confused

Raw07
Raw07 Posts: 206
in Food and Nutrition
MFP says for my height, age, weight goal ect i should only have a 1200 food calorie intake.

My fitness trainer says thats far to low and i should be eating 1900 and in a few weeks we will adjust if needed.

For months i have been trying to follow the 1200 with no weight loss, is my trainer correct?

All sites i have looked at said i should have a 1200 food intake..

What are your thoughts?

Replies

  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    If you are paying a trainer for his feedback I would either take his advice or stop paying him.
  • lcchrt
    lcchrt Posts: 234 Member
    I'd say your trainer seems to know what he is talking about. 1200 cal;s is very low, up it and you may see results.
  • heatherjholley
    heatherjholley Posts: 9 Member
    1200 calories is too low if you are working out several times per week. I would listen to your trainer.
  • chell53
    chell53 Posts: 352 Member
    Trainers know best..............
  • JackeeW
    JackeeW Posts: 72
    I know if I ate 1900 calories a day, I *might* maintain, but would probably gain (but slowly). I follow 1200 on days I don't work out. I've had a personal trainer before and she agreed with that. If I follow this, like I'm supposed to, I lose between 1 to 2 pounds per week. Everyone's different though.

    I do agree with the above poster. If you're paying this person, I'd take his/her advice or quit paying him/her.

    And if you're not losing weight with what you're doing, it can't hurt to give your trainer's suggestion a shot, right?

    Good luck.
  • mowu
    mowu Posts: 245 Member
    If you are paying a trainer for his feedback I would either take his advice or stop paying him.

    This - and please consider that your PT has met you in person and thus have had a chance to evaluate what (s)he thinks your body composition is while MFP only has your personal subjective input as to what you think your "normal" activity level is and then applies blind statistics

    Blind statistics will give you an average and I will bet you my right arm, that the chances that you are right on the average curve is VERY slim.

    Any number given should always be taken as a point to start out from and thenadjust according to what you actualy see as results compared to what you would expect. And since the number MFP has given you apparently does not work, I would listen to my trainer and try his/her approach, especially given that he/she has clearly stated that this is the starting point and you will adjust depending on results.

    My personal experience is, that MFP calculates my "daily allowance" at ~2200 cal/day for maintenance giving me 1700 to lose a pound/week.

    Other tools have given me "daily allowance" for maintenance at ~2500-2700 cal/day for maintenance.

    Using these as origins and compared with my actually measured weight-loss and/or maintenance I have found that ~2500 is a very close fit for me (meaning that MFP underestimates my normal caloric need by more than 10%)


    Personal opinion: Too many people see these 1200 cal/say and believe that this is a magic bullet handed down by some deiety. By all means use them as a starting point, but ALWAYS compare your results with what you expect and adjust along the way. And when you don't see the results you want change something - don't expect different results when you keep doing the same thing.
  • committomittxoxo
    committomittxoxo Posts: 339 Member
    Ummmm... excuse me...!!! ...*clears throat*... Ahem...

    PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR TRAINER... I'm not a doctor.. or a trainer.. or whatever...

    However... this is something that constantly comes up on the forum.. people (mostly women) are always wondering if they're eating enough/too many calories... Bottom line.. MFP is amazing for a lot of reasons but it isn't the authority on calorie intake.. MFP wants me to be eating 1,200 calories but I went to the doctor TODAY she freaked out on me, saying I should be eating no less than 1,800. MFP may get it right for most people but if you, yourself, are speaking to someone that 'knows what they're talking' about and they tell you to eat more calories.. they're probably right. I'm not trying to be dramatic but I really do have concerns about this.. MFP is not a sufficient replacement for a trained professional. If you aren't eating enough, not only will you not lose weight, but you won't even be "healthy." (Whatever that even means these days). Please speak to a doctor, or listen to your trainer. :)
  • beckylawrence70
    beckylawrence70 Posts: 752 Member
    1200-1500 is good, wow 1900? That's alot in my opinion.......but I'm also not a personal trainer.
  • SammyPacks
    SammyPacks Posts: 697 Member
    1200 is the very lowest calorie intake, and even then it is too low and you stay pretty hungry... I did it in the beginnin but had to bump it up to at least 1300-1500... listen to your trainer. It's a trial and error process anyways, eventually you will figure out what works for you
  • Camsdette
    Camsdette Posts: 32 Member
    If you classified yourself as sedentary, then 1200 might make sense. If you're working out, you'll need more.
  • SammyPacks
    SammyPacks Posts: 697 Member
    1200 is the very lowest calorie intake, and even then it is too low and you stay pretty hungry... I did it in the beginnin but had to bump it up to at least 1300-1500... listen to your trainer. It's a trial and error process anyways, eventually you will figure out what works for you

    Nowadays I eat around....1500-1800 calories a day
  • aaleigha1
    aaleigha1 Posts: 408 Member
    that amount could be correct on NON exercise days - with MFP you are supposed to eat back any calories you earn from working out
    so on work out days you could be eating 1200 + workout calories

    I would eat as my PT has advised and see what the average calories a week is on MFP when you have added in the additional calories earned from exercise
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    You know how you get to put down how much you want to loose and how fast? Well if you're asking to loose to much in to little time I'm pretty sure it bottoms out at 1200. Other sites I've been to bottom out at 900. If you don't move around at all in one day, 1200 is probably not a big deal to some people. If you have a personal trainer, I'm assuming you're moving. You definitely need over 1200. And 900 is just...not right. I've had days where I've woken up in the afternoon and hardly moved and ate that and felt fine, but I wouldn't do it on a regular basis.

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