I don't think I'm eating enough.

To begin with 1200 assumes you will eat back your actual exercise calories and being afraid you may estimate them incorrectly does not invalidate the expectation! zero is guaranteed to be an incorrect estimate!

On top of that the 1200 likely indicates you said you should want to lose 2 lb a week

this may or may not be an optimal or even appropriate rate of loss for you.

Appropriate targets are part of finding a sustainable path

OP: 1200 calories plus all exercise calories was way too low for me when I started, and I'm in the demographic where it could possibly be necessary (older, non-tall, sedentary outside of intentional exercise). I wasn't unpleasantly hungry, but lost too fast at first, got weak and fatigued after a few weeks. It took multiple weeks to recover once I started eating more. I was lucky that there were no worse health consequences, because there can be.

No one needs any of that. Be careful!

Also, yes to what Riverside said about MFP not using TDEE. If you get a TDEE estimate, and include planned in your activity level, then use that as your MFP calorie goal, don't log exercise separately on MFP or you're double counting. If you got your estimate from MFP, and didn't include exercise in your activity level (as its instructions intend), then do log any intentional exercise (or sync a fitness tracker) and eat those calories, too. Don't underfuel or undernourish yourself. (Getting the right percents for macros is still poor nutrition, if total calories is too low.)

It's a matter of personal taste/preference, but I'd recommend a different TDEE calculator, if you want to compare TDEE estimates (which include exercise in the base calories) vs. MFP (which doesn't intend to, if instructions are followed):

https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/

Yes, that one I just linked looks more scary at first, because the user interface has lots of options, and it's a funny color.

I'm suggesting it because:
1. It has more activity level options
2. Each activity level has a better, more complete description
3. It gives a estimates using several research-based formulas, so you can see a range of statistical possibilities, and maybe also viscerally understand that these are all just estimates
4. Some of the formulas let you input a body fat percent, if you're the rare person who has a good estimate of that

@aprilgranier MFP often calculates ridiculously low intakes. 1200 calories is the daily recommended intake for a toddler. Are you just starting out with dieting or have your dieted for years? Are you looking for actual weight loss or are you more interested in body recomposition? What was your daily intake prior to the 1200 calories? Did you keep a food journal or log beforehand to see how much you were actually consuming? These factors ALL play a major role in what is an appropriate intake for you. MFP doesn’t know YOU, it just calculates based on a few metrics. Let me know if you have any questions or you can send me a friend request

I have always been afraid to voice this opinion on MFP for fear of being shouted down, but I am not so sure that the calculations everyone is complaining about are a bug. First of all, they are true. If you are sedentary and trying to lose weight at anything approaching a noticeable pace (like 1 lb or so a week), unless you are obese the calorie recommendation is going to be relatively low. Like in the 1500-1200 range low. But in part I think it is set that way — with exercise calories being accounted for after — to remind you daily that you could get up and move a bit (at least many people can). While exercise is not the primary way of losing weight, it looks to me like MFP may be encouraging at least 30 minutes or so of moving to add another 100-200 calories to the roster for the day. That may actually be high for what people will burn if they aren’t used to exercising. But on the other hand, not all of us are as sedentary as we think in our daily lives.

Just for comparison … I am 5’8” and I am underweight at the moment and trying to gain weight back after not mastering maintenance when I wanted to stop losing. I went to a nutritionist who works with my endocrinologist and had my resting metabolic rate measured with a machine in order to calculate the calorie intake I need in order to GAIN 1-2 lbs a week. After all the measuring and calculating my daily calorie intake to gain weight is only 1750 -1900 calories if I am sedentary. I am eating that much now (with settings on MfP calculated for maintenance — I was not doing any real intentional exercise lately other than walking so had my calories set at 1535 daily for maintenance by MFP but I was exceeding them regularly to try to gain back weight. So hitting an average of around 1700). It am apparently more active than I think given the eldercare that I provide for my family so should have set my activity level higher. The nutritionist says based on calculations essentially confirming what I was already doing based on MFP settings I should be eating about 300 calories more a day than I am now. Of course this makes sense because that is what I was cutting daily to lose weight too. So in my case it all comes down to not estimating my activity level correctly.

I say this with caution, because I think people often overestimate activity rather than underestimate it, and underestimate calories consumed rather than overestimate. I weigh everything and record everything and had a long history for the nutritionist to review

BTW I am trying to ensure bone density (calcium and vit d) so 300 extra calories for these purposes equals 1 8oz latte without sugar using low fat milk (made at home), plus either a plain greek yogurt , or about 24 almonds. I also learned of chocolate calcium supplements called adora that are just like little individual chocolates and I get to have 2-3 a day. There is also a lot more salmon and broccoli in my future!

westrich20940 wrote: »

My first thought when people say that MFP gave them 1200 a day to eat is that they said they want to lose 2lbs/wk --- which for many is too high of a rate of weight loss to really be successful. If you want to lose 2lbs/week you have to cut 1000 a day from your maintenance calories, which most people (especially if they are sedentary) simply don't have or they'd be below their BMR. So sometimes ppl just don't have much wiggle room to create a deficit.

If you feel hungry...you need to eat. And MFP is set up so you DO eat back your cardio exercise calories so you should do that as well. MFP sets your daily calorie goal at a deficit already when you say you want to lose weight.

You should include your age, sex, height, and current weight for people to have an idea of how to help reconfigure your daily calorie goal. But my guess would be that you can eat more than 1200 calories and still be in a deficit and lose weight. And also not be hungry like you are saying.

Here's more on picking a sustainably weekly weight loss goal:

It all depends on your current weight and how much and how fast you want to lose. Hunger is to be expected if trying to lose weight. Controversial to say, but its the truth. I wouldnt recommend 1200 as a long term approach. Maybe do it for a few weeks and see how you go. And it usually only gives you 1200 if sedentary, so yes I would defo eat back the exercise cals. But eat them back healthy. Best of luck. 🙏🙏🤞

1200 seems too low whatever goal you have. It all depends on your goal but eat when you feel hungry. Eat healthy, drink alot of water, eat alot of proteins and adjust carbs and fat depending on your goal. 1200 MIGHT be the right number if you on the last week before fitness contest. Add me if you want more help