5'4-5'5 women what are your maintenance calories?

FL_Hiker

Hi ya'll ,
I know everyone is different but i'm curious what other 5'4 women's maintenance calories are. I'm new to maintenance (5'4, 118 lbs) and struggling on 1600 calories a day; i'm still losing! I thought 1600 + eating back all of my exercise calories would have been pretty close, but I guess i'm a busy body and never sit still so i'm continuing to increase calories. Would love to hear from you if you are around the same height/weight, how many calories a day do you need? Are you a busy person? And what kind of exercise do you do?
Thanks !

kommodevaran

I'm 5'3 and around 125 pounds, not very active, just walk, dance and play sometimes, and maintain on around 1900-2000, so no wonder you're losing weight. Aren't you hungry?

FL_Hiker

kommodevaran wrote: »

I'm 5'3 and around 125 pounds, not very active, just walk, dance and play sometimes, and maintain on around 1900-2000, so no wonder you're losing weight. Aren't you hungry?

Oh wow that's eye opening. Nope not hungry at all, could be because it's so darn hot outside the heat always curbs my appetite.

Cassandraw3

While I am not in maintenance yet, my maintenance calories appear to be in the 1700-1800 range without exercise calories at 5'4" and around 147 lbs. I work a desk job though, so not a lot of moving around during the day. At what rate are you still losing weight?

FL_Hiker

Cassandraw3 wrote: »

While I am not in maintenance yet, my maintenance calories appear to be in the 1700-1800 range without exercise calories at 5'4" and around 147 lbs. I work a desk job though, so not a lot of moving around during the day. At what rate are you still losing weight?

It's hard to tell since I've had a lot of fluctuations but they've all been downward trending. My goal was 120, but I haven't had any days above that and started maintaince 3 weeks ago. I've been 116 for several days but today went up to 118. So somewhere around a pound a week? Maybe I need to just give it more time to see a trend?

deannalfisher

somewhere in the 2500-2700 range - using a TDEE estimate - i'm pretty consistent with weight right now, but that will likely change when i start running more; i also average 8-12k steps a day

Cassandraw3

FL_Hiker wrote: »

Cassandraw3 wrote: »

While I am not in maintenance yet, my maintenance calories appear to be in the 1700-1800 range without exercise calories at 5'4" and around 147 lbs. I work a desk job though, so not a lot of moving around during the day. At what rate are you still losing weight?

It's hard to tell since I've had a lot of fluctuations but they've all been downward trending. My goal was 120, but I haven't had any days above that and started maintaince 3 weeks ago. I've been 116 for several days but today went up to 118. So somewhere around a pound a week? Maybe I need to just give it more time to see a trend?

Usually the advice is to give it 6-8 weeks. I do think you need to give it more time. How did you come to 1600 for maintenance? Is that what MFP gave you?

oocdc2

I'm 5'3", around 130 - 135 lbs. I eat 1400/day + 70% of my exercise calories, and for the past two years I seemed to maintain pretty well. I'm also 45 years old, so I may have to eat less than someone younger...

FL_Hiker

Cassandraw3 wrote: »

FL_Hiker wrote: »

Cassandraw3 wrote: »

While I am not in maintenance yet, my maintenance calories appear to be in the 1700-1800 range without exercise calories at 5'4" and around 147 lbs. I work a desk job though, so not a lot of moving around during the day. At what rate are you still losing weight?

It's hard to tell since I've had a lot of fluctuations but they've all been downward trending. My goal was 120, but I haven't had any days above that and started maintaince 3 weeks ago. I've been 116 for several days but today went up to 118. So somewhere around a pound a week? Maybe I need to just give it more time to see a trend?

Usually the advice is to give it 6-8 weeks. I do think you need to give it more time. How did you come to 1600 for maintenance? Is that what MFP gave you?

Yes, i set it as sedentary and figured I would just eat back my exercise calories which I calculate separately.

ritzvin

kommodevaran wrote: »

I'm 5'3 and around 125 pounds, not very active, just walk, dance and play sometimes, and maintain on around 1900-2000, so no wonder you're losing weight. Aren't you hungry?

She's eating 1600 net (not total), according to her post. (calculated estimates are 1500ish net sedentary calories)

to OP:
when comparing, note that most of the posters so far use TDEE (they pre-add estimated average daily exercise calories).

You may be getting more miscellaneous day-to-day activity than you think. (for instance, if you have to walk a bit to your car or a bus/walk from office to office enough or between office and plant, or if you are a fidgeter, or if you have to walk a bit to get to the bathroom (not uncommon in older engineering buildings - I can think of some that coped by converting every 3rd floor's bathroom into a ladies' bathroom rather than doing any construction; etc). Or possibly under-estimated exercise.

