Devil's advocate: 1200 calories for petite/short women?

Heh. Maybe this is why I'm cranky and tired lately. :-D MFP has me set at 1300 for the the day (used to be 1340 then I updated my settings to reflect my weight loss). I wonder if this is too low. Yet I'm afraid to eat more.

I'm 5'3 and 98lbs. I don't eat more than 1000 cals. I don't get hungry enough to need to.

I am not trying to be mean here hon, but the 'magic' 88lb goal weight is a bit of a give away. You do not get hungry because the hormones ghrelin and leptin are screwing up with your hunger signals, primarily due to long periods of undereating.

Yep.

When I was 15 years old I weight the same as you do now. It's not super-underweight but you are right on the edge. If you still feel fat, seek professional health.

At your weight I strongly recommend you to eat at your mantainence level and now focus on losing body fat if you still have. I know I did, was extremely skinny but still skinny fat even at 98 lbs. Your weight should be more like 110 at least, and if you work out and lose the body fat and get a defined body you will look great. Better and healthier.

I don't know the weight history of the person you're criticizing, but the world is full of healthy women who weigh 98 pounds. You shouldn't let the fact that 2/3 of Americans are overweight distort your understanding of what is a normal weight.

I'm not saying she is not healthy, I'm saying she doesn't need to lose 10 pounds, which is what she wants. I'm telling her she should work out and lose body fat instead because 98 lbs in a girl of 5'2 is just in the limit between normal and underweight (medically, not just my idea). 88 lbs would be too little.

i may not need to lose 10lbs, i want to. and i actually 'want' to lose a lot more, but i',m trying to stay healthy. 88lbs to me, really isn't that little. i have tiny bones. but yes, i do have an ED. and yes, i have gotten help in the past, and been in 'recovery'. but it's not that easy. and i understand that no one was being rude or mean, merely giving advice. but the way i see it is you can't just tell someone who overeats "don't eat so much' because it doesn't work like that... and you can't tell someone who under eats "just eat more"...

I'm 5'3 and 98lbs. I don't eat more than 1000 cals. I don't get hungry enough to need to.

I am not trying to be mean here hon, but the 'magic' 88lb goal weight is a bit of a give away. You do not get hungry because the hormones ghrelin and leptin are screwing up with your hunger signals, primarily due to long periods of undereating.

Yep.

When I was 15 years old I weight the same as you do now. It's not super-underweight but you are right on the edge. If you still feel fat, seek professional health.

At your weight I strongly recommend you to eat at your mantainence level and now focus on losing body fat if you still have. I know I did, was extremely skinny but still skinny fat even at 98 lbs. Your weight should be more like 110 at least, and if you work out and lose the body fat and get a defined body you will look great. Better and healthier.

I don't know the weight history of the person you're criticizing, but the world is full of healthy women who weigh 98 pounds. You shouldn't let the fact that 2/3 of Americans are overweight distort your understanding of what is a normal weight.

I'm not saying she is not healthy, I'm saying she doesn't need to lose 10 pounds, which is what she wants. I'm telling her she should work out and lose body fat instead because 98 lbs in a girl of 5'2 is just in the limit between normal and underweight (medically, not just my idea). 88 lbs would be too little.

i may not need to lose 10lbs, i want to. and i actually 'want' to lose a lot more, but i',m trying to stay healthy. 88lbs to me, really isn't that little. i have tiny bones. but yes, i do have an ED. and yes, i have gotten help in the past, and been in 'recovery'. but it's not that easy. and i understand that no one was being rude or mean, merely giving advice. but the way i see it is you can't just tell someone who overeats "don't eat so much' because it doesn't work like that... and you can't tell someone who under eats "just eat more"...

I usually try to withhold judgment, but 88 is THAT LITTLE. I was once 88 pounds. I didn't have an ED and I wasn't sick. I got that way by not eating meat and sweets for two years. I'm 5'2", too.

As you have an ED you should not be reading this thread, in my opinion. You're unable to make distinctions.

I'm 5'3 and 98lbs. I don't eat more than 1000 cals. I don't get hungry enough to need to.

I am not trying to be mean here hon, but the 'magic' 88lb goal weight is a bit of a give away. You do not get hungry because the hormones ghrelin and leptin are screwing up with your hunger signals, primarily due to long periods of undereating.

Yep.

When I was 15 years old I weight the same as you do now. It's not super-underweight but you are right on the edge. If you still feel fat, seek professional health.

At your weight I strongly recommend you to eat at your mantainence level and now focus on losing body fat if you still have. I know I did, was extremely skinny but still skinny fat even at 98 lbs. Your weight should be more like 110 at least, and if you work out and lose the body fat and get a defined body you will look great. Better and healthier.

I don't know the weight history of the person you're criticizing, but the world is full of healthy women who weigh 98 pounds. You shouldn't let the fact that 2/3 of Americans are overweight distort your understanding of what is a normal weight.

I'm not saying she is not healthy, I'm saying she doesn't need to lose 10 pounds, which is what she wants. I'm telling her she should work out and lose body fat instead because 98 lbs in a girl of 5'2 is just in the limit between normal and underweight (medically, not just my idea). 88 lbs would be too little.

i may not need to lose 10lbs, i want to. and i actually 'want' to lose a lot more, but i',m trying to stay healthy. 88lbs to me, really isn't that little. i have tiny bones. but yes, i do have an ED. and yes, i have gotten help in the past, and been in 'recovery'. but it's not that easy. and i understand that no one was being rude or mean, merely giving advice. but the way i see it is you can't just tell someone who overeats "don't eat so much' because it doesn't work like that... and you can't tell someone who under eats "just eat more"...

I usually try to withhold judgment, but 88 is THAT LITTLE. I was once 88 pounds. I didn't have an ED and I wasn't sick. I got that way by not eating meat and sweets for two years. I'm 5'2", too.

As you have an ED you should not be reading this thread, in my opinion. You're unable to make distinctions.

i'm 5'3".
and you're welcome to your opinion that 88lbs is too little. and maybe for you, it would be. but that's not my opinion. for me, 88lbs is just fine.
and actually, i am able to make distinctions, thanks. just because i have an ED doesn't make me incompetent. i don't encourage anyone to restrict as hard as i do, in fact, i often encourage the opposite. i completely understand that eating around 400-500cals a day isn't healthy, but i physically cannot eat more. that doesn't mean that what i read/view should be restricted.

I'm 5'2 and I eat between 1150-1350 calories everyday.. Macro nutrients have not been an issue but I do have to pay closer attention to them because I'm eating less calories, the calories I do eat have to be good ones. I am active. I workout 5-6 days a week and my net calorie intake is usually around 500-700.

Guess what, I'm healthy, strong, have plenty of energy, no headaches, menstrual cycles are fine.. and I'm not hungry.

I'm losing weight consistently and yes its fat not muscle.

If I could eat 2000 calories a day, I wouldn't have gotten fat in the first place! I hit 2 plateaus in 5 months. 1 was early on and I was eating less than 1200 pretty regularly. That's when I started making sure I tried for about 1300. The second time, I decreased cals for a week, then moved them back up. If I'm not hungry and I'm at 1100 tho, I don't eat. Even if I burned 700 that day in the gym. I'm 1 lb away from losing 50! And, I'm super excited.

Works for me...

How do you know you have lost only fat and not muscle - did you have a DEXA scan or a hydrostatic test before and during?

I'm 5'3.5" and eat around 1200 NET calories a day. That works out fine for me. If I'm hungry, I eat more. If I'm tired, I eat more. But generally that number works out pretty solidly for me; I have enough energy, I'm not hungry, etc.

I am 5 ft tall and I eat just around 1200-1300 and I feel fine everyday... if anything I feel less sluggish then when I was restricting it to 14-1500. I weight lift 2x a week and do cardio 4x a week as well as other exercises. I eat mostly fruit and veges and whole grains and they do keep my full, a lot of people confuse hungry with being thirsty I think. I drink a lot of water too. And obviously I'm doing something right since I'm loosing weight and my body feel fine. I think it depends on the person and that there can't be a standard to everyone. People loose and gain differently.. And I'm not loosing muscle mass, because my arms and legs are still getting more chiseled every time I think to look at them in the mirror!

