NUMBER OF CALORIES TO CONSUME

pschue
pschue Posts: 12
edited October 4 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi Everyone,
I was just wondering how most people go about counting there calories using myfitnesspal. I trying to figure out how accurate the number of calories they give you to consume a day is. I've been told by a friend that to lose weight, I should consume 1200 cals a day, but MFP says that I should consume 1330 cals a day.
Does anyone have any suggestions or advice? Or just helpful weight-loss tips in general that have been successful for you.
THANKS!

Replies

  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    Just start out with the MPF recommendation - you can tweak it after a few weeks if you need to.
    And don't forget that when you exercise you get to eat back these calories too.
  • tbrooke2000
    tbrooke2000 Posts: 61 Member
    I'm doing a class with a nutritionist and MFP and she match pretty close... I think it also depends on how active your job is or what you do during the day. I'm on my feet running all day and I get to eat more calories than my teammate that has a sedentary job.

    Good luck!
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    1200 calories is the absolute minimum a woman should consume in order to avoid health risks. It is by no means the "best" diet plan for all women. I never went below 1750.
  • Megan2Project
    Megan2Project Posts: 351 Member
    Check out the success stories on MFP, it`s generally pretty good, but you *may* have to tweek your numbers. Besides, MFP will re-calculate your calorie allowance and adjust as you lose weight to keep you at a good deficit. Unless you are shorter than 5 feet tall, no one should eat less than 1200.
  • Hi!
    Calorie consumption depends on a lot of things. I think that MFP is pretty accurate because you can log your activity and such.
    The only thing is that MFP only takes your weight into consideration and not fat to muscle ratio. Also for girls their breasts contribute a lot of weight, haha (sometimes that we can't do anything about).
    Another thing is like if you want to purely lose weight, or lose weight and gain muscle, or just gain muscle and lose fat (sometimes you wouldn't lose pounds transforming fat to muscle). The calorie consumption guide doesn't tailor to that.
    I see MFP more as a guide to help me see what I'm doing wrong and make adjustments to progress in losing weight.
    I just try to eat a balanced meals and snack. Also, I exercise every day too.
    For girls it's best to do cardio with toning exercises and stretching if you want to be lean.
    Everything in moderation seems to be the best policy, and just living as healthy as possible.
    Good luck with everything! I hope this helps, haha
  • demery12371
    demery12371 Posts: 253 Member
    Hi Everyone,
    I was just wondering how most people go about counting there calories using myfitnesspal. I trying to figure out how accurate the number of calories they give you to consume a day is. I've been told by a friend that to lose weight, I should consume 1200 cals a day, but MFP says that I should consume 1330 cals a day.
    Does anyone have any suggestions or advice? Or just helpful weight-loss tips in general that have been successful for you.
    THANKS!

    I started out at 1400 something and moved down to 1270 as I have lost weight... And honestly I lost weight faster with the higher calories but I'm getting closer and closer to my goal and it is getting harder plus I am working out much more than I did in the beginning.
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,675 Member
    1200 calories is recommended as a MINIMUM calorie intake to fuel the average woman's body and lose weight in a healthy manner. I'm not sure why, but many people tend to think that this is the MAXIMUM amount of calories. I've noticed that 1200 and 1500 are often the numbers recommended to dieters. However, 1200 calories a day is not right for everybody and neither is 1500. Based on age, height, weight, activity level, and metabolism, everybody has there own minimum and maximum for weight loss. MFP has a lot of science and mathematics behind it; it will take your weight, age, activity level, and height is consideration when setting up your calorie goal. 1330 should therefore be a good number for you. Even still, you should be able to lose weight at a higher number of calories -- at least at first. Any significant drop in calories is going to produce some results.... Of course, you're free to tweak the calories as needed, but I wouldn't recommend it unless 1330 is not working. Good luck!
This discussion has been closed.