Short ladies - how many calories do you take in a day?
Replies
-
I'm 5' even (blah!), 41, and have a desk job. Looking to lose 30 pounds. I average about 1300-1350 a day. If I exercise, I eat back half those calories. I have a Fitbit and it says I average about 1660 for my daily burn on non-exercise days. So there isn't much room for a deficit. I agree with Bevkus, us short people get ripped off. lol0
-
I am 5' even I also work an 8 hour a day desk job. I am currently only eating 1200 calories a day. Some days I switch it up a little. My dietican told me to have 1300 one day and a little less than 1200 the next day. When I exercise I don't eat back my exercise calories. I think it also depends on how much weight you have to lose. You can add me as a friend if you would like.0
-
I am 5'3 and try to eat 1300.. I workout at least 3 times a week cardio either running or some insanity.. I also try to do 3 days a week of light lifting... my weight loss has been stalled for 2 weeks.. pondering upping my calories.. but afraid I will gain weight..0
-
It certainly feels that way! Hubby is 6 ft tall and I swear can eat like a horse and drink life a fish and still lose.us short people get ripped off. lol0
-
I'm 51 and 5' 1 1/2", desk job with a 3hrs daily in commuting. I'm slowly losing with trying to stay under my 1200 daily target. My biggest struggle is with the liquid calories.. beer and wine. I just haven't been able to find something that works for me as a subsitute... any ideas are welcomed. Also, anyone can feel free to add me.0
-
I'm 5'0" and stick to the 1200 for my main target, but I work out 6 days a week, so I normally allow myself up to 1400 on those days.0
-
5'3 and my cals are set at 1390, mfp suggestion. Its working for me and im not starving. On workout days i try to eat everything back, usually ending in about up to 1500 cals0
-
I'm 5'4" and at 1240 per day. For me, it's all about how I use the calories. For example, you can eat a ton of broccoli for 50 calories, but how many chips can you eat? I'm trying to use those calories in a way that benefits me, where possible. Now, I also enjoy life and have mexican food and birthday cake, etc. You can exercise and "earn" more calories to eat for days like that.0
-
Now that I am on here it averages 1800 (where before it was much lower and I was getting no results). I am 38, 5'1 and close to 190 (but my lean body mass is 140) was looking to lose no more than 20-25lbs, now thinking maybe 15-20 instead or whatever it winds up being, trying to drop 1-2 sizes and abut 4 more inches off my middle. So I am very muscular and VERY active, I am moving most of the day and exercise 6 days a week.0
-
I am 5'3. I lost the weight eating 1120 to 1250 plus exercise. In maintenance my calorie goal is set at 1420. I eat my exercise calories because I need more food to feel satisfied. So usually I eat 1600 - 1800, sometomes more. Add me if you want.0
-
I'm 5'2" 147 pounds, goal weight of 130 pounds. I eat about 1,600 calories a day. I work at Lowe's part time so my modifier is lightly active and I set myself to lose 1/2 pound a week. Make sure your loss per week setting is realistic for your current and goal weight.0
-
5'3-47yr
I lost 37 pounds by July 2011 and have maintained 115-117 since.
I workout 3-4 times a week.2-3 days lifting heavy. Rest of the days, I stay active biking, gardening or walking my dog.
I eat 1600-2000+ zig zagging and a Spike day Sundays.
I follow 80-20 rules-80 percent I eat very well and the rest I enjoy going out to eat or beers/wine etc. I am in this for life.0 -
Im on around 1400/1500 calories a day im 5'2' and not sure if its working will know on Wednesday if i have lost weight. I do tough mudder training 3x week and insantiy 2 x week if it doesnt work i will up my calories a little x0
-
I'm 38, 5'1, and work a desk job 8 hrs a week. I'm curious how many calories other short women take in a day and still lose weight. I try to walk three to four days a week. I'm currently trying the 1200 calories, but it seems so hard:sad:
Looking for friends around my heigth and age that check in daily. I'm gonna do this and stick to it. I've already decided that the Holidays is not a free for all food binge. I will splurge SOME, but not overdo it.
First, you have an AWESOME attitude going into the holiday season. You can even have a lot of holiday treats and stay within your calorie deficit budget, or just maintain some days. You don't have to eat the same calories every day, for example you can eat lower the day before and the day after a social event if you want. You can have a weekly calorie budget. There is a lot of flexibility you have have with calories and staying within budget and still enjoying yourself the way our bodies were designed to work.
