Do I really have to eat 1400 calorie forever?
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Buy a fitness monitor and measure your activity. Eat those calories. But yeah, maybe. I am 5'10". I've been logging more than 5 years and maintaining at a great weight. But I net 1300 calories. And I'll have to keep doing that. I EAT more than that because I walk and exercise. But not a lot more.
OTOH, I'm good. I eat everything I love, just not a lot of it. I've dropped a few big things from my diet (whole milk, cheese, bread) and just eat them in smaller quantities. But yeah, a few big cookies and I'm over for the day. Good news is that I'm also not hungry and my body knows that I don't need it. So it really DOESN'T bother me.0 -
I think there is some math involved... obviously, your body needs a certain amount of food to maintain weight. Instead of focusing on forever, maybe focus on what you're going to eat today or this week. Do what it takes to maintain your weight this week. Make positive choices. I lost 50 pounds and have been in maintenance within a few pounds for 1.5 years now and haven't found it too difficult to stay within a healthy range due to just being accustomed to my lifestyle/routine.6
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Tabbycat00 wrote: »lol. 1400 is my goal and I find it hard to eat that many! I'm 5'2 and trying to maintain no less than 98 lbs. I say listen to your body. Eat a few more calories if that's what feels right and pay attention to your weight. Everyone is different.
Have you maintained on 1400 healthily? Have you had any negative affects?0 -
Lovelifeyoulive wrote: »Tabbycat00 wrote: »lol. 1400 is my goal and I find it hard to eat that many! I'm 5'2 and trying to maintain no less than 98 lbs. I say listen to your body. Eat a few more calories if that's what feels right and pay attention to your weight. Everyone is different.
Have you maintained on 1400 healthily? Have you had any negative affects?
Is there a reason you revived a zombie thread to ask the same question you’re asking in every thread?23 -
collectingblues wrote: »Lovelifeyoulive wrote: »Tabbycat00 wrote: »lol. 1400 is my goal and I find it hard to eat that many! I'm 5'2 and trying to maintain no less than 98 lbs. I say listen to your body. Eat a few more calories if that's what feels right and pay attention to your weight. Everyone is different.
Have you maintained on 1400 healthily? Have you had any negative affects?
Is there a reason you revived a zombie thread to ask the same question you’re asking in every thread?
Yes, sorry if it bothers you, I just wanted more insight10 -
If you're eating 1400 calories daily and losing weight, eat more to maintain. You can experiment to find what's right for you. Congratulations on being at a maintenance point!1
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that's why the advice to count calories and eat what you want just make it fit into your calories .. can not work. That's because if you eat cookies, cheese, peanut butter. You get to eat a few bites of food a day and that's it.
Eat fish, grilled chicken, scallops.. vegetables, salad... you get to eat all day long until you're full.
It comes down to what you eat.23 -
That's true if ALL you eat are cookies, cheese, and peanut butter. But I do just fine on seitan, Greek yogurt, veggie burgers, Gardein, fruits and veg... plus an ice cream sandwich, a couple of fiber one bars, maybe a bag of protein chips.
You can eat what you want. It just can't necessarily be whenever you want or as much as you want.12 -
Lovelifeyoulive wrote: »collectingblues wrote: »Lovelifeyoulive wrote: »Tabbycat00 wrote: »lol. 1400 is my goal and I find it hard to eat that many! I'm 5'2 and trying to maintain no less than 98 lbs. I say listen to your body. Eat a few more calories if that's what feels right and pay attention to your weight. Everyone is different.
Have you maintained on 1400 healthily? Have you had any negative affects?
Is there a reason you revived a zombie thread to ask the same question you’re asking in every thread?
Yes, sorry if it bothers you, I just wanted more insight
@Lovelifeyoulive you want insight about WHAT?
You are asking OTHER PEOPLE if they lose hair at xxxx Cal or if they find yyyy Cal enough. WHAT DOES IT MATTER WHAT THEY DO?
Are YOU losing hair at zzzz Cal? THAT's the ONLY thing that matters. Others are NOT YOU. You do you!
Assuming that the other people are the same size, weight, and age as you, how do you know how active they are? How do you know what their % of lean mass is relative to yours? How do you know if they are an outlier, or right in the middle of the expected BMR curve, and do you even know this about yourself? How do you know how accurately they log their food and exercise? How accurately do you?
IF you're losing hair due to under-eating your deficit has been too severe for too long and you'd better do something about it.
