How many calories

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bbeyer1792
bbeyer1792 Posts: 18 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 4 foot 10 inch female current weight is 145, I have PCOS, how many calories should I be eating to lose a lb a week. Mfp always gives me 1200 no matter what I put in.

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    MFP won't go lower than 1,200 because it generally isn't safe for most women to go that low. Have you tried a more reasonable goal like .5 pounds a week? That may be more reasonable for your current weight.
  • bbeyer1792
    bbeyer1792 Posts: 18 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    MFP won't go lower than 1,200 because it generally isn't safe for most women to go that low. Have you tried a more reasonable goal like .5 pounds a week? That may be more reasonable for your current weight.

    thats my question, I had it at 2lbs a week and it said 1200, I changed it to 1 and it still says 1200, if I put maintain it says 1500.
  • KrissDotCom
    KrissDotCom Posts: 217 Member
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    That means a reasonable weight loss goal for you is .5lbs per week which is 250 below 1500
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
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    Your bmr is 1200-1300 roughly depending on age. (About 1200 if 25, about 1300 if 45.) You'd use an additonal 275-325 daily if you are fairly sedentary. Meaning you are starting from about 1475-1625. Losing 1 pound per week is NOT realistic given your #s. If your job/lifestyle is very active, you'd burn more but would also need more fuel to keep going. So in all honesty, a small deficit of perhaps 200-300 is probably the most you can aim for. And that will mean lots of accuracy & honesty.

    Food scale: weigh your solids. Use spoons/cups for measuring liquids.
    When at all possible, make your own food because food made by others: kind of requires you to estimate. Estimating and getting it wrong by 30-40 calories here & there will eat up your deficit.

    If you are sedentary, look for ways to increase activity. Every little bit helps.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
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    bbeyer1792 wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    MFP won't go lower than 1,200 because it generally isn't safe for most women to go that low. Have you tried a more reasonable goal like .5 pounds a week? That may be more reasonable for your current weight.

    thats my question, I had it at 2lbs a week and it said 1200, I changed it to 1 and it still says 1200, if I put maintain it says 1500.

    So based on your stats & activity level: MFP estimates you use 1500 calories per day to stay where you are. 200-300 daily deficit is going to be your target. If you exercise, be careful not to overestimate the burn and eat too much 'back'. Many machines and even sometimes MFP will give inflated #s.

    I'm guessing your goal weight is somewhere 95-115? Keep in mind that your goal weight maintenance calories (if activity level does not change) will be lower than 1500, as your BMR goes down when you lose weight.
  • bbeyer1792
    bbeyer1792 Posts: 18 Member
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    nanamerriman2020 wrote: »
    bbeyer1792 wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    MFP won't go lower than 1,200 because it generally isn't safe for most women to go that low. Have you tried a more reasonable goal like .5 pounds a week? That may be more reasonable for your current weight.

    thats my question, I had it at 2lbs a week and it said 1200, I changed it to 1 and it still says 1200, if I put maintain it says 1500.

    So based on your stats & activity level: MFP estimates you use 1500 calories per day to stay where you are. 200-300 daily deficit is going to be your target. If you exercise, be careful not to overestimate the burn and eat too much 'back'. Many machines and even sometimes MFP will give inflated #s.

    I'm guessing your goal weight is somewhere 95-115? Keep in mind that your goal weight maintenance calories (if activity level does not change) will be lower than 1500, as your BMR goes down when you lose weight.

    I want 100lbs. I was 120 after having my son in 2017, had my tubes tied and it caused pcos and I gained 47lbs. I was 167 lbs and started birth control and lost 22lbs without changing anything. Due to migraines I can no longer take birth control and the weight is coming back. I get really bloated for hours after eating any bread or pasta, I usually eat 2 meals a day and it's not much. I tried to cut carbs but in eating more food than I usually do but I feel hungrier.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    KrissDotCom wrote: »
    That means a reasonable weight loss goal for you is .5lbs per week which is 250 below 1500

    Exactly. Deduct 250 from 1,500 -- that's a great starting calorie goal for reasonable weight loss.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
    edited August 2020
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    You will need to experiment w macros to figure out what combination makes you feel satiated best. Ive heard pcos works better with low to moderate carbs. And if eating lots of carbs make you feel lousy, that is perhaps a good thing for you to try.

    Look to veggies for adding bulk to meals without maxing out calories. Example tonight w dinner I had a BLT salad with blue cheese and bacon bits and light ranch dressing. Under 200 calories for a big bowl. Spaghetti squash is another lunch or dinner idea. I add garlic salt, turkey sausage, parmesan cheese and sauce. Lots of food for little calories.
  • bbeyer1792
    bbeyer1792 Posts: 18 Member
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    nanamerriman2020 wrote: »
    You will need to experiment w macros to figure out what combination makes you feel satiated best. Ive heard pcos works better with low to moderate carbs. And if eating lots of carbs make you feel lousy, that is perhaps a good thing for you to try.

    Look to veggies for adding bulk to meals without maxing out calories. Example tonight w dinner I had a BLT salad with blue cheese and bacon bits and light ranch dressing. Under 200 calories for a big bowl. Spaghetti squash is another lunch or dinner idea. I add garlic salt, turkey sausage, parmesan cheese and sauce. Lots of food for little calories.

    Thats my other problem. I have dentures and can't chew well at all. I can't eat lettuve or anything like that and celery is too hard. I can eat steamed broccoli or carrots but no greens.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
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    So no salads. :)

    You'll probably need to aim for low to moderate carbs, low to moderate fat, and high protein. Veggies are great for bulking out meals - experiment with how to cook them. Cooked in a different way and using a variety of seasonings can turn a staple of 4-5 veggies into lots of variety. Don't avoid all fat - your hair, nails, skin would suffer. Lean meats.

    If at all possible, see about getting a referral to a dietician or nutritionist. Until then, try to be as meticulous as possible about tracking calories in because you have little room for error.

    If possible, look for ways to increase your exercise. There are many sites/calculators to estimate how much a person 'burns' from walking. One resource I've found says that a 120 pound person burns about 65 calories per mile. If you go by that, and aim to eat back 1/2 your exercise calories: then you could increase your calories in goal by about 30-35 calories per mile walked.
  • mylittlerainbow
    mylittlerainbow Posts: 822 Member
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    MFP won't go below 1200, BUT you can log as low as 1000 before getting a nastygram, not having it count as a day, etc. So I've been eating 1000-1100 (for the most part, closer to the low end) and balancing nutrients and calling myself done. When I occasionally get below 1000, it's easy to add a small healthy snack to the evening to get there.

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