Standard calorie goals in the 5'0'' to 5'1'' range

HylesGallii

I'm around 5'0'' (or 5'1'', it depends which way any one doctor decides to round it seems), and currently between 186 and 179lbs depending on fluctuations of water weight. I hope to lose .5lbs a week, and am unfortunately sedentary as a whole due to work, though I do try to take 30 minute walks when I can as I find them enjoyable and it gives me the chance to see the local groundhogs, who I love.

My question is: for my current goal for weight loss MFP has given me 1'610 calories a day, which is certainly less than I am used to and I plan to try and get fully comfortable with before considering any further deficit, though I don't think I'd ever go further than 1lb a week (for which I am recommended 1'360 calories per day). The recommended calorie goal for maintenance at my current goal of 130lbs is 1'580 calories. I may have a lower goal in time, but I will see how I feel once I get there, which is over a year in future assuming steady progress which I'm quite alright with in exchange for health and sustainability.

However, I was looking through "5’-5’3” girl success stories before & after" thread just to see how peoples bodies had changed over time, and I noticed through reading a number of discussions that most people even a couple of inches taller than me at around the same weight had quoted around 1400 to lose weight at the same rate of .5lbs *with* significant daily exercise, several people at the same height as me even saying they gained weight at my recommended calorie intake. Needless to say, the thread did just kind of end up making me feel bad about myself seeing this in sheer frequency.

Due to this I suppose I just wanted to ask: is the MFP estimate I received actually reasonable for my height and weight? Or should I truly be going down another 200 calories or even to or near to the minimum calorie value even to lose weight at the slowest rate possible?

Edit: I am also in my early to mid 20s, if this is useful.

Lietchi

I'll reassure you with another number 😉
I'm 5ft5, currently 144 lbs and I've never eaten as low as 1400 calories, not even on a day without exercise, during my whole weight loss journey. I'm currently eating on average 1900-2000 calories per day, and still losing slowly (more slowly than 0.5lbs per week though). And my metabolism exceptional or anything.

MFP uses formulas based on statistical averages. Which means most people will find it very to fairly accurate. But there are some people who will find the numbers fairly inaccurate and a small minority who will find them very inaccurate. On both sides by the way, could be overestimating your calorie expenditure or underestimating it!

The best thing you can do is follow the numbers for one or two menstrual cycles/4 to 8 weeks, follow your weight loss trend (for example with the apps Happy Scale or Libra) to filter out fluctuations and then compare your actual weight loss to how much weight you should have lost theoretically.
Then you'll know if you can trust the numbers or if you need to adjust upwards or downwards.

Bella_Figura

I'll also do my best to reassure you.

I'm the same height as you (between 5'0" and 5'1") and considerably older (age 56) and I'm currently eating between 1500 and 1600 calories a day, and I've lost 30lbs over the past 16 weeks (BMI reduced from 40 to 34). The only regular exercise I get is walking the dog, although I do like gardening so I burn some calories that way. I defninitely don't have an exceptional or unusual metabolism. My loss rate has been pretty high, so I'm sure I could afford to increase my calories and still lose consistently.

I now have 130 days of data on calorie intake and weight loss, so I estimate my TDEE is around 2,250 at the moment, and my TDEE once I'm at goal should be around 1850 calories. Once you have a month or two of data (for which you need to log your calorie intake accurately and fully), you should be able to calculate your own personal TDEE, and set an approriate calorie deficit tailored to your specific metabolism. Until you have your own data, the Scooby TDEE calculator isn't wildly inaccurate: https://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/#charts

Even a sedentary job doesn't rule out burning lots of calories through NEAT, so for some good ideas on how to sneak easy calorie burning into your daily routine you should check out these threads:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10707575/not-quite-exercise-what-active-lifestyle-activities-do-you-enjoy-throughout-the-day

You sound as if you have a real good attitude - don't fall into the trap of undercutting your calories to lose weight too fast. Slow and steady really is the best and most sustainable approach.

nooshi713

Everyone is individual so don’t worry about other people. Go with what MFP recommends and you can always adjust later. Just make sure your logging is accurate.

wunderkindking

Don't worry about what other people are doing or think they're doing, but I'll throw some more numbers at you:

I'm 5'5" (so taller than you, granted), but also weigh 140 which is within healthy BMI (about 23%) and I lose just freaking fine on 1500 or 1600 calories a day, before accounting for exercise. With exercise/activity it's more like 2100 and still losing, albeit slowly.