It is NOT a **race** to the bottom. It is not a race. And there definitely does exist a bottom which is even more unhealthy than being over-weight. And health issues that come up if deficits are extreme.
So why not create a new post detailing YOUR situation?
Maybe you will then find the insight you crave a bit more directly and relevantly....18 -
Lovelifeyoulive wrote: »collectingblues wrote: »Lovelifeyoulive wrote: »Tabbycat00 wrote: »lol. 1400 is my goal and I find it hard to eat that many! I'm 5'2 and trying to maintain no less than 98 lbs. I say listen to your body. Eat a few more calories if that's what feels right and pay attention to your weight. Everyone is different.
Have you maintained on 1400 healthily? Have you had any negative affects?
Is there a reason you revived a zombie thread to ask the same question you’re asking in every thread?
Yes, sorry if it bothers you, I just wanted more insight
@Lovelifeyoulive you want insight about WHAT?
You are asking OTHER PEOPLE if they lose hair at xxxx Cal or if they find yyyy Cal enough. WHAT DOES IT MATTER WHAT THEY DO?
Are YOU losing hair at zzzz Cal? THAT's the ONLY thing that matters. Others are NOT YOU. You do you!
Assuming that the other people are the same size, weight, and age as you, how do you know how active they are? How do you know what their % of lean mass is relative to yours? How do you know if they are an outlier, or right in the middle of the expected BMR curve, and do you even know this about yourself? How do you know how accurately they log their food and exercise? How accurately do you?
IF you're losing hair due to under-eating your deficit has been too severe for too long and you'd better do something about it.
It is NOT a **race** to the bottom. It is not a race. And there definitely does exist a bottom which is even more unhealthy than being over-weight. And health issues that come up if deficits are extreme.
So why not create a new post detailing YOUR situation?
Maybe you will then find the insight you crave a bit more directly and relevantly....
I'm pretty sure they did. And obviously didn't like the advice they got!8 -
Yes, if that's what it takes to maintain your weight where you want it to be.
If you feel too hungry on so few cals, then you have to burm more cals to eat more so that the net is the same.
That's how it is for me.
I'm male, 5'8", currently weigh 155 and maintenance level at this wt is 1850 cals but I find myself getting too hungry if I only eat 1850 cals or less.
So, I row 5k meters and burn roughly 250 cals/day so that I can eat 2100 cals/day instead. I don't feel deprived or hungry as a result.2 -
I have been doing the every other day eating plan I only do it 3 days a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday eating only 500 calories and tracking what I eat those days only on MyFitnessPal. I lost weight as eating plan and book on alternate day diet says you will and kept it all off. The other days I eat what I want no real restrictions but in general I don’t eat red meat or much sweets as that’s not stuff I want anyway. Brownies and some sweets once in a while. I kept weight off and don’t exercise as with kids after work and this has really helped me and my hubby doing it lost and kept weight off a lot easier as only eating low calorie half the time. I urge you to try it get the book it’s called The Every Other Day Diet or The Alternate Day Diet. It works and no you won’t have to count calories forever and only stay at a certain number daily just restrict for 3 days or you can be strict and so every other day if you want to. Hubby and I separately lost 13-15 lbs each on this and still losing. Go off it for 1 week over holidays or on business trip weeks then get right back on.8
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cookie7777 wrote: »I have been doing the every other day eating plan I only do it 3 days a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday eating only 500 calories and tracking what I eat those days only on MyFitnessPal. I lost weight as eating plan and book on alternate day diet says you will and kept it all off. The other days I eat what I want no real restrictions but in general I don’t eat red meat or much sweets as that’s not stuff I want anyway. Brownies and some sweets once in a while. I kept weight off and don’t exercise as with kids after work and this has really helped me and my hubby doing it lost and kept weight off a lot easier as only eating low calorie half the time. I urge you to try it get the book it’s called The Every Other Day Diet or The Alternate Day Diet. It works and no you won’t have to count calories forever and only stay at a certain number daily just restrict for 3 days or you can be strict and so every other day if you want to. Hubby and I separately lost 13-15 lbs each on this and still losing. Go off it for 1 week over holidays or on business trip weeks then get right back on.
