how many calories are smaller women having?

beccamccall
beccamccall Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 5'1 and 188lb and just completed my first week with Myfitnesspal. i was wondering what steps smaller women are taking in order to lose weight? As a smaller person i have restricted myself to 1200 calories and 45 minutes of exercise daily. Is this sufficient to lose weight? any other advice?
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Replies

  • wdwmindy
    wdwmindy Posts: 31
    Are you eating your exercise calories back?

    I am also 5'1" and MyFitnessPal has me at 1,200 calories with no exercise (I was sedentary when I started this adventure). I walk every day, my goal is 45 minutes. I eat back the calories I earn from exercise. On an average day I burn 2,000 calories and eat 1,500. I started at 160 and have lost 21.6 pounds in about 3 1/2 months.
  • birdiecs
    birdiecs Posts: 237 Member
    5'2.5 131lbs and my NET can be anywhere from 1300 to 1600 depending on what I'm doing that day. 1300 is really only on Sunday when I'm sitting on my butt all day. I'm not big on cardio, it makes me skinny fat, so that is limited to 30min 3x a week. I do love lifting and that is what I do on Mon Wed Fri for 1hr. That's about it.
  • beccamccall
    beccamccall Posts: 5
    im not eating back my exercise calories. im strict in what i eat and stick to 1200 calories. brilliant success you have had! i read a few posts saying 1200 was too low, but as a small person, i think i need to consume less calories in general anyway. im hopeful this journey will be as successful as yours!
  • beccamccall
    beccamccall Posts: 5
    5'2.5 131lbs and my NET can be anywhere from 1300 to 1600 depending on what I'm doing that day. 1300 is really only on Sunday when I'm sitting on my butt all day. I'm not big on cardio, it makes me skinny fat, so that is limited to 30min 3x a week. I do love lifting and that is what I do on Mon Wed Fri for 1hr. That's about it.


    have you lost weight from that? or is that maintainance weight routine? i suppose for me it is a method of trial and error. im so impatient! ha
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
    I eat 1200 plus 1/2 to all of my exercise calories back and I'm almost at my goal.
  • birdiecs
    birdiecs Posts: 237 Member
    5'2.5 131lbs and my NET can be anywhere from 1300 to 1600 depending on what I'm doing that day. 1300 is really only on Sunday when I'm sitting on my butt all day. I'm not big on cardio, it makes me skinny fat, so that is limited to 30min 3x a week. I do love lifting and that is what I do on Mon Wed Fri for 1hr. That's about it.


    have you lost weight from that? or is that maintainance weight routine? i suppose for me it is a method of trial and error. im so impatient! ha

    Oh no I'm not on maintenance by far. I'm still losing, my weigh in is tomorrow and my loss for this past month will be 5lbs. I've got a tentative goal of 120lbs. Just from experience not NETTING at least 1200 is going to make it hard to sustain over a long period of time. I'm not a happy woman when I'm hungry lol
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    im not eating back my exercise calories. im strict in what i eat and stick to 1200 calories. brilliant success you have had! i read a few posts saying 1200 was too low, but as a small person, i think i need to consume less calories in general anyway. im hopeful this journey will be as successful as yours!
    Is 5 ft 4 considered small? :bigsmile:

    I'm at maintenance now, but when i was eating at a deficit, I ate 1640 plus my exercise calories. I lost weight just fine.

    Becca, it's important that you eat at least a portion of your exercise calorie back because your deficit to lose weight is already built into the 1,200 calories MFP gives you. You are supposed to NET 1,200 calories each day, but when you don't eat exercise calories back you are under your net.

    For example, say your exercise that day burns 250 calories. 1,200 minus 250 leaves you a net of 950 to survive on, which is way below the usual basic metabolic rate. I was at 1,200 when I started on this journey and didn't eat my exercise calories back and got run down pretty quickly. When I started eating some back, I began to feel a whole lot better.
  • beccamccall
    beccamccall Posts: 5
    I will take on that advice. I am fairly overweight for my size but I'm being very sensible about what I'm taking in and not starving myself. What I eat is 350 for breakfast 400 for lunch and 450 for dinner and it makes me feel full and gives me energy.
  • tegalicious
    tegalicious Posts: 629
    To lose weight, 1400+exercise calories. To maintain, 1700+exercise calories. I lost 40 pounds this way and didn't get skinny fat.
  • ajcmoran2005
    ajcmoran2005 Posts: 173 Member
    I'm a little under 5'5" and I'm losing eating at least 1800 calories a day. Now keep in mind that I run for about 45 minutes everyday but even if I'm taking a day off I still lose eating 1400 calories. I did lose a ton of weight eating only 1200 calories a day but I stalled at about 130. Once I raised my caloric intake the weight started coming off again. In my opinion, 1200 calories is not a sustainable goal.
  • Meikmeika
    Meikmeika Posts: 108 Member
    I always wonder what us shorties are eating calorie wise. I do 1400 regardless if I exercise. I was thinking it would be more rewarding if I went down to 1200 and ate my exercise calls back. I'm a mess right now and can't seem to stay on track....
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    I'm 5'2 and eat around 1900 calories!!!! :bigsmile:

    See ticker below. :wink:

    44 yrs old

    ETA: That's 1200 calorie net.
  • NaomiJFoster
    NaomiJFoster Posts: 1,450 Member
    I'm almost 5'2"
    I started out at 187 pounds and started on here at 1500 calories with a balance of 40%carb, 30%fat, 30%protein. As I've lost, I've dropped the calories a bit.

