I only get 1200 calories?
Kimbenn26
Posts: 1 Member
Doesn’t this seem low? How is this calculated?
2
Replies
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I hear you! I'm currently trying to meal plan for 1200 calories a day, which seems super low....1
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For both of you... how much weight do you have to lose and what rate of loss did u choose?2
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What is your age, weight, height, sex and activity level? How much are you trying to lose per week? That determines how many calories you are allotted per day.4
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I'm looking to lose around 5 kgs at a rate of 0.25kg/wk. (From 63kgs to goal weight of 58kgs).
My biggest issue (self-realisation) is that I'm an overeater and a snacker with poor eating habits. I average 2000-2500 calls a day. Trying to drop to 1200 calls and not feel hungry will be a steep learning curve in making better food choices.0 -
You're very close to goal weight, so you probably want a smaller deficit than you think. Be prepared for a much slower weight loss at this point. Your body will fight to keep it on.
By eating at a very small deficit, your weight loss will be slow, but you'll be closer to maintenance and it'll be an easier transition when you get there.
How did you calculate your 1200 calorie allotment?4 -
I used the goal-setting function. Entered bio details, current weight, goal weight, and planned exercise. From there, out popped 1200 cals/day. I've just tried adjusting the settings a little to get up to 1300/day. I like that you mentioned the transition piece, as I want this to be sustainable and not a new year's resolution that falls flat in a few months.0
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I also entered minimal exercise into the goal setter. I'm aiming for 3 x 30 min sessions a week at this stage.0
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What is your baseline activity? Many people are not actually sedentary as MFP defines it.0
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Doesn’t this seem low? How is this calculated?
what's your height, weight and how fast are you trying to lose?
i'm female, 5' 4", 160 pounds, and i also listed myself as sedentary, so i get 1250 calories per day without exercise; MFP estimates i can lose half a pound per week that way. i've been exercising a lot, and i eat back some of my exercise calories, so i can often eat 1350 or 1400 calories and still lose.0 -
Doesn’t this seem low? How is this calculated?
It's a combination of activity level, weight, size, age and gender. With your chosen weight loss goal per week. Thus change the loss rate to something lower and you'll get more calories to eat.
btw, the lowest MFP will give any woman is 1200, even if chosing a too high goal means you'd need to eat less than that. Thus if you get 1200 you won't reach the goal per week anyway. Thus experiment a bit. Try a slower rate, and if it's still 1200, then an even slower one, etc. Then you get more calories, and you know how fast you can safely lose.1 -
I also entered minimal exercise into the goal setter. I'm aiming for 3 x 30 min sessions a week at this stage.
Really important flaw in the guided setup you should be aware of: your planned exercise does not influence your calorie goal at all. You need to log your exercise in your diary, which will increase your calorie goal on days you exercise.5 -
That would depend on who and what you are. People are all different. Calculators like the one you used are not clairvoyant. They provide estimates, a.k.a. guesses. Guesses have the problem of not being even remotely guaranteed to be correct.Doesn’t this seem low? How is this calculated?
In my own case, I take in less than that. I was at 65.3 kg on 20221224 and 65.2 kg on 20230102, i.e. I lost 100 g in 9 days, or 11 g a day. In short, calculators give you a starting point, but you need to track yourself to find out about your own reality in practice.
If I were you, I would do what MFP recommends, and meticulously track your intake and your weight for three weeks to a month, and then see what the results are and adjust your intake accordingly, if needed.
At this level, you should also make as sure as humanly achievable to concentrate on nutrient-dense foods while keeping energy intake at the level recommended. Nutrient density is important for absolutely everyone, but it is even more important, and even vital, if you get to low levels like this.0 -
Personally I think that the MFP auto setting are junk. It is far too aggressive. I use 1800 kcals a day and lost 100lbs on that, however, I do a shed load of exercise.
I think the best way to set your kcals is using a BMR calculator (this is the calories for your body to be at maintenance) and then removing the kcals you would need for the weight loss you are aiming for:
- 1lb a week is about 500kcals a day,
- 750 a day is 1.5lbs and
- 100kcals is 2lbs a week.
A good BMR calculator is here https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html?. Find out what your BMR (resting calorie burn) is and then use the kcals associated with your exercise type (activity calories) and remove the weight loss kcals.
For example, my BMR is 1605kcals and I go to CrossFit or swimming 6 days a week so my activity level takes my maintenance calories 2488. I am aiming to lose 1.5lbs a week. This means I should take 750 kcals off that maintenance which takes me to 1738 kcals, however, I round up to 1800 kcals.
