1200 calorie allotment
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I agree with the others. Choose a less aggressive goal so that you are eating more. It will not only make the diet more sustainable but also will give you better results as quick weight loss results in more muscle loss and hair loss. Not to mention the brittle nails and the stress it puts on vital organs like your heart.
I am only 4'11 and was given this amount to lose weight at just 1/2 pound a week and there is simply no way I could eat so little. I just walked enough to give me the calories I wanted to be able to enjoy my life and have a treat every now and then. The end result. I am now around 95 pounds and fitter and healthier than I have been for many years. Not bad for a 46-year-old.3 -
karen_hunter11 wrote: »Hello, I've been reading a few different post and articles in these forms on this site trying to understand the losing weight process since I'm having such a hard time. I just read the "1200 Cal Exercise Food Help" forum and got so confused. Per MFP my daily calorie allotment is 1200. I'm 5 4" 189 lbs 56 yr old sedentary female. Reading the information in the above forum it basically mentioned the only person that should be eating such low calories are women that are 5 4" and around 110 lbs. While doing the math from that read my daily calorie allotment should be somewhere between 1815 -2720 to lose weight which is way higher than MFP's recommended 1200 a day. I did lose weight the first two weeks doing the 1200 cal allotment but then I gained 1 lb but I realized I had a few days that I ate under 800 calories so I spent two days making sure I ate at least 1200 and once again I was up on the scale by 1/2 pound. So I'm just really confused what's the accurate amount of calories I should being eating in order to have consistent weight lost of at least 1-2 lbs a week in order to lose 30 lbs. Any thoughts or ideas on this is much appreciated.
With 30 lbs to lose, your goal shouldn't be more than 1 lb per week, more simply isn't realistic.
Also, MFP does not include exercise in your calorie goal, it expects you to log your exercise and eat back at least some of those calories.
Weight loss isn't linear, it's perfectly normal to gain weight from one day to the next or one week to the next sometimes, usually due to water weight. You are looking for the trend over time, not one day to the next.
All any calculator can do is give you a generalized starting point. You need to start somewhere, log accurately and consistently for at least 4-6 weeks, and then start to tweak if necessary based on your results.
As far as that 1815-2700 range, I am 5'4 125lbs and I maintain my weight at 1800 cals. I know full grown men who would gain weight at 2700 calories. That range is way too large to draw any conclusions from, and seems high to me regardless.
This thread is a good example of why advice (and that chart that circulates on MFP) based on want to lose or how much to goal weight are not that helpful. I have no problem with OP's goal, but it will leave her overweight (BMI of 27.3). Frequently we see people's stated goals that would put them right at the borderline between underweight and healthy weight based on BMI.
If OP were the same height but was 149 lbs and wanted to lose 30 lbs to get down to 119 lbs (a BMI of 20.4), would it seem reasonable to say that the same rate of weight loss would be advisable as someone wanting to lose 30 lbs but starting out 40 lbs heavier? What about someone who was severely obese at 5'4" and 219 lbs, and just wanted to get down to 189, moderately obese, because a healthy weight seems like an impossible goal and the last time they were 189 they could at least go about their daily activities without being out of breath. The same rate of loss is not appropriate for all three, even though the number of pounds they want to lose is the same.
I think it would be much better if the advice (and the chart) were based on "how far you are above [the top-point/mid-point/bottom-point] of a healthy weight," so it wouldn't depend on the varying desires of the OPs.
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Kami3006, thank you. Not sure why we both got different numbers putting in my stats unless it had something to do with the fact that I said I wanted to lose 1-2 lbs a week. Not even sure how to change it.
I'm trying to lose weight consistently, not to continue going up and down. I've been doing the up and down with the same pounds this whole year thus far so enough is enough. Prior to starting with MFP about 4 weeks ago I've been doing Weight Watchers for the last 2 1/2 yrs. I lost 60 lbs by just following their point system and exercising quite a bit but then I got injured so my exercise ceased and I started gaining weight back 18 lbs to be exact. 😔
I'm still not able to exercise as much as I was before but I do get some swimming in.
