900 calories a day?

speacockr
speacockr Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So according to various calculators my tdee is around 1450. Healthy weight loss is - 500 a day right? So I should be at 900 ish per day?

Replies

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,312 Member
    35% of your TDEE is certainly an extremely aggressive deficit.
    In fact, 20% of your TDEE would the highest to aim for when not classified as obese. And even when obese I don't know that I would be (successfully and sustainably) trying for more than a 25% deficit.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,986 Member
    How heavy and tall are you? How active? Assuming you're female? What you plan to do sounds totally unhealthy. But given the TDEE you seem to be very small and very light. So why aim so high? If it's just a few vanity lbs then this will be slow. another option is to become more active and increase your TDEE. This gives you a bigger range to play with.
  • speacockr
    speacockr Posts: 6 Member
    I'm 163cm and 53.5kg, currently sedentary lifestyle but going to start getting to the gym more (at least that's the plan!).

    I've never considered using a percentage of my tdee. I've just always read that 1lb a week weight loss is a reasonable aim and that equates to - 500cals a day.

    MFP sets my lowest at 1200 for some reason though.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,885 Member
    edited October 2022
    speacockr wrote: »
    So according to various calculators my tdee is around 1450. Healthy weight loss is - 500 a day right? So I should be at 900 ish per day?

    That will depend on how much you weigh and how much you want to weigh.

    PAV8888 referred to % of TDEE as a way of evaluating if a certain calorie deficit is healthy/a good idea.

    Other people will use % of bodyweight lost per week as a benchmark: commonly it's recommended to lose 0.5-1% of your bodyweight per week (personally I tend more towards the 0.5%), so whether a 500 calorie deficit (1lb/week) is appropriate or not will depend on how much you weigh. In your case: 0.5% of your bodyweight would mean a deficit of 295kcal a day.

    On top of that, another factor is: can you ensure adequate nutrition with 900 calories per day? I'm doubtful personally, and MFP itself won't suggest a goal lower than 1200 calories for women precisely to ensure adequate nutrition (1500 for men).
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,885 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    speacockr wrote: »
    I'm 163cm and 53.5kg, currently sedentary lifestyle but going to start getting to the gym more (at least that's the plan!).

    I've never considered using a percentage of my tdee. I've just always read that 1lb a week weight loss is a reasonable aim and that equates to - 500cals a day.

    MFP sets my lowest at 1200 for some reason though.

    Sweety, you're at a perfectly normal weight. Heck, your BMI is around 19.9. Why do you want to lose weight? You don't really have a lot to lose until you become underweight? What is it really that you want? Do you want to look more toned? are you skinny fat? Body dysmorphia might also be a thing, considering your normal weight.

    Oops, hadn't even noticed that.
    Recomposition is probably a better idea than losing weight.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,986 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    speacockr wrote: »
    I'm 163cm and 53.5kg, currently sedentary lifestyle but going to start getting to the gym more (at least that's the plan!).

    I've never considered using a percentage of my tdee. I've just always read that 1lb a week weight loss is a reasonable aim and that equates to - 500cals a day.

    MFP sets my lowest at 1200 for some reason though.

    Sweety, you're at a perfectly normal weight. Heck, your BMI is around 19.9. Why do you want to lose weight? You don't really have a lot to lose until you become underweight? What is it really that you want? Do you want to look more toned? are you skinny fat? Body dysmorphia might also be a thing, considering your normal weight.

    Oops, hadn't even noticed that.
    Recomposition is probably a better idea than losing weight.

    Sometimes it takes a dyscalculia-ic green unterwater sheep to notice :D<3
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 921 Member
    You are already at the lower end of the 'healthy weight range' for your height. Why are you trying to lose weight??

    Also, the adage of 'cut out 500 calories per day to lose 1lb' isn't as straight forward as it seems. During my active weight loss phase I lost ~.8lb/week on average and had a deficit of 150-300 cals.....not 500.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,869 Member
    westrich20940 wrote: »
    Also, the adage of 'cut out 500 calories per day to lose 1lb' isn't as straight forward as it seems. During my active weight loss phase I lost ~.8lb/week on average and had a deficit of 150-300 cals.....not 500.
    That's only a projected difference of ~150 calories. Perhaps your maintenance is higher than the average person, or perhaps you entered a higher net calorie burn from workouts (i.e. accounting for your RMR) than actually happened, since those are all estimates.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,885 Member
    westrich20940 wrote: »
    You are already at the lower end of the 'healthy weight range' for your height. Why are you trying to lose weight??

    Also, the adage of 'cut out 500 calories per day to lose 1lb' isn't as straight forward as it seems. During my active weight loss phase I lost ~.8lb/week on average and had a deficit of 150-300 cals.....not 500.

