1850 calories stuck at 143 lbs.

Intergalacticspaceangel

I am 5'5 and have been stuck at 143lbs for the last year. I went from eating 2300 calories a day, to now an average of 1850. My weight hasn't changed at all and I do not see evidence of body re-comp. I used to be 125lbs on 1800 calories so this is confusing to me. I am just as active, measure my food, account for everything. I know I must accept reality that I will probably need to live life off of 1200-1600 calories from now on, but 1850 at 143lbs just seems odd to me. Any thoughts? Be brutal, thanks!

Oh and I walk about 90 minutes day, stand / walk at work, dance ballet for 2 hours once a week, advanced belly dance two hours a week and do aerial hoop once a week + ellipitical 1-2x a week.

yirara

Are you tracking your food intake every day, everything that has calories? And how are you measuring the amount of food?

csplatt

Honestly, I’m female, age 42, and my maintenance calories are about 1650. This is true at my current weight (about 130) and when I was closer to 150. It seems depressing but it’s doable to shift downward. Once we adjust / accept our newer limits, we can start embracing / filling that “disappointment” with other things in life that we love!

MomLarisa

I'm 49, F and 6'. I would gain on 1850. I only hold steady at around 1600. How old are you? You're body becomes more efficient when you cut calories and you will never be able to eat the calories you once could and still maintain. At some point your body will level out, but this is just a reality you're going to have to accept. Also, dont forget age plays into this as well. As you get older you're metabolism slows down, so that added with the efficiency of your body learning to run on fewer calories is why you're just holding steady. Sorry, learn to embrace it and move on. Our bodies are always changing and we need to adapt to what it needs at the present, not how it responded a couple years ago

tomcustombuilder

How long have you been at 1850? if it’s been less than a month you need to give it a little more time. If still no loss then your weekly calories are not allowing you to lose fat.

totameafox

You can eat very well off of 1600 calories. You will just have to adjust what types of food you are eating.
I'm currently eating between 1200-1300 calories. I would be throwing chia seeds on a couple of meals to make up the calories so I wouldn't have to chew more.

try lowering your calories slowly. Eventually you will find your sweet spot.

AnnPT77

You don't say how old or tall you are, which could be relevant. It's very possible IMO that you've found your current maintenance calorie level, since your year's experience suggests that.

Also - and this is not a diss - calorie logging can be a surprisingly subtle skill, so there can be a learning curve before getting good accuracy. You mention your calorie levels at various times, so maybe you've honed that skill, but I'm not sure whether you've been tracking meticulously at those times, or estimating to some extent. If all those times were tracked at the same level of care, then that reinforces the idea that you've found current maintenance calories at 1850.

It's true that aging can reduce calorie needs, but until around age 60, the main mechanism for that isn't a decline in metabolic rate (i.e. BMR) according to recent research:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8370708/

IMO, the probability of earlier calorie-needs reductions may be due to things like subtly and gradually less active daily (non-exercise) lives for the average woman as we age, gradual declines in muscle mass if we haven't taken quite firm and consistent measures to prevent/delay that, and for many women, a history of yo-yo dieting that through a couple of mechanisms effectively trains the body to require fewer calories over time. To the extent any of those apply, they are potentially reversible, with patience and some persistent work at it.

I do see that you're reasonably active, which is great. As long as you're not over-exercising to the point of fatigue bleeding calorie expenditure out of other parts of your life, staying active should be giving you higher calorie needs than you'd have without that activity, of course. Some of the things you mention could have muscle maintenance benefits, but I think to a sub-maximal extent.

No individual's calorie needs predict another's, but since others are offering data points, I'll add mine: I maintain on 1850 or a bit more plus exercise calories at your same height of 5'5", age 69, 131.6 pounds this morning, sedentary or close to it outside of exercise . . . but I know I'm somehow a mysteriously good li'l ol' calorie burner for my demographic.

Given what others have said about their calorie needs, it doesn't seem really odd to me that you'd maintain at 1850. If you want to increase that number, the mechanisms to consider would be progressive strength training, increasing daily life (non-exercise) activity, increasing exercise without overdoing it if you could add exercise while still maintaining an overall happy life balance, and - as more of a majoring in the minors thing that might contribute a tiny bit - shifting eating in the direction of higher protein and mostly whole foods if you're not there already (because the TEF is slightly higher). If you have a history of yo-yo dieting, some people report benefits from a "reverse diet" approach, but that's not a guaranteed success approach, I think. If any of those things resonate for you, there are some decent threads here on MFP with details/suggestions about some of them. If you'd like links to the ones I know about, say so.

Best wishes!