800 Cals/ Day- I am under 5' Tall.

penelofur

Hi All,
So I know the general formula for daily caloric intake is 1200 minimum. However, what if you are only 4'10? Can I make my daily calories less (say 800-1000) - and then up them once I hit a plateau? I want to lose weight the healthy way (NOT by starvation).
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Advice appreciated!!
Thanks.

FlaxMilk

Your weight really matters more than your height for losing weight. What's your weight?

penelofur

Should have included that as well:

Height: 4'10
Current weight: 164 lbs

Goal weight: 115 lbs.

ladyraven68

Hi All,
So I know the general formula for daily caloric intake is 1200 minimum. However, what if you are only 4'10? Can I make my daily calories less (say 800-1000) - and then up them once I hit a plateau? I want to lose weight the healthy way (NOT by starvation).
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Advice appreciated!!
Thanks.

It depends on your activity levels.

I'm a touch taller than you, (4ft 11.5) and 169, but losing on 1600 per day, so it's going to be trial and error for you.

I started on 1200, but felt too faint and lighthead, and so when I resaerched my TDEE discoverd it was over 2000, so 1200 was not fuelling my body enough and so I increased to 1600, but some people are happily eating 1200 and suffering no side effects.

The main issue with going under 1200 is getting adequate viatmins/minerals/proteins etc, so if you do decide to go lower, make sure you take supplements to get the nutrition your body needs.

FlaxMilk

You don't need to go to that calorie range based on your weight. If you do, you'll have nowhere to go when your weight drops. Don't worry, your body will use the calories in a higher calorie range. It looks like you are similar to LadyRaven in stats--maybe try to emulate what she is doing?

futuremrsbuchman

WebMD has a good tool to find an accurate RMR - what your body burns when you just stay in bed all day and do nothing. I put in the specs you gave, and your RMR is about 1674 calories per day. That means that at 800 calories eaten a day, you are starving your body majorly. Trust me, you need to feed your body smartly to lose weight healthily. I was limiting myself to 1200 a day and seeing very slow results. I raised my intake to 1590 a day, and I have lost 4lb in the last 2 weeks! If you set your limit too low, your body goes into starvation mode and that actually slows down your metabolism and makes it much, much harder for you to lose weight. Take good care of your body and it will take good care of you in return!
Here is the link to the tool if you want to look it up yourself!


http://www.webmd.com/diet/calc-bmi-plus

hungrygirl89

Listen to your body and do what feels right for you- tools and doctors are great, but listening to your body is always #1. I'm only 5' 2" and would often get frustrated when ppl would tell me I was starving myself at 1200 cals/day....hardly. I'm at a healthy BMI, and I get plenty of food at 1200 cals/day. However, when I need to tighten things up, my body has no problem with 800-1000 cals/day. Just make sure those calories are working hard for you- whole grains, protein, vitamin-packed fruits/veggies. You'll want more food if you aren't filling up on the good stuff!

keiraev

Every time I see someone type "listen to your body" I want to scream as what they actually mean is ignore all the healthy advice you are being given and starve yourself regardless.

On 800 calories you are starving, on 1000 calories you are starving, and 1200 is below most people's BMR so therefore you are starving. You may not feel starving but you are depriving your body of the sufficient nutrients it needs to fucntion healthily.

Fine do it for 2 weeks as a quick fix but that is all it is. It won't work long term. At 164 you should be eating no less than 1500/1600 cals a day to lose weight.

roachhaley

Every time I see someone type "listen to your body" I want to scream as what they actually mean is ignore all the healthy advice you are being given and starve yourself regardless.

On 800 calories you are starving, on 1000 calories you are starving, and 1200 is below most people's BMR so therefore you are starving. You may not feel starving but you are depriving your body of the sufficient nutrients it needs to fucntion healthily.

Fine do it for 2 weeks as a quick fix but that is all it is. It won't work long term. At 164 you should be eating no less than 1500/1600 cals a day to lose weight.

I am 5'3" and eat less than 1200 calories and I am just fine. Actually, I feel better than I did on more calories.

... Just listen to your body.

debzza

Every time I see someone type "listen to your body" I want to scream as what they actually mean is ignore all the healthy advice you are being given and starve yourself regardless.

On 800 calories you are starving, on 1000 calories you are starving, and 1200 is below most people's BMR so therefore you are starving. You may not feel starving but you are depriving your body of the sufficient nutrients it needs to fucntion healthily.

Fine do it for 2 weeks as a quick fix but that is all it is. It won't work long term. At 164 you should be eating no less than 1500/1600 cals a day to lose weight.

This is what i have been told, i was having around 900 a day but didnt want to go in to starvation so looked at increasing it... they said to increas to 1800 which i think is too high so im sticking to 1500 for a week and see if it makes a difrence, if it doesnt then i will up it slightly and if thet doesnt work i will prob decreas it slightly.... im 4ft 11 and 210lbs.

penelofur

Thanks for all of the advice!!!

My mom said that my dad (who lost 60+ lbs) 6' tall was on a diet of under 800 cals a day!!! Apparently his "nutritionist" suggested this diet. Unbelievable right?

I will play it by ear I guess. 1200 for me is filling- but I guess it also depends on the type of food that you're eating too.

Thanks again.