Confused on Calorie Intake

FitCowgirl8
FitCowgirl8 Posts: 175 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This month I have been trying to find the correct calorie count for my body in order to lose weight. I have used online calculators and most of them tell me I should be eating around 1600 calories to lose weight. The past few weeks I have been tracking my food and have been eating on average anywhere from around 1700 to 2300 per day. I have been maintaining my weight wavering up and down a few pounds. This makes me think that somewhere around 2000 is my maintenance calories. If I subtract 500 calories from these calorie averages that makes it 1200-1800 per day to lose. I hear so many negative things about people that eat 1300 calories or less and how it is bad for your body in the long run so my main question here is can that actually be how few calories my body needs? Is it going to be a bad choice if I set my calorie goal to 1300 each day? I am 5' 4" and weigh 203lb currently. Thanks in advance for any advice you have!

Replies

  • FitCowgirl8
    FitCowgirl8 Posts: 175 Member
    Strudders67 when I put my stats into MFP they give me a calorie intake of 1200 per day. After reading threads on this site I felt that was too low so I was trying to calculate it on my own and confused myself along the way :smile:

  • Teabythesea_
    Teabythesea_ Posts: 559 Member
    FitCowgirl8 wrote: »
    Strudders67 when I put my stats into MFP they give me a calorie intake of 1200 per day. After reading threads on this site I felt that was too low so I was trying to calculate it on my own and confused myself along the way :smile:

    What MFP gives you also depends on what you choose as your weekly weight loss goal. If you choose 2 lbs per week it will likely give you 1200, but that doesnt mean that's healthy. Unless you have a lot to lose, selecting a goal of .5 to 1 lb per week will give you more calories and be more sustainable/healthy.
  • mk2fit
    mk2fit Posts: 730 Member
    When I first started here, I had no clue what all those acronyms were (still not too sure of some). I was in my 50s, 5'7" and 190#. MFP gave me 1640 calories at first to lose 1#/week. It worked. As I lost weight, MFP would lower my calories until, ultimately, I was at 1200. Yikes, was I grumpy!

    Anyway, I have always set my activity to sedentary, even though after the first month or so I have been anything but. I did eat back about half of the exercise calories.

    Don't give up. You will find your happy place for losing. I lost over 70# in a year and have kept it off for over three. Good luck!
  • endermako
    endermako Posts: 785 Member
    you probably have your weight loss set at 2lbs a week and the lowest MFP will go for that is 1200. Change your goal to 1lb a week and the minimum should increase.
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 989 Member
    Also, what is your activity level set to?

    Like mk2fit, I have my Activity set to sedentary, which assumes you do about 3500 steps a day. The 3500 is probably taken up by walking around the office during the day and I don't track any of that, but I then log my walk to and from work, my weekend walks and all the exercise I do in the gym. These activities vary from day to day but I then eat the calories that MFP gives me for that day. ie my 1200 + my exercise calories. (the caveat to that is that MFP isn't very accurate with calories for some exercises, so if I spend an hour on the crosstrainer I only log half an hour - then MFP gives me the number of calories that the machine told me I'd burned)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    FitCowgirl8 wrote: »
    Strudders67 when I put my stats into MFP they give me a calorie intake of 1200 per day. After reading threads on this site I felt that was too low so I was trying to calculate it on my own and confused myself along the way :smile:

