41 year old, 5ft1 female confused!

katkins73

First of all thank you to all that use this site, it is wonderful and so helpful. I am confused however :laugh: I have read some petite threads and read that some small ladies have success on less than 1200 cals and that our height should be taken into consideration and that eventually 1200 cals can become too many to lose on. I filed it away for later because I am still very overweight right now. Then I read some more threads that are very anti 1200 cals and they also make sense to me! I went on a few sites and right now my BMR appears to be around 1400 cals a day and therefore I should eat at least this many plus exercise cals. I am confused because surely if I have a lot of fat stores wouldn't my body use them to keep my body functioning? Isn't that how diets work? I am sorry I am sure this has all been discussed a million times but I have trawled the old posts and cannot find any info that answers this specifically for a short woman in her early 40s who is quite sedentary (I am a student right now). Is it likely that 1200 cals plus exercise calories will stall me at some point or is it different for everyone and I should just wait and see what happens?

neandermagnon

I'm 5'1", 38 years old, my maintenance calories are around 2100 cals/day and I'm currently losing (slowly) while eating 1700-1800 cals/day. On the whole i'm in long term maintenance but i'm doing bulking (muscle gain) and cutting (fat loss) cycles for weight lifting and currently doing a cut. Other than the weight lifting I'm quite sedentary.

1200 cals/day is too few for most people.

Brandolin11

First of all thank you to all that use this site, it is wonderful and so helpful. I am confused however :laugh: I have read some petite threads and read that some small ladies have success on less than 1200 cals and that our height should be taken into consideration and that eventually 1200 cals can become too many to lose on. I filed it away for later because I am still very overweight right now. Then I read some more threads that are very anti 1200 cals and they also make sense to me! I went on a few sites and right now my BMR appears to be around 1400 cals a day and therefore I should eat at least this many plus exercise cals. I am confused because surely if I have a lot of fat stores wouldn't my body use them to keep my body functioning? Isn't that how diets work? I am sorry I am sure this has all been discussed a million times but I have trawled the old posts and cannot find any info that answers this specifically for a short woman in her early 40s who is quite sedentary (I am a student right now). Is it likely that 1200 cals plus exercise calories will stall me at some point or is it different for everyone and I should just wait and see what happens?

In order to truly answer your question, would you mind providing your current weight, how often you exercise and for how long each time, what your goal weight is, and how many lbs a week you desire to lose?

katkins73

Thanks for the quick replies I weigh 173lbs and exercise most days, either walking or Turbo Fire for now so on average 1 hour exercise a day though some days it will be more. I would love to lose 2lb a week but being so short I don't thibnk that is really possible so probably 1lb a week may be more realistic

katkins73

Sorry I forgot to include my goal weight and to be honest I am a bit clueless but maybe 125lbs though I do plan to strat some resistance training a bit further down the line (Chalean xtreme) so I am not sure about weight

loram11

I'm 49 and 5'1" and weigh 190. I have a calorie balance of 1300 and don't eat back all of my exercise calories and I am losing about 2 pounds a week. But, I am in a program for pre-diabetes and we count primarily fat grams (mine for the day are 42) and calories secondary. We also do a minimum of 150 minutes of exercise weekly. I do about 300 minutes a week and mix it up with cardio and strength. Everyone is so different you may have to play around with it to see what works for you. For me, this took almost a year before I found the right combination for me.

Good Luck!!!

clioandboy

Hi, Im 5' 1" started at 170lbs and am on 1500 net and am losing steadily 1-2lbs per week. I eat my exercise calories that I measure with an hrm (do not trust the MFP database it offers way too many calories).
The way I see it, I could net 1200 lose fast then put it back on as I wouldnt want to maintain on or around 1200. I will reevaluate as and when I stall, but for me this has to be sustainable, I got to goal couple of years ago exercising like a demon and eating low - couldnt keep it off and lost the plot when my weight started creeping up. This time is for keeps. Good luck to you!

StaciMarie1974

It can seem overwhelming to get started. If you're feeling lost here is a piece of good news: you don't have to master everything in one day. Its ok to pick a couple of things to work on at a time. Perhaps start weighing/logging your food and increasing water intake?

The big picture: to lose weight you need to eat in a reduced calorie range. But you also want to eat enough to fuel your body, give it proper nutrition. More good news is that you are always burning calories - even when you're not really trying to. (This is where BMR comes into play.) As to what is the right intake range for you, it might take a little trial and error to figure out.

We are similar in age - I'm 39. I'm a little talker (5' 5.5") but height doesn't have as much impact on how we burn as weight does. I've lost almost 25 pounds (was 178, now 154.4) since Christmas. Its been an on-again, off-again love affair for the past 10 years, and what is different for me this time: I'm focusing on overall activity level rather than exercise. For me eating reduced comes easily as long as I track - and I aim for mostly good food choices, focus on getting in fruits & veggies. Drinking more water, etc. I don't ban any food but go for moderation, portion control. Exercise has always been a challenge area. I'm lazy by nature. But being active, doing active things: feels good. So I focus on getting at least 10-15k steps per day. Some of it by natural activity and some by cardio. Trying to get better at strength training but that is still a work in progress. I eat mostly 1400-1600 per day. When I updated my goals with MFP the other day I put in light activity, 1 pound per week goal and was assigned 1450 per day intake. In the past I've tried eating lower and it wasn't something I could do long term AND feel energetic, satisfied. SOme days sure but not long term.

