What calorie goal would you set for me?

louise5779

My stats
Female
Height 5'3"
Weight 8 stone 10 pounds
Age 31
Sedentary

When I eat what I like and don't exercise at all i seem to hoover around 8'12 and 9'3 since having children. I want to be healthy and have a slim wobble free body.

Based on my height and frame size my weight should be between 7'13 and 8'12. My target is 8'0 as its a nice number to aim for but as I lose more weight I will assess whether I actually need to go that low.

My exercise seems to burn a lot of calories and varies so I like to enter it and not use TDEE.

I have used numerous calculators and they all seem to say different things. I have my goal set to 1200 cals. I added my exercise via runkeeper which is gym cardio 2 hours x 5 days normally between 750-900 cals each day. This is the machines read out which I enter my stats in to. Also 4 x evening runs outside between 300- 600 cals per run depending on training plan. Some days I can burns total 1300 cals and others 300 depending on exercise.

In 3.5 weeks of logging I've lost 6 pounds.

I am asking this now because there has been lots of posts about 1200 cals being to low and calorie exercise should be eaten back. I'm not sure whether this is right in my case.

MLP recommends 1200 whatever weight loss target I set it to. I can push it to 1290 if I put 0.5 loss per week. Occasionally I eat back some calories if I go out or have friends over. I don't seem to be losing weight at a scary rate. I feel happy and satisfied with 1200, I could eat more not out of hunger but out of greedy if I wanted.

I weigh and log every mouthful as accurately as I can my diary is open.

MarziPanda95

You should only be aiming for a 0.5lb per week loss anyway, with so little to lose. Are you sure 8 stone is right for you, if only two pounds less than that is underweight? And yes, on 1200 calories, exercise calories should be eaten back though beware that your numbers could be inflated because machine readings are never accurate.

Sued0nim

Honestly?

You want to be healthy and have a wobble free body

I would recommend setting your goal as 0.5lb a week loss (so a 250 calorie cut on your TDEE) and hightailing
it to a gym to get into a decent free weights programme

Cut your cardio to 2 or 3 sessions at 20-30 minutes and do a 3 x a week progressive lifting programme

Books see Strong Curves or New Rules of lifting for women
Sites: Strong lifts 5x5, starting strength, ice cream fitness

Why?

Because



And

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

And cos it worked for me after 2 children and in my 40s

If you want to continue with the huge amounts of cardio you can ...but I would cut the calorie burn in half before you eat it

Sued0nim

Answering your post more directly

You're quite short and light which will be the reason behind being given the minimum calorie goal ( also you've probably asked for 2lbs a week)

Also you've only been at this 3 weeks you need to take an average over 6-8

With the low amount to lose you have your goal should be set to 1lb a week (some would say 0.5lbs) and yes you should eat back 50% of the calories your machines give you on top of your 1200 (or whatever figure you're given at an appropriate weight loss target)

Patttience

On this site, since most people are American, it pays to learn how to talk about your weight in pounds. Only the british use stones these days.

Gosh you make things complicated. When you are told to eat 1200, that's without what you must eat for exercise and it also seems to be the number that always comes up when people say they want to lose 2 pounds a week.

2 pounds a week is probably not ideal for you as you are not that overweight. Aim for a loss of a pound or less per week.

Also i think personally prefer factoring in my exercise in general terms.

Calculators for exercise are always going to be extremely inaccurate so that's why i never bother with them. I think its better to use a general and this is given as a factor which is put into the formula. This system has always worked for me so i use those calculators that allow you to enter your exercise just once.

I mean think about it. To have to factor in your exercise on a daily basis means a lot more work. If you don't allow for it at all, you are probably eating too little which will result in a lowering of your metabolism over a period of about 3 months.

Sued0nim

I'm not American and neither are many

And it's easy enough to convert if you know your 14 times table

Sued0nim

Patttience wrote: »

On this site, since most people are American, it pays to learn how to talk about your weight in pounds. Only the british use stones these days.

