I don't know how many calories I should eat!!!!

Light activity i'd put for if you do at least an hour of intense workouts a day, or your job has you on your feet a lot.

I'm having some troubles losing weight. Uhm, I guess I'm mostly confused on what to consider my activity level.

I'm 5'3" and 145 pounds, and 18 years old. My goal weight is 120 pounds.

My exercise is weight lifting for 30 minutes 3x a week and walking for 45 minutes 4x a week. I use lightly active as my activity modifier. And when I do, my TDEE comes up as 2000 - 2100.

So if I eat about 1650 I should lose about a pound a week right? Does this sound right?

Any calorie estimate is just a tool, a ballpark estimate to start with, but it should be close.

To find the exact calories needed for YOU to be in a healthy sustainable calorie deficit is the right answer. Wait, if you need to adjust by 100 do it, wait, adjust, wait, adjust, wait. The tortoise wins this race.

Some people can handle a bigger calorie deficit and some people can't, neither is right or wrong. Even a small calorie deficit will put your body is a state of flux with hormones and such, some people have more stress which increases your hunger hormones, some people have emotional eating issues which adds even more complications. All that matters is what works for you. No one here and give you the answer. Your doctor can help you but we are not qualified to tell you how much to eat.

A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss. Don't make it complicated.

Also people play mental accounting games with calories just like with finances. Make steps to make sure you are making accurate measurements. Packaged foods can have MORE than they say but not less (they get in trouble if less so they would rather error with MORE).

If you typically intake sodium at a certain rate your body adjusts, but if you make a sudden change then you will see a spike.

Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone. Losing fat with no muscle is ugly and cardio alone will not make you pretty. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

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.

To say eat more is wrong.

To say eat less is wrong.

Do what works for YOU.

That sounds kind of high for me. My activity level is set at the lowest, but I exercise at least an hour every day, mostly walking some circuit training. I started at 146, have a GW of 120 and I'm more than halfway. I've been eating about 1400-1600 depending on exercise. As long as you don't go under 1200, you're ok. But see what works for you on the scale. Good luck and feel free to add me if you like.

If you want to lose more weight first, you can concentrate on all cardio right now.

Please don't do this....

Stick to your plan of weights and walking.

Does the calorie amount sound right?

They are correct. Stick with the weights. Make sure you lift HEAVY to make the most out of it. Find your TDEE and eat at a 15 to 20 percent deficit. If you do that and stick with weights you'll be fine.

This but also do HITT for cardio

Yeah I've lost on average a pound a week. A few more in the beginning and when I started 30 day shred. U can do it!

1650 sounds fine. remember, your body works more on a weekly basis, rather than day-to-day. so if one day your just not as hungry and you eat only 1500 calories, and the next day you are starving and you eat 1800 calories, you know it all balances out.

be mindful of days you are more hungry than others. look at your protein and carb intake.

To say eat more is wrong.

To say eat less is wrong.

Do what works for YOU.

I second, third & fourth this.

If you want to lose more weight first, you can concentrate on all cardio right now.

Bite your tongue, heathen!

You need to be doing more vigorous cardio and longer. 60-90 min of cardio 5x a week for weight loss.

ignore this also...


OP: your plan sounds very intelligent. Good for you for doing strength training. Don't be afraid to go heavier. And good for you for not falling into the "omg I need to eat 1200 or less" trap.

You've got this!