I just can't seem to find the right amount of calorie intake to continue with my weight loss inspite of not exercising every day which is why I decided to give MFP a try. I haven't quit weight watchers I'm basically watching my points and counting calories with more emphasis on the calories at the moment.
I'm just trying something different to see if I can get my weight moving in the right direction again. If I don't start to lose weight on a consistent basis again this whole losing weight thing is gonna cause me to end up in a crazy house. Nothing more annoying with doing your best to do everything right and not seeing the results. I have changed my diet so much and watch my portion sizes and weigh and measure my foods..all of which gets on my nerves to have to do but I do it to get results. I'm gonna give this a few more weeks and then just say forget it if I still don't lose weight. Spending the last 12 months trying to get back to losing weight and not seeing much results is taking it's toll on my mindset!
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »karen_hunter11 wrote: »Hello, I've been reading a few different post and articles in these forms on this site trying to understand the losing weight process since I'm having such a hard time. I just read the "1200 Cal Exercise Food Help" forum and got so confused. Per MFP my daily calorie allotment is 1200. I'm 5 4" 189 lbs 56 yr old sedentary female. Reading the information in the above forum it basically mentioned the only person that should be eating such low calories are women that are 5 4" and around 110 lbs. While doing the math from that read my daily calorie allotment should be somewhere between 1815 -2720 to lose weight which is way higher than MFP's recommended 1200 a day. I did lose weight the first two weeks doing the 1200 cal allotment but then I gained 1 lb but I realized I had a few days that I ate under 800 calories so I spent two days making sure I ate at least 1200 and once again I was up on the scale by 1/2 pound. So I'm just really confused what's the accurate amount of calories I should being eating in order to have consistent weight lost of at least 1-2 lbs a week in order to lose 30 lbs. Any thoughts or ideas on this is much appreciated.
With 30 lbs to lose, your goal shouldn't be more than 1 lb per week, more simply isn't realistic.
Also, MFP does not include exercise in your calorie goal, it expects you to log your exercise and eat back at least some of those calories.
Weight loss isn't linear, it's perfectly normal to gain weight from one day to the next or one week to the next sometimes, usually due to water weight. You are looking for the trend over time, not one day to the next.
All any calculator can do is give you a generalized starting point. You need to start somewhere, log accurately and consistently for at least 4-6 weeks, and then start to tweak if necessary based on your results.
As far as that 1815-2700 range, I am 5'4 125lbs and I maintain my weight at 1800 cals. I know full grown men who would gain weight at 2700 calories. That range is way too large to draw any conclusions from, and seems high to me regardless.
This thread is a good example of why advice (and that chart that circulates on MFP) based on want to lose or how much to goal weight are not that helpful. I have no problem with OP's goal, but it will leave her overweight (BMI of 27.3). Frequently we see people's stated goals that would put them right at the borderline between underweight and healthy weight based on BMI.
If OP were the same height but was 149 lbs and wanted to lose 30 lbs to get down to 119 lbs (a BMI of 20.4), would it seem reasonable to say that the same rate of weight loss would be advisable as someone wanting to lose 30 lbs but starting out 40 lbs heavier? What about someone who was severely obese at 5'4" and 219 lbs, and just wanted to get down to 189, moderately obese, because a healthy weight seems like an impossible goal and the last time they were 189 they could at least go about their daily activities without being out of breath. The same rate of loss is not appropriate for all three, even though the number of pounds they want to lose is the same.
I think it would be much better if the advice (and the chart) were based on "how far you are above [the top-point/mid-point/bottom-point] of a healthy weight," so it wouldn't depend on the varying desires of the OPs.
I think it IS based on how far you are above a healthy weight. I did focus incorrectly on how many lbs she wanted to lose, and not on how many lbs she needs to lose to get in the healthy weight range. I missed her current weight. But if 2 lbs per week limits her to 1200 calories, I still think it's not realistic.4 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »karen_hunter11 wrote: »Hello, I've been reading a few different post and articles in these forms on this site trying to understand the losing weight process since I'm having such a hard time. I just read the "1200 Cal Exercise Food Help" forum and got so confused. Per MFP my daily calorie allotment is 1200. I'm 5 4" 189 lbs 56 yr old sedentary female. Reading the information in the above forum it basically mentioned the only person that should be eating such low calories are women that are 5 4" and around 110 lbs. While doing the math from that read my daily calorie allotment should be somewhere between 1815 -2720 to lose weight which is way higher than MFP's recommended 1200 a day. I did lose weight the first two weeks doing the 1200 cal allotment but then I gained 1 lb but I realized I had a few days that I ate under 800 calories so I spent two days making sure I ate at least 1200 and once again I was up on the scale by 1/2 pound. So I'm just really confused what's the accurate amount of calories I should being eating in order to have consistent weight lost of at least 1-2 lbs a week in order to lose 30 lbs. Any thoughts or ideas on this is much appreciated.
With 30 lbs to lose, your goal shouldn't be more than 1 lb per week, more simply isn't realistic.
Also, MFP does not include exercise in your calorie goal, it expects you to log your exercise and eat back at least some of those calories.
Weight loss isn't linear, it's perfectly normal to gain weight from one day to the next or one week to the next sometimes, usually due to water weight. You are looking for the trend over time, not one day to the next.
All any calculator can do is give you a generalized starting point. You need to start somewhere, log accurately and consistently for at least 4-6 weeks, and then start to tweak if necessary based on your results.
As far as that 1815-2700 range, I am 5'4 125lbs and I maintain my weight at 1800 cals. I know full grown men who would gain weight at 2700 calories. That range is way too large to draw any conclusions from, and seems high to me regardless.
This thread is a good example of why advice (and that chart that circulates on MFP) based on want to lose or how much to goal weight are not that helpful. I have no problem with OP's goal, but it will leave her overweight (BMI of 27.3). Frequently we see people's stated goals that would put them right at the borderline between underweight and healthy weight based on BMI.
If OP were the same height but was 149 lbs and wanted to lose 30 lbs to get down to 119 lbs (a BMI of 20.4), would it seem reasonable to say that the same rate of weight loss would be advisable as someone wanting to lose 30 lbs but starting out 40 lbs heavier? What about someone who was severely obese at 5'4" and 219 lbs, and just wanted to get down to 189, moderately obese, because a healthy weight seems like an impossible goal and the last time they were 189 they could at least go about their daily activities without being out of breath. The same rate of loss is not appropriate for all three, even though the number of pounds they want to lose is the same.
I think it would be much better if the advice (and the chart) were based on "how far you are above [the top-point/mid-point/bottom-point] of a healthy weight," so it wouldn't depend on the varying desires of the OPs.
I think it IS based on how far you are above a healthy weight. I did focus incorrectly on how many lbs she wanted to lose, and not on how many lbs she needs to lose to get in the healthy weight range. I missed her current weight. But if 2 lbs per week limits her to 1200 calories, I still think it's not realistic.
Healthy rate of loss isn't only about how fast you can lose without doing damage to your body, but how well you can mentally handle it. OP may be able to physically handle losing two pounds per week but if she is mentally having a hard time sticking to 1200 calories, she may be better off with 1450 calories and aiming for 1.5 pounds per week.
"Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."
-Ian Malcolm1 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »karen_hunter11 wrote: »Hello, I've been reading a few different post and articles in these forms on this site trying to understand the losing weight process since I'm having such a hard time. I just read the "1200 Cal Exercise Food Help" forum and got so confused. Per MFP my daily calorie allotment is 1200. I'm 5 4" 189 lbs 56 yr old sedentary female. Reading the information in the above forum it basically mentioned the only person that should be eating such low calories are women that are 5 4" and around 110 lbs. While doing the math from that read my daily calorie allotment should be somewhere between 1815 -2720 to lose weight which is way higher than MFP's recommended 1200 a day. I did lose weight the first two weeks doing the 1200 cal allotment but then I gained 1 lb but I realized I had a few days that I ate under 800 calories so I spent two days making sure I ate at least 1200 and once again I was up on the scale by 1/2 pound. So I'm just really confused what's the accurate amount of calories I should being eating in order to have consistent weight lost of at least 1-2 lbs a week in order to lose 30 lbs. Any thoughts or ideas on this is much appreciated.
