Woman who can maintain on 2000+ calories...how?!

kaygold

I am SO envious when I hear some woman say they can maintain on 2000-2300 calories!

I'm 5'7, weigh 128 (Goal is 120-125), and burn 2000 calories a week (3 days HIIT, 1 day indoor cycling, 2 rest days of 1hr walks).

I'm not in maintenance yet, but getting close I think; I am currently losing eating 1740 a day. When I run my numbers via various TDEE calculators, the best I get for maintenance is slightly over 1900...booooo

So, for you women out there who are able to maintain at an intake of 2000 +, can you tell me how much you work out to have that maintain ace intake? Your stats like height and weight would be helpful as well!

I want to be a part of club 2000+ too!

TavistockToad

How much are you losing per week on 1740?

kaygold

Mmmm, I'd say it takes me about 2.5 to lose a pound, so a 1/3rd of a pound a week? I don't like to weigh myself weekly, since the scale doesn't move that quickly, so I can't get more accurate than that I'm afraid

WinoGelato

I'm 5'2 and 118 lbs and my maintenance cals, per my FitBit and my actual results, are around 2100 right now. It usually goes up in the summer when I'm more active, to around 2200-2300. I average 12K steps a day right now and do circuit training with light weights a couple times a week.

cwolfman13

kaygold wrote: »

I am SO envious when I hear some woman say they can maintain on 2000-2300 calories!

I'm 5'7, weigh 128 (Goal is 120-125), and burn 2000 calories a week (3 days HIIT, 1 day indoor cycling, 2 rest days of 1hr walks).

I'm not in maintenance yet, but getting close I think; I am currently losing eating 1740 a day. When I run my numbers via various TDEE calculators, the best I get for maintenance is slightly over 1900...booooo

So, for you women out there who are able to maintain at an intake of 2000 +, can you tell me how much you work out to have that maintain ace intake? Your stats like height and weight would be helpful as well!

I want to be a part of club 2000+ too!

My wife is a mere 5'2"/5'3" and she maintains on around 2300 - 2500. Granted, she has an athletic build and is relatively muscular...her usual maintenance weight is around 125, but she's pretty lean at that weight...just more muscular than a lot of women so that probably helps her with her TDEE.

I would say that your choice of exercise probably isn't the best in regards to calorie burns. HIIT is typically 20-30 minutes tops and doesn't really burn that many calories. It's excellent for improving fitness, but it really doesn't do much for calorie burn.

My wife runs 5x per week...usually 45 - 60 minutes for general fitness and she lifts 1x per week. She runs more if she's 1/2 marathon training and can also maintain on the higher end of her calorie range. She also tries to get in around 8K-10K steps outside of deliberate exercise.

Mouse_Potato

5'3" tall, 118-120 pounds. About to turn 44. During the week I burn around 1800-2000 calories a day, but on the weekends that goes up to 2300-2500. I walk a lot. 12-16k steps a day. During the week I don't workout that much. I do a single belly dance class and I might fit in a couple of 30-45 minute weight lifting sessions. On Saturdays I ride my horse and on Sundays I have a pretty intense 3 hour aerial arts training session.

janejellyroll

I am 5'4, about 115 pounds. I maintain on about 2,100. I run 30-90 minutes a day (34-40 miles a week usually) and do body weight resistance training six days a week. I do additional walking when I can, gets me to about 15,000 steps a day average. I also find that I burn more in the summer because I am outside so much more (and it's marathon training season). In the summer, it's more like 2,400 to maintain.

amusedmonkey

Based on your loss, it looks like your current maintenance is about 1950 give or take. If you introduce some extra random activity here and there (walking to a farther shop, moving a bit more around the house..etc) you can easily achieve a 2000 calories maintenance. Most people who maintain on a higher allowance just move around more, mostly walking, or are into endurance.

WinoGelato

Also, you're aiming for the very bottom of the normal BMI range for your height. Have you given consideration to changing your goal to recomp, rather than more weight loss, to focus on body composition instead?

PAV8888

kaygold wrote: »

Mmmm, I'd say it takes me about 2.5 to lose a pound, so a 1/3rd of a pound a week? I don't like to weigh myself weekly, since the scale doesn't move that quickly, so I can't get more accurate than that I'm afraid

Within the level of precision you're describing you're already in the 2000 Cal club.

You may want to enter your weigh ins over time into a weight trend application such as Happy Scale (iphone), Libra (android), weighgrapher.com (web) or trendweight.com (web, requires you to use a freely available without a band fitbit account for data entry or to have a supported scale)

Cycling and walking may provide you with more total calories burned than HIIT **DEPENDING** on total time you engage in each activity.

Other things you may want to explore is making sure you don't have long periods of inactivity during your day. There are a few threads around about increasing your NEAT (non exercise activity thermogenesis)

RoxieDawn

5'3.75" and maintain on 2100. I workout 6 days a week, strength training and a little running (23 miles per week). I get an average 15,000 steps per day (including exercise/running).

