Who statrted at 1200 but raised their goal?

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Replies

  • Stephisonaroll
    Stephisonaroll Posts: 38
    I am so glad I found this post! I started at 1200 and it seems like once I reached 20lbs lost I've really slowed down. Not to mention I was almost always hungry but felt too guilty to eat past my goal...I just switched to 1.5lbs a week and that upped my calories to 1310. That should allow me to eat another small meal or large snack to fill in my hungry time of day..I really hope this helps me continue to lose like I was. I only have about 21lbs to go till I reach my goal and I really REALLY want to reach it!
  • snaggly
    snaggly Posts: 48 Member
    Bump
  • luvmycandies
    luvmycandies Posts: 489 Member
    Bump..i am thinking of upping mine too, but I want to research more.
  • amykathleen2005
    amykathleen2005 Posts: 79 Member
    I was just considering doing this for myself. Am currently about 1,300 and lost alot for about 30 days without ever feeling hungry. Then all of a sudden I felt starving on that amount! I think I may bump up my calories. I am 5'4", 167lbs and lead a relatively sedentary lifestyle. I am trying to get down to 145lbs. Any suggestions what I should put my caloric intake as?
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
    I just recently upped my calories to 1377 (my current BMR) and am making a stronger effort to eat more of my exercise calories. The only reason why I'm not saying to eat all my exercise calories is because I don't have an HRM and don't trust the numbers MFP gives me.

    My weight loss has slowed to a crawl so I need to do something different. I did go down a pant size with only a 1# weight loss so I know my exercise plan is working and that's more important than the weight, to be honest. So, really, I'm raising my calories because I have lately been way too exhausted to keep up with my exercise plan. And I love the exercising I'm doing. Gaining strength and endurance is, to me, more important than what the scale says. So I just really need to eat more to better fuel my body.

    Anyway, this week I was forced to take off several days from exercising as I just had no oomph. So I'm hoping that several days of eating higher and re-focusing on the nutrition of the foods I eat will help me get my oomph back. I miss sweating!

    To those who say they aren't hungry so don't need to eat more....well, I'm not either. It's not a hunger thing for me. It's just that I have to admit that my current fitness plans need more fuel. I don't want to lose any fitness because I'm too tired to keep working out.
  • souperficial
    souperficial Posts: 122 Member
    I was eating 1200 for about 7 months and had just stopped losing, so I upped it to 1350. My weight loss is still super slow, though, and I'm having trouble actually eating that much, especially since I'm trying to eat back my exercise calories.
  • djthom
    djthom Posts: 651 Member
    I started at 1200 & lost steadily. I upped it to 1360 during the summer & still lost, but fell off my good eating habits and started yo-yoing. I upped it to 1600 around the begining of the year & still seem to be yo-yoing between 150 & 160. Can't seem to find my magic #.
  • gashinshotan
    gashinshotan Posts: 749 Member
    I raised my cals from 1220 to 1600 and did gain like 3 lbs in a couple weeks but after that I lost that weight despite eating a lot of cheat days. I feel a lot healthier now and my metabolism seems to be fast - I kind of like to see if I can make myself gain weight on my cheat days by eating the worst possible foods but the scale only goes up for a day or two.
  • craziedazie
    craziedazie Posts: 185 Member
    I'm 5'9 and 163. MFP set my cals at 1200. I just started last week and I knew after a couple of days that 1200 was not going to work for me. I was hungry all the time and not bored hungry, real hungry. Yesterday I changed it to 1300, and I actually ended up eating under 1200 yesterday. Today, however, I have already surpassed 1400. My activity level was also much higher last night and today. I know all to well what happens if I don't eat when I am hungry - I end up reaching the pig out breaking point. :noway:
  • chaoticxinsane
    chaoticxinsane Posts: 54
    At 1200, I felt like I was going to pass out when I was at work. It didn't help that I wasn't accounting for being on my feet for 6-8 hours, 4 days a week. I had myself set at sedentary thinking working 'didn't count' and just 'made up' for how much of a couch potato I am normally. Several pedometers all telling me I average 4-6 miles walked in my 6.5 hour typical shift later...

    I bumped it to 1400 for now, some days higher, some days lower. I figure if MFP says that 1200 is 2 lbs a week, and 1600 is one pound a week, ballparking at an average of 1400 is probably my best bet. I eat less on days I don't work, I let myself eat more on days I do.

    Between 4 calculators it says:
    my BMR is about 1600 (one site gave me 1400, 3 gave me a little over 1600?)
    my TDEE is about 2200ish from the looks of things.
  • jeccalou
    jeccalou Posts: 92 Member
    I do not have much to lose. I lasted at 1200 about two weeks. it wasnt that i was hungry I just learned that is was not right for me. I would rather succeed at a heathy lifestyle that just lose (scale) weight faster. My mfp goal is now set at my tdee and I strive to eat at least or a smidge above my bmr. That gives me a deficit of 400-600 cals a day. It works, I feel great, and I lose consistently.
  • Marsha427
    Marsha427 Posts: 12
    MFP set my calories at 1500, but I always went over. I put myself on the 1200 calorie plan, so if I go over by 100 or so, I should still lose. It seems to work for me.
    I can only do 5 minutes of exercise,, per my doctor, so I don't burn calories this way.
  • Jess5825
    Jess5825 Posts: 228
    I started at 1200 calories and did not eat back my exercise calories either. I've bumped it to 1400 calories, but on my off day I don't eat less than 1500 calories. With my exercise I usually eat 2000 calories. Problem is I am not losing. I'm maintaining. My goal for the next few weeks is to have less than a 1000 calorie deficit each day (according to my BMF). I think I will start losing if I have less of a deficit. The last time I lost was when I went away and did not track and I'm 100% positive I did not have near a 1000 calorie deficit). I'm just having trouble eating that much and I can't make myself decrease my workouts.
  • Mylissa6
    Mylissa6 Posts: 9 Member
    bump
  • 2012dancingqueen
    2012dancingqueen Posts: 58 Member
    Can someone please explain all these acronyms you guys are using... like MFP, TDEE .. etc?
  • cpiton
    cpiton Posts: 380 Member
    Can someone please explain all these acronyms you guys are using... like MFP, TDEE .. etc?

