Too few calories?

[mrmitchell122]

My goal is to eat 1200 healthy calories per day. I have a sedentary job and have not been able to work out due to a knee injury. Is 1200 too few calories to actually lose weight? I'm a little bit confused by intake vs calories burned and what the optimal difference is. Thanks much.

[Dominique]

Welcome to the community, @mrmitchell122! Your total energy expenditure (calories burned) depend son your metabolism and your activity level. Your metabolism, in turn, depends on your age, gender, size (height/weight), as well as things like medical conditions/medications (if any), weight history etc. Your Fitbit attempts to estimate your total energy expenditure, based on your personal information and detected activity level: how does that estimate compare with the 1200 calories (also an estimate) you say you are eating?

1200 calories isn’t much in absolute terms, but it may be what it takes for you to lose weight if you’re a petite woman, given your sedentary job and knee injury. You will have a better overall picture after you’ve been wearing your Fitbit for a while, and tracking your intake and your weight.

[laurenellael]

I am having the same issue right now. 

[emili]

1200 calories is the go to number for some reason, but it does not make it right for everyone. as Dominique pointed out the best thing to do is get your own calculation done and then track that with what your fitbit estimates as your calories out. The scale will tell you if your are on track or not.. if you aren't losing you may want to make adjustments, if you are gaining you for sure want to make adjustments and if you are staying the same.. again you may want to make adjustments. Invest in a food scale to properly track your calories in and then trial and error until you find your best number..

[Hanberry_x]

not at all! that should work great. Just make sure those calories are nutritious!