    But you're also supposed to add exercise calories to that...so if you exercised and logged it and burned 300 calories you would actually be eating 1500 calories. MFP uses the NEAT method...most other calculators use TDEE which includes exercise in your activity level and thus you get more calories from the start. Done correctly, the methods are basically 6 of 1 , half dozen of the other with the only real difference being where you account for exercise.
  • FitCowgirl8
    FitCowgirl8 Posts: 175 Member
    Thank you all! I have my activity level set to sedentary because I work in a lab where I sit at a microscope most of the day. I also have a 1 hour commute so 2 additional hours of just sitting. I workout 4 days a week ( or at least try to) and my fitbit tracker tells me I walk 5000-8000 steps on the days I don't work out. I did have my goal set to lost 2 lb a week. Maybe I was being too eager! I want to lose between 50-70lb depending on how I feel if I ever get close to that number! I appreciate the explanation of MFP's calculations vs other calculators. That makes a lot of sense now! I'm definitely getting less confused :smile:
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    Change your goal to lose 1 or 0.5 lb per week. That way you get to eat more. It's easier.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,211 Member
    FitCowgirl8 wrote: »
    This month I have been trying to find the correct calorie count for my body in order to lose weight. I have used online calculators and most of them tell me I should be eating around 1600 calories to lose weight. The past few weeks I have been tracking my food and have been eating on average anywhere from around 1700 to 2300 per day. I have been maintaining my weight wavering up and down a few pounds. This makes me think that somewhere around 2000 is my maintenance calories. If I subtract 500 calories from these calorie averages that makes it 1200-1800 per day to lose. I hear so many negative things about people that eat 1300 calories or less and how it is bad for your body in the long run so my main question here is can that actually be how few calories my body needs? Is it going to be a bad choice if I set my calorie goal to 1300 each day? I am 5' 4" and weigh 203lb currently. Thanks in advance for any advice you have!

    I did read all of the above posts, and it sounds like you're now on a more useful track (1 pound a week). I just wanted to add this:

    If you've been tracking a few weeks, and eating quite variable amounts (1700-2300), your scale weight likely will've been bouncing around because of varied amounts of carbs/sodium (which change water retention, in a healthy body), and varied amounts of digestive contents in transit. If you're premenopausal, and "the past few weeks" is shorter than a full menstrual cycle plus a little, you also have hormonal water weight fluctuations in the mix. So, you may or may not have sound data from which to estimate your true maintenance calories.

    As you start on your new calorie goal, and are eating more consistent amounts, you should start getting more consistent data to estimate current maintenance. The first couple of weeks of reduced calories can be a bit of a roller coaster (because of the reduced water weight and less in the digestive system), but the 4-6 weeks after that should be a better indication. (You add your intake + (3500 x pounds lost) and divide by the number of days, in order to get a ballpark maintenance estimate.)

    Best wishes!
  • Mrsindepenant1
    Mrsindepenant1 Posts: 196 Member
    edited January 2019
    I am slightly taller than you by about 8cm and I am 86kg. I’m on 1200 calories a day with my goal to loose 2 pound a week. I think it’s very sustainable. I have lost 4 kg in less than 3 weeks.
    When I came on here last year i was always left hungry because I would waste my calories on high calorie foods that weren’t satisfying. I can now easily eat within 1200 calories and eat a lot. It’s about spending your calories wisely. Example would I rather have a teaspoon of dressing or an extra 30-50grams of protein for the same amount of calories... being aware of where your calories are going will help you eat low calorie. Be honest with your goals, your activity level and weigh all of your food and you will smash your goals.
    Here’s a picture of my dinner the other night, roast chicken with all the sides. I eat very well on 1200 calories and I’m loosing weight very well. Feel free to friend me if you would like some inspiration or if you have similar goals. a4n82h5vokm8.jpeg
  • Stellamom2018
    Stellamom2018 Posts: 120 Member
    I am 5 foot 2, and started at 210lbs. I am lightly active (getting 8k plus steps without the gym" and I was eating about 1500 cals. I would then eat back half of my exercise cals burned per my Fitbit. I am currently 158 lbs and still going strong. I'd pick something that sounds attainable to you, do it for 4-6 weeks, see how much your losing and adjust.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,941 Member
    FitCowgirl8 wrote: »
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    Change your goal to lose 1 or 0.5 lb per week. That way you get to eat more. It's easier.

    I just updated my profile noa and I set it to lose 1lb per week. Now my calorie goal is 1530 per day. I'll give this a try for a few weeks and see what happens!

    You got it! You understand how it works, and you seem to have a lot of patience to try out things. As you work in a lab you know that precision is key. I suggest you get a foodscale if you don't already own one and weigh everything you eat. With not so much to lose precision is key, and believe me: Pretty much everyone here cannot estimate the size of a portion :D including this sheep. :s
  • FitCowgirl8
    FitCowgirl8 Posts: 175 Member
    Thank you all! All the advice has been very helpful!!
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    Change your goal to lose 1 or 0.5 lb per week. That way you get to eat more. It's easier.

    Yep! Slow and steady wins the race—it’s more like an Iron Man as opposed to a 50 yard dash.

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