5 ft 6 in Female, only 1500 calories???

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  • dgk2024
    dgk2024 Posts: 15 Member
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    I'm 5'7", 165 and MFP set me up with 1570 cal a day. I was hungry for the first few days (mostly because I stopped eating out and made or brought my own food) but I've noticed I'm not anymore and I've been on MFP for a week now. My body is adjusting. Plus eating the right thing helps. If it helps, I split my calories into 5 small meals a day at 300cal a meal, give or take. Been working good so far. Plus don't forget to consider the calories burned in exercise.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
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    I'm 38, I have five kids. I weigh in now at 173. I'm a size 12. I need to be in my size 6's, and that would have me about 150 if I'm remembering correctly. Last time I tried to count calories and lose , I ate around 1900-2000 calories a day and stayed really active with life (no exercise on purpose, though I rarely if ever sit down) and lost around 30 pounds. That was a couple years back. Now, I've gained 13 or so back, due to just not watching what I eat.

    Now, it says I need to cut back to 1500 a day. That just makes me hungry thinking about it.

    Seriously, will I get used to it??? The last time I dropped my calories under 1900 I felt terribly ill. When I just eat normal healthy food and maintain, I need about 2200 calories a day to feel good, maintain, and not gain, and to not walk around feeling hungry all the time.

    Will I adjust to what it feels like to eat 1500 calories?

    I eat like a man. I eat a lot. I am HUNGRY at meal time. When I'm as thin as I would like to be and back in my size 6's, I am hungry and still have a voracious , huge appetite. I eat lots of healthy food, cook everything from scratch, eat lots of veg and fruits. I don't eat junk. Most of all, I make sure I always always have animal protein or I get even hungrier.

    Bottom line, can someone like ME adjust to so few calories a day or will I ruin my metabolism?? All my friends that have dieted all their life are heavier than me and eat less than me and don't really feel hungry like I do....

    So, I just wonder if maybe I'd do better not to restrict calories quite so much?

    Just thinking out loud here...

    You probably could adjust. With MFP you eat back your exercise calories. If you're at 1500 and burn 500 you end up eating 2000 calories for the day. Of course if you know your maintenance is 2200 you could easily take a smaller cut and still lose, just more slowly.
  • scottelle
    scottelle Posts: 22 Member
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    You may also benefit from changing some of the things you eat. I find "whole" foods (versus processed) tend to provide more and longer satiety. A lot of processed foods are overly "enhanced" with sugar and/or salt and those two substances are known to be almost "addictive" for many people (too much sugar will trigger me sometimes, not so much for salt). Things that are naturally high in fiber, like many vegetables are filling with little calorie toll. Things with a bit of fat and/or protein tend to "stick to your ribs" longer (so long as the sugars are low)


    THAT!!!!
  • jfrankic
    jfrankic Posts: 747 Member
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    Probably NET 1500 - so eat 1900-2000 as you did last time (which worked!) and since you're active you can burn those 400-500 in the course of your day!

    ^^ This. I only have intentional exercise 3x per week with only FOUR minutes of cardio. I lift heavy, then follow it up with Tabata for four minutes. That's it. I have two kids and am only my feet for 7-8 hours a day just living my life. I'm 160ish and 5'8, so taller than you, but I still burn 2600-2700 per day...says my FitBit Flex. I reiterate....intentional exercise only THREE TIMES PER WEEK AND 4 MINUTES OF CARDIO. And I burn this much. Just sayin.....if it worked for you eating 1900-2000 a day before. Start there. Don't be miserable.
  • Gwen_B
    Gwen_B Posts: 1,018 Member
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    I'm 5'8" and I rarely eat 1500 calories!! As everything I eat is healthy they don't add up calories as fast, allowing me to be full.
  • sullykat
    sullykat Posts: 461 Member
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    I'm 5'6 and eat 1600 cals, as advised by my trainer. I do not eat back my exercise calories, as advised by my trainer. If you are honestly hungry at the end of the day, you may be quite active and need to eat more. Add back 100 cals at a time, per day and see how you feel. You should not be hungry, even at a deficite, if you are fueling properly.

