1900 Calories. Too much, or enough?

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jimbo2180
jimbo2180 Posts: 66 Member
Hello! I'm 216 pounds, looking to drop to around 190lbs in the future as a milestone and then keep going. I entered my information into the BRM Calculator and it said i need 1980 Calories a day. Do you think for a male whos aged 20 and supposedly should have 2500 calories a day dropping down to 1900 calories will drop sufficient weight/ lose body fat or does it need to be lower to see steady results?

Any advice/help would be awesome and my food diary is open to the public as well. :)

Replies

  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
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    1900 - 2000 seems a good place to start.

    You got to remember all these numbers are just estimates not rules. Check progress after 4 weeks and tweak as necessary. Rinse and repeat.

    Job done.
  • peachyxoxoxo
    peachyxoxoxo Posts: 1,178 Member
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    How tall are you? I'm a 5'7 157 lb female and that's how much I'm eating. And I exercise 6 days a week.
  • jimbo2180
    jimbo2180 Posts: 66 Member
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    Thanks msf74, appreciated :) and Peachy I'm around 5'8 and a BMI of 31 or something :/
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
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    Thanks msf74, appreciated :) and Peachy I'm around 5'8 and a BMI of 31 or something :/

    You could get away with eating a little more then.

    11 cals per 1lb of total body weight (or 10 for women/ has been around for donkey's years to generate a base line calorie goal for weight loss. So for you that would be about 2400 a day. However, this assumes and accounts for a reasonable amount of exercise. So if you use this number do NOT eat back the calories you burn from exercise as they have already been factored in.
  • peachyxoxoxo
    peachyxoxoxo Posts: 1,178 Member
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    Okay, that sounds about right. And if you're exercising you can eat even more than that! But yeah try it out and see if it works, then you can fiddle around with things if you're not getting the results you want.
  • Simone_King
    Simone_King Posts: 467 Member
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    For a while, I was at 1980 cals a day. It seems right for you too.
  • RainaWalks
    RainaWalks Posts: 72
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    add a walk as often as you can and that will help too...walking is great for weight loss....
  • jimbo2180
    jimbo2180 Posts: 66 Member
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    Just gotta see how i go day by day i guess and weigh myself after a month at MFP. then adjust from then on. got to keep reminding myself that it isnt a quick fix, its a life style change
  • peachyxoxoxo
    peachyxoxoxo Posts: 1,178 Member
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    Just gotta see how i go day by day i guess and weigh myself after a month at MFP. then adjust from then on. got to keep reminding myself that it isnt a quick fix, its a life style change

    Exactly! Glad you have the right attitude :)
  • Vonwarr
    Vonwarr Posts: 390 Member
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    I'm around 2000 calories at 225 lbs, and I eat back a large portion of my exercise calories... I've been making an effort to make sure I keep my NET calories above my BMR (~1850 for me) and it's been working so far!

    Edit: Take measurements too! I didn't when I first started, and now I wish I had!
  • MrsZMartin
    MrsZMartin Posts: 165 Member
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    1900 - 2000 seems a good place to start.

    You got to remember all these numbers are just estimates not rules. Check progress after 4 weeks and tweak as necessary. Rinse and repeat.

    Job done.

    Agreed. AND, it seems MFP sets the bar pretty low. If you check other counting sites, they will probably say you should eat more. They do for me by quite a bit, so I upped my cals on here. I don't do hungry very well.
  • Sox90716
    Sox90716 Posts: 976 Member
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    Hello! I'm 216 pounds, looking to drop to around 190lbs in the future as a milestone and then keep going. I entered my information into the BRM Calculator and it said i need 1980 Calories a day. Do you think for a male whos aged 20 and supposedly should have 2500 calories a day dropping down to 1900 calories will drop sufficient weight/ lose body fat or does it need to be lower to see steady results?

