried or processed foods) and do cardio as well as resistance training. Doing one or the other does not have the synergistic effect as doing them all together. If your not losing wt at 1200 cal your def not going to lose wt at 1400. Wt loss and wt gain is all about the law of thermodynamics. energy can neither be created nor destroyed only transformed from one source to another. Food=energy/calories. Energy in VS Energy out

    If E in > E out = gain wt
    If E in = E out = stay the same
    if E in < E out = lose wt.

    You need to get your BF tested so you can find out your ratio of muscle and fat. Remember wt alone is the worst way to judge progress. If you lose 5lbs of Fat and Gain 5lbs of muscle the scale will stay the same but the image in the mirror will change.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    No she wont.. Her body will not catabolize her muscle unless she enters starvation mode. below 1200 cal. Muscle has a high maintenance level 50- 70 cal per lb. fat has a low maintenance level 4-7 cal to maintain. If you start starving your body will catabolize your muscle to maintain itself on lower calories. If she is doing wt training that is a stimulus to the body that the muscle is needed and they will not be used for energy. I have been a personal trainer for 13 yrs and bodyfat reduction is my specialty. If you want to lose fat the quick and healthy way you need to eat clean (lean protein source, chicken&fish plenty of veggies and fruit and no fried or processed foods) and do cardio as well as resistance training. Doing one or the other does not have the synergistic effect as doing them all together. If your not losing wt at 1200 cal your def not going to lose wt at 1400. Wt loss and wt gain is all about the law of thermodynamics. energy can neither be created nor destroyed only transformed from one source to another. Food=energy/calories. Energy in VS Energy out

    If E in > E out = gain wt
    If E in = E out = stay the same
    if E in < E out = lose wt.

    You need to get your BF tested so you can find out your ratio of muscle and fat. Remember wt alone is the worst way to judge progress. If you lose 5lbs of Fat and Gain 5lbs of muscle the scale will stay the same but the image in the mirror will change.

    Actually it is very hard to lose weight (fat) and not lose muscle along with it. Think of a body builder cutting for a show, they burn up a ton of muscle. muscle will catabolize even on a small caloric deficit, but the smaller the deficit the less catabolizing will occur. Muscle needs a caloric surplus to build, maintenance to maintain, and a deficit to have some lost. A higher protein diet combined with a small deficit and heavy weights will limit the amount of muscle loss.
  • bprague
    bprague Posts: 564 Member
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    well here is the fun part: I lift weights three times a week (ones that I find heavy- none of this toning bs) and I do cardio (half hour of running) about five times a week. So I don't think it's really an issue of me not working for it. And I usually eat above my protein to help minimize muscle loss.
  • Jdine
    Jdine Posts: 36 Member
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    Like I said no she wont. I just lost 21 lbs in 30 days none of it muscle and all of it fat. I do this for a living. 7/10 to 8/8 174 to 153. look at my picture and tell me if i look like I lost any muscle.. feel free to look at my diary and see what I have eaten for the last thirty days.
  • Jdine
    Jdine Posts: 36 Member
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    Great it sounds like your doing good with your exercise. Just make sure you switch it up to avoid becoming to efficient at one exercise. When mixing up your cardio use the FITT principle = Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type. First variable you want to change is the intensity. ie: doing 10 mins on the bike at Level12 will burn more calories than 30 mins on Level 1. Dont always jog the type needs to vary as well to not hit a plateau. If your looking to help burn fat while doing wts keep your reps at 15 it is the best stimulus for muscular endurance and bodyfat reduction. you should be doing some sort of split routine Chest/tris, Legs/Shoulders, Back/biceps. 3 different exercise per muscle 3-4 sets of 15 reps. The wt should be heavy enough you can get to 15 but not much more.

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