Why does CC recommend I only eat the bare minimum?

I just re-checked my calorie target with my new weight ( 196 and 5'4")  and it tells me to eat only 1200 calories.  I will have to do this for a year to reach my goal weight by April of next year.  Why does it set it so strict?  When I weighed 237 it told me to eat around 1500 to have a 500 calorie deficit?  Do I only need 1700 to maintain now?

even if it says 1200 for a 500 cal deficit, i'd at least move it up to 1300.

for me, it says i'd have to eat only 1100 cals for the 500 deficit, but i still aim for 1300 (even though i tend to go far over, aha) a day and have a 300 calorie deficit, and i just try to burn the other 200 through exercise

It depends on what you registered as your activity level.  If you are active for at least half an hour a day (walking, housework, active job or other exercise) then enter your activity level as 'light'.  I think you should be able to lose weight on 1400-1500 quite pleasantly if you make sure you get a little exercise each day.

If you think that the suggested calorie intake is too low, and as a consequence you might find it too difficult to adhere to such a diet, maybe it would be a wise idea to revise either your final goal weight, or the deadline by which you want to achieve it.

For example, you may think that it would be too difficult to eat 1200 kcal per day, but you could live with eating 1500 per day. It may be better to then keep eating 1500 kcal per day and accept that it will take you three months more to lose all the weight.

Alternatively, step up your level of exercise, that way you will burn more calories.

 

Add more exercise to compensate for adding more calories.  As a very smart nutritionist said, Burn it off, don't Starve it off.  So, eat more, but exercise more to compensate.

 

 

If I have my activity level set on sedentary, it tells me that I should eat 1250 calories to lose the weight... but if it's lightly active, then I get 1500. The reality is somewhere in between, so I set my own calorie goal of 1400 as a compromise. The program is just an automatic calculation and it can't tell what's best for you, just what the 'magic formula' says is the lowest safe calorie level for your size/activity level.

I have the same problem! I don't even want to lose, just maintain, and as a 5'7", 140lb., fairly-active girl, I seriously doubt 1200 is going to cut it for me. I think everyone's body is different and the counter is best used more as a guideline than an actual hard and fast rule. 

try www.phord.com/cc for a second opinion of your calorie target.

for my goal it also says to eat only 1200 calories. For the most part I am sedentary with the exception of walking around at work and trying to walk a little more. I guess it's the activity level. The weird thing is though for calorie count plus it says that I should consume only 1200 cals for my goal but then on the home page it says calorie goal 1300. So I try to aim between 1200-1300 cals on my sedentary days and then when I'm up more I try for 1300-1400. But yeah I don't understand that system either.

Original Post by ckimber_67:

I just re-checked my calorie target with my new weight ( 196 and 5'4") and it tells me to eat only 1200 calories. I will have to do this for a year to reach my goal weight by April of next year. Why does it set it so strict? When I weighed 237 it told me to eat around 1500 to have a 500 calorie deficit? Do I only need 1700 to maintain now?

Because you used to CC to lose weight over a short period of time.