Who statrted at 1200 but raised their goal?

MFP set my goal at 1200 too, I lost weight steadily for the first couple of weeks and then plateaued. My TDEE is around 2200 too and at 5'8" I figured 1200 cals was too low especially as I've started lifting heavy!
Raised my goal to 1500, and feel better for it, lost a pound or two too!

I started at 1200 but kept going over to about 1300ish but I then checked my bmr which I'm 5'8 and started at 163 so its around 1500 so now I eat anywhere between 1200-1500 and just so I stick to it I do have a spike day once a week.

sorry double post!!

I did-But it just hasn't worked for me. I've lost 8 pounds but weight loss has been stalled for a few weeks. After reading some of these posts I de died to increase my calories to 1500 and see what happens.theresa

might be a stupid question- but how do you figure out what your TDEE is?

I spent about 8 months trying to loose the last 20lbs....eating from 1200, then went to 1350 and then 1500 and bounced up and down 3lbs...whined, cried, complained...you name it. Then one day, I read an excerpt from "New Rules of Lifting Weights for Women" and it totally broke down why eating less and exercising more reeks havoc on our bodies...why I was then in starvation mode and wasn't loosing weight. So based on the information I raised my non-workout caloric intake to 1800 and on my workout days I eat a minimum of 2000 but have gone as high as 2500. I have one cheat day on the weekend where I don't track. It broke down why CARBS ARE IMPORTANT AND PROTEIN TOO...and I adopted the 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat ratios. I eat no less than 30gr of fiber a day. I always drink a protein shake after every workout.

I now lift way heavier, never feel hungry or deprived, I stopped carb binging, and what I have started doing is loosing fat, gaining muscle, have lost inches and the weight loss is pretty steady. So, I am a huge proponent of EATING MORE to WEIGH LESS.

Wow, I just did the calc for my TDEE and it is 2472...so I now see why I couldn't loose a thing at 1200 or even 1600 cals...WOW...I WAS SO STARVING MYSELF!!!

How do you calculate your TDEE and your maintenance calories?

I started at 1200 calories and stalled after the first couple weeks.

I raised my calories to 1380 (lowered my goal from 1 lb/week to 0.5 lb/wk) and eat back most of my exercise calories. I try to make sure my NET is always over 1200.

What a difference! I don't feel deprived because I have more calories to work with and I've been losing consistently ever since! :happy:

One thing I learned is that if you update the goals every once in a while it will update how many calories you eat based on the weight you are at now and your eating/ exercising history ect.

might be a stupid question- but how do you figure out what your TDEE is?

and what does TDEE mean?

I did this a few weeks ago and thought it would be a good idea for a post with more people telling what they raised their calories to and why! You do NOT have to eat the bare minimum to lose weight! Some do just fine, but it is not for everyone :]

I'll start. I thought as small as I am 1200 would be the max and that is what mfp put me at. They had my maintenance around 1700. But I found out my TDEE on a rest day was 2200! So I now have my goal set to 1400, but always adjust it with my TDEE so I rarely eat under 1800 anymore and the fat is still falling off me :] Many days I get up to 2400-3000 calories burned and can still eat around 2000 to lose.

What about you?

you BURN 2400 calories a day from working out or?

my guided goal on MFP was 1200, but i saw a Dietician and she advised i eat atleast 1756 a day, but i keep my daily goal at 1600 and it is slowly falling off.

I recently changed mine it has made a huge difference. With the 1200 I would consistently eat over that and then feel like a failure for not meeting my goal which would in turn make me want to binge because why not, I wasn't going to meet my goal anyway! Now mine has been set to 1500 and it is amazing how much that tricks your brain into sticking to a healthy eating plan. Since changing it I've lost 2 pounds a week for a total of 8 pounds so far.

MFP put me around 1300 calories starting out, but I quickly overrode that to be 1500 instead. Without exercising, I lost roughly 3 lbs/month. I'm exercising regularly now and expect to see that monthly number go up. I can't judge it on a weekly basis because my TOM messes the numbers up so much for 10-14 days.

Total Daily Energy Expidenture

I don't know why people use it.

Seems like you BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) is more important then just add on your excercising calories burned.

BMR helps you figure out how many calories your body burns doing nothing but basic functions (Breathing, sleeping, pumping blood, etc.)