I am currently working on fat loss and cutting at 1850.

PapillonNoire

I'm 5'7" and my maintenance weight is 125-130lbs. I can maintain eating between 2000 and 2500 calories depending on my activity for the day. I've worked to increase my NEAT so that I'm able to eat this much. I make an effort to get in a lot of steps and fidget at my desk. Prior to doing this, my maintenance was about 1800-1900 and I wasn't satisfied on that amount.

DragonHasTheSapphire

I'm 5'5, female, 18, and would consider myself for the most part very active. Still trying to find out my maintenance calories, but it is definitely above 2000. Eating 2100, if I'm still losing weight I'll eat 2200. It really does depend on a lot of things though, I only weigh 111 and am surprised I need more than 2000, but being active is really the reason I need that much.

Evamutt

I wish mine were 2000, I'm 5'4 & mine are 1700 but I'm good with that most of the time

collectingblues

5'4", upper 120s at the moment. Had my RMR lab tested, and including exercise, my TDEE is about 2100-2200. When my thyroid is behaving, I lose appropriately based on that, so it's fairly accurate.

But, my body fat is in the "lean"/"athletic" range (between 20-22 percent), and I'm super active -- walk at least a couple of miles every day, run 20 MPW, spin, barre, etc.

sardelsa

Your goal weight is at the lower end for your height. At that point you may lose muscle mass, that paired with being lighter than you are now your maintenance will be even lower (not including the activity you put in). Is there a reason you are aiming that low? You may want to look into recomp if you aren't happy with your body composition.

I am the same height as you and in the past at 125-132lbs maintained around 2300-2700. I am fairly active, walking, I lift 4-5x per week, yoga, cardio 1-2x per week. Now my maintenance is probably more because I am just finishing up a bulk so I will sit at a heavier weight and have much more muscle mass than I did before (which adds up especially since I use it often).

kaygold

Wow! Thank you all for the responses so far! I appreciate everyone taking the time to read, and advise to help me be a part of team 2000 +

So, a trend I'm seeing is that a lot of you have a high daily step/activity count. I have a desk job, and the nature of my job makes it really hard to for me to get a lot of steps in. I try to compensate by doing 1 hr sessions after work 1 to 3 times during the work week, but I def acknowledge it isn't enough to offset the benefit in being able to be more active everyday.

I get a good portion of my activity during the weekend, so maybe I should try to up my activity even more. I could trade in an active rest day for another work out, or add a couple more walks/strength training sessions in.

As some of you mentioned, I could already be in the 2000 maintenance range, and just not know. I've not tried to steadily increase my cals to find my maintenance yet (a little anxious on doing this since I've been in a deficit for a while) , so maybe that would be a nice surprise ; 1950 really isn't that far from 2000.

I appreciate the feedback on my weight goals, and 120 possibly being too low for my height. I think I keep looking at 120 because that was the number I had in my head when I started out, but I'm siting in a double 0 skirt size right now, so going for 120 could just be stupid, and a vanity goal I need to let go of! 125, aka 3 more pounds lost would be good for me, that way I had a 5 lbs range (125-130) for maintenance.

I strength train the days I do HIIT, (3-4 times a week). Actually, as a side note, I probably shouldn't say HIIT; I'm just in the habit of describing my work out that way because when I say orange theory, there are just so many questions, lol! But OTF really isn't a TRUE HIIT workout. Anyways, because of the strength training I do, I'm pretty happy with my body composition. It doesn't make sense as I am in a deficit, but I swear I have built muscle. There is room for improvement of course, but I'm fairly lean.

At the sake of sounding silly, rather than being unhappy with my body, I really just want to be able to eat more than a measly 160 additional calories when I get into maintenance Especially if I start to recomp, I don't know if the 160 more would keep me satisfied

Francl27

I'm 5'5" and my maintenance at 135 lbs was around 2200. Being a bit heavier obviously helps, and I aim for 15k steps a day (that's usually 2 hour walks for me, plus normal activity).

I say 'was' because 2200 calories was too little calories for me and I've gained some weight back (I'm always hungry, and often tired of not being able to fit in treats, so I have too many 'I don't care anymore' days). I'm 40.

AnnPT77

I'm 62, 5'5", can maintain in the 120s in the low 2000s. (Pity I keep exceeding that on the reg lately! ). Exercise adds 200-300 to that - spin class 2 days a week, rowing (on water) 4 days a week in season, less rowing (machine ) off season. Random other stuff irregularly (bike, swim, walk, yoga, weights, carpentry, gardening, whatev).

Short term, work on increasing exercise (if possible while keeping happy life balance!), and strive to increase non-exercise activity (NEAT) levels. There are some ideas here:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss

Long term, creep your calories up gradually to maintenance while pushing NEAT. Also, build muscle:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

Best wishes!

bbell1985

When I'm in the 130s I can only maintain on 1800. I'm like 147 right now and I think I'm finally maintaining closer to 2000 now.