Gosh you make things complicated. When you are told to eat 1200, that's without what you must eat BEFORE exercise and it also seems to be the number that always comes up when people say they want to lose 2 pounds a week.

2 pounds a week is probably not ideal for you as you are not that overweight. Aim for a loss of a pound or less per week.

Also i think personally prefer factoring in my exercise in general terms.

Calculators for exercise are always going to be extremely inaccurate so that's why i never bother with them. I think its better to use a general and this is given as a factor which is put into the formula. This system has always worked for me so i use those calculators that allow you to enter your exercise just once.

I mean think about it. To have to factor in your exercise on a daily basis means a lot more work. If you don't allow for it at all, you are probably eating too little which will result in a lowering of your metabolism over a period of about 3 months.

That must have been a typo ...FIFY

louise5779

Thanks for the responses. As I said in my post I'm aiming for 8 as it's nice round figure to aim for but I am accessing as I go. I think I'll get to 8.5 or 8.6 and be happy with that.

I also don't trust the calorie burn stats hence why I not eating them back. I do enter my stats in to the machine first hoping they make it a bit more accurate as I am small framed. My running is done on runkeeper tracking so quite happy with that. My frame is very small this is based on my wrist measurement being under 5"5 inches for my height and the elbow bones. I don't want to cut my cardio as I really enjoy it, I have a routine which I love to stick to and challenge myself.

MLP settings reads 1290 0.5lb lost, 1200 1lb lost, 1200 1.5lb lost and 1200 2lb lost. As I said it doesn't change only if I enter .5 I get an additional 40 cals per day.

I will research the weight exercises, I do love my cardio though.

Sued0nim

That makes sense because you're short ..but you should be eating more by eating back half those cardio burns ...you should be losing at a slower rate

Basically you're netting probably around 6-800 calories by not eating back ..and the 2lbs you're losing a week, like all weight loss, is made up of water, fat and LBM...you need to limit the LBM ...you need to fuel your exercise

louise5779

Ok for the Americans....

Current weight 122 lbs
Goal weight 112 lbs
Probably stop at 116 lbs
My frame weight should be 111lb to 124lb.

Sued0nim

That's a google shot ..not me

And you're reading it wrong...that's her progression...she started with the left hand shot at the lower weight and she put on muscle weight in order to get tighter curves and actually looked slimmer but weighed heavier ..because muscle is denser than fat

I understand there's years between the shots ..because it's a slow process

PS My av is me

Sued0nim

Closer to 50 (48) but thanks

louise5779

We are all so unique that's why I think I find this formula so confusing.

Thank you for the info on weight training she looks fantastic. I am short and small framed but I also have a curvy hourglass figure and d cups natural boobs. I am slim and toned all over including my tummy mostly from cardio.

My wobbly bits are my thighs and bottom.
Might be another thing that's lost in translation (English) but we aren't big on big bottoms here. All of the weight that I want to lose is from this area. I know we can't target weight loss to one area but I can try and steer it. All my cardio workouts are leg and bottoms based and I am seeing results.


Gosh I need a tan!!!

Sued0nim

You look great

I do minimum cardio (I use it to warm up)...lots of squats, lunges etc though and my bottom and thighs have really slimmed out

louise5779

Off to the gym now so I'll try that. Thanks

middlehaitch

This is just my honest opinion- I really do think you need to eat back at least 300-400 of your exercise burn. You may be feeling great now, but in a couple of months you could well be burnt out through under nourishing your body.
At your size a .5 lb a week loss is pretty good as you don't have a lot to lose.

I also agree with rabbitjb that a bit of resistance training and cutting back on cardio a bit would help shape your body. Good for muscles and bones too.
If you don't fancy lifting weights try something like nerdfitness which is body weight exercises ( easy to do at home, or on the road).

Cheers, h.

(I am 5'1 100-105 and eat at about 1450, when exercising 7 hr a week, to maintain.
I am 62 so my bmr is probably 100-150 cals a day lower than yours.)