Calorie intake question (prob asked 1 million times)

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latashababygirl
latashababygirl Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Can anyone help me with this....I'm playing around with calorie intake and I am allowed 1200 a day (before exercise) and it project a 1.6 pound weight loss a week. I want to lose 2 a week so when I played with the numbers it says if I eat 1000 calories a day then I can lose 2 pounds a week. That is pretty low because I figured 1200 was low as it is.....what are your thoughts on this? I am also currently working out 3 days a week, doing C25K if that helps.
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  • icandothis318
    icandothis318 Posts: 40 Member
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    Hey girl...check out fat2fitradio.com. I use that as my guide because I was not losing eating at the calorie amount that MFP had set for me. F2F radio gave me 2235 to eat at moderate activity. It seemed high and I got scared at the low number so i lowered it to 1900 and things seem to be going well and I am losing about 1 lb a week.
  • workreadplay
    workreadplay Posts: 8
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    It's generally recommended that you should not eat less than 1200 calories a day. Doing so could cause you're body to go into starvation mode where it will break down and digest muscle instead of fat. If you do go below 1200 calories, you shouldn't do it everyday. I know that the few days that I ate less than 1200 calories, my MFP on my cell starting practically screaming warnings at me. Hope this helps some.

    BTW, I'm eating 1450 calories a day and that's supposed to cause 1 pound of weight loss a week.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,272 Member
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    Can anyone help me with this....I'm playing around with calorie intake and I am allowed 1200 a day (before exercise) and it project a 1.6 pound weight loss a week. I want to lose 2 a week so when I played with the numbers it says if I eat 1000 calories a day then I can lose 2 pounds a week. That is pretty low because I figured 1200 was low as it is.....what are your thoughts on this? I am also currently working out 3 days a week, doing C25K if that helps.

    With 31 lbs to lose, it is not realistic to expect to lose 2 lbs a week. That is really only for those who have a lot more to lose. Honestly, 1.5 lbs may be a bit much as well. I would still with about 1 lb a week and also focus on toning by doing some strength training.
  • latashababygirl
    latashababygirl Posts: 10 Member
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    Thanks everyone I'll look into everything suggested.
  • karen0214
    karen0214 Posts: 120 Member
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    I eat 1,600 - 1,750 calories a day and I have lost 1 1/2 lbs. in a week and a half. Tomorrow is my 2 week weigh in day, so I may have lost more. I'm thinking you are going into starvation mode if you go lower than 1,200. That was actually part of my problem - I was not eating enough. I was really afraid to eat 1,700 calories a day, but I am losing weight, sooo, go figure....
  • karen0214
    karen0214 Posts: 120 Member
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    I eat 1,600 - 1,750 calories a day and I have lost 1 1/2 lbs. in a week and a half. Tomorrow is my 2 week weigh in day, so I may have lost more. I'm thinking you are going into starvation mode if you go lower than 1,200. That was actually part of my problem - I was not eating enough. I was really afraid to eat 1,700 calories a day, but I am losing weight, sooo, go figure....

    Uhhhh, I guess I had a brain-dead moment!! I've actually lost 3 lbs in 1 1/2 weeks. That's what happens when you talk to kids and type at the same time.. ;-)
  • latashababygirl
    latashababygirl Posts: 10 Member
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    Karen that is great, I've been afraid to eat too many as well but I will experiement starting Monday. I usually eat my 12 plus about 200 extra exercise calories. I was thinking of just upping my calorie count to 1500 exercise included but we shall see how my body reacts.
  • Rosa1213
    Rosa1213 Posts: 456 Member
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    It's generally recommended that you should not eat less than 1200 calories a day. Doing so could cause you're body to go into starvation mode where it will break down and digest muscle instead of fat. If you do go below 1200 calories, you shouldn't do it everyday. I know that the few days that I ate less than 1200 calories, my MFP on my cell starting practically screaming warnings at me. Hope this helps some.

    BTW, I'm eating 1450 calories a day and that's supposed to cause 1 pound of weight loss a week.

    I've read about this "starvation mode" where the body starts degrading muscle instead of fat, but do you know how to know if your body is doing this? I'm doing a 700 calorie deficit, because I have 40 lbs to lose, and MFP says that I'll lose 1.5 per week this way. I'm eating 1360 calories, but I walk around to class and stuff, so I don't know if I'm hurting my body or sending it into starvation mode by eating such few calories.
    Any thoughts? How can one tell if one's body is in starvation mode and wasting away muscle?
  • theartichoke
    theartichoke Posts: 816 Member
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    Search for the MFP group Eat More to Weigh Less. There is wonderful information there.
  • Iamjulez
    Iamjulez Posts: 48 Member
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    It's generally recommended that you should not eat less than 1200 calories a day. Doing so could cause you're body to go into starvation mode where it will break down and digest muscle instead of fat. If you do go below 1200 calories, you shouldn't do it everyday. I know that the few days that I ate less than 1200 calories, my MFP on my cell starting practically screaming warnings at me. Hope this helps some.