    At around 170-175 pounds, I had my goal set at 1470 per day.

    Now I weigh 163 and have a goal of 1450 calories a day. I'm not really losing anything right now though, things have drastically slowed down. I'm not gaining! But I'm not losing. So I might rethink my numbers in a while.

    The first 20 pounds melted away much faster than I'd expected. But now I'm having to work for it.


    ETA: Yeah, that's Net. I do let the exercise calories factor back in to my total goal for each day. So on days that I work out, I'll usually eat around 1700-1800 calories.

    ETA (again): I'm 45 and my body has most certainly changed. It's frustrating, but I'm learning that it's not insurmountable. I'm also a preschool teacher and spend about 9 hours, 5 days a week being very active. I'm a sloth on the weekends.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    I'm 5'0" and 127 lbs. I haven't been really tracking lately (I'm basically in maintenance) but when I was last tracking I was at about 1800 daily and losing probably on average 1/2 pound per week (wouldn't want to lose more quickly because of current goals). I'm going to start tracking again, mostly to make sure I'm getting 100g of protein, and I'll have it set at 1600 since I don't measure very accurately (to account for the chance I'm eating more than that, lol)

    It should be noted that I lift heavy weights 2-3 times per week and am not sedentary - I have a 2 year old as well as older kids, so I'm often up playing with them, dancing for him, being bouncy and goofy, etc.

    ETA: I'm 36 … sometimes age can make a difference.
  • ggxx100
    ggxx100 Posts: 520 Member
    5'1 and eating around 1900-2000 calories! Mind you, this is in conjunction with heavy lifting. I started my weight loss eating 1300 calories and doing only cardio...wasn't losing and felt faint all the time, so had to bump it up to 1600-1700, switched over to lifting and lost the rest of the weight that way. Everyone is different but it's important to fuel properly and exercise to maximize your results. I honestly am eating similar caloric amounts now at 98-100 lbs as I was at 140 lbs...the difference is my exercise routine and the metabolic boost it gave me.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    I'm 5'1" and lose on 1800 cals/day, maintenance around 2100 cals/day. I have a large frame and high lean body mass for my height, so have a slightly higher basal metabolic rate than average for my height, but by my calculations that only adds a hundred or so calories. most short women can actually lose on more calories than you think, and MFP tends to underestimate calories. Short =/= having to restrict yourself to only 1200 cals/day. BTW I don't do any cardio pretty much, apart from having to go up and down stairs at my job and to my apartment (no lift). I lift heavy weights though :drinker:
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
    Just let MFP set your macros :-) And eat back your exercise. It doesn't matter how big you are because MFP will take this into account :-)

    Good luck and I hope you settle in here and hit your goals.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    Your weight is more important than your height. The reason many smaller women have to restrict calories is because "light" weights may not be as light for a petite woman. The two get linked together because of that.

    What does MFP give you for weight loss? Try it on both .5 lbs a week and 2 lbs a week. Then you can eat anywhere in that range from day to day.
  • tashaa1992
    tashaa1992 Posts: 658 Member
    I'm 4ft 10in and weigh 101.2lbs, my maintenance is 2500-2800 calories. I workout anywhere from 8-10 hours a week, weight training, running, HIIT, circuit training and kickboxing.

