Calorie help

I am so confused on how much I should be eating everyday to have a healthy weight loss of around a lb a week.
I am a 19 year old female
I weigh 118
I want to weigh 110
I am 5'2 feet which is 62 inches tall
I workout at least 3 days a week with weights and cardio
and my body fat is around 21%
Thank you :)!!!

Replies

  • mgobluetx12
    mgobluetx12 Posts: 1,326 Member
    Really?

    Put that info into this website and it will tell you how many calories to eat per day to lose 1lb a week. That's how this whole site works.
  • Happy4lifeHHH
    Happy4lifeHHH Posts: 188 Member
    Well it says 1200 and lots of people are saying that's too low.
  • mgobluetx12
    mgobluetx12 Posts: 1,326 Member
    1200 is the minimum you need to eat. At your height/weight, that seems about right. I'm over 100lbs heavier than you and over a foot taller and my calorie intake is around 1400.
  • birdieaz
    birdieaz Posts: 448 Member
    Well it says 1200 and lots of people are saying that's too low.

    My stats are almost the same as yours. 1200 is too low. You can look at my diary and see that I eat a lot more than that.
    Also since youre already at a healthy weight, aim for .5lb a week.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    I am so confused on how much I should be eating everyday to have a healthy weight loss of around a lb a week.
    I am a 19 year old female
    I weigh 118
    I want to weigh 110
    I am 5'2 feet which is 62 inches tall
    I workout at least 3 days a week with weights and cardio
    and my body fat is around 21%
    Thank you :)!!!


    BMR 1285
    TDEE 2k

    LBM 93 (Low)
    Fat 24 (normal)

    Perfect weight is 120lbs

    Set MFP to 2400 daily.
    Dont eat back cals.

    If you lift weights youll gain lean muscle pretty quickly due to age and hormones as long as you havent been ****ing around for too long.

    Youll get to 120lbs in 2 weeks.

    To maintain you just eat at 2k a day.
    On lifting days lift heavy and eat up to 2300 and on rest days eat about 1700.
    This will maintain 120lbs but recomp the fat down while building a little lean mass at a time.
    Weight wont change.
  • Happy4lifeHHH
    Happy4lifeHHH Posts: 188 Member
    What do you mean by back cals?
    That seems like a lot of calories.... I come from a family of thin not so muscular people and I've been lifting weights for 6 years and have not gotten any more muscular...
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    What do you mean by back cals?
    That seems like a lot of calories.... I come from a family of thin not so muscular people and I've been lifting weights for 6 years and have not gotten any more muscular...

    How much do you eat every day?
  • Happy4lifeHHH
    Happy4lifeHHH Posts: 188 Member
    Wow so your goal is 1965... Is that for weight loss of maintenance? I eat healthy and am just not sure of how many calories to eat a day.
  • Happy4lifeHHH
    Happy4lifeHHH Posts: 188 Member
    Can you look at my diary? Today is a typical day...
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,327 Member
    I am so confused on how much I should be eating everyday to have a healthy weight loss of around a lb a week.
    I am a 19 year old female
    I weigh 118
    I want to weigh 110
    I am 5'2 feet which is 62 inches tall
    I workout at least 3 days a week with weights and cardio
    and my body fat is around 21%
    Thank you :)!!!


    BMR 1285
    TDEE 2k

    LBM 93 (Low)
    Fat 24 (normal)

    Perfect weight is 120lbs

    Set MFP to 2400 daily.
    Dont eat back cals.

    If you lift weights youll gain lean muscle pretty quickly due to age and hormones as long as you havent been ****ing around for too long.

    Youll get to 120lbs in 2 weeks.

    To maintain you just eat at 2k a day.
    On lifting days lift heavy and eat up to 2300 and on rest days eat about 1700.
    This will maintain 120lbs but recomp the fat down while building a little lean mass at a time.
    Weight wont change.

    ^^^^^^^
    THIS

    He knows what he is talking about.
  • EmilyTwist1
    EmilyTwist1 Posts: 206 Member
    Wow so your goal is 1965... Is that for weight loss of maintenance? I eat healthy and am just not sure of how many calories to eat a day.

    If this is the case, I'd recommend eating the way you usually do for a few days and recording it to see what your current eating habits and calories counts are like. I did that and it helped me see what I needed to change.
  • birdieaz
    birdieaz Posts: 448 Member
    That is for loss, if I was eating for maintenance it would be around 2200 cal. I'm 120lbs and want to get down to 110-115lb. I work out 5 to 6 days a week and burn between 400-600 cal. Short girls can eat :)
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    If you learned to eat correctly you would get in better shape.
    Heres my take on skinny fat:

    You give reason for fat to exist and it will always be there.
    Now you are in the green zone for healthy fat but your lean mass is very small and probably weak.

