How Many Calories?

brooklyn7214 wrote: »

Hi,

I've been off and on MFP for years, but leaving Weight Watchers and starting MFP today.
I'm 5'1, not very active except for my 30 minutes on my spin bike and it gave me 1200 calories a day. Is this enough?
What calorie amounts has My Fitness Pal given you guys?

How much weight do you have to lose, and how many lbs per week did you choose?

brooklyn7214 wrote: »

About 70lbs and 2lbs a week.

If you are under 200 lbs, 2 lbs per week is a pretty aggressive goal. Just my two cents, but I would change to 1.5 lbs per week and see if it gives you a few more calories. It might not, as 1200 is the minimum and because of your height your TDEE might be too low to support faster weight loss.

If you still get 1200, give it a try and see how it feels. Try to prioritize hitting your protein, fat, and fiber goals to promote satiety. Make sure to log your exercise and eat back some of those calories as well to give yourself a little wiggle room. If it's possible, try to bring your activity level up. Every little bit helps!

If you still struggle to stick to 1200 cals (and for some people it really is tough), change your goal to 1 lb per week and eat a little more. Slower weight loss you can stick to is better than faster weight loss that causes you to hit the wall.

Unfortunately when you're shorter, you just have less wiggle room as your TDEE is lower to start with. I'm 5'4 and I settled for losing 0.5 lbs per week and towards the end even less than that because less than 1400 cals just made me miserable. Other people do okay with it.

Also consider taking a 2 week diet break where you eat maintenance every few months, it can help prevent the physical and psychological stress of eating at a low calorie level from messing with your hormones.

Good luck!

Hey guys - Ive been assigned 1300 calories a day. I have 560 left for the day. POOF - they went fast.