How many calories per day is right?

meg_liz
meg_liz Posts: 16 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone! I have been dancing around losing weight for the past year-ish. Current weight 135, goal of 117-120, 5'4. That's a comfortable weight for me that's easy to maintain when I'm there... it's just the getting back there that's killing me!

So here's my question... how many calories do other members that around my size eat in a day? I am pretty sedentary at work - lots of desk/computer time. I go to the gym about 3-4 days/week, but struggle with consistency. I know it's important to work out, but I have had success losing weight in the past focusing mainly on diet, so I am very good at counting calories. On most days, I try to stay under between 1000-1100 calories. I don't have a problem feeling full on that number. On the weekends, I often go over, but don't eat horribly.... (Damn you, wine!)

Do you think my calorie goal is appropriate? If not - what should it be?

Replies

  • ecw3780
    ecw3780 Posts: 608 Member
    Omg, never eat less than 1200 calories. You will screw with your body and it will go into starvation mode. You should eat about 1200 calories per day + what you burn exercising. You can't get back to your goal weight because you aren't eating enough.
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
    This is not something to be done via a poll. And it's not based on size alone. Just work out your TDEE and go from there.

    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

    ETA: without knowing anything about you, i can tell you that you're under-eating, probably by a lot, at 1000-1100 cals per day.
  • EatClenTrenHard
    EatClenTrenHard Posts: 339 Member
    Go to http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

    put correct bodyfat%. that way you will find your BMR. put correct activity level, thats your TDEE.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    Hey everyone! I have been dancing around losing weight for the past year-ish. Current weight 135, goal of 117-120, 5'4. That's a comfortable weight for me that's easy to maintain when I'm there... it's just the getting back there that's killing me!

    So here's my question... how many calories do other members that around my size eat in a day? I am pretty sedentary at work - lots of desk/computer time. I go to the gym about 3-4 days/week, but struggle with consistency. I know it's important to work out, but I have had success losing weight in the past focusing mainly on diet, so I am very good at counting calories. On most days, I try to stay under between 1000-1100 calories. I don't have a problem feeling full on that number. On the weekends, I often go over, but don't eat horribly.... (Damn you, wine!)

    Do you think my calorie goal is appropriate? If not - what should it be?

    Only you can decide, and your doctor. But your calorie goal can be weekly if you want, you don't have to be exactly the same each day.

    To say eat more is wrong.

    To say eat less is wrong.

    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.

    All that matters is calories. A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss. A lot depends on the stress you are under at any given time. Everyone is different.

    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.

    The only way to know for sure is to test it out. If you gain weight or can't lose weight then you know you need to eat more no matter how many calculators and text books say otherwise.

    Also you might be too lean to go into to deep of a calorie deficit and here's why:

    The Theory of Fat Availability:
    •There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
    •The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
    •The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
    •Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
    may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

    At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
    you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
    when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
    as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
    men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

    -Brad Pilon and John Barban (from The Reverse Taper Diet in The Adonis Index and Venus Index manuals)
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
    Absolutely not enough--hands down, without a doubt. You're young and active. I'd guess you can lose on 1800. You shouldn't have more than a 15% deficit or 1/2 pound per week as a goal. you don't have much to lose.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    no that's really not enough at all. You should figure out your TDEE which you can google, I think there might even be a calculator on this website somewhere. That is how many calories you need to maintain. Subtract 500 from that. That is what you need to eat to lose a pound a week. You sound like you're already at a healthy weight so you should really do a smaller deficit and focus more on strength training and retaining your muscle mass.
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
    Hey everyone! I have been dancing around losing weight for the past year-ish. Current weight 135, goal of 117-120, 5'4. That's a comfortable weight for me that's easy to maintain when I'm there... it's just the getting back there that's killing me!

    So here's my question... how many calories do other members that around my size eat in a day? I am pretty sedentary at work - lots of desk/computer time. I go to the gym about 3-4 days/week, but struggle with consistency. I know it's important to work out, but I have had success losing weight in the past focusing mainly on diet, so I am very good at counting calories. On most days, I try to stay under between 1000-1100 calories. I don't have a problem feeling full on that number. On the weekends, I often go over, but don't eat horribly.... (Damn you, wine!)

    Do you think my calorie goal is appropriate? If not - what should it be?

    Only you can decide, and your doctor. But your calorie goal can be weekly if you want, you don't have to be exactly the same each day.

    To say eat more is wrong.

    To say eat less is wrong.

    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.

    All that matters is calories. A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss. A lot depends on the stress you are under at any given time. Everyone is different.

    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.

    The only way to know for sure if this is the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
    that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many calculators and text books say otherwise.

    You keep pasting this, but it's misleading. Calculators that work out one's TDEE are certainly not perfect, but they're definitely good for narrowing down the ballpark. It's not something so mystical and hard to figure out. Start with an honest TDEE estimate, be diligent with logging for several weeks, then adjust from there.

    "To say eat more is wrong. " Bull5hit. In this case, she needs to eat more.
  • meg_liz
    meg_liz Posts: 16 Member
    Thank you everyone! This is awesome help and the reason why it is so great to be part of a community. So from the link above - my TDEE is 1919 - so I should maybe be around 1400 calories/day according to a 500 calorie deficit as someone suggested.

    I think I struggle mentally with adding that many calories - but I trust that it will make a difference. Would you advise adding them in the form of lean protein, or does it matter (as long as it's not McDonalds? :))
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
    Thank you everyone! This is awesome help and the reason why it is so great to be part of a community. So from the link above - my TDEE is 1919 - so I should maybe be around 1400 calories/day according to a 500 calorie deficit as someone suggested.

    I think I struggle mentally with adding that many calories - but I trust that it will make a difference. Would you advise adding them in the form of lean protein, or does it matter (as long as it's not McDonalds? :))

    Typical rule of thumb is .8g protein per lb of lean body mass; .35g fat per lb of total body mass; the rest in carbs (or more protein or fat if you wish). This is of course a ballpark. Aim for something around there; don't obsess about it.

    Also, nothing wrong with eating McDonald's, if it fits into your macros, tastes good to you, and sits well with you. Of course it's best to get the majority of your nutrition from good wholesome food, but there is often plenty of room for little treats or so-called "unhealthy" foods. Remember, you are making a permanent change in your life. So whatever you do needs to be sustainable forever.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
    Thank you everyone! This is awesome help and the reason why it is so great to be part of a community. So from the link above - my TDEE is 1919 - so I should maybe be around 1400 calories/day according to a 500 calorie deficit as someone suggested.

    I think I struggle mentally with adding that many calories - but I trust that it will make a difference. Would you advise adding them in the form of lean protein, or does it matter (as long as it's not McDonalds? :))

    I'd say more like 1919 * .85 = 1631 calories. Which is a 15% deficit and should yield just over 2 pounds a month.

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