What's a good goal for me?

sfinsc

Hi everyone!

I'm doing C25K three times a week, and currently my daily calorie goal is set to 1200 calories to lose 2 lbs/week at a lightly active level. The problem is I'm hungry all the time and I don't think 1200 calories is enough. What's a good caloric goal to still lose weight but eat an appropriate amount for the amount of exercise I'm doing?

Editing to add: I currently weigh 143 lbs (I'm 5'4"). My goal is to get to 125 lbs.

Thanks in advance for any help!

seska422

Experiment to find a sustainable calorie intake amount that still puts you at a deficit. As long as you consume fewer calories than your body uses, you'll lose weight.

An average of 2 pounds per week is too ambitious when you already are in the normal BMI range or close to it. Try 1 pound or even 0.5 pounds. Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint.

TavistockToad

Set MFP to lose 0.5lb per week, you don't have enough to lose to have such a steep deficit

mkculs

Also, are you sure you are netting 1200? I know that's a mistake I made in previous weight loss attempts--I'd eat 1200, not net at least 1200.

And yeah, 2 lbs/week is too aggressive with the relatively small amount you need to lose. I hope you can accept that you need to lose more slowly (the 0.5 lbs/week is probably best b/c you have fewer than 20 lbs to lose), and enjoy the extra food.

workinonit1956

Definitely set your goal to lose 1/2 pound a week. At your size, it’s going to come off slower, but if you set a *realistic* goal, log your intake honestly and accurately and eat back some (at least 50%) of those work out calories it will come off! Patience—I cant stress that enough!

sfinsc

Thanks, everyone! It turns out the half a pound loss put me at a caloric goal that was perfect. I'm okay with losing more slowly.

sirenserenade

Agree with everyone else about being overly ambitious. Aim for 1/2lb a week, 1lb MAX.

The leaner you get, the harder it is to lose that little bit of extra weight. I know how this feels, and it sucks. Given that I seemed to drop my first 30lb so quickly a few years ago (from 160-130). Now I'm sitting around where you're at: 5'4", 129.5lb, and I want to get down to 123lb ASAP so I can begin adding more muscle to my body... But my body is unfortunately reacting totally different to weight loss now that I'm so much leaner. It's just not okay with me cutting out so many calories anymore (probably doesn't help that I'm way more active, too. Lifting + cardio 5x per week, I exercise every single day). I pretty much can't go below 1500/day (some days if I'm busy, I get down to 1400 but that's about as low as I can tolerate before I feel starved).

Expect to spend a few weeks finding a "balance" that works for you before you start losing anything. For me, I'm still struggling to eat enough food to power me through my workouts (I know you're not as active) but also eat little enough that I stay in a deficit.

Food quality and macros are important, too. For me, protein is very filling - even shakes! Add a banana or some other fruit in there and I have an entire 200 cal meal that keeps me full for several hours. Cottage cheese with granola is one of my favorites for this, too.

Carbs tend to keep my full for a short period of time, but die off within an hour or so. Protein is better for long term satiety in my case. If you are struggling to stay full, maybe try a higher protein diet.

Courtscan2

Your stats are very similar to mine, I am 5'3.5 and 137 trying to get to 125 ish. I have a desk job, but workout 5-6 times per week and am losing on around 1500-1600 per day. Not losing terribly quickly, probably 0.5lbs a week (if I'm good all week, which I'm not always!) but losing consistently on that number of cals.