I understand this works for you but if the OP is concerned that 1400kcal is too restrictive I don't think living half of the rest of her life on 500kcal is going to seem better.8 -
I was trying to respond to the person who said “ do I have to only eat 1100 calories daily forever to maintain my weight” as an option what I do. This is an open community with comments so open feedback is welcome from what I understand.4
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You know every body is different. I'm 5'5" and my maintenance calories are around 1300. I am also 62 years old I walk 6 days a week for at leat 8,000 steps (often 10,000 or more) and have a desk job. Over the last year I have maintained a weight loss of 100 lbs. I originally lost 108 so in actual fact I have gained about 8 pounds. The only answer to what your final maintenance calories should be is experience.
I hear people all the time saying they are such and such height and maintain at much more than the person asking. Then they continue to tell them they can eat more. The proof is in trying a level and watching what your weight does. If it stays the same you are where you need to be if it goes up you need to drop it, if it goes down you get to raise it. Give it 4 to 6 weeks to see where you are going as small fluctuations can be caused by so many things, eg: water, food in your system or hormones etc.
Some people will assume I am not weighing all my food or logging the right entries thus only 1300 at my height and activity level but the bottom line is find a level that works for you and stick with it. If I overestimate my burns or underestimate my intake it really won't matter as long as I am consistent and sitck to the level that keeps my weight constant.
Don't worry about the future if you are still losing. The only other thing I would suggest is be smarter than I was and do some weight lifting exercise to maintain your muscle mass so that when you DO get to maintenance you will need more calories to maintain.19 -
cheryldumais wrote: »You know every body is different. I'm 5'5" and my maintenance calories are around 1300. I am also 62 years old I walk 6 days a week for at leat 8,000 steps (often 10,000 or more) and have a desk job. Over the last year I have maintained a weight loss of 100 lbs. I originally lost 108 so in actual fact I have gained about 8 pounds. The only answer to what your final maintenance calories should be is experience.
I hear people all the time saying they are such and such height and maintain at much more than the person asking. Then they continue to tell them they can eat more. The proof is in trying a level and watching what your weight does. If it stays the same you are where you need to be if it goes up you need to drop it, if it goes down you get to raise it. Give it 4 to 6 weeks to see where you are going as small fluctuations can be caused by so many things, eg: water, food in your system or hormones etc.
Some people will assume I am not weighing all my food or logging the right entries thus only 1300 at my height and activity level but the bottom line is find a level that works for you and stick with it. If I overestimate my burns or underestimate my intake it really won't matter as long as I am consistent and sitck to the level that keeps my weight constant.
Don't worry about the future if you are still losing. The only other thing I would suggest is be smarter than I was and do some weight lifting exercise to maintain your muscle mass so that when you DO get to maintenance you will need more calories to maintain.
Wow you maintain on 1300 with exercise? I can't imagine having to eat so little every day for the rest of my life. I was miserable at 1500-1600 when I thought that was my maintenance. (I now cycle throughout the range of 2100-2600) I am smaller than you too and sedentary outside of formal exercise.
I maintained 2 years on 1400-1600 but was miserable. I then tried to push my calories to the limit and see how much I could really maintain on. I slowly upped to where I am now without increasing my intentional exercise. I felt 100x better and gave me the energy I needed to actually burn more. Before, I was a sloth and my body felt slow and sluggish, I would take the elevator, park close, avoid lifting groceries in many trips, no energy to dance in the car when a song comes on, etc. My workouts also were suffering because I would go super slow on the elliptical and take the "easy way" during yoga, not engaging my muscles at all so I naturally got less out of every workout.
I think there is benefit in increasing until you start to gain because you might find you have more energy (thus more unintentional output calories) and can actually maintain on more.14 -
cookie7777 wrote: »I have been doing the every other day eating plan I only do it 3 days a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday eating only 500 calories and tracking what I eat those days only on MyFitnessPal. I lost weight as eating plan and book on alternate day diet says you will and kept it all off. The other days I eat what I want no real restrictions but in general I don’t eat red meat or much sweets as that’s not stuff I want anyway. Brownies and some sweets once in a while. I kept weight off and don’t exercise as with kids after work and this has really helped me and my hubby doing it lost and kept weight off a lot easier as only eating low calorie half the time. I urge you to try it get the book it’s called The Every Other Day Diet or The Alternate Day Diet. It works and no you won’t have to count calories forever and only stay at a certain number daily just restrict for 3 days or you can be strict and so every other day if you want to. Hubby and I separately lost 13-15 lbs each on this and still losing. Go off it for 1 week over holidays or on business trip weeks then get right back on.
