Calorie amount

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amberellen12
amberellen12 Posts: 248 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
When I put my stats in a calorie counter app... female,60,5’6” weight 125, calories 1386 to maintain.

Now I’m not 125 lbs I’m heavier. My thinking is that if I eat what a person at that weight should eat daily then my weight should go down to there plus when I get to that weight I don’t have to go on a maintenance plan cause that’s what I’ve been following all along.

Please share your thoughts.

Replies

  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    edited May 2018
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    I've seen a few people post that they pick a calorie deficit = to their goal weight calories. Closer to goal weight, the loss will get very, very slow. If you don't have a lot to lose, this might be a good approach. If you have 50+ lbs to lose you could probably eat more and still lose and save that low calorie amount to when you're closer to goal.

    ETA: You'll still want to eat some of your earned exercise calories back or else you'll drop below the # of calories you really need to get necessary nutrients, etc.
  • Poisonedpawn78
    Poisonedpawn78 Posts: 1,145 Member
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    amberellen12 wrote: »
    When I put my stats in a calorie counter app... female,60,5’6” weight 125, calories 1386 to maintain.

    Now I’m not 125 lbs I’m heavier. My thinking is that if I eat what a person at that weight should eat daily then my weight should go down to there plus when I get to that weight I don’t have to go on a maintenance plan cause that’s what I’ve been following all along.

    Please share your thoughts.

    This is definitely a valid strategy with a bit of a caveat.. as you get closer to that goal weight its going to slow down a lot.

    To get an idea of what i mean.. take the same stats but 10 lbs heavier. Note the difference in calories given and divide that into 35000 to get how many days at that pace it will take.
  • DaniCanadian
    DaniCanadian Posts: 261 Member
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    I tried that and my calories were only about 100 above where I’m at to lose .5lbs per week. It also messed with the amount I got when logging exercise (and I already only eat 50% of those back) , so I just switched it back to my current weight. If that’s an approach you want to try though, I don’t see anything wrong with it that’d stop your progress.
    My stats: I’m 5’3, 146lbs and my goal is 125. I’m short, so I won’t have huge maintenance calories at my goal which is probably why it only went up by 100 when I tried this method.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited May 2018
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    Ditto to above - but put in weight 10 lbs lighter so the slow to a crawl loss doesn't occur when approaching goal weight.

    Which means when you get to goal weight - remember to increase the logged weight.

    Other potential benefit - when you correctly log workouts so you eat more when you do more - the calorie burn is less than reality since it's weight based too.

    Only problem is not getting to log your actual weight on MFP - but you may use a trending app for that anyway.
  • amberellen12
    amberellen12 Posts: 248 Member
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    fitoverfortymom wrote: »
    I've seen a few people post that they pick a calorie deficit = to their goal weight calories. Closer to goal weight, the loss will get very, very slow. If you don't have a lot to lose, this might be a good approach. If you have 50+ lbs to lose you could probably eat more and still lose and save that low calorie amount to when you're closer to goal.

    ETA: You'll still want to eat some of your earned exercise calories back or else you'll drop below the # of calories you really need to get necessary nutrients, etc.

    Good point! I have less than fifty to lose. I’m thinking more of getting into the habit of eating that amount. I don’t find it hard to hit that amount each day as most of my calories are made up of fresh veg and fruit. With meat only several times a week... coronary concerns. Starch and grain, beans and seeds making up the rest. Trying hard to stay away from added sugar foods and all processed foods.
  • amberellen12
    amberellen12 Posts: 248 Member
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    This is definitely a valid strategy with a bit of a caveat.. as you get closer to that goal weight its going to slow down a lot.

    To get an idea of what i mean.. take the same stats but 10 lbs heavier. Note the difference in calories given and divide that into 35000 to get how many days at that pace it will take. [/quote]


    I get it! Will keep that in mind as I get closer to goal weight.

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