Ladies eating at a higher net?

stephabef

So... I've been on this site for almost 100 days. Started off at 1200, lost a few pounds. Went up to 1400 net next, because I didn't want to be stuck at 1200. Lately, it seems like my body is craving even more food, and I'm just wondering if this is normal as I get closer to my goal? I'm about 130 lbs at 5'4" and still looking to lose a bit more, so I don't want to go into maintenance mode just yet. I'm having a difficult time figuring out where I should be eating to lose, but it seems like I average or WANT to average around 1600 a day - even higher when I have a bigger burn. Thoughts? Or is this something that I just have to monitor on my own? I know everyone is different, but I don't want to screw myself over and gain because I'm eating too much.

melsinct

Ahhhh...the last 10 pounds. This is where it gets tricky because MFP does not accurately give you a perfect maintenance calorie amount. A fair amount of tweaking is involved. You'll have to experiment. I kept messing with my calories but monitored my weight along the way. I have found that 1700 calories at my usual exercise routine keeps me at my current weight (I am 5'7" and 146 pounds) and 1400 puts me in a deficit. Basically, I upped my calories for a couple of weeks and weighed myself every couple of days to make sure the scale wasn't going up.

Unfortunately, the last 10 is where the numbers are any persons guess.

stephabef

Gotcha! I kind of figured as much. I've been zig-zagging, but I might try to stick to one number for a while until I figure out what I need to average each week.

Thanks for the help!