How many calories do you eat in a day?

13

Replies

  • PrincessNikkiBoo
    PrincessNikkiBoo Posts: 330 Member
    How do you work out how much you should be eating?
    Plug your stats & goals into your MFP settings. Start with trying to consistently meet the calorie target it sets for you. If you enter cardio exercise your calorie allowance will go up so you can eat more (yay!). Just try not to let your average net drop too low or you may not have predictable results. Stick with that for at least a few weeks then adjust as needed.

    Thanks, it says I need to it 1310 a day so I'll try to get up to 1200 gradually before I start aiming for 1310. Does hat sound about right? This is all new to me!
  • rawhidenadz
    rawhidenadz Posts: 254 Member
    You absolutely will do damage to your body if you continue eating that little. You're starving yourself and you need to eat more even if you aren't hungry. Figure out your TDEE and try for a 500 calorie deficit.

    I eat between 1500 and 2000 depending on whether I exercise.
  • kathyms13
    kathyms13 Posts: 497 Member
    like you i eat around 800 a day, im not tired or hungry so it suits me, my diary's open.
  • groovyfirechick
    groovyfirechick Posts: 188
    I am set for 1750 a day. Most days I average between 1500 and 1700. Some days I am not hungry so I eat as much as I can (don't want to get sick) and I will eat a little extra the next day to try to make up for it. I also work nights so my feeding schedule is very different than someone who works days.
  • Pimpmonkey
    Pimpmonkey Posts: 566
    I seem to only average around 750 to 800. Don't freak out - I know I should be eating more but I'm not hungry. Does anyone else have this issue? Will eating more help me to loose more weight? I seem to be coming to a stand still.

    I use to have the same problem. Since I've been logging my intake, I know when I need to eat more or not. I don't stuff more in to reach a calorie goal, but I do pay attention to where I'm at and pick my snacks and meals accordingly so that I'm closer to where I need to be. I took a while but I started eating more about tw or three weeks before a friend showed me this site, and now that I can track it, I'm doing even better and now I've lost 4 pounds!
  • stellasparrow
    stellasparrow Posts: 1 Member
    very interesting... i guess it's different for everyone. What does myfitnesspal.com suggest you eat? is this net or gross?
  • PrincessNikkiBoo
    PrincessNikkiBoo Posts: 330 Member
    Just worked out my BMR is 1623 and my TDEE is 1948. How much should I be aiming for? MFP settings say 1310...

    This is so confusing.
  • PrincessNikkiBoo
    PrincessNikkiBoo Posts: 330 Member
    very interesting... i guess it's different for everyone. What does myfitnesspal.com suggest you eat? is this net or gross?

    It has a goal of me for 1310 calories a day. I'm just generally confused about the entire thing.

    The 800 calories is the 'Food' intake on the app.
  • xxxalisonxxx
    xxxalisonxxx Posts: 3 Member
    I would LOVE to be satisfied on 800 cals a day!!! I struggle to manage on 1200 to 1300 calories most days! Seriously though, I have read that it's detrimental to weight loss to have too few cals
  • Pimpmonkey
    Pimpmonkey Posts: 566
    About 2600 calories/day to maintain and 2100 calories/day to lose.

    Not to be rude, but it's impossible for you to have become overweight without the ability to eat more than 7-800 calories/day. That level of calorie intake signals a disordered eating pattern.

    Sorry to disagree, but before I came here, I had only recently heard about needing a certain amount of caloric intake from my DR. (I don't do DR's unless I absolutely have to) I ate once a day and half the time didn't finish that. I have never had much of an appetite since I was about 12-13. I am 34 now 5'9" tall and at my heaviest was 280 lbs. Since I have learned about eating in a certain range I have gradually boosted my intake. It's taken me a month and a half to be able to reach 1200 1/2 of the time. Most days I'm stuffed and still struggle to fit in that last 200-300 calories, so don't be so quick to judge something you haven't experienced, please.
  • Flab2fitfi
    Flab2fitfi Posts: 1,349 Member
    I eat between 2000 and 2800 calories a day generally, it depends on how heavily I have exercised. If I have a day like today, and do hours of cycling as well as walking, I find my goal goes up to around 3000 calories. If I were sedentary, I would need 1700 to maintain. I am maintaining just fine within a few pounds on my current calorie intake.