    I'm not sure why you're concluding that you needed a smaller deficit to reach a certain weight loss. My conclusion would simply be 'my TDEE is 200-350 calories higher than calculated by MFP/my fitness tracker/...'
    Well, not even 'would be' because that's precisely my conclusion when noticing that I lost weight faster than expected and am now maintaining it at 200 kcal above theoretical maintenance.
    Much more likely our TDEE does not conform to statistical averages, rather than our bodyfat requiring a smaller deficit to lose the same weight, imho.
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  • speacockr
    speacockr Posts: 6 Member
    I am definitely skinny fat, another reason I need to get back in the gym more regularly. I've had a very inactive few years for various reasons and I can tell in my body. I am very squishy!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Another vote for hitting the weight room and changing your body composition.

    Every gym I have ever joined has offered 1-3 sessions with a personal trainer upon joining, and many had small group classes for free or very cheap.
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  • speacockr
    speacockr Posts: 6 Member
    Yes I definitely have quite a bit of fat to lose. I've made it to the gym twice so far this week so happy about that!
  • age_is_just_a_number
    age_is_just_a_number Posts: 631 Member
    Slow and steady wins the race. Although, this isn’t a race because there really isn’t a finish line. This is a lifestyle.
    900 calories a day is too low for most people.
    I’d go with 1200 calories a day and then see how it goes and adjust.
    Anything less than 1200 calories a day, you should speak with your doctor.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    speacockr wrote: »
    Yes I definitely have quite a bit of fat to lose. I've made it to the gym twice so far this week so happy about that!

    At your height / wt / BMI, I find it highly doubtful you have "quite a bit of fat to lose". You're at the low end of a healthy BMI....basically at the point where people that have been losing weight for months or years strive to be.

    If you're unhappy with the way you look, losing weight probably isn't going to help you. You can lose weight, but probably won't change your BF% all that much, basically becoming a lighter version of what you see in the mirror now.

    You're at the point where you're looking for a recomp (body recomposition). Reduce your body fat percentage while maintaining muscle and not lowering your weight (much). It takes a lot of work in the gym (lift to retain muscle), eat in a small deficit, hit your protein macro and be patient. It's going to take months (probably close to a year) to get where you want.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    edited October 2022
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Fit2btied2016 wrote: »
    I just noticed somebody flagged my post above? LOL. For what? For pointing out that I was misunderstood? Oh gee, let me guess who that might be...

    Dear Paper White, Drop it already. If someone says they were misunderstood and not trying to start a fight, why wouldn't you give them the benefit of the doubt and let them go? Why would you flag them when it was not warranted? (If indeed you were the one that put up a flag).

    General: I will not be spending anymore of my time answering threads like this. It is simply not worth it to give my opinion and thoughts, and I really don't plan to be on this site for long anyway. I use it as a free tracking tool for my calories, but thought it would be nice to talk to a few people along the way. Clearly some people use this as a long-term social hang-out like FB, and that's fine if it's your thing, and if it's a closed or long-term group, well, my apologies for butting in.

    Paper White, Let it go, and leave me alone, or else you are bullying someone, and YOU deserve a flag.
    I have been here less than 2 weeks, and if you need to be "right" about something, or really need that much control, then you need this site more than I do, clearly. (Pointing out someone can Google something at the end of a post is a subtle way of snark and put-down). It is interesting that there are BMI charts for Asians, so thanks for teaching me something.

    Dear OP, I wish you all the best once again, and hope you find the squish factor you like :-) Sorry your thread wound up like this. Maybe a moderator can delete this or something, and you can find the answer/support you need?

    God bless! Happy Thanksgiving Canucks! Time to blow this popsicle stand and get dinner going...

    It's my experience as a moderator on another forum that the people who flag are generally not the people in the convo. And paperpudding has been around long enough to know what the Abuse flag is for.

    You (or anyone) are free to Flag > Report that post and in the text box say that post was misflagged for Abuse.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10007789/flagged-content-reported-posts-warning-points

    Abuse: Use this flag to report extreme abuse of our guidelines; such as posting of pornographic images or hate speech. 5 flags will automatically move that content into the abuse queue to be reviewed by our moderators. Items in the abuse queue are hidden until they are either approved by a moderator as not being abuse or are deleted by a moderator after being verified as abuse. Items marked for abuse should be both severe and urgent. If it does not meet this criteria it will be approved by a moderator and returned to the community without further action.

    How do you get those options in the app?

    Edited to delete the rest of the question, as apparently clucking finger just wasn't working 😕
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,885 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Fit2btied2016 wrote: »
    I just noticed somebody flagged my post above? LOL. For what? For pointing out that I was misunderstood? Oh gee, let me guess who that might be...

    Dear Paper White, Drop it already. If someone says they were misunderstood and not trying to start a fight, why wouldn't you give them the benefit of the doubt and let them go? Why would you flag them when it was not warranted? (If indeed you were the one that put up a flag).

    General: I will not be spending anymore of my time answering threads like this. It is simply not worth it to give my opinion and thoughts, and I really don't plan to be on this site for long anyway. I use it as a free tracking tool for my calories, but thought it would be nice to talk to a few people along the way. Clearly some people use this as a long-term social hang-out like FB, and that's fine if it's your thing, and if it's a closed or long-term group, well, my apologies for butting in.

    Paper White, Let it go, and leave me alone, or else you are bullying someone, and YOU deserve a flag.
    I have been here less than 2 weeks, and if you need to be "right" about something, or really need that much control, then you need this site more than I do, clearly. (Pointing out someone can Google something at the end of a post is a subtle way of snark and put-down). It is interesting that there are BMI charts for Asians, so thanks for teaching me something.

    Dear OP, I wish you all the best once again, and hope you find the squish factor you like :-) Sorry your thread wound up like this. Maybe a moderator can delete this or something, and you can find the answer/support you need?

    God bless! Happy Thanksgiving Canucks! Time to blow this popsicle stand and get dinner going...

    It's my experience as a moderator on another forum that the people who flag are generally not the people in the convo. And paperpudding has been around long enough to know what the Abuse flag is for.

    You (or anyone) are free to Flag > Report that post and in the text box say that post was misflagged for Abuse.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10007789/flagged-content-reported-posts-warning-points

    Abuse: Use this flag to report extreme abuse of our guidelines; such as posting of pornographic images or hate speech. 5 flags will automatically move that content into the abuse queue to be reviewed by our moderators. Items in the abuse queue are hidden until they are either approved by a moderator as not being abuse or are deleted by a moderator after being verified as abuse. Items marked for abuse should be both severe and urgent. If it does not meet this criteria it will be approved by a moderator and returned to the community without further action.

    How do you get those options in the app? There's no report button, and no options when I click flag in the app -- it's just like any of the other buttons. No menu. No field to explain why you're flagging.

    You don't see these options?
    cyqa9kvprkjc.jpg

    This is using my browser on my (Android) phone.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Fit2btied2016 wrote: »
    I just noticed somebody flagged my post above? LOL. For what? For pointing out that I was misunderstood? Oh gee, let me guess who that might be...

    Dear Paper White, Drop it already. If someone says they were misunderstood and not trying to start a fight, why wouldn't you give them the benefit of the doubt and let them go? Why would you flag them when it was not warranted? (If indeed you were the one that put up a flag).

    General: I will not be spending anymore of my time answering threads like this. It is simply not worth it to give my opinion and thoughts, and I really don't plan to be on this site for long anyway. I use it as a free tracking tool for my calories, but thought it would be nice to talk to a few people along the way. Clearly some people use this as a long-term social hang-out like FB, and that's fine if it's your thing, and if it's a closed or long-term group, well, my apologies for butting in.

    Paper White, Let it go, and leave me alone, or else you are bullying someone, and YOU deserve a flag.
    I have been here less than 2 weeks, and if you need to be "right" about something, or really need that much control, then you need this site more than I do, clearly. (Pointing out someone can Google something at the end of a post is a subtle way of snark and put-down). It is interesting that there are BMI charts for Asians, so thanks for teaching me something.

    Dear OP, I wish you all the best once again, and hope you find the squish factor you like :-) Sorry your thread wound up like this. Maybe a moderator can delete this or something, and you can find the answer/support you need?

    God bless! Happy Thanksgiving Canucks! Time to blow this popsicle stand and get dinner going...

    It's my experience as a moderator on another forum that the people who flag are generally not the people in the convo. And paperpudding has been around long enough to know what the Abuse flag is for.

    You (or anyone) are free to Flag > Report that post and in the text box say that post was misflagged for Abuse.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10007789/flagged-content-reported-posts-warning-points

    Abuse: Use this flag to report extreme abuse of our guidelines; such as posting of pornographic images or hate speech. 5 flags will automatically move that content into the abuse queue to be reviewed by our moderators. Items in the abuse queue are hidden until they are either approved by a moderator as not being abuse or are deleted by a moderator after being verified as abuse. Items marked for abuse should be both severe and urgent. If it does not meet this criteria it will be approved by a moderator and returned to the community without further action.

    How do you get those options in the app? There's no report button, and no options when I click flag in the app -- it's just like any of the other buttons. No menu. No field to explain why you're flagging.

    You don't see these options?
    cyqa9kvprkjc.jpg

    This is using my browser on my (Android) phone.

    Yeah -- you must have responded in the few minutes between my post and my editing it. The screen wasn't reacting to my touch, but I tried again a little later and I got the pop-up.

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