    Still trying to work out a sensible cut as I don't have that much left to lose, my advice to anyone is never net any lower than your bmr.
  • harleyjax
    harleyjax Posts: 109 Member
    I'm 5'5, 127 pounds and just raised my calories today. I was at 1200 for a long time, lost weight slowly and got to where I actually started gaining some back. Was hungry all the time and I've read a lot of statements on how people started losing weight when they finally raised their calories. If you don't eat enough your body goes to starvation mode. I may not eat the 1600 it's telling me to eat, but I'm not going to fret being over 1200 especially since I live a pretty active life.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    I'm a lot smaller, so this may be different. But, I am 5'2", weigh around 100 pounds, I'm 35. To lose I eat 1800 or 1850, but when I am losing I only want to lose a couple pounds max and at a very slow rate. For maintenance I don't go below 1900, but can eat as much as 2500 (usually averaging between 1900 and 2100). I set my macros at 50% carb, 20% protein, and 30% fat. I lift weights, dance, walk, and play with my kids.
  • chriamaria
    chriamaria Posts: 76 Member
    I think that little is just nuts. I don't understand why they give you that few. As you lose weight you're gonna have to reduce your amount of calories and really you're not supposed to go under 1200. I would bump it up a little bit more than that so that you have wiggle room to reduce as you start plateauing. If I were you, I'd bump it up to enough to only lose 1 lb per week and then exercise enough to lose the 2nd lb.
  • ItsMeGee3
    ItsMeGee3 Posts: 13,254 Member
    I'm 5' 0" I try to keep it at 1200-1400 calories, depending on my activity (unless it's a long run day, burning over 900 calories) then I would eat a little more.
  • SoozeE512
    SoozeE512 Posts: 439 Member
    I'm 5'1 and 188lb and just completed my first week with Myfitnesspal. i was wondering what steps smaller women are taking in order to lose weight? As a smaller person i have restricted myself to 1200 calories and 45 minutes of exercise daily. Is this sufficient to lose weight? any other advice?

    With your current stats, your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is 1655, which means that to keep your organs functioning properly, you need to NET at least 1655 calories every day until you start losing weight, and then that amount will go down. At a sedentary level with little exercise, your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is 1987. (Search BMR and TDEE calculators and you'll find lots of resources to keep up with these numbers)

    Personally, I vary my calories frequently and eat between my BMR and TDEE on any given day (with holidays, I've gone over a couple of times recently, but it hasn't hurt my weight loss one bit). At 5'3" and 140.6 lbs, my current BMR is 1429 and my current TDEE is 1715. When I exercise, I log it and eat my exercise calories back because I set my diary to 1440 calories so I don't want to fall below my BMR by netting lower than that number. I think someone else on here already explained how to figure out your NET calories.

    When I first started on MFP a couple of years ago, I did the 1200 thing for a while and completely stalled out after a few short months and started gaining back. It was incredibly frustrating. I gave up for a while, and then came back ready to try out the BMR and TDEE thing and I've had more continuous success with this method. I'm giving my body what it needs to function properly and it's thanking me by getting rid of the excess.

    Do what you think is best for you, but I highly recommend staying above your BMR (1655).
  • janupshaw
    janupshaw Posts: 205 Member
    I'm 5'3", 142#. I'm set at 1480 calories per day. I generally eat back all of my exercise calories. I lift 3 x per week, and do cardio 5 x per week. I don't give myself any extra calories for lifting. I do cardio so I can eat more!
  • beccamccall
    beccamccall Posts: 5
    I don't know any of the lingo... Ha, but what is skinny fat? I'm guessing I don't want that?
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    I don't know any of the lingo... Ha, but what is skinny fat? I'm guessing I don't want that?

    It basically means losing more muscle than fat, so being skinny, but loose and flabby (lacking shapeliness). Instead of firm with muscle definition. I never heard of it till mfp, either. I also thought it was a bizarre term when I first heard it. Also, people misunderstand it and misuse it very frequently.
  • soupandlettuce
    soupandlettuce Posts: 114 Member
    I have been averaging 1200 a day, for about two months and lost about 1lb a week. I am hungry! I don't want to continue eating like this. It's not enough food to maintain on a long term basis. I can't socialize with friends, eat proper meals with family or have a normal day without obsessing with over-eating.
    I know the answer though. Since I do almost zero formal exercise and am quite sedentary, i will now start with increasing my activity levels and up my calories to see if I can still lose at 0.5-1.0 lb a week but eat around 1600-1800 cals a day.
    I worked out what my calorie levels are like for an ideal day of what is for me normal eating and it's around 2000 a day. I really would like to be able to eat that much and maintain a goal weight of 120-125lb at a height of just over 5', age 40 and thyroid problems! ( tbh thyroid counts for about 10lb gain for me, not more than that)
  • arlenem1974
    arlenem1974 Posts: 437 Member
    I'm also 5'1 and when I started on here I was 190. I was eating about 1220 and not eating my exercise calories back I lost weight but after 5 months everything stopped. When I upped my cals to 1500 I started losing again. Now I'm 6.5 lbs away from my goal. I eat 1220 plus all my exercise calories. I normally walk 60-80 min a day do 10-20 min on my stepping machine and do 10-20 on my stationary bike. my heaviest weight was 202 in September 2012 and now I weigh 121.4.
  • LessthanKris
    LessthanKris Posts: 607 Member
    I am 5'1 and started at 169.8 lbs back in August. I work out six days a week. I completed Body Revolution the week before Thanksgiving and I weighed in at 149.8 in the beginning of December. I am up between 1 or 2 lbs from the holidays right now.

    MFP has me set at 1200 calories before exercise. I eat back all my exercise calories and had many weeks where I went over one day to eat out. Sundays are my off days so I only get 1200 calories but I do not find it too unmanageable really. It one day where I just really watch my portion sizes.

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