    If you were to eat 2100 calories a day for 4 weeks you would gain 2lbs.
    Crazy I know.

    By eating 1100 a day you are slowing the metabolism a bit and saying "Fat! Stick around and when things get heated i'm going to use you!"
    And things get heated and you do!
    But then you eat something thats more than what you are burning at that time or at the time of digestion.
    The body decides where to put those nutrients.

    If you lifted weights or did some strenuous body weight work then your body would most likely put those nutrients into muscle recovery.
    If you ate enough then you may actually overcompensate and add some lean mass.
    This is done over time BTW.
    If you didnt do anything strenuous or just cardio then the body would store the nutrients as fat for later use because thats how youve trained yourself.

    Now lets say you take the next week off and eat....1800 a day for 1 week.
    Youll see some water weight because its a shock to the system.
    Leptin levels will rise signaling that the bodies BMR can rise.
    You lift some weights and notice that you get a little stronger or you are especially sore.
    Nutrients!

    After a week or 2 at or near TDEE you then switch gears to an anabolic mode and eat 2100 cals a day.
    At 2100 cals a day my calculator says you would gain 2lbs in 11 weeks.

    You dont eat right to fuel the body.

    How are your TOMs?
    Everything working okay?
    Thats the first to go if you undernourish.
  • subcult
    subcult Posts: 262 Member
    What do you mean by back cals?
    That seems like a lot of calories.... I come from a family of thin not so muscular people and I've been lifting weights for 6 years and have not gotten any more muscular...

    How much do you eat every day?
    sorry Dan was profile creeping is that a Cloud outfit you got going in your ticker?
  • SEishen
    SEishen Posts: 35 Member
    Your diet is actually pretty good … except for the fact that you're completely sabotaging yourself with things like those 960-calorie DQ chocolate blizzards and an entire bar of chocolate. The thing I see you're missing in your nutrition is dark leafy greens: spinach, kale, collard greens, etc. Great way to get those is juicing.

    Also, find substitutes for your "indulgences." For example, one serving sugar-free fat-free banana pudding with 1/2 serving of, e.g., Danon light & fit yogurt, 1/2 c frozen blueberries is a GREAT dessert and WAY healthier than an entire bar of chocolate or a blizzard.

    P.S. I'm 5'2" and started at 149 (140 when I joined MFP). I'm now sitting at 118 and the weight is just slipping off week by week. It's the whole foods, plant-based diet is now my life that's made the main difference, the second, of course, being exercise (but you've got that covered).
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    What do you mean by back cals?
    That seems like a lot of calories.... I come from a family of thin not so muscular people and I've been lifting weights for 6 years and have not gotten any more muscular...

    How much do you eat every day?
    sorry Dan was profile creeping is that a Cloud outfit you got going in your ticker?

    Aye!
  • subcult
    subcult Posts: 262 Member
    Nice that brings me back a few years /end of highjack.
  • Happy4lifeHHH
    Happy4lifeHHH Posts: 188 Member
    Wow that's great!! Do you lower the amount of calories you eat for weight loss as you lose weight? I think you can get away with eating more than me because you workout more and burn more calories than I do.
  • Happy4lifeHHH
    Happy4lifeHHH Posts: 188 Member
    Yea I know those things are horrible but my boyfriends eats that way and always gets me to eat that way too.. I try and eat as many veggies as I can but I just cant stand them.... I dont eat much meat and try to eat as plant based as I can.
  • Happy4lifeHHH
    Happy4lifeHHH Posts: 188 Member
    I actually did take about two weeks of when I had my surgery and definitely ate around 2800 calories most of that time. Now I am back to working out but not as hard as I was... If I was to eat that way and gain 2 lbs a week, wouldn't that be mostly fat? And how hard would I have to train to gain lean muscle and not be skinny fat? You sound very informed on this topic and would like to follow your advice once I am more informed as well.
    [quote
    If you learned to eat correctly you would get in better shape.
    Heres my take on skinny fat:

    You give reason for fat to exist and it will always be there.
    Now you are in the green zone for healthy fat but your lean mass is very small and probably weak.

    If you were to eat 2100 calories a day for 4 weeks you would gain 2lbs.
    Crazy I know.

    By eating 1100 a day you are slowing the metabolism a bit and saying "Fat! Stick around and when things get heated i'm going to use you!"
    And things get heated and you do!
    But then you eat something thats more than what you are burning at that time or at the time of digestion.
    The body decides where to put those nutrients.

    If you lifted weights or did some strenuous body weight work then your body would most likely put those nutrients into muscle recovery.
    If you ate enough then you may actually overcompensate and add some lean mass.
    This is done over time BTW.
    If you didnt do anything strenuous or just cardio then the body would store the nutrients as fat for later use because thats how youve trained yourself.

