Hello I only joined last week and wondered if anyone can help me , I worked out my BMI on the nhs site and thought as I have so much to lose(18.2 and 5ft 7inchs last week) I would use their calorie intake as my daily amount rather than the 1400 recommended.
The thing is the amount they give is so broad 1851-2367 a day I am uncertain where to place myself to lose weight. I have managed to lose 5 pounds in my first week by sticking around 2000 cals and thought as i lose weight I would take that amount down slowly but dont want to start too low as know I wont sustain it.
Any help on what you all do esp if have lots to lose and how you manage calories rather than just the 1400 on nhs site would be great thankyou
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Midnight-munchie
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I too have a lot of weight to lose and therefore a high calorie allowance daily. My advice is eat as many as you can whilst still losing weight, because as you reduce in size, so too do the number of calories.
I have just used the nhs bmi test as 1400 calories which i think would be too difficult to maintain when first starting out. The range I got was 1789 to 2500. So I have decided to start at 1800 cals and thought I might stick to that until I stop losing weight, then drop it down then to maybe 1600.
Thank you moreless and Karen-14 that really helps; i was concerned that i should be on the lower amount but it makes sense whilst bigger to have more and I will find it too hard if I start too low.
Well done on losing 5lb you must be thrilled. This is my first day on this plan and have quite a bit to lose. So thought i would take slowly and not put myself under pressure and be kind to myself.
You know, funny you say that! I did the same, worked my calorie range based on NHS Bmi calculator and got a range starting at 1750. So by sticking to that lower limit, I should loose wait according to NHS. So I set my daily target on the FitnessPal app and started tracking. Now in the first week, i was tracking the exercise on the app too, and what this does is to increase your daily calorie allowance, because you have used more calories.....big mistake!! If you eat more because you exercised more ( even if the app still says that you would loose wait) ,there's a good chance you could see no change on the scales. It happened to me on my first week, but this week I decided to change strategy and exercise as much as usual, but not change my daily calorie target. I weighed myself half way through the week and I had lost 1.2kg, let's see what happens by the end of the week... So my advise on this is stick to the low end of your range (if you can) and any exercise is a bonus, but don't overeat cos you think you have worked out hard enough!!!
Of course you might have a more forgiving body that rewards you with any change to your diet, but mine doesn't like to let the fat go easily, so I have to work really hard for it.
Hi Karen-14,Diana & Stefania thank you so much for the replies they are so , so helpful , i am so thrilled with my loss and feel happy to feel a bit more control on my world!
I have spent years since a child in a cycle of being healthy weight and yo-yoing to now being my biggest ever and almost past caring but for some reason I began reading here and found a new energy and huge amounts of inspiration.
I will definitely try and do things how I did this week which the main thing was writing everything down and not buying the food I tend to pig out on and trying to snack on fruit.
I will take it a step at a time definitely wont run before I can walk!! my health is not great as have had ongoing problems with a broken knee and foot and have a bile salt metabolism digestive issue which can be hard work but oh well onwards and upwards, it is so great to hear everyones story and be a part of something so supportive
Thank you everyone and really hope you all have a great week xx
I too have a similar situation ( lot to lose) and will take on board what you have said, want to lose the weight but 1400 seemed way too low for my weight/height.
This is a really good question as I was similarly confused. My BMI calculator thing suggested my lowest cal intake should be around 1600 - but then on some of the NHS literature it said women should all be at 1400 (which seemed a bit broad-brush for me). I did my first week on 1500 and lost weight, but have now switched to 1400. It would be nice if it was clearer!
For your info, usually a calorie calculator will have taken into account your regular exercise activity, so it shouldn't be added back on to your daily calorie intake. This, in my opinion, can cause confusion when you use myfitnesspal, adding those calories on leads people to think they can eat more, but it does depend on where you got your figure from and how it was calculated, as if we need more confusion about losing weight :/
If you calculate your maintenance figure then you deduct around 500 cals per day, you should steadily lose weight (bearing in mind as has been said here already, you will need to recheck your maintenance figure as your weight comes down, because that too will get lower)
It is a very personal figure and I don't agree with the broad 1400 suggestion.
...this calculator will tell you a maintenance calorie number but also how much to lose 1lb / 2lb etc - however I wouldn't recommend anyone drop their calories below 1200. If you want to lose quicker, then increase exercise rather than drop calories.
Maybe useful to take a look at it and see what numbers it churns out compared to the nhs one?
Hi everyone thank you so much for the help and I am glad I wasn`t the only one confused with this!! Hee
I will def look at the maintenance figure and then work out best amount to steadily lose 1-2 pounds as I dont want to go too fast as in the past I did a very strict diet low carb and high protein scarsdale diet and lost loads of weight but lost my gallbladder too in the process!! Thanks for the link Michelle will definately look at that.
Denvajade it has been a difficult road to getting some peace with my digestive system ,from a young age it started with oesophagus problems and eventually hernia, gallbladder and recently diagnosed after constant migraines , sickness and days of non stop going to the toilet if i make it (sorry everyone!) bile salt metabolism malapsorption. It is not fun to live but I just have to eat proper meals and take tablets with each meal to prevent everything going through me at super speed and take iron and vitamins as these dont stay in my system. I find it is a juggling act to remain balanced otherwise i can feel sick, tired or have dreadful migraines so I tend to eat little and often. It would seem likely that with things going through me so quickly i would be svelt but sadly I dont think i store the good stuff my body needs!
I have in all of this not looked after myself properly and almost eaten what I have fancied so decided with the help of this lovely forum and all you lovely people to get inspiration and support, but enough about my issues,do you have problems with your stomach Denvajade?
Today is week 2 and feel positive just going to have a little fruit snack!
Thanks again to everyone for replying! Definately going to stick with higher calories to begin and steadily bring them down as I lose weight!
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