    Make sure you are eating nutritionally dense food, too. Micronutrients in food help your hormones to stay balanced, making you feel satisfied.
  • GrannyGwen1
    GrannyGwen1 Posts: 213 Member
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    General Diet and Weight Loss Help
    Topic: 5 ft 6 in Female, only 1500 calories???

    BUMP
  • chanson100
    chanson100 Posts: 1
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    Think about the idea of shrinking your stomach - internally not just externally. That is what bariatric surgery is doing, reducing the ability to overeat. Don't make yourself miserable but if you can reduce the volume of food you consume during meals your body will adjust and will do you the favor of wanting less food. An earlier post mentioned take the Zen approach to hunger when you can.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    I am 5'4", and lose steadily on 1800. And I eat every calorie I have, every day. If I drop below that, I am way too hungry to deal with. Like you, I am active all day long and on my feet moving around, but not actually "exercising". I *personally* would manually set my calories to 1800 or 1900, give it 4-6 weeks, and reevaluate. If no loss, then cut a little more.

    Also, I found that MFP's recommendations didn't work out too well for me because of my activity level/lack of actual exercise. I never put in any actual exercise, so I rarely had calories to "eat back", and as a result I was too hungry because I was under eating. I looked into TDEE-20% instead, and that has worked perfectly for me.
  • totalytammy
    totalytammy Posts: 3 Member
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    Make sure you record all of your activities. Every time you do , it will give you more calories. I try to exercise more on days that there are food involved celebrations, that way I can enjoy of few small treats. Don't leave any exercise out. You will be surprised how much you can eat.
  • lcfairbairn74
    lcfairbairn74 Posts: 412 Member
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    If you lost weight at 1900 previously, I would manually set your calorie target at 1900. Give it a few weeks and if you need to cut them down from there, do it. The 1500 target is excluding exercise calories though, so if you add them in does it raise your target to about 1900 anyway?
  • learnerdriver
    learnerdriver Posts: 298 Member
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    I'm similar, but 5"5 and 41.

    I'm on 1500 as I have a knee injury at the moment. I was eating around 1700-1800 when exercising based on TDEE-20%.

    I am full as my plate is loaded with vegetables, I eat less bread and less rice (apparently a serve of rice is half cup cooked- I was eating 2 cups at dinner).

    I could probably go lower- MFP has me on 1400, but I'd rather go slow as I'd like my skin to bounce back.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
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    I'm 5'7", 125 pounds and a size 4. I maintain at 1895-2000. I have gone through one bulk cycle and I ate 2000-2200 to gain. In cut phase, I eat 1500-1800. I do vary my calories based on my activity for the day. I always eat more on days when I strength train my lower body, not as much when I do upper body, and stick close to 1500 when I sit on my butt.

    If you are aiming to get back into a size 6, then 1500 plus exercise calories to lose is about right.

    I'm just one example, but I lost 60 pounds eating around 1600 calories, plus having a 2000 calorie plus re-feed day on the weekend (when I did a lot more exercise).
  • marvybells
    marvybells Posts: 1,984 Member
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    my advice is to try what worked for you before first, do not go off of mfp. It might work fine for some but for others it can be way off.....

    I am 5' 7" and about 120lbs. MFP wants me to be at 1200 cals. no fricking way is that right. i used a different BMR/TDEE calculator & it told me that my BMR alone is over 1300. It gave me just under 1800 as my TDEE and that is WITHOUT exercise cals added in yet. I eat at my TDEE & some of my exercise cals back & i have not gained weight. this works just fine for me & any less i would feel like i was starving.

    ( i have always been a big eater, just like you. When i was younger i had a ridiculous appetite & super fast metabolism. I know that at age 37 my metabolism isn't what it used to be, but it has always been higher than most people so i expect that it still may be higher than most women my age. yours may be too)


    *** Here are 2 different calculators that i have used, i prefer these over mfp because you can be very specific about your activity level during the day

    http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html
    http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
  • thinklikethin
    thinklikethin Posts: 7
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    Wow, this has been super helpful. I am going to do some research and see what to set my calories at. I truly do not believe I will be able to keep going on 1500 a day, day in and day out. I am very active, chase after 5 kids and run my home and cook and shop and manage my house constantly. I just think the amount is off, BUT i will do some research b/c i DO want to challenge myself and reign in my appetite as much as possible and get results. But, I have a hunch that I have a higher metabolism that other women my age and size. I always have, from childhood...I *never* carried even enough weight until after I started having children. I struggled to stay at normal weight. So, I truly think that I'll feel miserable and weak at 15oo. Thanks for all the help!!!
  • thinklikethin
    thinklikethin Posts: 7
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    my advice is to try what worked for you before first, do not go off of mfp. It might work fine for some but for others it can be way off.....

