Please help me with calorie goal calculation

88digitalawesome88
88digitalawesome88 Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello seasoned MFP people :)
Is 1500 calories reasonable for weight loss?
MFP is suggesting 1200 which seams fairly low.

FYI...
I am Female
5'2
40 yo
73kg / 161 lbs

Light strength training, 4 sessions per week
Walk most days, 30 mins

Thoughts?

Thanks!




Replies

  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
    What rate of loss and activity level did you choose when using the guided set up?

    1200 is the lowest it will go but it does it's calculation based on the information you give it, with the amount of weight you have to lose to get into a healthy weight range, you should be looking at 0.5-1lb per week max.

    If you're walking most days you're not sedentary, so should at least have lightly active chosen as your activity level.

    You should then be logging your exercise and eating some (if not all of those calories back).

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  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member

    At 5'2", 40yo, female, 161 pounds: your bmr is about 1380. Your daily burn before exercise, depending on activity level (are you on your feet & moving constantly during the day or sitting 7-8 hours, or somewhere in between?) is likely between 1650 and 1850. With another 150-250 burned for 30 minutes walking.

    You were given a calorie goal of 1200 because that is the bottom limit that MFP will assign to a female. If you are sedentary (MFP activity level setting) and put in 1 pound per week loss rate, you may also get the 1200 #. If you're more active, then 1 pound per week may give you a little more, such as 1350. Keep in mind that MFP assumes you will log your exercise and eat additional calories for the effort.

    Suggestions:
    Aim for .5-1 pound per week loss rate, understanding that accuracy and honesty in your food logging will be necessary. Also if you are sedentary, look for ways to increase your normal daily activity. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park at the back of a parking lot for work, grocery shopping, errands, etc. so that you walk a little more to/from each destination. Get up and stretch and walk around once each hour if you are sitting a good bit during your day. Look into a standing desk option (desk riser @ Amazon for under $100 is possible) if you do have a desk job. Every little bit of extra movement: helps in the long run.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    You don't mention your daily activity level? Mucking stalls? Sitting at a desk? Chasing a couple toddlers? Working as an Amazon factory worker??
  • StevefromMichigan
    StevefromMichigan Posts: 462 Member
    I recommend trying 1500 for a couple of weeks, and then, if you are not getting results, lower your daily calories until you find the sweet spot.
  • AshHeartsJesus
    AshHeartsJesus Posts: 460 Member
    You will lose doing 1500 and exercise 😊
  • 88digitalawesome88
    88digitalawesome88 Posts: 13 Member
    @StevefromMichigan and @AshHeartsJesus thanks for your advice, I checked in with a trainer yesterday and she said the same thing, so 1500 calories it is :)
  • apdurden
    apdurden Posts: 6 Member
    https://tdeecalculator.net/

    Go to that website. Put in your Age, Height, Sex, Current Weight, and Activity Level. This will give you a good estimate of your Maintenance Calories. Basically, how many calories would need to eat to maintain your current weight. Then subtract 500 calories from that for a safe 1lb per week loss
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 989 Member
    OP, if you're going to eat 1500, you probably don't want to be adding your exercise on and eating those calories as well.

    I'm the same height as you and started on here at a few kg less than you. It didn't make any difference what rate of weight loss I selected, I still got allocated 1200 cals. When I changed my set-up to 'Maintain Weight', I saw that my maintenance was around 1430. To lose at a rate of only 0.25kg a week (0.5lb), you'd take 250 cals off that, which would be under 1200. Therefore I was always set 1200 cals as that's the minimum recommended for females. However, I worked on the basis that anything below a net cals of 1430 would see me losing, albeit slowly.

    As I lost weight, the cals required to maintain my new lower weight obviously went down too and therefore so did my deficit and the rate at which I was losing. Earlier this year when I switched to maintenance, I got 1340. Taller people may struggle to comprehend this low number.

    I always logged (and still do log) all my exercise and ate /eat those calories too.

    Sedentary is considered around 3500 steps a day, which will factor in any movement around the house,grocery shopping etc. Your daily half an hour walk will give you about another 150 cals at the moment. Your strength training won't give you much extra, calorie-wise.

    Expect your weight loss to be slow. It's likely that you've lost some initial water weight which is a great boost, but don't be surprised if you don't lose quite so much this week. Weight loss is definitely not linear.

    I'd go back to the Guided Set-up, temporarily change the setting to Maintain Current Weight, save it and see how many cals MFP says is your maintenance number. Your net cals (food intake less exercise cals) needs to be between 1200 and your maintenance figure for you to be getting sufficient nutrition and lose weight.
  • Courtscan2
    Courtscan2 Posts: 499 Member
    You aren't tooooo far off me - 43yo, 5'4", 65kg my activity level is pretty similar, though I lift heavy as I can :) and I'm current losing on 1700. I would die if I had to get by on 1200, so yes - 1500 sounds like a more reasonable starting place to me.

    Also, didn't Melbourne just increase exercise outside to 2 hours a day for parents? Thought I read that somewhere. I could be wrong. I'm in NSW, so we are still essentially open. For now. :#
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    88digitalawesome88 wrote: »
    @tinkerbellang83 Thanks so much! The appropriate rate of weight-loss chart is especially helpful. I appreciate the share.

    @nanastaci2020 Although I am exercising, the majority of my day is spent sitting down as I am homeschooling, I do try to include incidentals but we need to be at the computer a fair bit. I also live in Melbourne, Australia where covid-19 stage 4 restrictions are in place, that means max 1 hour outdoor exercise with a mask within a 5km/3mile radius, police are enforcing these rules so indoor exercise is my go to for now with the upside being that my house is spotless :D

    @cmriverside Thank you, I like your flexible thinking! As stated above I am on my behind a fair bit. The strength training is light (2kg dummbells) and the walking is slower than I would like with a mask on. I have downloaded a Leslie Sansone walking video today so at least indoors I can huff n puff without restrictions.

    Thanks everyone :)

    Why is the outdoors walking with a mask on? Not sure where in the world you are, but where I am, we only have to wear masks outside if we aren’t able to maintain 6 ft of distance from others.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    nanastaci2020 wrote: »
    Dogmom1978 wrote: »

    Why is the outdoors walking with a mask on? Not sure where in the world you are, but where I am, we only have to wear masks outside if we aren’t able to maintain 6 ft of distance from others.

    She said she is in Melbourne, Australia and those are the restrictions currently in place. Best to assume she knows what the requirements are where she lives. :)

    I missed that part and I have a ton of people by me that just wear them all the time regardless of restrictions. Also, you would be surprised how many people DONT know what the restrictions are where they live. 😊
  • derekoh1234
    derekoh1234 Posts: 14 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    apdurden wrote: »
    https://tdeecalculator.net/

    Go to that website. Put in your Age, Height, Sex, Current Weight, and Activity Level. This will give you a good estimate of your Maintenance Calories. Basically, how many calories would need to eat to maintain your current weight. Then subtract 500 calories from that for a safe 1lb per week loss

    so...did you even read this thread? :lol:

    aint nobody got time for that, read the title and post away... :tongue:

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