    Now lets say you take the next week off and eat....1800 a day for 1 week.
    Youll see some water weight because its a shock to the system.
    Leptin levels will rise signaling that the bodies BMR can rise.
    You lift some weights and notice that you get a little stronger or you are especially sore.
    Nutrients!

    After a week or 2 at or near TDEE you then switch gears to an anabolic mode and eat 2100 cals a day.
    At 2100 cals a day my calculator says you would gain 2lbs in 11 weeks.

    You dont eat right to fuel the body.

    How are your TOMs?
    Everything working okay?
    Thats the first to go if you undernourish.
    [/quote]
  • mad4beinhere
    mad4beinhere Posts: 63 Member
    My guess is at 5.2 (my height) you wouldnt want to be any lower than what you are now - 53.5kg. Your still a growing girl till at least till your 21 years.
    Sorry a mothers thoughts, thats all, My daughter same height as you and me is 55kg and looks awsome, toned with just enough covering.
    Sorry not to be much help to you coz at 110 - 49.89kg is very low :-(
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    You only have 8 lbs to lose to your goal weight so you shouldn't pursue a large deficit (anything over 25% below 2000).

    The lower body fat percentage you are at the the beginning, the less true fat you will burn per month. Although the potential true fat loss for guys of near average weight is 4 lbs per month, I realistically can only lose about 2 lbs of actual fat when trying to get to 6% from 8% body fat. As a girl with your stats, you can expect no more than 2 lbs per month of true fat loss which will go down the leaner you get.

    Take your TDEE of 2000 and subtract 25%, or 500 calories of a total deficit. You can establish a deficit by eating less than TDEE, upping exercise calories or a combination of both (which is what is recommended). A 500 calorie deficit a day will lead to a hypothetical 1 lb of body weight reduction per week. For example, you can eat a total of 1700 calories from food (a 300 deficit from eating less) and exercise a total of 200 calories (both weight training and cardio) to generate the 500 calorie deficit.
  • Happy4lifeHHH
    Happy4lifeHHH Posts: 188 Member
    You only have 8 lbs to lose to your goal weight so you shouldn't pursue a large deficit (anything over 25% below 2000).

    The lower body fat percentage you are at the the beginning, the less true fat you will burn per month. Although the potential true fat loss for guys of near average weight is 4 lbs per month, I realistically can only lose about 2 lbs of actual fat when trying to get to 6% from 8% body fat. As a girl with your stats, you can expect no more than 2 lbs per month of true fat loss which will go down the leaner you get.

    Take your TDEE of 2000 and subtract 25%, or 500 calories of a total deficit. You can establish a deficit by eating less than TDEE, upping exercise calories or a combination of both (which is what is recommended). A 500 calorie deficit a day will lead to a hypothetical 1 lb of body weight reduction per week. For example, you can eat a total of 1700 calories from food (a 300 deficit from eating less) and exercise a total of 200 calories (both weight training and cardio) to generate the 500 calorie deficit.


    Thank you!! That is great advice :)
  • SEishen
    SEishen Posts: 35 Member
    You only have 8 lbs to lose to your goal weight so you shouldn't pursue a large deficit (anything over 25% below 2000).

    The lower body fat percentage you are at the the beginning, the less true fat you will burn per month. Although the potential true fat loss for guys of near average weight is 4 lbs per month, I realistically can only lose about 2 lbs of actual fat when trying to get to 6% from 8% body fat. As a girl with your stats, you can expect no more than 2 lbs per month of true fat loss which will go down the leaner you get.

    Take your TDEE of 2000 and subtract 25%, or 500 calories of a total deficit. You can establish a deficit by eating less than TDEE, upping exercise calories or a combination of both (which is what is recommended). A 500 calorie deficit a day will lead to a hypothetical 1 lb of body weight reduction per week. For example, you can eat a total of 1700 calories from food (a 300 deficit from eating less) and exercise a total of 200 calories (both weight training and cardio) to generate the 500 calorie deficit.


    Thank you!! That is great advice :)
    I agree! I'm pretty much in the same place you are, trying to get to 110. I definitely have thigh and belly fat that needs to go. My kicker is that I'm more than 20 years older than you. That hasn't made a difference. With clean eating and exercise, the pounds have just shed.

    Re: veggies: Juicing is your answer. Watch "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" on Netflix or at their Web site. It's made a huge difference for me!
  • mad4beinhere
    mad4beinhere Posts: 63 Member
    Never thought of our Aussie mate on juicing. Inlaws have that DVD so might go and get it off them.
  • SEishen
    SEishen Posts: 35 Member
    Never thought of our Aussie mate on juicing. Inlaws have that DVD so might go and get it off them.
    You can watch it on Netflix or on the Fat, Sick ... Web site.
  • mad4beinhere
    mad4beinhere Posts: 63 Member
    Because I'm om Australai Netflix dosent work and there is only the trailer on the website. grrr
    :cry: