Active women calories a day

BlackPantherChick123

Well, apparently 1400-1500 calories is still very short for me because I keep having these cheat days every Friday and I struggle to stick to my diet to lose 7-10 pounds. I need to lose just a few before my trip in November and I need to hurry and start but I can't seem to find a diet that works for me. I thought 1400-1500 would work but I still feel like I'm starving. I'm thinking of upping it to 1800-2000 since I do intense workout daily. Has any active women lost weight eating this much successfully?

Sabine_Stroehm

What do you have MFP set to in terms of weight loss?

And, our calorie levels are influenced by our AGE, WEIGHT and HEIGHT among other things. I'm SURE there are women who eat about 1800.

Context is important.

peleroja

As above, it depends on your current weight, height, and age as well as what kind of activity you're doing etc.

At 5'4", 118 lbs, 29 years old, and running approximately 30 miles per week (with a short cycling commute to work and a desk job), 2000 calories a day tends to be approximately my maintenance and I wouldn't lose on it (I'd need to cut to 1500/day at my current activity level to lose a pound a week, for example.) However, if you're heavier or more active than I am, you may well burn more and be able to lose on that much.

sllm1

5'8", 143, eating 1800 to lose 0.5 pound per week with 5 days per week of CrossFit
My maintenance number is around 2100.

RoxieDawn

This does not make sense to me. Are you just hungrier and not getting enough calories the remaining 5 days a week? Are you saying you are not in a deficit and you have gained or stalled?

All you need to simply redo your MFP goal and stick that goal everyday. No cheating.

So two things: eat back your exercise calories or redo the rate of loss you configured in MFP to give you more calories (slower weight loss). There is nothing wrong with TWEAKING the system.

BlackPantherChick123

I no after my cheat day I workout for an extra hour and I haven't gained any weight, I stayed the same but for me it's so hard to stick to a diet. I'm only 117 but want to get back to 110 and maintain. I'm 20 and I workout 2 hours a day and 3 day after cheat day. I am tired of these cheat days but it seems so hard to stop having them because by the time the week is up, I just feel like I'm starving 3 days in the week and end up cheating. I don't want to be restrictive at all with anything either. I'm 5'2 but extremely active and I can never find the right diet for weight loss. It's says my BMR is 1300-1400 but to me that's too little with my very intense workouts. I set MFP to 1 lb a week and I get a bit over 1700 and 2010 on .5 lb. not sure what's better for me though. It's just 7 more pounds although I wish I could just make them disappear but I also want to find a diet I can stick to and be happy without gaining.

RoxieDawn

BlackPantherChick123 wrote: »

I no after my cheat day I workout for an extra hour and I haven't gained any weight, I stayed the same but for me it's so hard to stick to a diet. I'm only 117 but want to get back to 110 and maintain. I'm 20 and I workout 2 hours a day and 3 day after cheat day. I am tired of these cheat days but it seems so hard to stop having them because by the time the week is up, I just feel like I'm starving 3 days in the week and end up cheating. I don't want to be restrictive at all with anything either. I'm 5'2 but extremely active and I can never find the right diet for weight loss. It's says my BMR is 1300-1400 but to me that's too little with my very intense workouts. I set MFP to 1 lb a week and I get a bit over 1700 and 2010 on .5 lb. not sure what's better for me though. It's just 7 more pounds although I wish I could just make them disappear but I also want to find a diet I can stick to and be happy without gaining.

You are already at a very healthy normal weight for your height and age. Not sure why the big deal on 7 more pounds and putting yourself through all of this stress and turmoil.

You are over exercising.. and this is not considered "very active" for MFP settings unless you also have a very demanding job.

If you are hungry eat back the exercise calories, because you should, you are burning a great deal of calories its not wonder you are hungry.. and no wonder things are unsustainable for you. Its out out balance.

Set MFP up to lose .5 pounds a week.. And plan to eat back exercise.
edited to add: this is not a diet, it is a method for losing weight. You use the MFP app + food scale to log your calories you consume to stick to a deficit to lose weight or maintain. You also eat back your exercise calories using the MFP method.

peleroja

BlackPantherChick123 wrote: »

I no after my cheat day I workout for an extra hour and I haven't gained any weight, I stayed the same but for me it's so hard to stick to a diet. I'm only 117 but want to get back to 110 and maintain. I'm 20 and I workout 2 hours a day and 3 day after cheat day. I am tired of these cheat days but it seems so hard to stop having them because by the time the week is up, I just feel like I'm starving 3 days in the week and end up cheating. I don't want to be restrictive at all with anything either. I'm 5'2 but extremely active and I can never find the right diet for weight loss. It's says my BMR is 1300-1400 but to me that's too little with my very intense workouts. I set MFP to 1 lb a week and I get a bit over 1700 and 2010 on .5 lb. not sure what's better for me though. It's just 7 more pounds although I wish I could just make them disappear but I also want to find a diet I can stick to and be happy without gaining.

Your BMR is before any activity - it's what you would burn completely at rest and exercise doesn't factor in (although your body composition and a number of other factors do.)

If you're getting numbers like 1700 for 1 lb a week and 2010 for 0.5 lbs a week, that means your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure, which DOES include your activity) is approximately 2250/day and that is what you'd eat to maintain your current weight.

If you want to lose seven pounds, that's not an unreasonable goal, but if you're having a hard time sticking to your current calorie target then the logical thing to do is increase your calories to the 0.5 lb a week goal and understand that you will lose more slowly but be able to eat more while you're doing it and hopefully eliminate the cheat day/overexercise cycle you seem to be caught in.

At your height and current weight, it might also be important to keep in mind that these seven pounds are vanity weight- they're not interferring with your health and they might not even be noticed by anyone but yourself, frankly. It's not worth stressing yourself out over and you might have to adjust your expectations to accept that you might have to lose them more slowly than you want to.

BlackPantherChick123

I'm not too stressed but these cheat days are giving me a hard time. I'll try the 1700-2000 a day and hopefully it works. It's just so hard to find a diet that works for me.