I'm not a very active person - its something I work at. And that's ok.

MFP is a great resource. I'm the sort who may need to log food indefinitely, even somewhat once I reach maintenance. I tend to fall off the wagon otherwise but this is a way to keep myself accountable. To myself.

dru8376

First of all thank you to all that use this site, it is wonderful and so helpful. I am confused however :laugh: I have read some petite threads and read that some small ladies have success on less than 1200 cals and that our height should be taken into consideration and that eventually 1200 cals can become too many to lose on. I filed it away for later because I am still very overweight right now. Then I read some more threads that are very anti 1200 cals and they also make sense to me! I went on a few sites and right now my BMR appears to be around 1400 cals a day and therefore I should eat at least this many plus exercise cals. I am confused because surely if I have a lot of fat stores wouldn't my body use them to keep my body functioning? Isn't that how diets work? I am sorry I am sure this has all been discussed a million times but I have trawled the old posts and cannot find any info that answers this specifically for a short woman in her early 40s who is quite sedentary (I am a student right now). Is it likely that 1200 cals plus exercise calories will stall me at some point or is it different for everyone and I should just wait and see what happens?

1. Understand that your not a diet, your on a lifestyle change. A change in the way you eat, exercise and consume water while counting the amount of calories you eat.

2. Do not listen to anyone that says to eat less than 1200 calories, it's starving your body. Even if they exercise. You will see that they almost never eat back their exercise calories. (from what I've read)

3. When you exercise, eat back as much of your exercise calories.

4. Trying to lose 2 lbs per week can be very stressful for yourself. Resetting it down to 1 lb per week will be much better for you.

5. When you signed up for MFP, you were asked to enter your height and weight. Once you did, those were factored in to estimate how many calories you should eat per day along with how much weight you want to lose per week.

6. Do not listen to anyone that says to eat less than 1200 calories.

lrmall01

The best advice I can give you is that any number is just a starting point. Nothing wrong with 1200 + exercise calories for a starting point. Do it for some time and see what happens. If you are starving and miserable you need more food. If you are not losing then you need less food.

In general smaller calorie defecits are probably better since you won't be as hungry, more likely to adhere to your plan, and to minimize muscle loss. Losing 2lb per week seems nice on paper but becomes miserable in practice unless you are quite obese.

Hope this helps - good luck!

Nice2BFitAgain

Have you read this yet: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

It will answer most of your questions.

katkins73

Thank you to all of you for taking the time to respond to me, I really appreciate it My first weigh in is on Monday so as you can imagine I am super motivated right now but i know myself quite well and don't think I could stick to very low calories long term! This next week is the Easter holiday which means I have a lot of time to exercise so 1200 cals plus exercise cals will be easy but when I am back at uni I think I will reset my info so I can have a few more calories. I guess I have to experiment and see what works for me. Thank you again and good luck with your goals

Nice2BFitAgain

Something else to consider - as you get closer to your goal weight you need to eat less because you have less mass to keep alive. Do you want to start at 1200 and go down from there? Or does it make more sense to start closer to your TDEE of 1900 (which you should change as you lose weight) and work down from there.....

Good luck with reaching your goals!

Serah87

Have you read this yet: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

It will answer most of your questions.

THIS!!! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I am 5'2 and 44 years old. I eat between 1800-2000 calories and lose about a pound a week.

Slow and steady is the way to go. :bigsmile:

katkins73

So good to hear that you can eat so much and still lose, especially now I am in my 40s!!! I think I have to eat more so I will stick to this

Brandolin11

Thanks for the quick replies I weigh 173lbs and exercise most days, either walking or Turbo Fire for now so on average 1 hour exercise a day though some days it will be more. I would love to lose 2lb a week but being so short I don't thibnk that is really possible so probably 1lb a week may be more realistic

Thanks for your response!

Okay, I've got some GREAT news for you. Are you ready?

Firstly, I'm using the following link to calculate your information: http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/tools/Calculator-Daily-Calorie.html

Though you're working out almost every day, I'm going to underestimate a touch and use "exercising 3-5x a week" for your activity level, since you're sedentary during the day normally (I believe you said this).

I'm going to calculate your TDEE, which means you would enter your daily calorie limit into MFP manually and NOT eat back your exercise calories. This is because we are already using your exercise as part of the equation to figure out your daily caloric needs.

So...your BMR is 1495.
To maintain your current weight, you would eat 2,316.
To lose 1 lb a week you would eat 1,817.
To lose 1.5 lbs a week, you would eat 1,567.
To lose 2 lbs a week, you would eat 1,317.