Note that as you lose weight your BMR will go down so you need to reduce your kcals. Also NEVER go lower than 1200, it is dangerous and unrealistic unless under medical supervision. I personally wouldn't go below 1500 due to my activity levels.1 -
Personally I think that the MFP auto setting are junk. It is far too aggressive. I use 1800 kcals a day and lost 100lbs on that, however, I do a shed load of exercise.
I think the best way to set your kcals is using a BMR calculator (this is the calories for your body to be at maintenance) and then removing the kcals you would need for the weight loss you are aiming for:
- 1lb a week is about 500kcals a day,
- 750 a day is 1.5lbs and
- 100kcals is 2lbs a week.
A good BMR calculator is here https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html?. Find out what your BMR (resting calorie burn) is and then use the kcals associated with your exercise type (activity calories) and remove the weight loss kcals.
For example, my BMR is 1605kcals and I go to CrossFit or swimming 6 days a week so my activity level takes my maintenance calories 2488. I am aiming to lose 1.5lbs a week. This means I should take 750 kcals off that maintenance which takes me to 1738 kcals, however, I round up to 1800 kcals.
Note that as you lose weight your BMR will go down so you need to reduce your kcals. Also NEVER go lower than 1200, it is dangerous and unrealistic unless under medical supervision. I personally wouldn't go below 1500 due to my activity levels.
MFP isn't aggressive in its calorie goal, but it's important to understand:
- that choosing an aggressive weight loss rate will give a low calorie goal
- that MFP isn't a TDEE calculator - the activity level is meant to reflect daily life activity only, exercise is meant to be logged separately and will in turn increase the calorie goal - so it's normal for people who exercise to have a lower (base) calorie goal on MFP than using a TDEE calculator that includes exercise up front2 -
MFP isn't aggressive in its calorie goal, but it's important to understand:
- that choosing an aggressive weight loss rate will give a low calorie goal
- that MFP isn't a TDEE calculator - the activity level is meant to reflect daily life activity only, exercise is meant to be logged separately and will in turn increase the calorie goal - so it's normal for people who exercise to have a lower (base) calorie goal on MFP than using a TDEE calculator that includes exercise up front
Totally understand what you are saying. Personally, I don't think people should be on 1200 kcals. It is well known in the scientific community that this can be a dangerously low number. However, each body is different and I am not going to preach about how people want to eat. So happy to agree to disagree.
One of the issues I have with the activity of calorie adding during the day on top of the base is that you don't know what you should be eating until the end of the day, which is a problem as you won't be fuelling your exercise properly. I prefer working out what I will need including the exercise so I know at the beginning of the day what I have in terms of kcals and there for can plan my day. Just me though.0 -
MFP isn't aggressive in its calorie goal, but it's important to understand:
- that choosing an aggressive weight loss rate will give a low calorie goal
- that MFP isn't a TDEE calculator - the activity level is meant to reflect daily life activity only, exercise is meant to be logged separately and will in turn increase the calorie goal - so it's normal for people who exercise to have a lower (base) calorie goal on MFP than using a TDEE calculator that includes exercise up front
Totally understand what you are saying. Personally, I don't think people should be on 1200 kcals. It is well known in the scientific community that this can be a dangerously low number. However, each body is different and I am not going to preach about how people want to eat. So happy to agree to disagree.
One of the issues I have with the activity of calorie adding during the day on top of the base is that you don't know what you should be eating until the end of the day, which is a problem as you won't be fuelling your exercise properly. I prefer working out what I will need including the exercise so I know at the beginning of the day what I have in terms of kcals and there for can plan my day. Just me though.
We're not disagreeing
I dislike 1200 too, but that's often a result of the choices people make themselves, not MFP per se (which luckily has that lower limit of 1200 at least for women, and 1500 for men)
We do 'disagree' on preference of method (I much prefer a variable goal based on actual activity because my exercise is variable, and I have enough experience to manage my food intake accordingly). Both methods can work depending on preference, it's just important to understand the difference between the methods.2 -
Personally I think that the MFP auto setting are junk. It is far too aggressive. I use 1800 kcals a day and lost 100lbs on that, however, I do a shed load of exercise.
I think the best way to set your kcals is using a BMR calculator (this is the calories for your body to be at maintenance) and then removing the kcals you would need for the weight loss you are aiming for:
- 1lb a week is about 500kcals a day,
- 750 a day is 1.5lbs and
- 100kcals is 2lbs a week.
A good BMR calculator is here https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html?. Find out what your BMR (resting calorie burn) is and then use the kcals associated with your exercise type (activity calories) and remove the weight loss kcals.
