Women around 120 lbs - Question!

lizlkbg

Hi,
I am 43, about 5'4" and weigh about 120 ish. MFP has me on about 1240 calories a day. My question is, how do you divide your carbs, protein, and fat? Also, about how much fiber do you try to eat every day?

Just try to get a sense of the different ways other women about my size do things.

Thanks!

Liz

sleepytexan

You are trying to lose weight?

Wow. I'm 44, 5'4 and have been 127-137 for most of my adult life (except that brief 142 mess). Can't imagine going lower.

I'm guessing you don't lift, so you're probably fine with the default MFP percentages if your goal is just scale-related.

However, if you were interested in maximizing lean body mass and really changing the look of your body, you would want to do that by lifting heavy, increasing protein to around 30% and you'd need to eat hella lot more.

lizlkbg

Hi,
I don't really want to lose, I want to maintain my weight, maintain and help foster muscle tone, and eat nutritiously. I do not at this particular time of life have time to start a lifting program but do see it in my future. I am going through an incredibly stressful period in life right now and want to make sure that I am eating as healthily as possible within the parameters of my current reality, if that makes sense. Basically, I have very, very little time to devote to self-care right now but what I do have, I want to maximize. It won't always be like this, but it is like this for the next few months.
Thanks for your advice, you look radiantly healthy!
Best,
Liz

karrielynn80

I agree with the post above. I am 5 3, about 125 and 31 - i am currently "bulking" so i eat a lot of calories (for me) but i keep my ratios @ around 50%p / 25% f & c.

if you're just maintaining - i'd go with the above.

(i don't track my fiber)

lizlkbg

I changed my settings to mainain, and to 40c/30p/30f. Now I have 1470 calories to work with. I'm worried about gaining, as my only exercise right now is walking about a mile and a half each way to and from work. I will see how this goes. Mainly, I just want to take care of myself as well as I can right now and fuel myself through a stressful time. Thanks for your help.

wonderstruck91

I run so I try to keep my carbs 50-60%. Which is actually what MFP defaults to anyhow. I have noticed the MFP defaults actually end up matching my eating patterns pretty closely. I am 5'6" & fluctuate between 120-125. I have been in maintenance for about 2 months now I think.

karrielynn80

I changed my settings to mainain, and to 40c/30p/30f. Now I have 1470 calories to work with. I'm worried about gaining, as my only exercise right now is walking about a mile and a half each way to and from work. I will see how this goes. Mainly, I just want to take care of myself as well as I can right now and fuel myself through a stressful time. Thanks for your help.

It's something you'll have to play with too. depends on if your settings are set up to count (average) calories burned & what not. But basically I'd suggest doing what i'm doing while bulking - this is my first "bulk" and i'm probably nowhere near a normal bulk intake - but i didn't want to jump up from super low to 2800 calories, so i move my calorie intake around as i watch the scale (& other measurements) - i've yet had to move the calories down - but if you noticed an increase (and you hadn't taken in a lot of sodium prior) than just drop it down a lil.

I will say this - if you do this, set a certain timeframe to adjust. There are times I think i might be gaining - b/c i've weighted in @ various times thru the wk & seemed to be increasing but then when it came to my regular weigh in (the 2 wk sections i actually track) i was right on par - i don't know if it's cuz i make it a point to eat btr closer to that day or maybe water retention, stress... it could be a number of things... so just play with it...