MFP says I should eat 1200 a day

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blueeyedangelar
blueeyedangelar Posts: 119 Member
in Food and Nutrition
MFP tells me I should be eatting 1200 a day to lose weight, but everyone keeps telling me I should be eating more.
I am 5' 4" 35 years old and 139.2 pounds. my goal weight is around 125 to 130. ( probably leaning more towards 130 because I have been building muscle) anyways.....I cant seem to lose more then 5 pounds and then it comes right back.....I have weight between 138 to 145 since May of this year. Any advice?
Thanks,
Becky

Replies

  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
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    You are close enough to your goal that you should probably be aiming for less than a pound per week of loss. Are you eating your exercise calories?
  • Robyn1733
    Robyn1733 Posts: 58
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    It's b/c MFP is calculating your exercise goals into your calorie allowance. Eat all your calories back when you exercise, and on non exercise days either eat your 1200 or I usually eat 1500 (on those days).
  • tigertchr23
    tigertchr23 Posts: 418 Member
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    I would say between 1200-1500 is good. Make sure you are looking at your "net calories" . . . that needs to be the number you are aiming for 1200-1500. Net is your total -exercise.

    Best wishes :flowerforyou:
  • blueeyedangelar
    blueeyedangelar Posts: 119 Member
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    I try to eat some of them back, but not always because I will drink a protein shake after my workout so then I am not very hungry.
  • Kristhin
    Kristhin Posts: 442 Member
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    I don't think you need to eat more. I'm 5'5 1/2" and 134lbs and I can't even lose on 1200 anymore. I have to go under that by at least a couple hundred for a few days if I want to lose anything. I can maintain at 1200 a day but I can't lose anything whatsoever.
  • hazelnut861
    hazelnut861 Posts: 390 Member
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    1200 is the minimum. You can google weight loss calculators and a variety will pop up and you enter your info and it will tell you different calories for different weights (lose, maintain, etc.) Also take into account what you're eating and how your fitness routine is.
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
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    Everyone else is right! Eat more, lose slowly, maintain lean body mass, lose fat, profit!
  • agthorn
    agthorn Posts: 1,844 Member
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    I don't think you need to eat more. I'm 5'5 1/2" and 134lbs and I can't even lose on 1200 anymore. I have to go under that by at least a couple hundred for a few days if I want to lose anything. I can maintain at 1200 a day but I can't lose anything whatsoever.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
  • blueeyedangelar
    blueeyedangelar Posts: 119 Member
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    I usually eat very healthy, today I had Mcdonald's Chicken Selects for lunch so not too great but still not too bad for me. I have used diffrent calulators and they all say different things. so I am clueless I would try eating around 1400 a day for a few days and see what happens but I dont want to eat high calorie foods....would it be ok to have a protein shake in the mornnig and in the evening after a workout or is that too much protein???
  • hufflypuff
    hufflypuff Posts: 185 Member
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    If your body has been that stubborn about losing 5 lbs then you either need to change up your strategy but adding a few calories or changing your type of exercise or something like that. Or you need to look at yourself and realize that this might just be the weight your body wants to be at and be happy about that and keep up what you are already doing. :D
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,192 Member
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    If you only have 10 pounds to lose, you should not be trying to lose anything more than .5 pounds per week. Set that as your goal. Also, at this point worry less about the scale and more about measurements. The scale is a liar. The number of people here who have lost inches (meaning they are losing fat) but not pounds, especially in the last 15 pounds, are huge. Get a measuring tape, measure chest, waist and hip at the very minimum, maybe add thighs and upper arms as well. Check those every one to two (preferably two) weeks and use that. If you want to purchase one, a caliper for measuring body fat % is fairly inexpensive. While not as accurate doing it yourself, it will show decreases in the measurements, showing loss of fat.
  • Kristhin
    Kristhin Posts: 442 Member
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    AGThorn I'm not in starvation mode I'm down 20 lbs and only dip under 1200 because I have to, and I only do it a couple of times a week if that. Which is why I almost always maintain now and only lose a pound once in a while.

    I started out at 1700 calories a day which was 500 calories a day OVER my intake recommended by MFP. I've just lost weight and lost weight and had to keep reducing calories as I went along in order to continue losing.

    I've TRIED many times upping my calorie intake and it doesn't help me lose it makes me gain.

    I could lose on 1200 even though I was thin 10 years ago, but it just doesn't work anymore for me.

    What I'm saying to the OP is, experiment and find out what works for you.
  • Kristhin
    Kristhin Posts: 442 Member
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    Plus I don't dip down to the 400-700 range described in that post, I'm NOT overweight or even close to it like the average woman referred to in the post, and I don't eat a lot of processed foods. Also I don't binge. I would on occasion when my intake was higher than it is now, but I never do anymore.
  • newmrswood
    newmrswood Posts: 194
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    If your not sure and you want to make sure your eating enough, not starving yourself, you should talk to your physician. They can tell you the min and max you should be eating
  • alapoint89
    alapoint89 Posts: 632
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    im 5'1 22 yrs 171.8 and i eat that same thing and i have only lost 5lbs all together at one point i hit 8 and 3 came back so idk lol but i like it because i can tell myself i am not eating to much
  • KriscoOil
    KriscoOil Posts: 305 Member
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    Me too! I am new to this and have only lost 3lbs...but I have a very difficult time staying within my calories. I have changed my attitude a little bit and decided not to "beat myself up" everytime I go over the calorie intake. Now I am more aware of what I am putting in my body and trying to squeeze in exercise time.
  • JenGranzow
    JenGranzow Posts: 116 Member
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    Maybe it is an issue of *what* you are eating, not your total calories. You have to think of your body as a high performance machine, and try to ensure that you give it the best possible fuel out there. I really don't mean this to be offensive, but if you think of Mc Donald's chicken strips as being "not *that* bad for you", that is probably part of the problem. I imagine that the sodium content is quite high, too. You will find plenty of people on MFP who will tell you that it doesn't matter what you eat, it's all about the total number of calories, but I respectfully disagree with that when you look at long term health and sustainable loss. Best of luck to you.
  • blueeyedangelar
    blueeyedangelar Posts: 119 Member
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    Maybe it is an issue of *what* you are eating, not your total calories. You have to think of your body as a high performance machine, and try to ensure that you give it the best possible fuel out there. I really don't mean this to be offensive, but if you think of Mc Donald's chicken strips as being "not *that* bad for you", that is probably part of the problem. I imagine that the sodium content is quite high, too. You will find plenty of people on MFP who will tell you that it doesn't matter what you eat, it's all about the total number of calories, but I respectfully disagree with that when you look at long term health and sustainable loss. Best of luck to you.

    What I meant by not that bad for me,is at least I didn't have a big mac or something! LOL Don't worry you did not offend me.
    I have really been trying to watch my sodium intake. yesterday that didn't happen because my boyfriend and I when to Applebee's for dinner so yeah, but I know what you are saying............I am getting better at looking past the calories in my decisions.
    Thanks for replying :)

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