    Any advice/help would be awesome and my food diary is open to the public as well. :)

    Sounds right on. I'm 5'11" and 221 lbs. I'm at around 1900 cals/day with 190 as goal weight also. Good luck!
  • Hickyvikki69
    Hickyvikki69 Posts: 371 Member
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    i am 5'5 weight 180 n my bmi is 30 and have a calorie intake of 1900. i think your fine...i can eat less if you wanted
  • rba42221
    rba42221 Posts: 1
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    Hi Jimbo, I weighed 101.3 Kg's ( Australia) and lost 4.5 Kg's in 6 weeks on 1200 calories a day, stretched it on some days a little, but rarely on junk food. Have the occassional day when I pig out ( for 1 meal) or snack on taboo food while watching telly, I work away fron home 8 days and have 6 days off, while away I go to the gym for 6 nights and train moderately hard for 30-40 minutes to get the heart/lung rates up. Lost 60mm ( 2.5 inches) off waiste in 6 weeks. My normalcalorie intake to maintain my previous weight was around 2600 a day. Little or no alcohol, no potatoes. By eating good food the hunger stays away. I am 6 ft 1" and 57 yo.
    I religiously enter foods into Myfitnesspal every day. I think you need lower calories to obtain good noticable results, you can always put it up a little.
    R
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
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    rba4221:
    (...) on 1200 calories a day (...)

    no 6'1" male should EVER be restricting down to 1200 a day, that's a recipe for disaster....

    OP, 1900 sounds great!
  • ocukor1
    ocukor1 Posts: 66
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    BMR I base metabolic rate. That is the amount of calories you need just so your body can function properly even if you sat on the couch and watched tv all day. If you are lightly active throughout the day, your energy level would be about 10-20 pct on top of that, and higher if you are moderately or very active. To lose weight you need to find that energy level and then under cut it enough to lose the desired amount of weight per week. Since one pound is considered to be around 3500 calories, I would consider undercutting it about 500 cals a day so at the end of the week you end up losing about a pound. Yeah, it is not going to be quick if you want to do it safely and healthy. You do have to watch what you eat or that one pound might not even happen each week. Avoid food on a high glycemic index, if you don't know what it is google it. There are so many people on this forum depressing over why they can't lose weight and what you eat makes the whole difference in the world. If people ate healthy food all the time, no one would be overweight....
    Hello! I'm 216 pounds, looking to drop to around 190lbs in the future as a milestone and then keep going. I entered my information into the BRM Calculator and it said i need 1980 Calories a day. Do you think for a male whos aged 20 and supposedly should have 2500 calories a day dropping down to 1900 calories will drop sufficient weight/ lose body fat or does it need to be lower to see steady results?

    Any advice/help would be awesome and my food diary is open to the public as well. :)
  • dela1000
    dela1000 Posts: 62
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    You're about where I was. I am 5'7" and was weighing around 186. My first day on MFP I counted how many cals I was eating regularly and almost hit 3000 cals. I drop that down to 1900 (Some days I'm a bit under that) and I've lost about 16 pounds. I have not changed my exercising at all! The first day's will be rough and you'll be above 1900 for sure, but slowly bring it down for a week and you'll feel better. Remember to eat breakfast every day and prepare your meals (if at least defrosting what you're going to cook) the night before.

    You can add me if you want to see my dairy to get an idea what I've been doing.

    Good luck, dude!
  • ericgAU
    ericgAU Posts: 271
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    I think you need lower calories to obtain good noticable results, you can always put it up a little.

    yea but not at 1200 mate. i wouldnt think advocating that calorie level was appropriate for a male. The OP is far better off going with MFP's advice than what you are saying...oh BTW. I dropped 40kg's in just over a year by having my cals at around 1700~1900.
  • EmilyPamEastman
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    kay what about if i'm 17, 5 ft 6 in. annnnndd 115lbs?

    What should I eat when I get to around 125lbs being i'm underweight ATM?:glasses:
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    I found this post to be very helpful in figuring out my calorie needs & weight goals: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Lots of good info there - check it out!