Calorie count seems low?

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JustaGirlNamedJenn
JustaGirlNamedJenn Posts: 16 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm not new to MFP, it's just a new account after a bit of an issue with my last one.

Anyway, I am female, 5'6 and currently weigh 226. When I set my diary to losing 2 lbs a week, it puts me down to 1,200 calories a day. I had started at losing 1 lbs a week, then 1.5, now 2. That's usually how I start when I come back, as it kind of eases me into it.

I know 1,200 is the minimum and it's not super unusual since it's before exercise calories, but for my weight, it still seems kind of low to me. Though I don't know much about how it's calculated.

I DO eat my exercise calories. About 50-75% of them a day, kind of depending on how hungry I am. It's not so much that I am starving, I guess I'm curious if I should bump it up to losing 1.5 lbs a week, or keep it here.

Maybe also because I set it to sedentary for daily activity? I guess I Was just surprised it would already be the lowest possible and I am still over 200 lbs.

Replies

  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,966 Member
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    Are you actually sedentary? If not, why did you set it to sedentary?
  • JustaGirlNamedJenn
    JustaGirlNamedJenn Posts: 16 Member
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    Yes. I work from home on the computer all day. Aside from taking my dogs out and my daily workout, I am basically sitting and working all day.
  • grubb1019
    grubb1019 Posts: 371 Member
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    I am 5'5", started at 230, now 209 and mine is 1300. If I go any higher than that I don't loose.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,966 Member
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    JustaGirlNamedJenn wrote: »
    Yes. I work from home on the computer all day. Aside from taking my dogs out and my daily workout, I am basically sitting and working all day.

    How long are those dog walks? A lot of people put down sedentary and they aren't. I have a desk job, and I don't have a dog, and most of the time I telecommute, and most days I'm not sedentary.
  • missh1967
    missh1967 Posts: 661 Member
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    Here are a couple of sites where you can calculate your TDEE. You can eat at a 10%, 15%, 20% deficit of your TDEE. You can experiment with different calorie deficits to find what suits you, because yes, 1200 seems very low for your weight. You can customize you calorie limit on MFP also.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
  • andISeeMyFitness
    andISeeMyFitness Posts: 16 Member
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    I'd say that start higher and see how it goes. It's also better to go lower in steps than with a big bang. Since you already are in the lower levels you can forget about decreasing the calories in steps :)

    I wouldn't worry how you came up with a figure (sedentary or not) but focus more on the actual figure. 2 lbs per week is pretty high so if it would be up to me, I would increase the calories a bit to make it closer to 1. I think that's more sustainable as well as easier in the long run.
  • JustaGirlNamedJenn
    JustaGirlNamedJenn Posts: 16 Member
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    Ok thanks everyone. It was just a bit of a shock already seeing 1,200 calories lol. I might go back up to 1 or 1.5 instead, as this feels more comfortable to me right now. Appreciate it!
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 878 Member
    edited June 2019
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    In my experience...that is too low. I started years ago on MFP with that amount and I didn't lose weight - I actually also had trouble even eating that many calories and felt like I was forcing myself to eat when I wasn't hungry. I did work out at the time too, but I never really felt good - I generally felt lethargic.. I didn't have success until I did a couple of things:

    Calculated a couple estimates (using a couple different sites/formulas) of my total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) and got a Polar HRM to get more accurate calories burned during my workouts. I have a desk job and have set my activity level to sedentary, manually put in my own NET calorie goal per day, and I log my workouts and eat back 50-75% (and sometimes 100% hahaha) of those calories. I started out by subtracting 20% of my TDEE to set my NET goal - I've changed it a bit since then based on results but it's a good place to start and see if you lose/maintain/or gain and then make adjustments from there based on how you feel and what your individual results are. Good luck!!!
  • shunggie
    shunggie Posts: 1,036 Member
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    The first time I lost weight I started at 275 pounds. I ate at 1200 calories a day (It was the early 2000's and fat was the enemy so I kept fat grams at 20) and lost 125 pounds in a little over a year. I exercised 4 or 5 days a week but was otherwise sedentary (bank job). I got used to that many calories. I didn't eat any calories back because I didn't know that was a thing. It was very hard. Eventually, I switched the idea to a weekly calorie allowance that made it a little easier for the occasional indulgence. I would NEVER try that now. I travel for my job and have to eat out often. I can do it on 1600 calories fairly easily but anything much lower restricts me more than I am comfortable with.
  • JustaGirlNamedJenn
    JustaGirlNamedJenn Posts: 16 Member
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    apullum wrote: »
    You don't have to set MFP at a 2 lb/week rate of loss. I would recommend a 1 lb/week rate instead so you will still lose weight and be less miserable in the process.

    Thanks that's probably what I'm going to do. I think it put me around 1,600 or close to it, so that seems a bit more manageable.

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