Francl27

bbell1985 wrote: »

When I'm in the 130s I can only maintain on 1800. I'm like 147 right now and I think I'm finally maintaining closer to 2000 now.

I hear you. I don't like my body right now but I'm not stressing out about every single event anymore either. I have to find the balance somewhere.

LivingtheLeanDream

I'm 5ft 2 /48yrs and maintain on 2000 cals. I'm lightly active but have a fair bit of muscle which helps. In summer when I am out and about more I can maintain on 2100-2200.

WilmaValley

This is so interesting to know and compare!

deputy_randolph

I'm 5'3 140lbs and maintain around 2100. I'm hovering around 20% bf. I have a pretty active job (special ed. teacher) and compete in powerlifting.

At 5'7, is 120lbs really a realistic goal? That might be why you are having difficulty with your calorie intake.

TavistockToad

i am 5ft5, 140lbs (with holiday bloat hanging around! - usually 136-138lbs) and i maintain on net 1900 cals, but that is a rather inaccurate 1900 as i tend to slip in the odd spoonful of PB and glass or 2 of prosecco per week, so its probably around 2000-2100.

i walk 8000 - 10000 steps per day.

i never thought i maintained on a high number, but with exercise as well, i suppose i do! :drinker:

moonshine_betty

I think it depends on how much muscle you have. I'm 37, currently overweight (5'8", 195 lbs) and losing on 2400-2500 cals, with maintenance being around ~3000. This is with working out 5x a week...if I work out less, I lose on ~2300.

Obviously, the fact that I'm taller and weigh more helps but I've lost/regained weight multiple times over the years and have found that when I'm smaller (155-160 lbs), I maintain at ~2600 cals. This is when I'm working out 4-6x a week -- 3x lifting very heavy plus 4-5x cardio, which is a mix of HIIT and longer, steady state workouts. Otherwise, I'm pretty sedentary most days (desk job), though I try to hit 10,000 steps a day during the week and usually average 15-20,000 on weekends, depending on the season.

I've been lifting heavy on and off since I was 18 though and have a fair amount of muscle.

DamienAngelica

I'm 5' 6.5" and weigh about 130 pounds. While I've only been in maintenance for a few weeks and am currently eating at about 1950 a day, I've lost a pound since the switch, so next week I'll be bumping my calories up to 2000 to see what happens then. (We're going out to dinner this weekend, so I'm not worried if I'm eating at a deficit this week.)

I do strength training three times a week and Vinyasa yoga 4 times. I average about 12-13k steps a day.

cheryldumais

Wow you guys are all so lucky. I'm 61 5'5" tall and 145 - 147 pounds and I maintain on 1400. I'm getting ready to start strength training so hoping to build some muscle and increase that number a bit.

VioletRojo

I'm 5' 4", 120, 52 years old and maintain on 2100-2300 calories. More when I'm training for a race.

nettiklive

It's crazy me for to read this I'm 5'4 115 lbs and maintain on 1400-1500 I did start some lifting again so hoping it'll help but I hate cardio and I'm not an active or fidgety person at all, though I'm a sahm with a toddler so I don't have a choice often lol. I do love walking but it's pouring rain and wind here half the year so I don't get as much in as when I lived in a sunnier state.

rtautuaa

Hi. I have been able to increase my calories recently because I did something people think is crazy. I am 55 years old, 5 feet 6 inches, and weigh 138 pounds. In the 15 months I have lost exactly 70 pounds!
I felt well but was so cold all the time because I did it using a restricted calorie diet for much of the time. But my weight loss stalled for the last six months and I still had to eat very calorie restricted or I would gain weight back! Who wants to live like THAT for the rest of their life? Not me! And I was still cold!
I did a bunch of research and found out that reducing my calories made my metabolism slow down, which made me COLD, and made it so I couldn't raise my calorie intake.
Now, here comes the crazy and amazing part! After reading a lot, and listening to several doctors on line, I decided to do what Dr. Jason Fung has his patients do. I fasted! Why? It resets the metabolism! I easily did a one day fast, then decided to extend it to as long as I could. I was able to fast for 6 days, drinking water, having my multivitamin, and taking extra salt, calcium, potassium, and magnesium citrate. Since then I have had much more energy.
I am eating around 2000 calories a day, finally feel warm, and blessedly have no more hot flashes! Yay! Fasting really does work. Now I am eating around 40 carbs a day mostly from lots of green veggies, having about 100 grams of protein from fatty regular meat, nuts, cheese, eggs, bacon, hamburger, etc., and usually drink only water.
I feel wonderful. I recently had a blood test and my cholesterol LDL and HDL were all great, the BP and glucose were great as well. The technician actually congratulated me on my great health.
So to put it in a nut shell, fast occasionally, and as Dr. Benjamin Bikman says "Control Carbs, Prioritize Protein, and Fill with Fat." Don't be afraid to eat those fatty foods. They make you so you are able to feel full and burn fat!
...and, my exercise has been hit and miss the whole time. I usually exercise for about 30 minutes 2-4 times a week, usually walking on a treadmill.