Sounds a lot better than a measley old 1,200 calories, doesn't it?

Here is a link to a great ideal weight calculator. It calculates your weight according to five different methods, so you can average them out and get a good ballpark of where you might like to be.
http://www.calculator.net/ideal-weight-calculator.html?ctype=standard&cage=41&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=1&cheightmeter=180&printit=0&x=57&y=8

Based on the Robinson formula (1983), your ideal weight is 111.8 lbs
Based on the Miller formula (1983), your ideal weight is 120.1 lbs
Based on the Devine formula (1974), your ideal weight is 105.4 lbs
Based on the Hamwi formula (1964), your ideal weight is 105.2 lbs
Based on the healthy BMI recommendation, your recommended weight is 97.9 lbs - 132.3 lbs

If we average this out, we get 112 lbs.

So if you're 174 now, and want to be 112, you have 62 lbs to lose.

If you picked the daily calorie intake for losing 1.5 lbs a week, for example (1,567), you would reach your goal in about 41 weeks. That would put you at the end of January of next year for reaching your ultimate goal.

While that sounds exciting, it also sounds a bit intimidating. So let''s break it up into manageable, 10-lb chunks.

You'd lose 10 lbs by May 30th. (psst - that's next month (wink))
You'd lose 20 by July 18th.
30 by August 22nd.
40 by October 10th.
50 by Nov 28th (thanksgiving)
60 by Jan 16th of next year (right after you'd celebrated new year's in a hot new dress to match your hot new body!)

So what do you think about that? You think you could do 1,567 a day, do your normal exercise, and have a hot new body by the new year?

Brandolin11

By the way, I should mention that as you lose each 10 lbs, it's best to recalculate your TDEE because your caloric needs will reduce. So technically each time you'll get less calories, it's not so bad because it's not a severe number and you adjust quickly.

Using this method, I was able to predict the date I'd hit my next 10-lb loss within three days of actually hitting it. The trick is to track EVERYTHING, do not cheat, do not go over your daily limit (except on rare occasions), and to really do that exercise!

katkins73

Wow thank you Brandolin 112 is 8 stone and I am not sure I can really be that light, sounds like a dream :laugh: I'd love to lose 10lbs by next month, in fact in an ideal world I would like to lose 14lbs (1 stone) b y the 19th June when I go away for a few days. What worries me about eating this way is if I cannot exercise I will be overeating whereas knowing I can eat whatever exercise cals I earn is so motivating! Thank you so much though, I have lost to think about

Nice2BFitAgain

Wow thank you Brandolin 112 is 8 stone and I am not sure I can really be that light, sounds like a dream :laugh: I'd love to lose 10lbs by next month, in fact in an ideal world I would like to lose 14lbs (1 stone) b y the 19th June when I go away for a few days. What worries me about eating this way is if I cannot exercise I will be overeating whereas knowing I can eat whatever exercise cals I earn is so motivating! Thank you so much though, I have lost to think about

Start with the 1567 calories - if you don't exercise then simply eat 100 less calories that day - no big deal.

go to Goals > Custom: Manually Set Goals > Put in you own calorie limit and change calories burned/week to 0.
If you still want to log you exercise, just to know what's been done, log it and change the calories burned to 1 (MFP doesn't accept 0)

spara0038

I'm 5'2"

SW 150
CW 134
GW 120
UGW 115

Started out at 1200 cal/day, and I lost 0.5-1lb/week. Felt weak, tired, not myself so I upped it to 1400 cal/day. I'm finding now that I lose 1.5-3 lbs/week. I'm feeling more alert, which is helping me to go to the gym 4-5 days/week as opposed to 3-4.

Basically, I calculated my BMR and I'm just eating whatever that is. Any exercise is basically what is creating my calorie deficit, and I find that pretty easy to monitor. I know TDEE will put my calorie goal at higher than 1400, but I actually struggle to get up to 1400, so I'm working with that for now. I'm also trying to get plenty of protein and watch my sodium intake. Everything in balance, though- I don't deny myself anything as long as it fits within my calorie "budget".

StaciMarie1974

Some people choose to throw in a 'cheat' day occasionally. That does not work for everyone. What I do: 2-3 times a month I eat more. But still track, hold myself accountable, and don't go crazy. Would not be worth the ugh feeling that would surely follow. Instead I aim for more of a 'normal' level. Normal being not looking for a calorie deficit. Its amazing what you can have when you give yourself those 500-1000 calories back in a day. I think it is good because it keeps things from becoming too routine, so metabolism doesn't grow complacent. And I can have things that I might choose not to when aiming for lower calories in.

Isca_1

Great information in this threads! Thanks everyone! Need all the help/info I can get!


Cheers!

katkins73

I agree Isca, so much great advice, thanks so much everyone

Brandolin11

I agree Isca, so much great advice, thanks so much everyone

You're very welcome. Best of luck and keep us posted?