How many calories should I be on?

sezzyxo92
sezzyxo92 Posts: 19 Member
edited November 26 in Getting Started
Hi all,

I am 26, 5'6 and currently around 219.
I want to ideally weigh 175 but expect this will take some time.

MFP is suggesting 1400 cals a day, and I was wondering if you think that is right? I am hoping to lose 2 stone (30lb) by end of November/start of December and want to know if you think this is feasible.

I'm not sure whether to try the healthy eating route and sticking to my calorie limit everyday or attempting intermittent fasting.

Any advice or help would be appreciated.

Replies

  • Dvdgzz
    Dvdgzz Posts: 437 Member
    Sounds good. That will be rapid weight loss if you think you can maintain it. I'd say even 1800 would be low enough and allow room to drop further a couple months down the road. If you want to do 1400 I suggest eating back some exercise calories. Between 50%-75% of exercise calories on top of the 1400. You got this!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    sezzyxo92 wrote: »
    Hi all,

    I am 26, 5'6 and currently around 219.
    I want to ideally weigh 175 but expect this will take some time.

    MFP is suggesting 1400 cals a day, and I was wondering if you think that is right? I am hoping to lose 2 stone (30lb) by end of November/start of December and want to know if you think this is feasible.

    I'm not sure whether to try the healthy eating route and sticking to my calorie limit everyday or attempting intermittent fasting.

    Any advice or help would be appreciated.

    IF is an eating style, you still need a calorie deficit to lose weight. 'healthy eating' doesn't mean much, to lose weight you need a calorie deficit.

    1400 is probably fine, but can you stick to it, or would a smaller deficit be easier?

    looking through your diary, you have only logged 2-3 days out of the last week.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
    edited May 2018
    MFP's suggestion is based on the information that you gave it.

    If you're happy to lose 2 stone over a period of 6 months, that's around 1lb per week, so choose that as your rate of loss. At your stats, that puts your BMR (Resting calorie burn) at around 1750, if you're sedentary that's around 2190 calories per day to maintain, and you should average around 1lb per week loss at 1690. I've included below an infographic that explains how your calorie allowance is calculated.

    Intermittent fasting still requires you to eat at a calorie deficit, there is nothing magical about it, I'd recommend choosing a way of eating that you can see yourself sticking to forever, it's not just for 6 months, you need to be able to maintain your lower weight too.

    Advice: Read the sticky posts on this board and General Diet board, make small changes over time to form better habits, don't go all gung ho trying to change everything all at once.

    ofb34geiogo1.jpg

  • sezzyxo92
    sezzyxo92 Posts: 19 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    sezzyxo92 wrote: »
    Hi all,

    I am 26, 5'6 and currently around 219.
    I want to ideally weigh 175 but expect this will take some time.

    MFP is suggesting 1400 cals a day, and I was wondering if you think that is right? I am hoping to lose 2 stone (30lb) by end of November/start of December and want to know if you think this is feasible.

    I'm not sure whether to try the healthy eating route and sticking to my calorie limit everyday or attempting intermittent fasting.

    Any advice or help would be appreciated.

    IF is an eating style, you still need a calorie deficit to lose weight. 'healthy eating' doesn't mean much, to lose weight you need a calorie deficit.

    1400 is probably fine, but can you stick to it, or would a smaller deficit be easier?

    looking through your diary, you have only logged 2-3 days out of the last week.


    I know - I am trying really hard to get in the habit of logging. I'm slowly getting there I think! It's all quite new to me so hoping to make it a part of my daily routine.
    I think 1400 should be okay, especially if I start going to the gym more?
  • sezzyxo92
    sezzyxo92 Posts: 19 Member
    Dvdgzz wrote: »
    Sounds good. That will be rapid weight loss if you think you can maintain it. I'd say even 1800 would be low enough and allow room to drop further a couple months down the road. If you want to do 1400 I suggest eating back some exercise calories. Between 50%-75% of exercise calories on top of the 1400. You got this!