    Same here - I'm losing on around 1800 - and when I exercise it can up to 2500. I've lost 23lb in nine weeks and have more energy and feel healthier than ever before.
  • simplyshannal
    simplyshannal Posts: 188 Member
    Before this week I was lucky if I got in 800 calories but now I am logging and working hard to at least reach 1200-1400. I am really bad about eating small meals in the daytime. Most days I go all day and eat nothing until dinner. I know that is not good and I have learned that the hard way. Hoping that this new healthy eating will catch on and I can finally find some relief.
  • xoxobollywood1991
    xoxobollywood1991 Posts: 75
    That's not enough for you :)

    Before I joined myfitnesspal- I used to eat 2200 calorie and no exercise. I joined one month ago, and i've been eating 1200 - 1400 calories a day. It depends how my day are. If I don't workout I'll only eat 1200 calories...if i work out, i'll probably eat 1300 calories, but it depens what kind of exercise I do and how many calories I burn through it :) And I eat even more if I burn 600 calories thru exercise!
  • Pauliefos
    Pauliefos Posts: 5
    thanks for that information. I have just started on myfitnesspal - my calories intake s/be 1200 per day. I have been on loads of diets and always tell everyone ' I don't eat a lot - so why am I not skinny??' It seems I might be eating too little!! Let's see how I get along..
    :smile:
  • Mewcenary
    Mewcenary Posts: 66 Member
    2000 calories per day, boosted with extra due to exercise where appropriate.

    It's certainly working very well. 19 lbs lost in about a month and a half, I think.
  • Flab2fitfi
    Flab2fitfi Posts: 1,349 Member
    thanks for that information. I have just started on myfitnesspal - my calories intake s/be 1200 per day. I have been on loads of diets and always tell everyone ' I don't eat a lot - so why am I not skinny??' It seems I might be eating too little!! Let's see how I get along..
    :smile:

    After seeing what i was eating and how many calories I would be burning there would have been plenty of days that I would have eaten way under 1200 and I still managed to put on weight - most of it from binging after my body got so tired and craved easy calories as I was not givenm it enough. i know eat more, make different choices and keep a close look at what goes in and out.
  • georgiarenee
    georgiarenee Posts: 21
    Just worked out my BMR is 1623 and my TDEE is 1948. How much should I be aiming for? MFP settings say 1310...

    This is so confusing.

    If your TDEE is 1948, MFP is setting your intake for 1310 so that you have a deficit of 638 calories (1948 - 638 = 1310), which means that you would lose just over a pound per week if you were to eat this many calories and do no exercise.
    If you are doing exercise during the day, this creates an even larger deficit. For example, if you burn 300 calories, this is added onto the 1310 calorie goal that MFP sets, meaning that on days you work out you can eat more and still lose a little over a pound per week. :)
  • Patovader
    Patovader Posts: 439 Member
    I net around 2000 when I am maintaining, at the moment I am netting around 1750 as I gained a couple of pounds from my recent holiday and I want to take it back off.

    Good luck :)
  • PrincessNikkiBoo
    PrincessNikkiBoo Posts: 330 Member
    Just worked out my BMR is 1623 and my TDEE is 1948. How much should I be aiming for? MFP settings say 1310...

    This is so confusing.