Francl27

Probably 1700 if I stay sedentary... that was for 5'4.5", 150lbs, 39yo. It's hard to tell though, it's hard for me to lose, but I don't gain as much as I should considering my numbers either. Very confusing.

born_of_fire74

I'm 43y/o, 5'4" and currently 130lbs +/- 2lbs. Maintenance is ~1550cals for me and I'm reliable for ~250cals of exercise per day over and above that. I'm not terribly active although I am on my feet all day at work and walk the dog 7kms/day pretty much no matter what (she's bonkers without her walks). I also normally do crossfit and yoga weekday mornings but I'm dealing with a knee injury that has sidelined me for the moment.

Noreenmarie1234

I typically eat around 2200-2600 depending on exercise level. I burn anywhere from 300-600 a day through exercise so my sedentary level comes to about 1800-2000. My BMI is around 18.5-19.

spiriteagle99

I'm 62 and very sedentary aside from deliberate exercise (walking and running). MFP gave me 1350 calories, which was too little for me. I continued to lose beyond my goal. I changed it to 1600 and eat back 100% of my exercise calories and have maintained at 121-125 for a couple of years.

missiontofitness

My maintenance range is around 1,800 when I'm in the 120s/130s, to 2,000-2,100 when I'm in the 150s/160s. I'm around 5'5 as well.

kgirlhart

I'm 5"3.5", 50 years old and maintaining ~119 on ~2100 calories per day. It took me quite a while to figure out maintenance. I was expecting to maintain around 1600-1700 but that was too low for me and I just kept slowly losing. I run 4 days a week for ~20-22 miles per week and do yoga weekday mornings. I was surprised at how much more calories I needed.

VioletRojo

I'm 52, 5'4", ~120ish and I maintain on a tdee of ~2200. I don't track diligently anymore so it's hard to say, but around there. I run 3-4 days per week and lift 2-4 days per week depending on my race schedule.

BlueButterfly94

Oh jeez I don’t even count calories anymore- though I know I should cause I’ve got chub creeping up. (Idk I kinda like it?) my Fitbit claims I burn 1800-2700 calories a day (HRM is always on) so I try to aim for what I know puts me at at least 2k

cheryldumais

I'm jealous! My maintenance was supposed to be around 1500 but I gain on that. I'm 5'5" tall, 145 lbs and 62 years old. I maintain on around 1300 to 1350. I'm pretty sedentary other than 8 - 10K steps per day. If you are losing then you are fortunate and can adjust up. No need to go hungry.

DancingMoosie

Try 1800+exercise calories. I'm a similar size and my doctor told me to eat at least 1800.

missperfectpitch

I'm 5'4" and ~109 lbs. I use TDEE and maintain at 1875 calories. I workout 6 days/week with 5 days being weight/strength training based and one day being cardio oriented. I also get in 10k steps per day (cardio/exercising is included in that). If you're still losing weight, then you could try to keep adding 50-100 calories/day each week until your weight stabilizes at where you're looking to maintain.

Unknown

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sydlovesscience

I'm 5'5 and around 121 and for me maintenance is under 1750, i can go over it and be fine, which is rare because most days i am around 1300-1400

mmnv79

I don't know how old are you, but that's what the online calculator I use says for your stats.

collectingblues

I'm 5'4", slightly heavier than you, and maintenance is about 2200 or so. I'm very active, and fairly muscular -- both of which are huge drivers.

Keep_on_cardio

Not yet in maintenance, here to catch tips yay for 5’4 buddies

admaarie

I’m 5’5, maintenance at 2150 but I mainly go over because I’m always on my feet all day (teacher) so I’m always pretty hungry so I range between 2100-2300 most days. I lift 4x a week, I walk a lot and always on my feet at work as I mentioned!

AnnPT77

Experience counts more than calculators. So-called calculators estimate, they don't actually calculate. If you're still losing, bump up calories gradually until you level off. If you add 100 per day once a week or so, and (horrors ) overshoot, it would take a month to gain a pound at 100 calories above actual maintenance - pretty correctable.

I'm 62, 5'5", 133-134, near sedentary outside of intentional exercise (average 6000-ish steps most days) and maintain around 2000-2100 net, maybe 2300 or so gross. That's a bit approximate, since I eat uneven amounts daily, and am sloppier with my logging now that I'm in year 3 of maintenance. For sure, I lose slowly (maybe 1-1.5 pounds or so a month) but observably (with a trending app) if I net 1850.

WanderingRivers

1610 and most days I am finding I don't meet that threshold. I usually hover around 1K-1200 calories.

trjjoy

I'm breastfeeding a toddler and she's very active so I'm constantly running around after her and picking her up etc etc etc. I'm losing weight on 2000-odd calories per day. I don't know what my maintenance calories are because I'm only logging now that I want to lose weight.

dulinh

I'm 5'4.5" 123lb 40yo. I've been tracking and calculating my maintenance calories each month since January. My range is 1572 -1982 with an average of 1845. My average is decreasing each month - I suspect due to weight loss over the year (started the year at 133) and switching from a cardio-based routine to strength-based routine.

My goal this month is to move a bit more because I find that 1700 calories avg/day works for me. Trying to stay under 1600 cal/day is tough!