    Thank you!
    Do you think 1400 is too little then? I set it to lose 1.5lb a week so was quite surprised.

    Let's see how it goes! Fingers crossed. :)
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    MFP suggested 1400 calories based on the information you entered. The less you eat, the faster you lose, as long as you (can) keep it up. Up to 1% of your bodyweight per week is an often thrown around rule of thumb. A slower weightloss rate will give you a bigger allowance. A bigger allowance is easier to stick to. To lose weight, you just have to eat below your maintenance level. No matter how you go about it, you need patience and a consistent calorie deficit. To be sure you're eating as much as you think, you need a food scale.

    A healthy diet is balanced and varied. Intermittent fasting is not eating all the time. Those two things are completely unrelated, and both are only indirectly related to weightloss: Getting in enough of all the nutrition you need every day, in a way that you find enjoyable and practical, will make it easier to eat less, consistently, for real, and for a long time, and importantly, not make you want to go back to the way you have been eating as soon as you reach goal weight, or just quit.
  • sezzyxo92
    sezzyxo92 Posts: 19 Member
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    MFP's suggestion is based on the information that you gave it.

    If you're happy to lose 2 stone over a period of 6 months, that's around 1lb per week, so choose that as your rate of loss. At your stats, that puts your BMR (Resting calorie burn) at around 1750, if you're sedentary that's around 2190 calories per day to maintain, and you should average around 1lb per week loss at 1690. I've included below an infographic that explains how your calorie allowance is calculated.

    Intermittent fasting still requires you to eat at a calorie deficit, there is nothing magical about it, I'd recommend choosing a way of eating that you can see yourself sticking to forever, it's not just for 6 months, you need to be able to maintain your lower weight too.

    Advice: Read the sticky posts on this board and General Diet board, make small changes over time to form better habits, don't go all gung ho trying to change everything all at once.

    ofb34geiogo1.jpg

    That is so helpful! Thank you for the infographic. :)
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    sezzyxo92 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    sezzyxo92 wrote: »
    Hi all,

    I am 26, 5'6 and currently around 219.
    I want to ideally weigh 175 but expect this will take some time.

    MFP is suggesting 1400 cals a day, and I was wondering if you think that is right? I am hoping to lose 2 stone (30lb) by end of November/start of December and want to know if you think this is feasible.

    I'm not sure whether to try the healthy eating route and sticking to my calorie limit everyday or attempting intermittent fasting.

    Any advice or help would be appreciated.

    IF is an eating style, you still need a calorie deficit to lose weight. 'healthy eating' doesn't mean much, to lose weight you need a calorie deficit.

    1400 is probably fine, but can you stick to it, or would a smaller deficit be easier?

    looking through your diary, you have only logged 2-3 days out of the last week.


    I know - I am trying really hard to get in the habit of logging. I'm slowly getting there I think! It's all quite new to me so hoping to make it a part of my daily routine.
    I think 1400 should be okay, especially if I start going to the gym more?

    you wont know if 1400 is enough until you have tried it for a few weeks.
  • Dvdgzz
    Dvdgzz Posts: 437 Member
    sezzyxo92 wrote: »
    Dvdgzz wrote: »
    Sounds good. That will be rapid weight loss if you think you can maintain it. I'd say even 1800 would be low enough and allow room to drop further a couple months down the road. If you want to do 1400 I suggest eating back some exercise calories. Between 50%-75% of exercise calories on top of the 1400. You got this!

    Thank you!
    Do you think 1400 is too little then? I set it to lose 1.5lb a week so was quite surprised.

    Let's see how it goes! Fingers crossed. :)


    It is low in my opinion. Unless you're sedentary you will be losing closer to 2 lbs per week but given how most of us stumble a little on the weekends, 1.5 is closer to what you can expect. It will be 2 or more average for the first month as water weight and just having less food going through you will skew the first few drops.
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