Calorie question for SHORT women

Swehl

Hi I am 4' 9 1/2 inches. I started at 160 pounds, and now I am 137.5lbs. My weight loss is really slowing down even though I am working out harder. I have been eating at 1200 calories a day since March 2013 which has been working. When I calculate my maintenance calories they are about 1650-1700, and so the lowest deficit I can safely eat at is 1200. My question is this: If I eat 1200 calories worth of food and burn 600 calories during exercise, should I be eating those 600 calories back to stay at 1200 or is it okay to not eat them back as long as I'm still eating at least 1200 calories a day?

I hope I didn't make that confusing! The reason I ask is because my husband does not think I should be eating my calories back. He thinks it's counterproductive, but I thought it was unhealthy to have less than 1200 calories regardless of exercise.

Ugh short girl problems!! Haha -- very little wiggle room for a calorie deficit.

Please help!

neandermagnon

you should eat back your exercise calories, because 1200 cals/day is a lot less than you burn off *before* you factor in exercise. MFP expects you to *net* your calorie goal, which means eating back your exercise calories. Eating back your exercise calories will not stop you losing weight, providing you're calculating them honestly. Also, you could try eating back only 80% of your exercise calories, to account for any miscalculations.

Too big a calorie deficit can cause all kinds of problems, including difficulty sticking to the diet in the long term (which means rebound weight gain), and it can also cause binge eating and obsessing about food (these are normal reactions to insufficient food intake) and also, in the long term, it can cause health issues (including slowing the metabolism, which also leads to rebound weight gain in the long term). A more reasonable calorie deficit is easier to stick to in the long term, less likely to cause health issues.

As you're already close to a healthy weight, you could probably still lose weight netting 1300-1400 cals/day... it would be slower, but you need to focus on long term maintenance, not on trying to lose all the fat as quickly as possible. Netting 1200 cals/day sounds reasonable with your stats, if you're not having trouble sticking to it, and you're not struggling with bingeing. Eating only 1200 a day while burning 600 cals in exercise and not eating exercise calories back again would probably create too big a deficit, which could cause you to run into problems.

nprobets84

Maybe you've just plateaued? I've always found that when you get to that point just have one day off dieting a week (have that takeaway and glass of wine/ whatever you want for dinner on a friday night or whichever day is best) and it kickstarts the weight loss back off again.

Natalie

Swehl

you should eat back your exercise calories, because 1200 cals/day is a lot less than you burn off *before* you factor in exercise. MFP expects you to *net* your calorie goal, which means eating back your exercise calories. Eating back your exercise calories will not stop you losing weight, providing you're calculating them honestly. Also, you could try eating back only 80% of your exercise calories, to account for any miscalculations.

Too big a calorie deficit can cause all kinds of problems, including difficulty sticking to the diet in the long term (which means rebound weight gain), and it can also cause binge eating and obsessing about food (these are normal reactions to insufficient food intake) and also, in the long term, it can cause health issues (including slowing the metabolism, which also leads to rebound weight gain in the long term). A more reasonable calorie deficit is easier to stick to in the long term, less likely to cause health issues.

As you're already close to a healthy weight, you could probably still lose weight netting 1300-1400 cals/day... it would be slower, but you need to focus on long term maintenance, not on trying to lose all the fat as quickly as possible. Netting 1200 cals/day sounds reasonable with your stats, if you're not having trouble sticking to it, and you're not struggling with bingeing. Eating only 1200 a day while burning 600 cals in exercise and not eating exercise calories back again would probably create too big a deficit, which could cause you to run into problems.

Thank you for your feedback! What you said completely makes sense. I appreciate it

Swehl

Maybe you've just plateaued? I've always found that when you get to that point just have one day off dieting a week (have that takeaway and glass of wine/ whatever you want for dinner on a friday night or whichever day is best) and it kickstarts the weight loss back off again.

Natalie

Thank you Natalie! Generally I do allow myself that one cheat meal on the weekend with a glass of wine I definitely find it to be helpful.

MommaChocoLatte

Ok so I am a little taller than you are.. I am 4'11. I currently weigh 131 and change. I started at 160 and I only lasted at 1200 calories for about a month before I couldn't deal any more.. I was hungry alll the time. I switched to the TDEE method and increased my calories instead of eating back my exercise cals I included them in my daily target. I eat between 1350-1500 a day and I lose every week.

I joined MFP in Feb and started the TDEE method in mid-March. However, if you choose to go with the MFP method then you should be eating your exercise cals back. That is the way the program is designed to work. Hope that helps!!