For example, my BMR is 1605kcals and I go to CrossFit or swimming 6 days a week so my activity level takes my maintenance calories 2488. I am aiming to lose 1.5lbs a week. This means I should take 750 kcals off that maintenance which takes me to 1738 kcals, however, I round up to 1800 kcals.
Note that as you lose weight your BMR will go down so you need to reduce your kcals. Also NEVER go lower than 1200, it is dangerous and unrealistic unless under medical supervision. I personally wouldn't go below 1500 due to my activity levels.
The BMR calculator link is incredibly helpful. Thanks Noodlesno0 -
Which is precisely why I totally ignore what MFP says. At 1500 kcal a day, I gain about half a kg a week, and that is not particularly helpful when one is still very clearly overweight. The trouble with averages is that most people gravitate towards them, which is good, but that non-negligible numbers of people are not helped by them and even harmed by them. Biology is a complicated and unpredictable business.We're not disagreeing I dislike 1200 too, but that's often a result of the choices people make themselves, not MFP per se (which luckily has that lower limit of 1200 at least for women, and 1500 for men)3 -
MFP uses the information you give it (sex, age, height, weight) and calculates your maintenance calories -- then when it asks you 'what rate of weight loss' you want to do (options being .5/wk, 1lb/wk, 1.5/wk, and 2lbs/wk)....it will then subtracts calories based on that. So it's likely that you chose 2lbs/wk and it's also likely that is too aggressive for you.
This is likely the reason why most ppl get 1200 from MFP. BC if you want to lose 2lbs/wk --- MFP will subtract 1,000 calories from your daily maintenance, which will almost always be below 1200 and it will default to 1200 for females.
Choose a less aggressive rate of weight loss.4 -
MFP calculated 1200 calories a day for me when I started, too. I was a stickler and consumed around 1150-1250 a day, depending on how well I was measuring my food. And the downside for that was 1200 was too low for me. I started losing 2-3 pounds a week instead of the 1 pound a week I'd plugged in for my goal. I lost some hair and some muscle tone, despite using weights at the gym. I felt much better at 1400 - 1500 calories a day. The good news with that was, I still lost weight but at the more reasonable (for me) rate of 0.5 pounds a week. Don't forget to add back and eat the replacement calories you earn from exercising. If you walk 30 minutes and log it in, the app adjusts so you can eat another 140 calories or so. Eat them to keep up your energy and slightly slow the rate of weight loss!1
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Good for you. In my case, MFP proposed more, and I otally ignore it. In fact, I ingest between 800 kcal and 1000 kcal a day, and had an appointment at the hospital today. I was told to continue what I was doing for at least four more months, because it works as it should, and without ill effects, on the contrary. Note that I am most definitely not advocating such a low intake. The only reason I do this, is because I must, but people should realise that I am definitely an outlier, not an average case. A male of my age and my size having to go this low is rare and it is no fun. The only positive about this situation is that it nicely shows that weight loss is possible for absolutely everyone, even those who are seemingly at a disadvantage. People should just make sure that they are being monitored by a competent medical team, not some quack promising the moon.1BlueAurora wrote: »MFP calculated 1200 calories a day for me when I started, too. I was a stickler and consumed around 1150-1250 a day, depending on how well I was measuring my food. And the downside for that was 1200 was too low for me. I started losing 2-3 pounds a week instead of the 1 pound a week I'd plugged in for my goal. I lost some hair and some muscle tone, despite using weights at the gym. I felt much better at 1400 - 1500 calories a day. The good news with that was, I still lost weight but at the more reasonable (for me) rate of 0.5 pounds a week. Don't forget to add back and eat the replacement calories you earn from exercising. If you walk 30 minutes and log it in, the app adjusts so you can eat another 140 calories or so. Eat them to keep up your energy and slightly slow the rate of weight loss!0 -
For people using BMR calculators: please note that these things give you a reasonable guess that may or may not be somewhat accurate. BMR and other energy-related parameters are not easily measured. It is not done all that often, because it is time consuming and expensive and of little interest, except to advance the science.
If you are in Canada, you can get a short glimpse of a real-life calorimeter here: https://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/features/enter-the-calorimeter-a-chamber-that-measures-how-many-calories-your-body-n
The subject is Prof. Tim Spector. While he is a genuine scientist, he has become somewhat controversial for claims that have little basis in actual science, mostly about the biome, but also others. Nevertheless, the video is worth watching.
The fun part is that Spector is surprised by how little energy he should take in.0
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