    BTW, I'm eating 1450 calories a day and that's supposed to cause 1 pound of weight loss a week.

    I've read about this "starvation mode" where the body starts degrading muscle instead of fat, but do you know how to know if your body is doing this? I'm doing a 700 calorie deficit, because I have 40 lbs to lose, and MFP says that I'll lose 1.5 per week this way. I'm eating 1360 calories, but I walk around to class and stuff, so I don't know if I'm hurting my body or sending it into starvation mode by eating such few calories.
    Any thoughts? How can one tell if one's body is in starvation mode and wasting away muscle?

    Well, for one you can tell if you ARE starving lol... :) If you're really hungry eating so little your body probably needs more to function properly.. also if your days are longer you might need more (I know every now and then I have to be up at 4 am, it's extremely hard to stay on calorie amount when I'm up 4 or 5 hours earlier than normal).
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    It's generally recommended that you should not eat less than 1200 calories a day. Doing so could cause you're body to go into starvation mode where it will break down and digest muscle instead of fat. If you do go below 1200 calories, you shouldn't do it everyday. I know that the few days that I ate less than 1200 calories, my MFP on my cell starting practically screaming warnings at me. Hope this helps some.

    BTW, I'm eating 1450 calories a day and that's supposed to cause 1 pound of weight loss a week.

    I've read about this "starvation mode" where the body starts degrading muscle instead of fat, but do you know how to know if your body is doing this? I'm doing a 700 calorie deficit, because I have 40 lbs to lose, and MFP says that I'll lose 1.5 per week this way. I'm eating 1360 calories, but I walk around to class and stuff, so I don't know if I'm hurting my body or sending it into starvation mode by eating such few calories.
    Any thoughts? How can one tell if one's body is in starvation mode and wasting away muscle?

    Usually 1.5 - 2 lb a week is OK if you are over 50lb overweight, 1lb if you are under and 0.5lb if you only have about 15lb or so to go.. Also the best way to maintain muscle mass is to lift heavy (low reps high weights).
  • Presley0381
    Presley0381 Posts: 88
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    Hey girl...check out fat2fitradio.com. I use that as my guide because I was not losing eating at the calorie amount that MFP had set for me. F2F radio gave me 2235 to eat at moderate activity. It seemed high and I got scared at the low number so i lowered it to 1900 and things seem to be going well and I am losing about 1 lb a week.

    I have calculated my number at this site as well...There as a huge difference! MFP says 1380 daily to lose 2 lbs per week and fat2fit says 1992. I think the only difference with the sites are mfp gives you those goals to lose 10 lbs in 5 weeks. Fat2fit mentions that if you want to "speed up your weightloss" to reduce your calorie intake by 200-300. I do think 1000 calories is too low though.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Hey girl...check out fat2fitradio.com. I use that as my guide because I was not losing eating at the calorie amount that MFP had set for me. F2F radio gave me 2235 to eat at moderate activity. It seemed high and I got scared at the low number so i lowered it to 1900 and things seem to be going well and I am losing about 1 lb a week.

    I have calculated my number at this site as well...There as a huge difference! MFP says 1380 daily to lose 2 lbs per week and fat2fit says 1992. I think the only difference with the sites are mfp gives you those goals to lose 10 lbs in 5 weeks. Fat2fit mentions that if you want to "speed up your weightloss" to reduce your calorie intake by 200-300. I do think 1000 calories is too low though.

    Fat2fit mentions if you want to speed up your weightloss reduce calorie intake when you get NEAR you goal.

    Fat2fit also includes exercise calories (what activity level did you pick)?
  • Presley0381
    Presley0381 Posts: 88
    Options
    Hey girl...check out fat2fitradio.com. I use that as my guide because I was not losing eating at the calorie amount that MFP had set for me. F2F radio gave me 2235 to eat at moderate activity. It seemed high and I got scared at the low number so i lowered it to 1900 and things seem to be going well and I am losing about 1 lb a week.

    I have calculated my number at this site as well...There as a huge difference! MFP says 1380 daily to lose 2 lbs per week and fat2fit says 1992. I think the only difference with the sites are mfp gives you those goals to lose 10 lbs in 5 weeks. Fat2fit mentions that if you want to "speed up your weightloss" to reduce your calorie intake by 200-300. I do think 1000 calories is too low though.

    Fat2fit mentions if you want to speed up your weightloss reduce calorie intake when you get NEAR you goal.

    Fat2fit also includes exercise calories (what activity level did you pick)?

    Same level I have it set here. So now I'm confused...Should I go up in calories or stay where MFP has me at??
  • Presley0381
    Presley0381 Posts: 88
    Options
    Can anyone help me with this....I'm playing around with calorie intake and I am allowed 1200 a day (before exercise) and it project a 1.6 pound weight loss a week. I want to lose 2 a week so when I played with the numbers it says if I eat 1000 calories a day then I can lose 2 pounds a week. That is pretty low because I figured 1200 was low as it is.....what are your thoughts on this? I am also currently working out 3 days a week, doing C25K if that helps.

    1,200 calories is wrong 95% of the time. This method just subtracts 500 or 1000 calories based on your goals, this is a terrible method to use, especially for women.

    No calculator is going to tell you how many calories are right for your body, you have to experiment. Start high, then cut down on them every 2-3 weeks so you get a good weight loss of 1.5lbs a week. Don't get in to the quick weight loss ideology, that just leads to failure and problems. I know the desire to lose weight quickly but everytime i tried it, i got in to problems. I lost over 100lbs, the best thing I can tell you is, forget about the numbers, just eat right and exercise, meet your calorie goals, the weight will come off.


    Your advice...Forget the numbers but meet your calorie goals...Hmmm how do we do that if you want us to forget the numbers??:laugh: BTW...I'm kinda sorta messing with you...Also congrats on your weightloss!! That is my goal for the year!! :happy:
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Options
    Hey girl...check out fat2fitradio.com. I use that as my guide because I was not losing eating at the calorie amount that MFP had set for me. F2F radio gave me 2235 to eat at moderate activity. It seemed high and I got scared at the low number so i lowered it to 1900 and things seem to be going well and I am losing about 1 lb a week.

    I have calculated my number at this site as well...There as a huge difference! MFP says 1380 daily to lose 2 lbs per week and fat2fit says 1992. I think the only difference with the sites are mfp gives you those goals to lose 10 lbs in 5 weeks. Fat2fit mentions that if you want to "speed up your weightloss" to reduce your calorie intake by 200-300. I do think 1000 calories is too low though.

    Fat2fit mentions if you want to speed up your weightloss reduce calorie intake when you get NEAR you goal.

    Fat2fit also includes exercise calories (what activity level did you pick)?

    Same level I have it set here. So now I'm confused...Should I go up in calories or stay where MFP has me at??

    Is that sedentary. The reason I ask is that Fat2fit includes exercise in that number, MFP does not.
  • Kidsrn23
    Kidsrn23 Posts: 45 Member
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    You need to find out what is right for your body. You need to have a 3500 calorie deficit to lose 1 lb a week. You can either get that with cutting calories or exercise or both. For me I eat between 1000-1200 calories a day and workout nearly everyday. ( with 3 small kids sometimes that is hard). But I found that when I go over 1200 calories consistently I gain weight instead of lose it. No program can give you the exact calories you need for you. You need to experiment a bit to find the right number for your body. Some people eat more and lose better while others are the opposite.

    Good luck.
  • JessLLoser
    JessLLoser Posts: 235 Member
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    Yes it has been asked a million times. I asked it myself. Look up fat2fit radio use their military body fat calculator and then theit bmr tools. Join that eat more to weigh less group, its fabulous･ I did what Iam suggesting and am now finally starting to lose weight when Ithought it would never happen. I feel good! Not only cause I am losing weight but be cause I am not starving.
  • Calif_Girl67
    Calif_Girl67 Posts: 526 Member
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    You need to find out what is right for your body. You need to have a 3500 calorie deficit to lose 1 lb a week. You can either get that with cutting calories or exercise or both. For me I eat between 1000-1200 calories a day and workout nearly everyday. ( with 3 small kids sometimes that is hard). But I found that when I go over 1200 calories consistently I gain weight instead of lose it. No program can give you the exact calories you need for you. You need to experiment a bit to find the right number for your body. Some people eat more and lose better while others are the opposite.

    Good luck.



    So with that big of a deficit you are losing at least 1 pound a week? Do you eat back your exercise calories?

    I am never able to eat back my exercise calories, according to that website fat 2 Fit based on my info says i should be eating
    1855 calories a day since I have a desk job even though i exercise at least 5 days a week.
  • NickTrees
    NickTrees Posts: 3 Member
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    Can anyone help me with this....I'm playing around with calorie intake and I am allowed 1200 a day (before exercise) and it project a 1.6 pound weight loss a week. I want to lose 2 a week so when I played with the numbers it says if I eat 1000 calories a day then I can lose 2 pounds a week. That is pretty low because I figured 1200 was low as it is.....what are your thoughts on this? I am also currently working out 3 days a week, doing C25K if that helps.

    With 31 lbs to lose, it is not realistic to expect to lose 2 lbs a week. That is really only for those who have a lot more to lose. Honestly, 1.5 lbs may be a bit much as well. I would still with about 1 lb a week and also focus on toning by doing some strength training.

    ^this

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