should i up my calorie intake?

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kme2011
kme2011 Posts: 100 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So i was just reading on here about eating less than 1200 calories will keep you from losing weight like you should. So do I up my calories? Do i keep them the same? I'm 5'4 and weigh 166 lbs. But when i eat more than the 1200 I feel like i've ate a whole cow by myself. Someone please HELP!!!!

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  • kvultaggio
    kvultaggio Posts: 34
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    bump
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    There's all sorts of complex answers and hard sums you can do. But the simplest answer is set your MFP goals to lose 1lb a week for steady and sustainable weight loss without hunger (bet it gives you more than 1200) and eat a good proportion of your exercise calories. If you consistently fall way short, increase the good fats in your diet with some nuts or avodacos for example, or switch up your exercise to something that makes you hungry - running never fails!

    I promise you no-one here got fat from eating a little more than 1200 calories!

    Edit: Also its very tough to get the nutrition you need for health from 1200 calories or less.
  • menopass
    menopass Posts: 27
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    I myself have a hard time eating 1200 cal. I feel like I am gaining when I do. But they say eating will make you loose. Though it will only be 2 weeks next Tuesday. I have yet to loose a pound. NOT Happy at all.
  • chels1605
    chels1605 Posts: 206 Member
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    So i was just reading on here about eating less than 1200 calories will keep you from losing weight like you should. So do I up my calories? Do i keep them the same? I'm 5'4 and weigh 166 lbs. But when i eat more than the 1200 I feel like i've ate a whole cow by myself. Someone please HELP!!!!

    I try and eat 1200 a day - if i exercise i don't eat any back unless im hungry!! When i was eating 800kcals a day I stayed the same weight for 8weeks.... bumped it up to 1300 for a week and lost 3lbs!! Its good to go up and down, if you have a down day - the next day have an up day and visa versa! this keeps your body on its toes and stops you going into "starvation mode"
  • Denjo060
    Denjo060 Posts: 1,008
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    I started at 1200 a day but upped it to 1330 a day so far Ive lost 11 lbs. and have been on almost 4 weeks I think But I do exercise a lot I burn at least 600 calories a day with exercise
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    In my opinion... yes, you should eat more.

    I started here at 1200, because like everyone else, I wanted the weight gone as soon as possible. After about a month, I realized that the only time I lost more than one pound a week was when I had a 48 hour stomach flu. :wink: So I switched my calories to one pound a week, which gave me about 1350 calories (plus exercise calories... always ate them, always will), and for the next few weeks, I lost 1.5 pounds a week.

    When I got within 10 pounds of my goal, I switched to a half pound a week loss, and THAT'S where I noticed the biggest change. The number on the scale dropped slowly, but there was more of a transformation in my body shape in that 10 pounds than in the previous 20!

    Once I started aiming for one gram of protein per pound of lean body mass and added strength training with heavy weights, I had huge improvements in my body with barely any change at all to the scale.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    The reality of losing weight is that it's largely an experimental process.

    Our bodies are all vastly different in size and composition. What works for one person will not work for everyone. Two women of the same weight may require very different amounts of calories, and unless you are vigilant enough to get your metabolism tested, there are a lot of unseen factors that will help or hinder fat loss for you personally. EVERY ONE of us has tried something that worked for someone else, and failed miserably at it. You have to find your own thing.

    I will say that the amount of calories you consume has very little to do with how you feel, compared to what exactly you are eating. 1200 calories of a diet of lean meat and vegetables feels very different to your digestive system from 1200 calories of 100-calorie snack packs and cheese. You may want to look at where you are getting your calories, and ask yourself if you're eating a lot of inflammatory foods (grains, sugars, and for many people, dairy does this too)
  • Tara1090
    Tara1090 Posts: 199 Member
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    I have my calorie intake set at 1200 a day - when I exercise, I eat back those calories, but not all of them. The weekends are the hardest, often times I do eat back all of them and then some. Everyone's body is different. Try eating half of your burned calories and see how that works for you. Remember that your body needs food as fuel to keep going.

    Good Luck!
  • gleechick609
    gleechick609 Posts: 551
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    Eating a deficit of 10-20% under your TDEE is the healthiest way to go

    1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass
    .45 grams of fat per pound of lean body mass
    Carbs will fill in the rest

    Lift heavy 3 times a week, dont kill yourself on cardio. Relax and enjoy life!
  • 70davis
    70davis Posts: 348 Member
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    bump
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    The question is, how much do you value your metabolism? If you want it to work correctly and burn a bunch of calories, you need to eat more. In fact, you shouldn't eat below your BMR unless you are classified Obese. Also when you don't eat enough you will lose muscle which will stall your weight loss. Below is good information on what happens when you create large calorie deficits.

    Simply put, food is fuel. You wouldn't drive you car 600 miles on a half tank of gas, so why would you do that to your body?



    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html
  • Tattoos_and_Tea
    Tattoos_and_Tea Posts: 529 Member
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    Hiya KME,

    Yes you should up your calories. I have recently done this and yes it does make you feel huge but I lost 2lb in my first week of upping calories from 800 a day to 1200. Dont be scared to eat more, its obviously what our body needs and we should listen to it!

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