A little help would be nice...

sian_1989

Hello everybody,

This is the first time I've posted despite being on MFP for a while now. Christmas time marked a real downer for me and the way I look. I don't feel happy with the size I am at the moment but I'm finding it hard to actually lose anything.

I'm just short of 5'4 and I weigh 164lbs. This puts me at a uk size 12/14 and my aim is a size 10. According to MFP, my BMR is 1479 however my daily planning aim is 1300. At the moment my exercise rates are pretty low due to recovering from a minor operation. I am hoping to get back into it in the next week or 2.

I don't really know where to start with trying to lose weight. What calorie intake should I be aiming for in order to lose weight? I've also been reading about "eating back" calories burnt through exercise but I thought that the defecit it made was what helped shed pounds?

All in all, I'm at a bit of a loss and more than a little confused! Any help would be great =]

Thank you

AntWrig

Start of with your weight x 10-12. Eat those calories for two weeks and assess. This is just a guess, you're going to have to take the time a tweak things.

melaniecheeks

I'd agree - experiment a bit (but give it time to have an effect!)

Try 1300 for a fortnight. If you're not exercising, dont worry about eating any burned calories back just yet.

Christina1007

Look at your intake goals, to safely maintain your goal weight you'll need to eat 10-12 cals per POUND (110 X 11 = 1250 cals per day. This is a different methodolgy than MFP uses but it is better suited for petite women.This is now your intake goal. keep within 10% (1125-1375 per day) never to go below 1000 cals per day. Being 10 % over is better than being 10% under your goal.

Now for exercise, the things you routinely do now are part of what we call Activities of Daily Living (ADL's) your body already takes this into account, so to make changes you're going to need to up it a bit.

Food Choices, Here are the best foods for volume vs calories and give best nutritional values, Brown's , brown bread brown rice, Greens and orange, white vegetables and fruit. If you look at my dairies for dinner you'll see a meal that is a plate full of food generally around 500 cals.

Stay away from fried anything, white breads, and for now potatoes and corn.

When you eat and how much is particularly important for women your size 5'2" and under, New research out of the University of Chicago has confirmed what we in the Army have known for centuries (Spartans were the first to document this), Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for you. Front loading calories (think 40% for Breakfast, 30 % for lunch, 20% for dinner, and 10% for snacks you can flip flop the percentages for dinner and snacks). In particular if you are going to eat starches (potatoes bread, rice) do so earlier in the day and at the latest 3 in the afternoon.

Exercise, you might want to buy a pedometeru and try and walk at least 10.000 steps a day. It will help, I guarantee.
This is just some advice, hope it helps!

fionarama

I'm 5'4" and I find I wouldn't lose anything unless I aim for around 1200 cals and DON'T eat back my exercise calories. Contrary to popular belief on here it takes quite a bit to go into "starvation mode" and I've really noticed that the really super toned body building fitness types generally don't seem to eat their exercise calories.
If 30 day shred a really great kick start to my weight loss and have gone from there to Jamie Eason Live Fit. P:rogrammes are good I find as you set your self goals and the limited time (like 30 days for the dvd) mean they seem achieveable.
Interval training is definitely way better as a weight loss tool, its really effective so do some research on that.

sian_1989

Fitnesssocialist...if I eat 10-12 x my weight, will I not gain weight over those 2 weeks? Currently I'm eating around 1300 and not losing any weight so if I increase it to 1640 (164 x 10) won't it work in the opposite way and I'll end up gaining? Especially without exercise at the moment.

cairney4698

Hey there Sian. Happy to help you on your way and offer you positive comments and support. I am also in the UK. Feel free to add me as a friend

ladyraven68

Fitnesssocialist...if I eat 10-12 x my weight, will I not gain weight over those 2 weeks? Currently I'm eating around 1300 and not losing any weight so if I increase it to 1640 (164 x 10) won't it work in the opposite way and I'll end up gaining? Especially without exercise at the moment.

1640 would not take you over your maintenance calories - You may be confusing BMR with TDEE.

BMR is just your coma calories - your maintenance calories will be different, as nobody lies in bed doing nothing all day. You need to apply a multiplier depending on how active you are. Even sedentary your maintenace calories would be 1470 x 1.2 = 1775

To Calcluate your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) have a look here.

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/
http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

sian_1989

Thank you for all your help and feedback, all the terms are a bit daunting and it helps to have a little guidance and a point in the right direction!