Hm, 1200 calories is alright for me, especially if you eat all the right stuff. Anything more than 1500, feels like I've eaten way too much ^^.

I eat usually around 1,250, maybe up to 1,300. I'm 23 years old, 5'3 and 114 pounds. I am tired all the time (not because I don't eat enough, I've always been tired for no reason) and sedentary. I wish I could get my lazy bum to exercise more, but being constantly tired makes it hard. I currently only do brisk walking for 45 minutes everyday. Twice a week at a gym, I use the elliptical for about 15 minutes and walk/attempt to run on the treadmill for about 12 minutes. I may or may not also do my walk on those days. I am slowly trying to increase the amount of exercising. I probably will not consider eating more than that until I can get myself to do an actual amount of exercise.

I eat usually around 1,250, maybe up to 1,300. I'm 23 years old, 5'3 and 114 pounds. I am tired all the time (not because I don't eat enough, I've always been tired for no reason) and sedentary. I wish I could get my lazy bum to exercise more, but being constantly tired makes it hard. I currently only do brisk walking for 45 minutes everyday. Twice a week at a gym, I use the elliptical for about 15 minutes and walk/attempt to run on the treadmill for about 12 minutes. I may or may not also do my walk on those days. I am slowly trying to increase the amount of exercising. I probably will not consider eating more than that until I can get myself to do an actual amount of exercise.

Doesn't sound like you need to lose weight really.

I am 244.5 lbs and aged 45 and 5 2"- I am quite active and doing c25k kettlebell classes, weights and a lot of cardio, walking the dog and started picking up more fitness classes.

When i go for the recomended settings it drops my calories to about 1300 - and as soon as I try and stick to this I panic and worry that i am going to feel hungry and reach my macro's and I start obsessing about food - as in i get very fixated and all i think about is the next meal - so i set it to 1500 and usually come in at about 1300 to 1400

I am a bit worried as still have about 100lbs to go and i know that will take me about a year - but I know at some time I will have to drop down to 1200 - I am hoping to do more hiit or tabata as I can't keep on increasing my gym time. I am a it worried as in the past I have had bulimia and I really want to do this the healthy way.

4ft 11 . Just upped to 1600 a day

I'm only an inch taller than you... however I am over 55lbs heavier than you. I eat 1500 and I am losing at a good healthy rate.

When I am much closer to my weight goal (around 120) I will lower my calories, but I will also have increased my exercises by then, meaning I wont really need to lower them by much.

Instead of eating 1200 a day, why don't you try burn 300+ calories a day, that way you can eat 1500 calories but your net will be 1200, this would be a much healthier way to lose.

Are folks talking net or gross calories?

I'm 4'9", 47 year old distance runner/xtrainer

I burn an average of 400 cals a day (when I'm not training. When I am training it varies from 500-1700)
I eat around 1400 cals a day, so I net 1000. It is plenty of food for me. I have an incredibly huge appetite and I eat till I'm stuffed. As someone said earlier, it's because of my food choices that I can eat so much. A typical dinner is 4 cups of broccoli with a drizzle of olive oil, 2 vegan veggie burgers, a cup of fat-free greek yogurt, a cup of fruit. All of this comes in under 500 cals and has plenty of protein, good fat and good carbs.

I do have a cheat day on the weekends where I drink alcohol and don't count any calories. Still eat really healthy but I am indulgent with things like avocado, hummus, almond butter and ocassionally a little bread (gasp!)

However, I cannot lose a lb. I would have thought that netting 1000 would buy me a little wiggle room on the weekends, but the scale seems to say otherwise. I have only been eating this way since March. So, give it more time, lose the cheat day or lower the weekly calories?

Not just petite women but older people, people who have gone up and down in their weight, etc. etc. etc.

Recommendations are based on models. Those models need to be adjusted to meet who you are. I am 5'10". My needs are very different than someone who is small.

I was your size when I was in the fourth grade!:ohwell: