Any petite women eat over 2000 calories?

lporter229

I am a 41 yo female, 5' 0 and currently 98 lbs. I want to maintain around 105. I was maintaining pretty well at 105 for about 6 months by eating around 1700 calories plus a portion of my exercise calories. However, I have Crohn's disease and a few months ago I went into a flare and began losing weight as a result. My flare is currently under control with the help of steroids, but I am still slowly losing weight, even though I have upped my calories to 1850 (calculated from online TDEE calculator, which should include my activity level ). My job is about 50% of the time in a lab and 50% behind a desk, so moderate activity level. I exercise 5-6 days per week, including 15-20 miles of running, 2-3 days of P90X strength videos, and a day of yoga or biking. I usually eat slightly over my 1850 goal. I thought for sure I would be gaining a bit of weight, not losing. Based on everything I see on this web site, this should be enough calories for me. I am unsure if I should consult my doctor or maybe I am still not eating enough. Does anyone else my size eat this much? I have looked at the diaries of others my size and age and haven't really found anyone.

Also, when I started on MFP, I was 124 lbs and I lost initially by eating 1200 calories PLUS my exercise calories and after 3 months switched to 1400 plus exercise.

Any advice is appreciated.

lporter229

Bump

kcvance

Sorry to hear about your flare up (my sister struggles with autoimmune colitis).

I am 37 - 5'3" tall and around 107 lbs. I use a fitbit to calculate my TDEE and am maintaining at around 2100 calories a day. I run 7-ish miles every morning and also lift weights, but I'm otherwise sedentary at my desk job.

I would bump it up a bit and then see what happens after a couple of weeks? Looks like the online TDEE calculator is off just a bit for you. Good luck!

9jenn9

Not an expert here, but my son has Crohn's and I 've done some reading and plenty of dr visits. Two things occur to me. If you're still healing from a flare, your body may be using extra calories to heal the damage. Also, I don't know what meds you are on, but could they be effecting your metabolism? The dr. told us that Crohn's patients can be inefficient at absorbing nutrients, etc. My son has to drink three ensure/boosts a day just to maintain weight. Maybe you could eat back some more of your exercise calories till your weight levels out.

neandermagnon

I'm petite in height, although I wouldn't call my shoulders or rib cage petite. I eat more than 2000 cals, I'm currently bulking but if I wanted to carry on eating that much while cutting I could start doing cardio or something.

Shorter people do need to eat slightly less than taller people, but not that much less.

My maintenance calories are 1900 cals/day, at a guess (I've gained weight from bulking, including lean mass so it might be a little bit higher now). I don't do much cardio at all, although under normal circumstances I do stuff like running up the stairs to my apartment... however the weather's a bit hot for that right now (I live in Bahrain which is in the Arabian Gulf and so has very high temperatures and very high humidity, so I'm not being a wuss when I say it's too hot)

I was losing weight very slowly at 1850 cals/day before I started bulking (and that's without cardio other than taking the stairs rather than the lift kind of thing). I don't actually know how many calories I'm eating for bulking but I'm pretty sure it's over 2000. I've been gaining weight slowly, about 2lb a month or thereabouts. It's hard to tell due to water weight fluctuations though. I've definitely gained weight and some of it is muscle.

therunninghippie

I'm a tall girl with pretty strong legs (not exactly petite), but I'm pretty slim and I eat over 2000 every day unless I'm sick. Usually approaching 2500

MinMin97

Turmeric root extract in capsules is really awesome for reducing inflammation.:)

lporter229

Thank you both for the replies. I guess I will try eating a little more. I try to eat nutrient rich foods and I feel like a already eat quite a bit. I eat much more than many people I know.

@9jenn9- Sorry to hear that your son struggles with Crohn's. What you said about absorbing nutrients is true. Usually this is only a problem when I am in a flare. Maybe I am still in a flare but the steroids are just masking the symptoms. Was hoping that's not the case...

@kcvance- Glad to hear that another small person besides myself has large food requirements. I am having a hard time believing that I do not eat enough, but maybe it is the case. When I compare my diary to those of my MFP friends, I am a pig!

