1200 cals minimum for everyone?

bode702
bode702 Posts: 11
edited October 1 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm wondering why MFP tells everyone not to go below 1200 calories, regardless of their age/gender/weight. I know that if you eat too few calories you can go into starvation mode, but I'd think different bodies would require different numbers of calories to avoid starvation. For example, MFP tells me not to go below 1200 calories a day, but if I stay at 1200, I'll only lose 1.1 pounds/week, when I'd like to be losing closer to two pounds/week. Thoughts/ideas?

Replies

  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    No. It goes by how much you have to lose and how fast you want to lose it. The less you weigh the less calories you have.
  • vbennett7
    vbennett7 Posts: 99 Member
    Size also changes it. I am 5'4 and at my current weight MFP tells me to eat 1140 a day. Last year, when I started this, it was 1440.
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
    Personally I wouldn't drop below 1200 calories a day - for a start you will become so limited to what you will be able to consume.

    I started this on 1200 and it's been great and certainly tough at times too. But I joined this for the long haul and to learn how to eat properly and lose weight without doing unmaintainable crash dieting. Unfortunately for me (from a calorie point of view) is I'm quite short so I actually need about 1500 calories just to maintain!
    I'm now on 1300 and will be moving up to 1400 very soon.

    Try it out for a while on 1200, you may be surprised that you'll lose more than a pound a week anyway, but generally sensible dieting advice is to lose just a pound a week to be successful at not putting the weight back on at the end of the 'diet'.

    Best of luck and certainly happy to provide any low cal recipes! : )
  • vbennett7
    vbennett7 Posts: 99 Member
    S(ize also changes it. I am 5'4 and at my current weight MFP tells me to eat 1140 a day. Last year, when I started this, it was 1440. )

    Well, I guess I have to eat my words. I know it was at 1140, but now it is 1220. I don't know why or when it changed.
  • bode702
    bode702 Posts: 11
    Thanks, everyone!
  • OneDayFree
    OneDayFree Posts: 11 Member
    I'm eating 1200 calories and I have been losing 2 lbs. a week. Put sodium on your daily count list and make sure you keep it below the recommended number. Hope this helps. Good luck to everyone. We are doing this altogether.
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