    If your TDEE is 1948, MFP is setting your intake for 1310 so that you have a deficit of 638 calories (1948 - 638 = 1310), which means that you would lose just over a pound per week if you were to eat this many calories and do no exercise.
    If you are doing exercise during the day, this creates an even larger deficit. For example, if you burn 300 calories, this is added onto the 1310 calorie goal that MFP sets, meaning that on days you work out you can eat more and still lose a little over a pound per week. :)

    Right now I understand. Thanks for clearing it up. I need to start eating more then... I'll work my way up to 1200 and then to 1310 and see how things go. I didn't realise my body was burning so much without actually doing anything.

    I've got a doctors appointment too in two weeks to clarify it
  • kathyms13
    kathyms13 Posts: 497 Member
    I would LOVE to be satisfied on 800 cals a day!!! I struggle to manage on 1200 to 1300 calories most days! Seriously though, I have read that it's detrimental to weight loss to have too few cals

    ive lost 5 and half stones just over ive gone from uk size 22 to a tight size 12 jeans so how is my 800 cals detrimental to my loss. a doc said to me years ago people in the war never come out of prisoner of war camps fat, i actually eat quite well but healthy. maybe mines my age , old people eat less full stop, but to stuff ourselves just to get to a cal intake that isnt necessarily right for everyone is stupid.
  • SamanthaD23
    SamanthaD23 Posts: 53 Member
    if you're hungry, eat. if you're not, don't.

    Best advice.
  • kathyms13
    kathyms13 Posts: 497 Member
    if you're hungry, eat. if you're not, don't.

    Best advice.

    thank you x
  • KarinFit4Life
    KarinFit4Life Posts: 424 Member
    Just worked out my BMR is 1623 and my TDEE is 1948. How much should I be aiming for? MFP settings say 1310...

    This is so confusing.

    Hi! You should never eat below your BMR - thats the amount of calories your body needs to just stay healthy and function right, the amount of calories you will be fed by your doctor while lying in a coma in hospital basically.

    I strongly suggest you go and read up on all the stickies (threads with red pins next to them) here:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/3834-eat-more-to-weigh-less

    You will get a truck load of information, easy ways to calculate your needs and best of all, awesome support and help. :smile: :flowerforyou:
  • FJMilner
    FJMilner Posts: 407
    I don't know how you do it. I eat at least 2000 calories a day.

    ^^ This!! I eat between 1800-2000 and I still get hungry!! Each to their own though, I just have a BIG appetite! Just really pleased I am still losing :bigsmile:
  • MrsLong1980
    MrsLong1980 Posts: 181 Member
    If you're having an issue reaching your calorie goal because you're not hungry<b> (which I usually have a hard time believing since most of us are here because we would eat too much)</b>

    This! Don't fill your stomach with water, fill it with fuel to get your body doing what it's designed to do - it's an engine and it needs fuel, good fuel, to run properly :)
  • Crystalchaos72
    Crystalchaos72 Posts: 531
    2600+ exercise with a small deficit.......usually averages out to be 3000-3800 depending on the day.....
  • jaqui0412
    jaqui0412 Posts: 1
    I'm female 155cm and currently weigh 67.4kg and tying to get under 60kg (at least). I'm trying to stay under 1100 calories a day.
  • KarinFit4Life
    KarinFit4Life Posts: 424 Member
    Ooooh! Forgot to add I eat between 1800 and 2200 cals a day. Female, 5'5, 33 years old.
  • patch_work
    patch_work Posts: 2 Member
    Only just joined but have lost 5lbs in a week! Trying to eat 1200 calories but have gone a little under some days.
    Used to eat a lot more rubbish so stopping this has a major factor in the weight loss. I'm expecting the weight loss to be lower from now on as you lose mostly fluid in the first week anyway. But I'm well pleased!

    It helps to boost the metabolism again by adding more meat/protein. If you eat meet every day anyway try 2/3 days with no meat that can work just as well.
  • KarinFit4Life
    KarinFit4Life Posts: 424 Member
    2600+ exercise with a small deficit.......usually averages out to be 3000-3800 depending on the day.....

    Holy smokes! Youre one of my hero's now too!! You look incredible by the way!!

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