5'1 Ladies- what are your maintenance calories?

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Replies

  • nottellingit
    nottellingit Posts: 19 Member
    5'2 and 118-121 lbs. I get at least 10K steps a day. I try to keep myself to 1500-1600 calories/day but I suspect my TDEE is a bit higher because I occasionally go over a few hundred calories without compensating and don't gain
  • 125Suz
    125Suz Posts: 4 Member
    This is a really helpful topic! I'm 53 and 5'3" (ha!) and lose at about 1000-1200C calories during the week. I need to stay in this range over the weekend to maintain my progress. I think maintenance will be in this range during the week with a little room for extra calories over the weekend when we like to eat out.
  • DaneDog28
    DaneDog28 Posts: 11 Member
    I am 5'3", about 115, 38 years old with a desk job. I try to eat around 1500 a day however, at 110 pounds my stomach is flat and I have no butt (literally), but with heavy lifting and what not, I've put on a few pounds of muscle and now have a booty and fill out my jeans better. Unfortunately my stomach has a small pooch and there is a little "spillage" around the back (not sure what thats called). For me, its either eat more and have a butt, or eat less and have your jeans sag off you in the back.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    ILoveGingerNut wrote: »
    Yes, being a shortie sucks, especially if you are no longer 20 and can't afford to hit the gym regularly. People who have 2000 cals a day are trolls and can keep their comments for themselves

    How are they trolls?
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    ILoveGingerNut wrote: »
    Yes, being a shortie sucks, especially if you are no longer 20 and can't afford to hit the gym regularly. People who have 2000 cals a day are trolls and can keep their comments for themselves

    How are they trolls?

    I was wondering this as well.
    Granted I have another 40 lbs or so to lose, but I'm 5'1'' and maintain on about 2500.

    I would be interested to see how maintenance cals have changed as people got to goal weight. I'm down almost 40 lbs and there doesn't seem to be a huge difference at this point, but maybe that will change?
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    If memory serves, I believe mine were calculated at 1490 net at 135 lbs, 1400 net at 118 lb.
    + average of ~400 calories from exercise (mix of weight training, cycling, running, dancing).
  • SummerSkier
    SummerSkier Posts: 5,188 Member
    I think the troll thing was a joke. We all wish we could lose or maintain at 2k or more. Will try to join the petite group once I hit maintenance. Thanks for the link.
  • EnolaGrey
    EnolaGrey Posts: 9 Member
    I'm still losing on 1500 calories a day, I still have around 22lb to lose. I'm 5'1.5" tall, I'll be 57 at the end of the month and I'll be dropping my calorie allowance by 10 calories a day. I've been losing well recently on around 1350 calories a day. I'm prepared for a maintenance level of around 1400-1500 calories a day. I'll wait and see what happens.
  • AgileK9
    AgileK9 Posts: 255 Member
    @summerskier...what number are you putting in for "cal"?

    Thanks!
  • Determined_Missy
    Determined_Missy Posts: 33 Member
    I am 5'1and a half. I was 5'2" but age has taken a toll. I am 65. I was in maintenance at around 1300 to 1400 calories a day. But I stopped maintenance and was eating anything that I wanted. Now I need to lose 18 pounds. MFP's suggestion of 1200 calories to lose weight is a joke for me. I need to stay close to 1000 calories in order to lose weight in any kind of timely manner. I tend to have some sedentary days but find myself busy many days. Right now I am walking for exercise. Does anyone else get frustrated when logging your walking speed and MFP says it is a leisurely walk and you have worked up a sweat and are walking fast?
  • SummerSkier
    SummerSkier Posts: 5,188 Member
    @AgileK9 Not sure if you are asking about the spreadsheet ? In that I put the actual cals eaten per day. There is a way to export from MFP but I am not that smart...