    MFP=My Fitness Pal
    TDEE=Total Daily Energy Expenditure
    BMR=Basal Metabolic Rate
    You can Google them to learn more. Hope that helped :)
  • ahinski
    ahinski Posts: 200 Member
    ME! I eat 1800 calories a day :)
  • tatiousmarie
    tatiousmarie Posts: 8
    I just did this last night.
    I was doing the 1200, and lost a couple lbs, but have been stuck at 173 for ages.
    Last night I looked up my TDEE, which was around 1900 (didn't count my workouts into this),
    and my BMR is around 1600.
    I work out nearly every day, for at least 30 minutes a day.
    I had upped my calories to 1350 on MFP, but last night decided to up it to 1550.

    Hopefully I'll see a difference.
    And I'll be making sure to eat all my exercise calories as well, though they're slightly under estimated due to NTC not having a calorie counter, and I have yet to get a heart-rate monitor.

    Also planning on eating every 2 hours or so, also starting today.
  • FlexAppeal79
    FlexAppeal79 Posts: 146 Member
    Interesting....Did anyone have INITIAL weight gain while the body got used to the additional cals? Then weight lose?
  • 2012dancingqueen
    2012dancingqueen Posts: 58 Member
    thank you so much!
  • 2012dancingqueen
    2012dancingqueen Posts: 58 Member
    I'm 5'9 and 163. MFP set my cals at 1200. I just started last week and I knew after a couple of days that 1200 was not going to work for me. I was hungry all the time and not bored hungry, real hungry. Yesterday I changed it to 1300, and I actually ended up eating under 1200 yesterday. Today, however, I have already surpassed 1400. My activity level was also much higher last night and today. I know all to well what happens if I don't eat when I am hungry - I end up reaching the pig out breaking point. :noway:

    Ha... i totally understand the real hungry vs. bored hungry.
  • happygirl338
    happygirl338 Posts: 87
    Love this thread :)
  • annabellj
    annabellj Posts: 1,337 Member
    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?
    as soon as I raised my goal from 1200 to 1500 I lost a ton of fat. pounds arent dropping off fast but my body has changed so much I really dont care what the scale says anymore. when I go back and look at the pics from three months ago and I have only lofst 15 lbs I am amazed! I have lost 5 inches off my waist. I sometimes eat more that the 1500 cuz I burn off a ton of cals a day.
  • rlysrh
    rlysrh Posts: 244
    About a year ago I started on MFP at 1200, but I tried and failed 3 times eating that much. Every time I'd lose about 6lbs and then gain it all back. But this time I decided to take it slow and eat 1400 a day and this time I'm 10lbs down and I don't feel like I'm depriving myself or dieting. (:

    1200 a day just wasn't enough for me, I was always hungry and wishing I could eat more and craving chocolate.
  • girl_afraid82
    girl_afraid82 Posts: 178 Member
    I upped mine a couple of weeks ago so I'm now eating roughly 1300-1400 a day. I had been stuck on a plateau for a few weeks but this morning I'd lost nearly 3lbs.
    It may be a coincidence, but probably not! My BMR is around 1300, but my TDEE is only around 1700 (desk jobs suck!), so this seems a good balance for me now.
  • MrsM1ggins
    MrsM1ggins Posts: 724 Member
    I started at about 1600 and that gradually decreased as the lbs melted away. I got down to 1200 and stuck with it for a couple of months, but I found it really difficult even with eating my exercise calories.

    At that stage I changed my goals to a 1lb reduction per week which gave me a few more calories to play with - I'm now allowed 1540 per day. I usually eat back my exercise calories.

    I don't regret the change for a minute - this is a marathon, not a sprint. I'll get there sooner or later as long as I keep heading in the right direction.
  • Bekzness
    Bekzness Posts: 122
    Apologies if this is already posted somewhere, but I found a nice little on-line calculator for this which also goes into in depth descriptions of each area :)

    Here is the link: http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm

    There are lots on google, but I liked this one with is descriptions. Hope this helps those trying to work out their goals.
  • trainlikekatniss
    trainlikekatniss Posts: 48
    First I started with 1200 per day because I wanted to lose weight quickly (2 pounds per week). After a few weeks I realised that it's not possible for me to do that and I changed my goal to 1 pound per week. Now I'm allowed to eat 1620 cals per day and it works for me and I'm losing weight. :)
  • libertysquare1
    libertysquare1 Posts: 5
    So I am thinking that I need to up my calories? I burn about 300 calories or more a day and I have mine set at 1200, every time I workout it gives me extra calories to burn. So do I up my calories? or do I eat that amount for the day. I can''t seem to lose anything.. :(
  • lovesweetlove
    lovesweetlove Posts: 40
    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!!!

    Really informative. I think everyone gets so focused on less and less cals but don't realize they are starving themselves!
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