AllonsYtotheTardis

I'm 5'2" and 41. Currently 136 lbs. My maintenance is over 2000 cal right now. Not sure what it will be when I get my body fat % a little lower.

pigeontoed86

Do you eat back your exercise calories if you run 7 miles?

lithezebra

It sounds like your problem might be related to your Crohn's. Maybe you aren't absorbing nutrients from your food, or maybe you have another condition that is causing weight loss. I would be concerned and talk to my doctor. Most people gain weight on steroids.

kcvance

@kcvance- Glad to hear that another small person besides myself has large food requirements. I am having a hard time believing that I do not eat enough, but maybe it is the case. When I compare my diary to those of my MFP friends, I am a pig!

I lost 60 pounds a few years back on Weight Watchers (after finally getting diagnosed/treated for an underactive thyroid), but that is really just starvation. I wanted to lose a bit of weight this time around so that my top half (skinny) sort of matches my bottom half (the only place I gain weight). Maintenance was a little scary this time around when actually seeing the number of calories I am supposed to eat every day, but it seems to be working great.

@pigeontoed86 - I eat every single one of my exercise calories back (I'm HUNGRY!). :-)

lporter229

Do you eat back your exercise calories if you run 7 miles?

I try to average it out over the week so that I am accounting for all of my exercise calories, but on days that I run high miles, I usually eat more. Well, usually the next day because I am hungry. Generally, I eat when I am hungry.

socioseguro

Hi

I am no expert. I am 5.0 height too. I would be happy with 124 lbs body weight. That would be BMI of 24.2

As mentioned by other posters, your disease may be impacting your body weight.


I eat at TDEE-10% for Maintenance, daily calorie goal depends on calories burned that day.

Good luck in your journey

emjaycazz

I eat at TDEE-10% for Maintenance, daily calorie goal depends on calories burned that day.

Hi socioseguro--have you been at TDEE-10% maintenance for a while? I've been considering calculating based on TDEE for maintenance and was curious what your experience has been (I work out 5-6 times a week if it makes a difference).

lporter229

I eat at TDEE-10% for Maintenance, daily calorie goal depends on calories burned that day.

Hi socioseguro--have you been at TDEE-10% maintenance for a while? I've been considering calculating based on TDEE for maintenance and was curious what your experience has been (I work out 5-6 times a week if it makes a difference).

Isn't TDEE, by definition, maintenance? IF you are at TDEE-10%, wouldn't you still be losing weight?

emjaycazz

Isn't TDEE, by definition, maintenance? IF you are at TDEE-10%, wouldn't you still be losing weight?

Theoretically, yes. However, with the standard TDEE calculators only factoring static things like gender, age, height, weight and number of times you exercise, there are still a lot of variables like the type of exercising that you do and differences in physiology.

neandermagnon

Isn't TDEE, by definition, maintenance? IF you are at TDEE-10%, wouldn't you still be losing weight?

Theoretically, yes. However, with the standard TDEE calculators only factoring static things like gender, age, height, weight and number of times you exercise, there are still a lot of variables like the type of exercising that you do and differences in physiology.

Your TDEE is where you neither lose or gain weight. If the calculator prediction doesn't match your actual TDEE, then the calculator is wrong for you. they are based on averages and don't take all factors into consideration, and there are different ones based on different factors that give different results for the same person.

If TDEE - 10% is maintenance, that's a contradiction in terms... the number of calories you eat when your weight is stable is your TDEE regardless what the calculators say.

Both Harris Benedict and Katch McArdle formulas underestimate my TDEE.... but that doesn't mean I maintain at TDEE + 10%... it means my TDEE is higher than the calculators predict.

Also, just to add that the biggest potential error is in the activity factor... if the TDEE prediction is wrong compared to your real world results the most likely reason is that the activity factor doesn't match how active you really are. But in some cases they can miscalculate basal metabolic rate (BMR) as well, due to the fact that we're all not identical.... but your BMR is how many calories your body uses to keep all your cells alive and organs running, and your TDEE is your BMR + all your exercise calories... calculators give estimates for these based on various factors but the estimates are not likely to be spot on for everyone, just a starting point where you might have to add or subtract a couple of hundred calories to match your real world results.

socioseguro

Thank you guys.

MFP is so great. I never stop learning.

I will revise my daily calorie goals.

Good luck in your journey to health, wherever you are !

emjaycazz

neandermagnon--thank you for your amazing post above!

MagicalLeopleurodon

4'8", 120#, and i eat 2500-2800 calories.