I'm 5'1" and almost 52 years old. I had to eat pretty low to lose the weight. Far lower than people here would advocate but I was under my doctor's watchful eye and he thought what I was doing was wonderful. It was hard. He checked my hormone levels throughout the process and my DXA scan showed I didn't lose lean body mass and I worked out strong with weights and ran hard. I had to ignore people here badgering me about eating to low and simply listen to my doctor. People will give you advise not realizing your are already following your doctor. I have my diary open because others want to see it, not for advice. I don't really plan my diet, I just eat what I want within a calorie budget and think about protein and carbs and the fat calories sort of just fall into place. Most natural protein sources seem to have enough good fat. Of course eating healthy just makes you feel better, not that the fat cells care about clean food vs "unclean" food. I was the most obese eating 100% organic. Too many calories makes you fat, regardless of how "clean" you eat.
What you need to eat for a deficit is relative to your RMR. If you are short you really don't have much room for up compared to the 1200. If you are taller you will have a higher RMR and can go up or down and still be in a deficit (way above 1200) so you can lose no matter what. All that matters is a calorie deficit.
To tell everyone eat more is wrong.
To tell everyone to eat less is wrong.
To find the exact amount of calories for you to be in a sustainable calorie deficit is correct. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others. Some people have emotional eating disorders and it comes into play. Even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such and everyone is different.
You just need to find the correct calories for YOU to be healthy and sustainable and still lose weight. It might require some experimentation and tremendous patience. You can always notch up and down by 100 until you find what is sustainable and still allows you to lose weight.
If you have emotional eating issues than you are not going to be able to handle such a deep deficit and if you eat to low it will backfire. A better strategy is to eat at a shallower deficit, and sometimes give yourself a break from the deficit and eat at maintenance. This is not going backwards, but eating to low and then binging because you can't sustain it is going backwards. It's better to stay forwards even if it is slower. The tortoise wins this race in the end.
Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.
Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.
The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.
There is no mystery to weight loss, everyone thinks something is wrong, their metabolism is broken, they have low thyroid, they have menopause or whatever issue, they are as unique as a snowflake, whatever. I thought a lot of these things once too but once the doctor helped resolve the health issues for me I learned there is still no magic pill. Most people eat more than they need to and are not at good at estimating calories as they think they are. Most people have a lower BMR than they think they do. The only way to know for sure is to go to a lab and have it tested. It doesn't seem fair to have to eat less and feel a little hunger. It's hard to face the truth of it, very hard. It's not fun. It's drudgery at times. But if you learn to enjoy your smaller amounts of food (necessary to lose weight, since the reason we got fat in the first place was eating too much whether we knew it or not), and rejoice in your victories it can be done.
Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.
Being on a calorie deficit is hard. You can't do this journey on will power alone. You must set up your environment for success. Have a team around you in your real life, not just online. Get trigger foods out of the house. It will take some sacrifice and it's not easy. You might have to say no to some social events sometimes.
For me it's all about a calorie budget. I had less of a budget available when I was losing weight, more to spend now that I'm maintaining and all the tools I used for weight loss come into play for the rest of my life maintaining.
When you have accumulated excess fat, you have accumulated a debt. It is hard to pay off the debt (you have less calories to spend). If you are sitting next to someone your same gender and height and they are not overweight and you are, they get to eat more than you (have more calories to spend) because they are debt free. You have less calories to spend because you are paying off your debt.
Wishing you the best! -Bobbie0 -
I do better calorie-wise having liquor and a diet drink vs wine. I love wine and champagne, but have put them on the back burner for a while. I'll have champagne for New Year's tho.My biggest struggle is with the liquid calories.. beer and wine. I just haven't been able to find something that works for me as a subsitute... any ideas are welcomed.0
-
I'm 4'9" (so SUPER short!). I work full-time at a desk job and started my weight loss journey August 1st. My intake goal has been 1200 calories a day and this has been all the difference! I was realistically eating about 2000 per day before and was at 120ish pounds. I am at 107# now, so averaging 4# per month. What I am SO much more excited about are the inches lost. My mid-section has shrunk anywhere from 3 to 5 inches depending on where I measure.
Lately I've only been working out once a week (cardio run). I've had spurts where I've done several 30 Day shred DVD workouts a week. I'd really like to work out more regularly, but honestly, cutting my calories has been giving me the fat-shedding results I've been wanting.
I plan to lose 7 more pounds, then start lifting and toning. :-)
I would LOVE to make more short friends to keep me motivated! Please add me! :-)
~ Adele0 -
Age: 42
Height: 5' 3"
CW: 119.6
Cals: 1350
Desk job0 -
5'3'', 1450 calories a day is my goal0
-
54 and 5'4". Pretty danged seditary here. MFP says 1480 but I shoot for 1200 since I am sitting on my *** a fair amount. I don't bother to eat back exercise calories because to my way of thinking what I'm doing now is NOT really exercise. I used to do Tae Kwon Do 2 hours a day. Now the body won't let me.
