Calorie intake

myluvzs6629 · October 2018

Im 5'7 ans 190lbs. Im calorie allowance is only 1250. Doesn't feel like im eating enough. How many calories are you all eating?

deannalfisher · October 2018

check what you have your rate of loss set to? do you have your non-purposeful activity level set correctly? are you eating back exercise calories?

makkimakki2018 · October 2018

5'9 male i eat about 1200-1500 on average during the week days with the occasional calorie bump up to 1800.

On Saturday i eat about 1800-2000.

Sunday depends on how hard i go.
Burn 1000 calories ill consume half.
Burn 2000 calories ill consume half.
Burn 3000 calories ill consume half.
If my average eating is about 1500. Then ill just add half of what ever i burned.

deannalfisher · October 2018

why would you eat sooo little? minimum for a sedentary male is 1500cal a day

kimny72 · October 2018

MFP gives you a calorie goal assuming you will log your exercise and eat back at least some of those calories.

Did you set yourself as sedentary? Are you sure that's correct?

Based on your stats, you should probably be set to lose 1 lb per week. You might be able to go for 1.5 per week for a little while, but that might be pushing it. If you set to lose faster, pick a more moderate goal and get a few more cals.

I was 5'4 145lbs and I ate @ 1500-1550 cals to lose weight (0.5lbs per week).

Panini911 · October 2018

How much do you have to loose and what is your loss-per-week rate that you entered? I assume you also entered "sedentary"?

If you are closer to your goal weight it's best to put .5 to 1 pound loss a week to ensure you loose fat and not any of the good things your body needs. too aggressive a loss isn't better.

if you are exercise (even just walking a ton over a day) you need to eat those calories back.

1250 IS very low for your height. even i loose at 1300 and i am 5'1.

LivingtheLeanDream · October 2018

I'm 5ft 2 and maintain at 125lbs on around 1900 calories.
I lost 0.5lb a week eating 1650-1700 calories.

cwolfman13 · October 2018

This is going to vary wildly based on individual stats, activity levels, and rate of loss selected.

I'm a 5'10" male...I'm moderately active and I will lose 1-1.5 Lbs per week on about 2300-2500 calories.

bigbandjohn · October 2018

I used the tool in the app and I am at 1900 cals/day for 1.5 lb/week weight loss. 1250 is safe, but I understand it is hard as I did the 1200 calorie diet for 3 months.

Things that help is finding bulky foods that are low in calories. Not usually a fan of substitute foods, but shiritake noodles are a great pasta substitute. Lots of bulk for 20 calories. Add a healthy sauce and you can have a very filling meal for very few calories. Warning, most wet shiritake noodles have a nasty smell when you open the pack. That is normal. Rinse, cook, and mix with sauce and there is no residual smell, and it tastes fine. Texture is a bit different, but it still works.

I don't think 1250 is an unreasonable goal for you. You may be in my position where you were eating double or more of that level, and your body needs time to adjust.

I am considering an adjustment lowering the calories, as if you recalculate as you lose weight, the calorie intake to maintain the pace you are at actually lowers. It does not automatically adjust as you update your weight.

### Almost forgot. I based my numbers as not active. If you are active you may want to up your calories. Use the tool. It helps a lot.

### OK. Last edit. I just updated my goal profile and based on my current weight to lose 1.5 lb/week I need to be at 1670 calories. That being said, after losing around 50 lbs since set this goal, my caloric intake dropped by 230 calories. Just something to think about over time.

makkimakki2018 · October 2018

Well its kinda complicated...

I work nights 5 days a week Monday-Friday(into Saturday morning) 10pm-6am. When I get home I take a shower and go to bed immediately because i'm very sleepy. I have always been a sleepy person. I wake up at about 5pm the next day and I immediately start my exercise regime and it usually lasts about an hour. By this time it's 6pm and it's now time to take a shower. By the time i'm out of the shower it's 6:30pm and it's time to make breakfast. by the time i'm done making breakfast it's about 7pm or later. I eat my breakfast and it is now officially 8pm and I finally get time to myself for about an hour. Once that hour is up it is time to get ready for work... then I leave for work. I don't like eating at work because of all the things that need to be done (paper work/payments/invoice/etc.) basically I guess I just don't get a lot of time to eat and my body got used to that. I could eat more calorie dense foods, but I break out easily to oily foods and too much seasoning. So it's very hard to get high calorie food into my system without getting hives... I often opt for the simplest meal with the simplest ingredients and they end up low calorie, but is very bulky and keeps me full the entire night and while i sleep.

Sundays I eat more because it's my day off and I don't have to worry about work or the limited amount of time I have.

deannalfisher · October 2018

have you ever considered that your sleepiness is induced by the lack of food you are eating? and FWIW i used to work nights and is it a policy preventing you from eating at work? that you can take no breaks during a 8hr shift

makkimakki2018 · October 2018

No policy, it's just that there is a lot of work to do and I like to stay busy otherwise I get a lot of backed up work and it's a huge mess to deal with the following night (don't want things to snowball). Yes I know sleepiness can be induced by lack of food, but the thing is even before joining the work force and eating what my parents fed me I was still always very sleepy. So I don't think the calorie intake has anything to do with my sleepiness. Anyways I need to go to bed before the sun comes out. Thanks for your concern though!

xmarye · October 2018

It's do-able, but going this low requires lots of veggies in my opinion for nutrition, and volume!

I do 1200cals. Hunger fluctuates, some days I'm fine at 1200, other days I want more, or some days are busyer and I don't think about food at all. If I really am hungry, I'll add an extra 100-200cals.

If I exercise, I eat back my exercise calories too.

Also worth keeping an eye on your weekly net average calories, mine usually are in between 1200-1300cals. I don't stress about it because I still eat way less than I burn so it's all good!

You don't need to do 1200cals, if it's too low, try slightly more and fine tune your diet so you can find a sweet spot where you don't feel like you're starving and where you can still lose weight.

Good luck!

WinoGelato · October 2018

You really need to provide more info to get the most helpful possible answers. How much weight are you trying to lose? What rate of loss did you select? Do you exercise? What activity level did you choose? Are you eating back exercise calories? How accurate is your logging - are you using a food scale? How long have you been at this calorie target and what have your results been so far?

CharlieBeansmomTracey · October 2018

at that weight (IM 5'6 1/2) I was eating a lot more than 1250 calories even sedentary and losing weight and I have a metabolic disorder that makes weight loss very very slow for me. Im maintaining right now as my body just doesnt seem to like deficits. and Im eating 1900-2200 calories before exercise,more when I workout. Im not losing weight but am losing fat. If I were to eat 1250 calories it would not be very delightful around here. Id be a nasty,hugry person. Ive never done anything less than 1400 calories(except maybe on days I didnt feel good)

CharlieBeansmomTracey · October 2018

if you are having trouble with being sleepy if you havent you need to have a full blood panel done. something is up if it was like that before you ate so little. but eating so little is not doing your body any good. I was in a deficit for awhile and took a diet break for a few months and started back into the deficit. I started having less energy,was tired all the time and so on. for me once I started eating more I started feeling better. more energy,better sleep. also if you are deficient in vitamin D that can cause you to be extremely sleepy and if you avoid the sun that could be part of it.

as for food causing you hives I dont think its high calorie foods causing it,it sounds more like food allergies. any allergies can also cause tiredness. you dont need oily foods or heavy seasoned food(most seasonings are very low calories) for high calorie foods.There are many high calorie foods out there that arent oily. if your body gets used to lower calories is because thats what happens over time of undereating. a toddler eats more than you do

makkimakki2018 · October 2018

Dang didn't know so many people would be concerned over me.

Listen up folks I'm doing fine!
Thanks for your concern!

I'm happy and can run a full marathon without dying. recently rode a full century in 5 hours and 30 minutes (the average rider takes about 7-8 hours). I am as healthy as can be compared to the average person. not everyone is the same remember that. to be quite frank I never asked for help... This post was strictly about "how much do you eat?" and I replied because i felt like answering OP question and not to be judged.

shadow2soul · October 2018

My average total intake (MFP goal + exercise) is typically around 2000 calories for weight loss and 2300-2500 to maintain.

I’m 5’4.5” and about 136lbs currently. I actually have trouble sticking to a deficit these days which has resulted in me alternating a deficit and maintenance for a very slow average of 0.2lbs per week loss. Not a huge deal since I am at a healthy weight for my height anyway.

MammaC66 · October 2018

Unfortunately age plays into the equation. I am 70 and 5' 6" and weigh quite a bit more than you do. I am currently eating 1470 as lightly active to lose 2 pounds per week. I am sure when I get to your weight I will be at 1200 or so calories. too. If I were sedentary, I would be eating 1200 now. How long have you been eating in this calorie range? I find that after eating at a certain calorie range for a little while you adjust and it becomes easier. I hope this is the case for you!

cmriverside · October 2018

@myluvzs6629 - When I was 5'7.5" and 190 I was eating 1600 + Exercise cals ( usually around 300-400) and I was losing one pound per week. Sedentary.

1200 IS really low.

If you're tired, grumpy, hungry, unmotivated - your body is telling you something. Eat more. Try 1500 plus additional on exercise days.

Calorie intake

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