With 30 lbs to lose, your goal shouldn't be more than 1 lb per week, more simply isn't realistic.
Also, MFP does not include exercise in your calorie goal, it expects you to log your exercise and eat back at least some of those calories.
Weight loss isn't linear, it's perfectly normal to gain weight from one day to the next or one week to the next sometimes, usually due to water weight. You are looking for the trend over time, not one day to the next.
All any calculator can do is give you a generalized starting point. You need to start somewhere, log accurately and consistently for at least 4-6 weeks, and then start to tweak if necessary based on your results.
As far as that 1815-2700 range, I am 5'4 125lbs and I maintain my weight at 1800 cals. I know full grown men who would gain weight at 2700 calories. That range is way too large to draw any conclusions from, and seems high to me regardless.
This thread is a good example of why advice (and that chart that circulates on MFP) based on want to lose or how much to goal weight are not that helpful. I have no problem with OP's goal, but it will leave her overweight (BMI of 27.3). Frequently we see people's stated goals that would put them right at the borderline between underweight and healthy weight based on BMI.
If OP were the same height but was 149 lbs and wanted to lose 30 lbs to get down to 119 lbs (a BMI of 20.4), would it seem reasonable to say that the same rate of weight loss would be advisable as someone wanting to lose 30 lbs but starting out 40 lbs heavier? What about someone who was severely obese at 5'4" and 219 lbs, and just wanted to get down to 189, moderately obese, because a healthy weight seems like an impossible goal and the last time they were 189 they could at least go about their daily activities without being out of breath. The same rate of loss is not appropriate for all three, even though the number of pounds they want to lose is the same.
I think it would be much better if the advice (and the chart) were based on "how far you are above [the top-point/mid-point/bottom-point] of a healthy weight," so it wouldn't depend on the varying desires of the OPs.
I think it IS based on how far you are above a healthy weight. I did focus incorrectly on how many lbs she wanted to lose, and not on how many lbs she needs to lose to get in the healthy weight range. I missed her current weight. But if 2 lbs per week limits her to 1200 calories, I still think it's not realistic.
I think a lot of people don't use that chart/formula as though it is based on how far you are above a healthy weight, and the versions of the chart that I have seen don't reference distance to a healthy weight, so far as I recall. But I agree with you that if her calorie needs are such that a 1,000 calorie deficit would mean a daily goal of 1200 calories (or less, because MFP won't show the real number), it's probably not realistic for her to adopt that goal.1 -
karen_hunter11 wrote: »Kami3006, thank you. Not sure why we both got different numbers putting in my stats unless it had something to do with the fact that I said I wanted to lose 1-2 lbs a week. Not even sure how to change it.
I'm trying to lose weight consistently, not to continue going up and down. I've been doing the up and down with the same pounds this whole year thus far so enough is enough. Prior to starting with MFP about 4 weeks ago I've been doing Weight Watchers for the last 2 1/2 yrs. I lost 60 lbs by just following their point system and exercising quite a bit but then I got injured so my exercise ceased and I started gaining weight back 18 lbs to be exact. 😔
I'm still not able to exercise as much as I was before but I do get some swimming in.
I just can't seem to find the right amount of calorie intake to continue with my weight loss inspite of not exercising every day which is why I decided to give MFP a try. I haven't quit weight watchers I'm basically watching my points and counting calories with more emphasis on the calories at the moment.
I'm just trying something different to see if I can get my weight moving in the right direction again. If I don't start to lose weight on a consistent basis again this whole losing weight thing is gonna cause me to end up in a crazy house. Nothing more annoying with doing your best to do everything right and not seeing the results. I have changed my diet so much and watch my portion sizes and weigh and measure my foods..all of which gets on my nerves to have to do but I do it to get results. I'm gonna give this a few more weeks and then just say forget it if I still don't lose weight. Spending the last 12 months trying to get back to losing weight and not seeing much results is taking it's toll on my mindset!
1. You set your weekly weight loss goal here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided
2. Your weight will go up and down. This is normal. It's the overall downward trend that is important. This is what weight loss looks like:
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Thank you, I updated my info so I'll see what happens this week. 😊1
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