1200 fills me up most days. Sometimes I take a cheat day. We're going on vacation over Thanksgiving for 4 days and I haven't decided if I'm cheating or not yet. I'm hoping to "be good". 0 -
I am 5'4" and eating net 1800 calories. My goal is one pound per week. I am also doing strength training 3x a week.
EDIT: I should add that I work a desk job, and I'm 38.0 -
54 and 5'4". Pretty danged seditary here. MFP says 1480 but I shoot for 1200 since I am sitting on my *** a fair amount. I don't bother to eat back exercise calories because to my way of thinking what I'm doing now is NOT really exercise. I used to do Tae Kwon Do 2 hours a day. Now the body won't let me. 1200 fills me up most days. Sometimes I take a cheat day. We're going on vacation over Thanksgiving for 4 days and I haven't decided if I'm cheating or not yet. I'm hoping to "be good".
If you have your level set to sedentary and MFP says you should eat 1480, then eat 1480. I don't understand about your body not letting you do Tae Kwon Do anymore, but that's probably why you're not hungry. Try strength training. Heavy weights make me feel like I'm starving.0 -
35YO, 5', 118#. I'm trying to shed some fat, so I'm eating about 1650 per day, usually over on weekends. This is a 15% reduction from my TDEE for moderate activity. I lift 2-3 times per week, cardio 2-3 times per week (30-45 minutes), maybe more casually active other days. I don't eat back exercise calories...that's factored into my activity level and I know I'm actually going over my goal 2 days per week. It works for me!0
-
5'1" and I'm usually between 1200-1300 calories a day. I have MFP set to lose 1lb a week, and I do cardio/kickboxing 2-3 times a week for an hour each session. (Still not quite sure how much I burn during these sessions since it's a lot of weight training as well, but I rarely eat back by exercise calories). Some days I will "splurge" and eat about 1400-1500, but mostly stick to the 12-13 range. I find it difficult sometimes because I never REALLY had to watch what I ate when I was younger so I'm still learning portion control and THINK that I'm hungry a lot more often than I actually am. I have lost about 5 pounds in about a month and a half, so I must be doing something right!0
-
I'm 5'3 and I've been eating 1200-1500 calories most days. I do have a splurge day about once a week. I've been using the site since July and have lost about 7 lbs. Not very much compared to some, but something. My weight tends to fluctuate a lot, so I'm still trying to figure out what works for me.0
-
Age: 42
Height: 5'
SW: 266 - Sept 25
CW: 250
Cals: 1410
Desk job0 -
I am 5' 1.5" and I am a CNA, I am pretty active at work. I eat 1200 calories when I am being good. Some days that just doesn't cut it and I have to eat a little more. I am happy if I stay under 1500.0
-
5'4"
26 years old
Desk job (7-8 hours a day)
Work out 6 days a week (45-60 mins each)
My calories are set to 1450 but I normally eat about 1300-1400. I've been steadily losing weight doing this. When I was trying to only eat 1200 calories, I was STARVING and I wasn't losing any weight.
People need to realize that just because some website has it set to that, doesn't mean that's what you should be shooting for. 1200 calories is the bare minimum most people eat and burn without doing any exercise, so if you are doing even 3 days a week worth of exercise, you should be eating more, otherwise your body just starts to eat away at muscle instead of fat and your metabolism is going to slow.
Most people who are told to only eat 1200 calories a day are in dire need of losing weight and are obese.0 -
Yes it is hard, but I am going for 1200......For me drinking lots of water seems to help. And when I really do need a little something I have low calorie but nutricous snacks on hand...limit to just one and eat it slowly0
-
My current goal is 1625, that is including my exercise calories, and has a 300 calorie deficit built into it. I work my calories on a weekly basis, so mon-thurs I tend to go around 200 under, friday I break about even, then saturday and sunday I tend to use up whatever calories I have left for the week. I am 5'2" and about 95lbs by the way.
When it gets to winter I am going to start abit of a bulk by allowing myself maintenance calories on rest days, and an extra 250 or so on lifting days.0 -
I'm 34 y/o, 5'2", with a desk job, don't exercise at all. I'm eating about 1300 cals per day and losing an average of about 1 pound per week.
I have lost 34 pounds in 36 weeks so far, with about 45 more to go.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 427 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions