Anyone 163 lbs., Eating 1600 Calories & Losing Wt.?

jilly1130

Hi there. My name is Jill and I am currently 163 lbs, 5'3" and 41 years old. My TDEE - 20% is 1807 calories and my BMR is 1457 calories. So I decided to eat 1650 calories a day following the TDEE method (and not eating back my exercise calories). I was wondering if anyone else had similar stats and was losing weight eating 1600 calories or more. I just upped my calories and I am wondering if this eat more strategy will work for me. I would love to hear what others are doing. Thanks in advance for your input.

jilly1130

bump

debbecake

I wish there were some responses on here because I'm in the same position as you. 41 5'5" and 162. I've been eating 1400 but somedays it doesn't seem like enough. I just started a weightlifting program today so I'm tempted to up mine to atleast 1500 but the 1400 is working so I'm afraid to. I'm going to do weights 3 days a week so if the hunger increases then I will probably bump it up a little. I know that wasn't much help but just wanted you to know you weren't alone. Feel free to add me if you want.

herblackwings39

If your TDEE-20% is 1807 why eat 1600? The 20% cut is already pretty aggressive for having 40ish pounds to lose.

AJ_G

If your TDEE-20% is 1807 why eat 1600? The 20% cut is already pretty aggressive for having 40ish pounds to lose.

^This, just eat at TDEE - 20%, anymore than that and you'll be losing more muscle than you want to.

brenn24179

I am 5'4 and 158, trying to get to 155, third goal. First goal 168, 2nd 158 and now 155. I am suppose to eat 1900. All I know is if I eat over 1600 I gain weight. I try to stay 1200-1400 and still working to get those last few lbs off and then maybe I can eat 1500-1600, we will see.

suziepoo1984

i am 5'5 and at my highest i weighed in at 173 pounds. I started off eating 1500+ a day and eating back all my exercise calories. I lost at a pretty good rate and also have slowly upped my calorie intake as i lost weight, as i did not want to lose too fast , plus i love food :blushing: working out pretty good until now

ETA: I net around 1600-1700 most days now

jilly1130

Anyone else?

shadow2soul

I'm 5'4 and cw is 180.8lbs. I net 1610 calories a day. I've had days where my total intake is 2500 and yes I'm still losing weight. In fact I'm averaging about 2lbs per week loss.

tigerlily_

Hey! I'm around 163ish and 5"4' with a TDEE -- 20% of around 1800 calories. I've lost weight very slowly on that (although a lot of days I did go above it, sometimes even up to 2300) so now I'm aiming for 1400ish calories per day in the knowledge that the extra 400 calories are there if i do slip up.

In conclusion, I know everyone is different but in my experience, yes, I think you probably will lose weight on 1600! Try it and see. Good luck

spazofthedead

I'm 5'6", 166lbs and my TDEE-10% is 2100 calories. When I calculated my calorie requirement a couple of weeks ago I was 168lbs.

laserturkey

Just shy of 5'7" and I'm at about 177 lbs. right now. My daily net calorie goal is 1600. I'm losing weight very slowly, which is the way I like it. I'm 49 years old, btw.

trogalicious

OP, there isn't going to be a blanket response that's gonna make you happy. It's all individual. It's based on a lot of different things.

a 163lb man that's 33 years old... and 5'8... is gonna be completely different than a 163lb man that's 40 and 6'2... and so on, and so forth.

figure out your own numbers and go from there.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

in short. the method works. stick with it.

kaleena1983

I'm 5'4", 171 lbs, and eat a net 1800. It works well for me, and I lose 1-2 lbs per week.

ereck44

Hi there. My name is Jill and I am currently 163 lbs, 5'3" and 41 years old. My TDEE - 20% is 1807 calories and my BMR is 1457 calories. So I decided to eat 1650 calories a day following the TDEE method (and not eating back my exercise calories). I was wondering if anyone else had similar stats and was losing weight eating 1600 calories or more. I just upped my calories and I am wondering if this eat more strategy will work for me. I would love to hear what others are doing. Thanks in advance for your input.

Kari121869

I've just started this myself - my calorie intake is now 1700 using the TDEE/BMR method (which until a week ago I didn't know existed!!). My original calorie intake using MFP was 1200 (5'4 starting weight 197 now 187) Took me 4 months to get that 10lbs off so needless to say I was getting very frustrated! Even though it's only been a week I'm noticing a change - not so much on the scale (staying the same) but more in how my clothes fit. Could have to do with doing alot more strength training lately - gaining muscle, losing the fat equation - but regardless I know I'm feeling better than I was a week ago and I can def feel a difference - which I'm sure the scale will start showing as well soon.
Keep it up - you'd be surprised how you can LOOSE while eating MORE... I know I am shocked!

j3bean

i am 5'5 and at my highest i weighed in at 173 pounds. I started off eating 1500+ a day and eating back all my exercise calories. I lost at a pretty good rate and also have slowly upped my calorie intake as i lost weight, as i did not want to lose too fast , plus i love food :blushing: working out pretty good until now

ETA: I net around 1600-1700 most days now

I have had a very similar results-I am 5'2", I eat between 1500-1800 and have been losing ~6 lbs. per month. I started at 170- now down to 141.

wtw0n

I'm a 27yo woman, 167cm and 78kg (so, 5' 5.7" and 172lbs). I upped my net calorie goal from 1700 to 1780 a couple of weeks ago (I eat back exercise calories so I usually eat around 2100-2500 cals a day). I've been losing weight just fine (my net calorie goal has been around 1600-1800 pretty much all the time).

deksgrl

OP, there isn't going to be a blanket response that's gonna make you happy. It's all individual. It's based on a lot of different things.

a 163lb man that's 33 years old... and 5'8... is gonna be completely different than a 163lb man that's 40 and 6'2... and so on, and so forth.

figure out your own numbers and go from there.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

in short. the method works. stick with it.

This.

If you figured out your TDEE - 20%, eat that number, no reason to go lower than that. It most likely will not speed things up and you will just be hungrier.

ereck44

Hi,
When l started mfp, I weighed 186 pounds and was steadily losing weight when mfp reset me at 1430 Cal's for the day. I was miserable, never hit my goal and plateaued. I reset my goal to lose .5 pound per week and now at 1670 Cal's per day and back to losing again.
I am 5'3 and 1/2 , 54 years young,, work the night shift and have hypothyroidism.I never thought I could lose weight but have lost 28 lbs since joining mfp. I am thrilled with my progress!
I think that you will be very happy at 1600 or even 1700 Cal's per day,. I eat most but not all exercise Cal's.
Good luck . You can add me as a friend if you want. I faithfully log every day.

xxmarysmxx

bump

2aycocks

I'm 5'8", 184 lbs, 56 yrs, and eating between 1400 - 1500 per day. I'm losing VERY SLOWLY. the calories I'm eating is with or without exercise each day, so sometimes I'm eating back the calories and days I don't exercise I'm still eating the same amount.

I don't know how to figure TDEE as you all are talking about. So I'd like to get up to date on that.

2aycocks

I'm 5'8", 184 lbs, 56 yrs, and eating between 1400 - 1500 per day. I'm losing VERY SLOWLY. the calories I'm eating is with or without exercise each day, so sometimes I'm eating back the calories and days I don't exercise I'm still eating the same amount.

I don't know how to figure TDEE as you all are talking about. So I'd like to get up to date on that.

I also have Hypothyroidism and autoimmune disease. So I take a lot of meds, which is NO help in losing weight!

Warchortle

At 163 I had to increase my calories to start losing weight

TheCaren

I am 5'4" and started out at 165 lbs. I did 1240 calories a day because that's what MFP set for me and in the beginning I knew nothing about BMR, TDEE etc. My weight loss stalled at around 135 pounds and so based on what I'd learned by that time, I bumped my calories up to the 1500 neighborhood and started losing again, but slowly. So I decided to shoot for the 1240 on some days, and 1500 on others. It was sort of random which days I did what. It worked for me. But then, I was never rigid with the calorie thing anyways and went over plenty of days.

I'm 44 years old and fairly sedentary. And at 1240 calories per day I ate back any exercise calories to be sure not to ever go under 1200 net calories (on the advice of my doctor).

I am currently on maintenance and my goal is between 1600 and 1700 calories per day. My weight fluctuates of course, but has settled between 120 and 125. Which is great for me because I am small framed.

itsscottwilder

I'm 41, 176 pounds, 5'5"

Eating 1500-1700 calories a day

No food 3 hours before bedtime.

I get 10,000+ steps in everyday which includes a nightly walk of 2 to 3 miles.

Still trying to find the right amount of calories to get weight to come off at a steady rate.

haroon_awan

Agree with the above posts. Too aggressive of a deficit. I posted this to a similar thread a while ago:

Remember TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure.

Set your calorie goal to TDEE. Eat less than that and you will start to lose weight. Do not set your calorie goal to 1600 and try to eat less than that. Generally anything more than 20% for overweight (not obese) is too large of a reduction from your TDEE and more likely than not you will lose lean body mass as it is a very aggressive deficit. There's also a good chance that you will not be able to sustain this in the long term and to be quite honest it is not sensible. I don't know many people (if anyone at the moment) who can sustain a >30% deficit for an extended period. Have a read of:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1017045-a-very-interesting-and-informational-read-on-deficits
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

Remember there are two ways to lose weight: either decrease your caloric intake or increase your daily expenditure:

Eat 2000 calories per day + burn 0 calories from exercise = 2000 total calories
Eat 2500 calories per day + burn 500 calories from exercise = 2000 total calories.

This is a simplified version, but the principle is the same. Follow a structured training program, eat an adequate amount of protein and also eat enough calories that your body needs. I don't know your current stats, but as mentioned going over 20% is not very wise.

Don't increase your calories by a big number (eg 1500 to 1900) as you will likely put on quite a bit of weight, but it will primarily be from water so it's actually fine in the long run. Rather, take a slow approach called reverse dieting. This is a term used, primarily by physique athletes, to refer to a phase after their photoshoot or competition where they use 100ish calorie increments in their weekly calorie goals. It's also very useful for extended period of calorie deficits.

For example, if your goal today is 1600 calories then increase it to 1700 calories for the week
Next week 1800 calories
Keep going until you reach about 1800-1900, whichever is right for you
Assess your progress and if you are happy with 1800-1900 then stick to it. I know it sounds weird, "don't eat less than xzy" but this is just the way our bodies as well as our lifestyles work. The important part is being consistent. This method of reverse dieting will minimise fat gain when increasing your calories.

michellechawner

A few years ago I was 167 and lost eating about 1700 a day.

I was working nights and on my feet almost constantly, and crossfitting 3 times a week.

Try TDEE - 15% or 10%... doesn't have to be 20, if you're not overly large no need for 20%.

deksgrl

I'm 41, 176 pounds, 5'5"

Eating 1500-1700 calories a day

No food 3 hours before bedtime.

I get 10,000+ steps in everyday which includes a nightly walk of 2 to 3 miles.

Still trying to find the right amount of calories to get weight to come off at a steady rate.

You likely need more, because you are a man. Men typically have higher muscle mass than women. Muscle is more metabolically active and need more calories to sustain.

Frankietb

I'm 42, 5'3" and start weight on MFP was 158 lbs (I was 160.5 lbs for a while before joining but got down to 158 just by adding more exercise). I tried the TDEE-20% without eating back exercise (came out to about 1700 a day) and weight stayed the same for months!. I went down to 1300 net calories and eating back most of my exercise and I'm down almost 7 lbs! I was stuck for a while at the same weight so I increased it to NET 1400 calories and eating back most of my exercise. Most days I eat up to 1700 calories but my net is low because of exercise. The reason I think I'm successful this way is that with the TDEE-20%, I always ate up to 1700 calories regardless if I exercised or not. This way, at 1400 net, if I don't exercise I eat lower calories that day. Just remember (and what I'm learning also), patience is the key to your success. The weight may come off slow (as in my case) and some weeks it just doesn't come off but then it goes down, then up, then down some more and.... you get the picture. Weight loss is not linear in the least.

Good luck!

j6o4

If your TDEE-20% is 1807 why eat 1600? The 20% cut is already pretty aggressive for having 40ish pounds to lose.

^This, just eat at TDEE - 20%, anymore than that and you'll be losing more muscle than you want to.

^ what they said.