Let your results guide you. Don't borrow trouble.

AnnPT77

HylesGallii wrote: »

I'm around 5'0'' (or 5'1'', it depends which way any one doctor decides to round it seems), and currently between 186 and 179lbs depending on fluctuations of water weight. I hope to lose .5lbs a week, and am unfortunately sedentary as a whole due to work, though I do try to take 30 minute walks when I can as I find them enjoyable and it gives me the chance to see the local groundhogs, who I love.

My question is: for my current goal for weight loss MFP has given me 1'610 calories a day, which is certainly less than I am used to and I plan to try and get fully comfortable with before considering any further deficit, though I don't think I'd ever go further than 1lb a week (for which I am recommended 1'360 calories per day). The recommended calorie goal for maintenance at my current goal of 130lbs is 1'580 calories. I may have a lower goal in time, but I will see how I feel once I get there, which is over a year in future assuming steady progress which I'm quite alright with in exchange for health and sustainability.

However, I was looking through "5’-5’3” girl success stories before & after" thread just to see how peoples bodies had changed over time, and I noticed through reading a number of discussions that most people even a couple of inches taller than me at around the same weight had quoted around 1400 to lose weight at the same rate of .5lbs *with* significant daily exercise, several people at the same height as me even saying they gained weight at my recommended calorie intake. Needless to say, the thread did just kind of end up making me feel bad about myself seeing this in sheer frequency.

Due to this I suppose I just wanted to ask: is the MFP estimate I received actually reasonable for my height and weight? Or should I truly be going down another 200 calories or even to or near to the minimum calorie value even to lose weight at the slowest rate possible?

Edit: I am also in my early to mid 20s, if this is useful.

To the bolded: Note that the generic way MFP is intended to work is to have a base calorie goal of X calories, then eat back a reasonable estimate of exercise calories *in addition* to the base goal. Unless they're being very explicit about it, someone saying "I lose on 1400" can be saying that's their base calorie goal, before exercise. They may be actually eating more calories.

(Also - and I know I'm entering granny mode when I say this - sometimes some women seemingly like to focus on eating in bird-like ways for weight loss, may not be mentioning over-goal days, so-called "cheat meals", and who knows what all. Take claims with a grain of salt, and use a reasonable source (like MFP) to get a research based goal as your own starting point. Then, track your actual results, and adjust based on one or two menstrual cycles' worth of personal weight loss data. That'll work swell.)

This next is an example of how the exercise calorie thing works, and also (I hope) a reassurance like some of those above:

I'm taller than you, at 5'5". However, I'm much lighter (125-ish pounds right at the moment), and *much* older (65). I've been losing very slowly over the past months (starting around 135 or so) at 1850 calories plus all exercise calories, which means I've been eating 2200-2500 calories a lot of days . . . and there have been a few well-over-goal days in there besides.

Back a few years, when I first lost a bunch of weight, I was around your current weight (183, in my case). I estimated calories for a few months, so I don't have calorie levels from then; but I joined MFP in the mid-150s pounds, and lost at about the fastest sensible rate at 1400-1600 plus all carefully-estimated exercise calories. In total (pre-MFP and MFP), I lost 50+ pounds in less than a year . . . at age 59-60, while hypothyroid.

I grant I'm mysteriously a good li'l ol' calorie burner, but the idea that you'd lose half a pound a week at 1400 plus exercise (if you do any) doesn't seem at all improbable to me, given your size and age.

Be aware that slow weight loss can take up to a couple of months to show up *clearly* on the scale, just because 2 pounds a month fat loss plays peek-a-boo on the scale with that 2-5 pounds or so of water fluctuations, so it takes time to see the trend clearly.

Best wishes!