When should I lower my calorie intake?

rh091

Hello!

I'm a 22 -year old female, at 5'5" and I currently weigh 204 lbs. I am a student and work part time in an office so have a relatively sedentary lifestyle - I exercise 2-3 times a week, cardio and a little strength through work out videos. I have lost 45 lbs and am looking to lose another 45. I have been eating at 1500-1600 calories per day and don't usually eat many exercise calories back unless I am hungry.

I am wondering now that I have lost a significant amount of weight if I should lower my calorie intake a bit, and by how much? For the past few days I have been eating relatively lower because I was afraid I was hitting a bit of a plateau but I don't think I actually did. Just looking to get some advice from people on how to go about this. My food diary is also open if you would like to look at that. Thnks

CooCooPuff

I've heard between every five-ten pounds lost. It usually isn't that many calories gone, only about a fifty or so calorie difference.

At 143lbs, 23, 5'7", this online calculator gives me 1,791 cals to lose .5lbs a week. At 137lbs, the same calculator gives me 1,755 calories to lose .5lbs.

I wouldn't sweat it if you're still losing as you'd like to though.

ana3067

When you stop losing weight and/or stop losing at your desired rate.

SueInAz

ana3067 wrote: »

When you stop losing weight and/or stop losing at your desired rate.

I'd go with this, too. Your body and the scale will let you know when it's time because you'll stop losing at the same rate or at all. I've never had much to lose so I may be wrong, but doesn't MFP automatically make adjustments to your calorie goals for you, or notify you to do so based on your current weight vs. your starting weight?