    I am eating between 1k and 1050 per day and not eating exercise back. My rate of loss to date has been an avg of 1.5 per week but I expect it to go more slowly the next month or so as I only have about 8 or 9 left to meet my planned goal. The TDEE cal says I can eat 1125 per day to lose at 1.5 per week so given all the margins of error (and with less calories they inflate quickly) I think that's about right. It says TDEE is about 1800-1900 but I am pretty active with jogging and horseback riding etc. I would probably gain weight if I ate back all my exercise calories allotted each day or just maintain. I am a REALLY good dieter. sadly. And honestly I don't ever remember ending a diet without a binge. So my focus this time is to research as much as I can about maintaining and keep an eye on the #s closely. Weighing all solids is really eye opening. Just comparing a cup of cereal to 21 oz shows the margins of error.
  • AgileK9
    AgileK9 Posts: 255 Member
    SummerSkier wrote: »
    @AgileK9 Not sure if you are asking about the spreadsheet ? In that I put the actual cals eaten per day. There is a way to export from MFP but I am not that smart...

    I am eating between 1k and 1050 per day and not eating exercise back. My rate of loss to date has been an avg of 1.5 per week but I expect it to go more slowly the next month or so as I only have about 8 or 9 left to meet my planned goal. The TDEE cal says I can eat 1125 per day to lose at 1.5 per week so given all the margins of error (and with less calories they inflate quickly) I think that's about right. It says TDEE is about 1800-1900 but I am pretty active with jogging and horseback riding etc. I would probably gain weight if I ate back all my exercise calories allotted each day or just maintain. I am a REALLY good dieter. sadly. And honestly I don't ever remember ending a diet without a binge. So my focus this time is to research as much as I can about maintaining and keep an eye on the #s closely. Weighing all solids is really eye opening. Just comparing a cup of cereal to 21 oz shows the margins of error.

    Thanks! Yes I was wondering about the spreadsheet...sorry
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    I'm 45 am 4'11 and weigh between 97-99 pounds on any given morning. I average 15,000 steps a day and seem to be maintaining at around 2000 calories which seems much higher than most others here.

    Not too far off from me...on days where I run 5-6 miles at a harder pace or dance for 3-4 hours straight (mostly fast styles in a lead heavy venue) (either adding ~500 calories), I get ~14000ish steps. With net maintenance of ~1450-1500ish (this seems to largely match up with 1-wk buffered moving average of my weight compared with moving average of net calories over initial maintenance estimate), that brings me to close to 2000 calories on those days.

    Unfortunately, I can't fit that much in on more than half of my days (have to fit in strength training several days; requires a lead heavy dance venue and a faster dance style; have to make time occasionally for adulting - ie food prep, laundry, dishes, groceries,..).

    With additional dancing on run/weight training days and cycling to/between/from dance-only-day venues, it mostly balances out with the less active days above, though. My average exercise calories came out to ~400/day for the last few months. Usually a combination of a shorter run or weight training + dancing.

    I'm still trying to lose some more weight (have met my initial goal, and with the weight training look better than I had previously at a slightly higher weight, but would definitely look better with a bit less weight), so not quite at maintenance yet. Currently at 115 lb (4'10").

  • BlessedBeyondMsr
    BlessedBeyondMsr Posts: 65 Member
    Has anyone tried to join The petite maintenance group using the link provided in this thread, and been added to the group? I have tried and have not been added. Maybe the group admin is on vacation?
  • SummerSkier
    SummerSkier Posts: 5,188 Member
    maybe we could start our own group. I haven't tried to join because it is pretty specific that you have to be in maintenance and I am not quite there yet.
  • BlessedBeyondMsr
    BlessedBeyondMsr Posts: 65 Member
    @Evamutt:
    I bet you are hungry at 5'4 and 1200 calories bc I'm 5'0 and I am hungry on 1200 unless I workout and eat some of those calories back. My rate of loss is set at 1/2 lb a week, 1200 cal and I have lost 24lbs doing that, it just took me longer, but that's okay.
    I just started getting back into strength training and I know this will change my body composition/ burn off some fat and I'm looking forward to that! Already seeing results with more muscle definition etc
  • lauren0930bush
    lauren0930bush Posts: 1 Member
    I'm 5'1 maintaining 95lbs eating 1700-1800 calories a day. They have online calculators that are really helpful to see how your maintenance changes with activity.
  • kokonani
    kokonani Posts: 507 Member
    lauren0930bush wrote: »
    I'm 5'1 maintaining 95lbs eating 1700-1800 calories a day. They have online calculators that are really helpful to see how your maintenance changes with activity.

    May I ask how active you are?
  • CatinSydney
    CatinSydney Posts: 16 Member
    I am 5'1.5, 124 lbs and 53 yrs old. This thread really resonates with me. I was on MFP a couple of years ago and have just come back to it, ideally I would like to get to 105-110 lbs. I have found that I can only be 1200 calories /day to even lose very slowly. I too have a very tall husband (and two teenage boys), it seems like I can only eat a fraction of what they eat.

    I am also using a Fitbit (usually over 10K per day) and exercise 7 days/week (circuit, step classes, pilates, walking, power yoga - so quite a variety of different exercise) - someone mentioned that they think Fitbit over inflates the calories which I tend to think also as there is no way I could eat the extra and maintain my weight. However, currently I am still trying to lose so really have to try and stick to 1200 which I am finding very difficult. Nice to know there are others with a similar experience, I look forward to joining the Petite group when I reach maintenance.

    Cheers, Cat
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    @thisisnewnow, I started losing at a similar point.

    54, 5'1, 130lbs, with a goal of 102-107 lbs, revised to 100-105 after a year of maintenance.

    My calories all the way through were 1200 for sedentary activity, but I ate back my exercise calories of about 200cals for an hour's exercise. (I have never step counted.).

    It took a year to lose the weight and at some points, especially close to goal, it came off at a snails pace.

    The down side of it all was my maintenance calories were 1200 too.

    The up side, I was good at making 1200 go a long way.
    I had learnt just moving more during the day could give me a couple of hundred more calories almost effortlessly.
    That eating back my exercise calories, another 200 cals, was needed to have a healthy and sustainable maintenance where I could chose to take a break from exercise without having to drop my calories below 1200-1400.

    I'm 64 now and have maintained my weight since that initial loss. Hang in there, it may be slow, but it is worth it.

    Cheers, h.
  • CatinSydney
    CatinSydney Posts: 16 Member
    Thanks @middlehaitch it is great to hear such a similar story to mine. What I didn't say above was that I did go down to 100 Ibs 5 years ago, I was on 1200 calories/day, 12wbt diet (for those Australians who may know this 'lifestyle'). After reaching my goal I did go back up to 110 lbs and I was still quite happy with that. The problem was I really had to keep to 1200 calories which I found increasingly difficult to maintain. So slowly over a number of years I have crept up to 124 lbs again.

    I feel I am doing quite well with the exercise and now logging in MFP to try and keep me honest. h I read your story and talking about wanting to keep active as we get older really inspired me to keep going. My husband and I have plans to do some travelling and trekking in the future so I certainly need to keep fit and healthy for that.

    Cheers, Cat.
  • Panda8ach
    Panda8ach Posts: 518 Member
    I hit a plateau a few weeks ago...I upped my calories from 1200 to 1400...broke the plateau and I'm on 1300 atm. I am still losing 1lb per week and I am currently at 126.5lbs :) I love this thread <3
  • BlessedBeyondMsr
    BlessedBeyondMsr Posts: 65 Member
    edited August 2017
    So refreshing to meet ladies like myself that have similar goals! I am 5'0, 46 yo. Met my goal weight of 105lbs about six months ago and had some medication changes and began gaining back, but honestly was slacking also.
    Got up to 115 and I am currently 110, with 5 lbs to re-lose.
    Never really gave maintenance a try, but this time around I would like to and then add more strength training to recomp bc Even though I was able to meet my goal weight, my body composition has changed over the years and I have a high percentage of body fat
  • Kristi26
    Kristi26 Posts: 184 Member
    I'm 5'3" (36 years old) and bounce around between 120-125lb in maintenance. I eat 1650-1750 calories before exercise, closer to 1950-2000 when I walk for an hour or so. But I also find better success at higher calories with lifting 3 times a week.
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