Better to start calories higher or lower

sranney2 · November 2019

Hi, thanks in advance for your help. I am 5’2”, 56 years old and weight 178. Is love to get down to 130 pounds . I lose so slowly when I eat 1420 calories a day. I could go down to 1200 calories a day and lose faster. But I was wondering long term and to meet my goal, is it better to start at the higher number or the lower number? I do t know where I would go if I start at 1200 calories and then stop losing.
Thank you ! I appreciate all of your advice ❤️

middlehaitch · November 2019

Personally I would stick with the higher calories.

With more food you have a greater chance of good nutrition. This, along with some cardio and strength training, will give you a better chance of retaining your muscle and bone density as you move into the post menopausal years.

You will probably find it easier to adhere to also.

Do use a food scale for accuracy.
If you exercise eat back those cals. You need them for good health and it is the way MFP is set up.

Cheers, h.

ETA
Treat the MFP protein and fat macros as minimums and let carbs fill in the rest of your daily cals.
Keep your eye on your fibre too.

Shortgirlrunning · November 2019

My goal in weight loss is to eat as much as I can and still lose weight. Losing weight fast should never be the goal. Lose the weight in a slow, sustainable way, which usually means eating the higher calorie count. Dropping to 1200 may make it go faster until you’re sick of starving yourself and give up and start gaining back.

sranney2 · November 2019

Thank you both.

cmriverside · November 2019

sranney2 wrote: »

Hi, thanks in advance for your help. I am 5’2”, 56 years old and weight 178. Is love to get down to 130 pounds . I lose so slowly when I eat 1420 calories a day. I could go down to 1200 calories a day and lose faster. But I was wondering long term and to meet my goal, is it better to start at the higher number or the lower number? I do t know where I would go if I start at 1200 calories and then stop losing.
Thank you ! I appreciate all of your advice ❤️

The other thing you may not know is that you can eat a bit more on Exercise days. Enter the exercise into your Exercise tab and eat a couple hundred more calories. I found that made all the difference when I was losing. That makes your 1400 calories into 1600 - so easy. 1200 is really hard. I tried it for a short while but I just couldn't make it work.

88olds · November 2019

Good stuff in this thread.

Better to start calories higher or lower

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