r/loseit•
cpt_fuzzyboots

Question re: calories for maintainers

Hey guys.

I'm feeling kind of discouraged right now. I've been eating at around 1200 calories a day for the past year and have been losing pretty steadily during this time (i had one plateau at the 150lb mark that lasted about 5 weeks). I also usually I run 3 - 5 days a week, but there's been a recent cold snap here and it's really taken it's toll on me. I feel lethargic and sore and not much like running at all, so I haven't run in about 2 weeks. I've stuck to my usual 1200 calories during this time, but I've been completely stalled in my otherwise steady weight loss. So I did some research, and it looks like it's theorized that after people lose weight, their TDEEs are actually only about 80% compared to someone who never lost weight (and thus 80% of what most calculators give you for a TDEE). With this in mind, it would put me at almost 1200 calories/day exactly if I am sedentary, which would make sense with my stall.

So im just wondering, for those who are maintaining, have you found this 80% theory to apply to you? And for those who are sedentary, do you eat more than 1200 calories to maintain? If so, would you mind sharing your stats?

I plan on running again as soon as this grossness ends, but in the meantime, it kind of sucks to know that I'll be stuck on 1200 calories as a baseline for the rest of my life.

Posted Apr 15, 2016, 1:37 AM UTC

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