Is my calorie count correct?

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chirpskb
chirpskb Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi,
Ive just joined MFP even though I have lost around 30kilos in total over the last 8 years I have decided to get serious and lose my last 40 kilos this year (or give it a damn good nudge!)
I am currently 32 years old. I weigh 104kgs (229lbs) My goal is to lose around 40 kgs (88lbs) to reach my ideal of 65kgs (145lbs) My BMR is around 1830 and my body fat is at around 50% apparently. I am doing 30 - 60 minutes cardio a day 5 days a week and have just started strength training and weights every second day.
I have made a few lifestyle changes and am eating fairly healthily, mostly whole foods. I have been using the calorie counter and am eating about 1300- 1500 cals per day. I am not at all hungry but the Katch-McCardle calorie calculator puts me at about 1830 calories per day. I am well aware of the risks of entering starvation mode but is that really possible if im eating up to 1500 calories per day?
I have a lot of extra body fat to lose and I am getting a fair amount of quality exercise.

*nb I am currently working 6x12 hour shifts a week (not hard;) and living in a small apartment with limited cooking facilities but will be returning to 'normal' in a couple of weeks.

Replies

  • sunshine3737
    sunshine3737 Posts: 44 Member
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    I had always heard that you shouldn't eat less than 1200 calories a day to avoid going into starvation mode. I have been staying around 1500 a day and have lost 48 lbs since last July. Good luck on your weight loss!
  • Jessnluv
    Jessnluv Posts: 10
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    A women should not eat less than 1200 calories per day. I think you are on the right track. I eat 1200 per day and I have lost 18 pounds since Jan. 9th. I am a tad larger than you are, but it is the same principle. If your body needs 1850 to maintain current weight then if you take away 650 calories per day you should be losing a little over one pound per week. Now eating calories and exercising calories is two different things. I eat 1200 calories per day, but I exercise 1000 calories off per day. My BMR is 2700 so:

    2700 cal.(needed to maitain weight)- 1200 cal.(eaten per day) = 1500 (not eaten) + 1000 cal. (exercised off) = 2500 calories burned per day

    That's 5 lbs. per week!

    As long as you are taking in at least 1200 calories your body will not go into starvaion mode. You can eat 1200 calorie and exercise off 3000 calories and your body would not go into starvation mode.

    I talked with my doctor about all of this before I seriously started weight loss. He assured me of the facts.
  • forestpagan
    forestpagan Posts: 4
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    Guys...there is NO SUCH THING as starvation mode for us!!! Yes your metabolism can slow a bit on restricted calories but trust me...it does not go into starvation mode...that only happens when there is no more fat to use as fuel and the body starts to eat muscle for fuel, such as happened in the camps in the second world war.

    Read this.....and TBH none of the restricted calorie diets such as lighter life would work if the starvation mode theory were true...and they do!!
    http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2009/03/mtyhbusters-starvation-mode.html
  • BaconMD
    BaconMD Posts: 1,165 Member
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    My wife is a certified nutritional consultant (my fat *kitten* makes her look bad, ahah), and I asked her about it. She said men absolutely shouldn't go below 1800 and women shouldn't go below 1200, and that she would suggest higher. Right now I'm aiming for 2400 myself, and she's happy with that, and it's about 300-400 less than MFP's calculator suggests to maintain my weight (I don't track my exercise in MFP, and it's not crazy intense, just about an hour every other day usually, and don't eat back my calories. If I'm hungry, I will go over my personal goal, but strive to stay under what MFP says).

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