you may not be counting calories but your body is. if you arent overeating on the days you eat what you want ,and eating 500 on the other days, and you are losing weight then you are eating in a deficit. if you keep it off you are eating enough to maintain your weight. for some though eating 500 calories a couple days and then eating what they want the rest of the time could for them result in weight gain due to wiping out their deficit.
eating like you are may not work for everyone. I know for me if I could eat what I wanted the other 4 days I would overeat without counting my calories and wipe out any deficit I had. but thats me. also for me I may have to count my calories the rest of my life and for me thats fine whatever works. if what you are doing works for you thats fine and great. but its not going to be that way for everyone.2 -
Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »cheryldumais wrote: »You know every body is different. I'm 5'5" and my maintenance calories are around 1300. I am also 62 years old I walk 6 days a week for at leat 8,000 steps (often 10,000 or more) and have a desk job. Over the last year I have maintained a weight loss of 100 lbs. I originally lost 108 so in actual fact I have gained about 8 pounds. The only answer to what your final maintenance calories should be is experience.
I hear people all the time saying they are such and such height and maintain at much more than the person asking. Then they continue to tell them they can eat more. The proof is in trying a level and watching what your weight does. If it stays the same you are where you need to be if it goes up you need to drop it, if it goes down you get to raise it. Give it 4 to 6 weeks to see where you are going as small fluctuations can be caused by so many things, eg: water, food in your system or hormones etc.
Some people will assume I am not weighing all my food or logging the right entries thus only 1300 at my height and activity level but the bottom line is find a level that works for you and stick with it. If I overestimate my burns or underestimate my intake it really won't matter as long as I am consistent and sitck to the level that keeps my weight constant.
Don't worry about the future if you are still losing. The only other thing I would suggest is be smarter than I was and do some weight lifting exercise to maintain your muscle mass so that when you DO get to maintenance you will need more calories to maintain.
Wow you maintain on 1300 with exercise? I can't imagine having to eat so little every day for the rest of my life. I was miserable at 1500-1600 when I thought that was my maintenance. (I now cycle throughout the range of 2100-2600) I am smaller than you too and sedentary outside of formal exercise.
I maintained 2 years on 1400-1600 but was miserable. I then tried to push my calories to the limit and see how much I could really maintain on. I slowly upped to where I am now without increasing my intentional exercise. I felt 100x better and gave me the energy I needed to actually burn more. Before, I was a sloth and my body felt slow and sluggish, I would take the elevator, park close, avoid lifting groceries in many trips, no energy to dance in the car when a song comes on, etc. My workouts also were suffering because I would go super slow on the elliptical and take the "easy way" during yoga, not engaging my muscles at all so I naturally got less out of every workout.
I think there is benefit in increasing until you start to gain because you might find you have more energy (thus more unintentional output calories) and can actually maintain on more.
That's before exercise calories and frankly I'm up 8 pounds from my low point so adding more calories is not an option. I have tried weighing absolutely everything that crosses my lips and still can't eat more so I suspect I'm in the ballpark with my logging. My exercise currently is mainly walking which gives me around 130 - 150 extra calories a day. I also suffer from low thyroid although I'm medicated for it. Just the luck of the draw I guess. Currently working with a trainer to build some muscle as I suspect I lost quite a bit while losing 100 lbs. I'm hoping that will increase my metabolism.
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The short answer to your question is: Yes, you are off with your calculation.
The 1400 calories you mentioned is the "bottom line" needed to keep your body functioning + maintaining a sedentary lifestyle output such as desk work, eating meals, etc.
In addition to those 1400 calories, you can eat whatever you burn EXTRA. This includes the calories you burn while walking your 10,000+ steps, or gym training.
The more extra activities you add to your day, the more extra calorie allowances you get to eat that day.
I recommend to use an activity tracker (what I use is Fitbit Versa) to know your correct daily calorie output.
Pair it with MFP's monitoring of your daily calorie input and MFP's real-time feedback on how much you can still eat for the day, you should be able to eat your way slim in a fulfilling way (as I am experiencing).4 -
I have a question regarding the daily calories..... i am trying to lose fat whilst attempting to maintain weight and add muscle. My BMR calculated by the fancy machine at the gym is roughly 1800 and MFP has set me 1500 calories a day.
My question is do i try to stick to the 1500 calories a day (Gross), or as long as the adjusted calories (Net) are below the 1500 I should be hitting the goal?
I am active throughout the week - gym (weights), Spin and walking, so some days MFP adds 1000 calories plus to my total. I am using my Garmin watch to record all activities which is linked to MFP so should be accurate.0
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