Should I increase?

dredroid90 · April 2022

I'm 6'2 and 245 lbs currently... for the past 60 days my daily calorie average is 1400 but the app suggests 2400 calories a day for me to lose 2lbs a week..im happy with my results but most would say the low calorie intake is not healthy..should I stick with my plan or increase my intake to the suggested 2400?

Lietchi · April 2022

How much weight have you lost the past 60 days? And the last few weeks? At your current weight, 2lbs a week would be appropriate. Lose weight faster and there are health risks involved (muscle loss etc). For each lb lost per week, it's the equivalent of a daily deficit of 500 calories, so if you're currently losing 3lbs a week, you would need to increase your intake by 500 a day.

If you are logging those 1400 calories correctly (weighing foods, using accurate database food entries,...) it is highly likely you are not eating enough.

For context, I'm 5ft5 and female and I lost weight from 200+lbs to currently 133lbs eating 1700 calories (and often more, when exercising).

snowflake954 · April 2022

What you're doing won't be sustainable long term. Usually everything is fine and then you hit a wall on too low calories. I'd start gradually increasing. When and if you stop losing you can increase your deficit. At 6'2" you need more calories. Everyone has to find their "sweet spot" where they lose without suffering and compromising their health.

happyfrog12 · April 2022

Hi there, if I were you, I would increase. If you have felt good for the past 60 days, then that's great! However, that's a significant deficit. Are you exercising? If so, I think you need to eat more.

You don't have to make the jump all the way to 2,400 cals, especially if you haven't felt bad in the past two months. Id say, make sure you are eating all three meals (big breakfasts high in protein are great) and see how you feel eating more. As someone wrote earlier, weight loss isn't a sprint. You got this!

cwolfman13 · April 2022

I'm assuming you are male...1500 calories per day is the bare minimum for a sedentary male and that falls short of BMR for the vast majority of males. So you're not even eating what would sustain you in a coma. So yeah...not particularly healthy.

I'm male...5'10" and 47 years old and I typically lose 1 Lb per week eating anywhere from 2200-2500 calories per day. Very low calorie intake can cause all kinds of problems down the line...loss of existing muscle mass, hair loss, extreme fatigue, the slowing of "non-essential" bodily functions, etc. Think of it in terms of energy or power. If your power goes out and you are running a backup generator, you can kinda keep things going, but you're not going to be able to power everything at the same time and will have to pick and choose what electrical applications you really need to operate...your body is smart, and it's going to do the same thing.

westrich20940 · April 2022

I used '30' as your age since I don't know --- but using that, your height, weight and setting your activity level to 'sedentary' (since I also don't know how active you are):

An estimate of your TDEE to maintain your current weight is ~2569 calories/day.

I'd say you are correct in thinking that eating 1400 calories per day is far too little.

So, If I were you, I'd manually set your calorie goal to ~2300/day. If you are using MFP to log your calorie burn through an exercise, eat back anywhere from 50-100% of those calories.

nooshi713 · April 2022

For your size, 1400 is too little. Definitely eat more.

tedtaffe · May 2022

Idk if I could only eat 1,400 calories a day - I would!! I have more weight to lose then you.. but congrats!! 60 days of that is amazing! Keep going!!

nutmegoreo · May 2022

You'll feel fine, until you don't. As mentioned above, hair loss, severe lethargy, lack of libido can all happen. Recovering from that can take a lot longer than you realize. Best to take care of yourself. The body you have is the only one you get.

When you increase your calories, don't be surprised if your weight has an initial uptick. It will balance out over a week or two.

AnnPT77 · May 2022

If you're losing faster than 2 pounds a week on average, you're eating too little. An accurately-logged 1400 calories would be too little. (I lost weight at a fast clip as a 5'5", then mid-150s pounds, 59 year old woman, eating more than that!)

Once you get down toward 200 pounds, you should lose even slower.

Don't risk your health.

asellitti6523 · May 2022

I'd definitely bump it up. 2lbs/week is good and steady weight loss. Eating only 1400 means you likely aren't getting enough protein and you are also losing muscle along with fat.

dredroid90 · May 2022

I'm currently 3 months in almost 4..I will gradually increase up to 2000 calories daily..but Overall I feel good and see fast results..BTW I OMAD and keep carbs low and my full time job keeps me busy.

Should I increase?

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