What should my calorie goal be?

GypsieFlower94

So I am pretty new.

I've been dieting and exercising for over a month now, and I'm seeing very minimal results. I am 170cm tall, with a waist measurement of 76cm/30in and I weigh 75kgs. I have a desk job - receptionist - and I work out at least 3 times a week for at least an hour each time. I actually really enjoy working out so I do it whenever I can for as long as I can.

I started at 1200 calories, as that was the minimum and I wanted the best results as fast as possible, it was easy to manage until I started going to the gym. I then became super hungry all the time, grumpy and grouchy, and eventually started going over my goal, often. I've bumped it up to 1800 now, as that seems to be ok for me hunger wise, and I usually manage to get pretty far below on a good day, but lately I have been binging a lot, and I feel like it could do with the fact that no matter how many people tell me I look slimmer, I'm really not seeing results, and it's making it hard for me to keep up the motivation to eat right.

I still want to go to the gym, but I have had cravings and binges a lot more than ever before, even before I was dieting.

I'm not sure what I should be doing to ensure I am losing weight. Even if I don't lose weight, but I lose fat and tone up, I would be happy. I am aware muscle is a lot heavier than fat, but I would still like to lose the weight, 75kg just seems too much for me.

If anyone had any advice or ways to find accurate information on what my goals should be please let me know, thank you!

Aaron_K123

You are making it harder than you need to by trying to eat much less than you should.

If you are 19, 170cm tall and 75kg then your BMR (basal metabolic rate) is around 1600. If you have a desk job that will bring your NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) to about 1900 to 2000. If you workout for an hour 3 days a week lets assume you burn about 400 calories doing that. That would mean 1200 calories a week divided by 7 days a week so that is an extra 170 calories. So that would bring your maintenance calories to something around 2100 a day.

You don't look like you have that much weight to lose in your picture so lets say you aim for 10% less than your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) that would mean eating about 1900 calories a day.

Your 1800 calories a day seems pretty close to that so that seems reasonable. 1200 was way WAY to low but sounds like you noted that. That would be about a 300 calorie deficit which would put you at losing 1/2 a pound per week which seems reasonable.

I mean seems like you have a reasonable calorie level to me, think you should just stick with it and see what progress you make over a 2 month period. Go off tape measurements and not just scale weight too.

GypsieFlower94

Yeah I will have to do that, coz I am really not seeing any results, and that is something that always demotivates me a lot. For some it might motivate them but for me it makes me binge coz I figure I might as well feel good while I eat coz I'm not feeling good dieting and not getting results.

I want to aim to burn around 1000 calories at the gym each visit, is that unreasonable?

Yeah its more weight I can see, and like cellulite on my legs and stuff. Im not overweight, I just feel heavy and I feel like I look it too.

could there be a reason I lost no weight at all the entire month? I only have 10kgs to lose, and I heard that at the beginning of a weight loss regimen you tend to lose a lot very quickly and then it gets harder, but I haven't lost any, ive lost like a few centimetres off my waist, but that's about it.

beautifulwarrior18

1000 calories per visit is unreasonable. You don't need to kill yourself to be successful. As far as cellulite, heavy lifting is the only thing that will get rid of that so I'd recommend starting Stronglifts 5x5 or New Rules of Lifting for Women. I burn about 400-500 calories per gym visit and I am much heavier than you are so I burn more calories. And since you really only have 10 kg to lose, heavy lifting might be your answer to all of it. It really Just sounds to m like you want to replace fat with muscle, which doesn't require a deficit or killing yourself on the treadmill.

terbusha

I have a question for you. Since you started dieting and exercising, have you seen changes in body measurements? You can not lose any weight and still see big-time changes in body measurements. This is a great measure of progress. The scale can be frustrating at times, but progress can still be made. Are you tracking your body fat %? This is the best measure of fitness (in my opinion). People can be very different weights and have the same body fat %. Just compare a marathon runner to a short distance sprinter...very different body compositions.

With that said, 1800 cal/day for a woman seems like a lot of calories to try to lose weight at. The women that I have coached do better in the 1400-1600 cal/day range, but if you can lose weight at the higher level, do it. It'll give you more room to make adjustments down the road if you have troubles. What are your macro goals? Eating a diet higher in protein will fill you up more and keep you from being hungry on the lower calorie plans. How are you exercising? To get very good results, people usually need to exercise 5-6 days/week with intense, targeted routines. Personally, I don't have time to got the gym (grad student, wife works night shift, have a son, bible studies, music rehearsal,...). I exercise at home and it has worked very well for me. It certainly allows me to be very consistent in my habits.

Support and accountability are crucial. You need to have people to turn to when you are wandering from the path that will tell you that you don't need to eat that. There is no shame in struggling. Everyone does, especially with nutrition. It is by far the hardest part of this journey.

If you need any more help, please let me know.

Allan