    I am 5' 7" and about 120lbs. MFP wants me to be at 1200 cals. no fricking way is that right. i used a different BMR/TDEE calculator & it told me that my BMR alone is over 1300. It gave me just under 1800 as my TDEE and that is WITHOUT exercise cals added in yet. I eat at my TDEE & some of my exercise cals back & i have not gained weight. this works just fine for me & any less i would feel like i was starving.

    ( i have always been a big eater, just like you. When i was younger i had a ridiculous appetite & super fast metabolism. I know that at age 37 my metabolism isn't what it used to be, but it has always been higher than most people so i expect that it still may be higher than most women my age. yours may be too)


    *** Here are 2 different calculators that i have used, i prefer these over mfp because you can be very specific about your activity level during the day

    http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html
    http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced

    According to the above site (The second one) I have a TEE of 2,291. That sounds totally right to me, as I noticed before when I eat btw 1900 and 2000 I lose and if I go under 1800 I feel like I'm starving.

    What is this 20% of TDEE that I am seeing some speak of?? I need to google it, but when I do I get threads from MFP pop up, I click on it and it takes me to the general message board and not the acual thread itself.

    I also want to read more about NEAT vs. TDEE.

    Anyone have some links?

    I guess I could go learn how to search the forums.

    THx everyone. I think I will try 1900 to begin with and just see if I can lose 1 lb a week that way...but I'm still reading and trying to learn and am open to any and all input. THX
  • delinsc
    delinsc Posts: 2
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    I am 5'1" and only get 1250 calories a day and that includes 2 times a day juicing
  • thinklikethin
    thinklikethin Posts: 7
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    okay, I figured out my TDEE and the 20% off of it to create a one pound loss a week. It's 1800 calories. I should be able to eat 1800 and lose a pound a week. I'm going to go with that figure and see where it gets me, since it is experientially close to what I worked out for myself before. My gut tells me that 1500 is too low (pun intended).
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    okay, I figured out my TDEE and the 20% off of it to create a one pound loss a week. It's 1800 calories. I should be able to eat 1800 and lose a pound a week. I'm going to go with that figure and see where it gets me, since it is experientially close to what I worked out for myself before. My gut tells me that 1500 is too low (pun intended).

    This sounds like a good plan. If you search MFP for "in place of a roadmap", a thread by HelloitsDan should come up. This was a huge help for me in understanding TDEE and deficits. But based off the TDEE you posted, 1800 sounds like a good number.
  • KAS0917
    KAS0917 Posts: 172 Member
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    This is so interesting to me - I'm also 5'6".

    I've tried about 4 different calculators I've seen recommended here. MFP has my calorie target at 1,410 (plus exercise calories). That seems really low to me as well, but I'm coming off of years of Weight Watchers, where I know my points calculated to about 1160 calories plus fruits and vegetables, so about 1400. So I haven't adjusted it up yet. I've always been overweight so I have to rely on these calculators for now!

    The average for me was a BMR of 1625 / TDEE of 1950. When I do -20%, that would be 1450 when I'm in the office all week & basically sedentary, (plus 5-6 Insanity workouts), or about 1700 when I'm traveling (on my feet and more active in my daily habits). I do use a HRM to calculate calories burned during official 'workout' time so I know it's accurate. But I sit on my butt so much during the say that my fitbit takes away food calories. Stupid fit bit. :)

    I'm only averaging about 1300 calories consumed this week (my first week on MFP), but I haven't wanted more food. I think because I've greatly increased my water maybe? I'm not scared to eat - Lord knows I love food! I've been working out at night, so I get exercise calories added back - but not until about 9pm, leaving me wth a big deficit at the end of the day. It's a learning curve for sure! Fun times! :)

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