Short girls 1200 calories just not enough?

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natalyau
natalyau Posts: 18
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi Girls,

I am 153cm short , about 52kgs, at the higher end of my healthy BMI. I have reset my goal to loosing as little as I can and still I am not allowed to have anymore then 1200 calories a day! It flippen sucks. I eat good too, just a lot, especially during the day. I usually have only 300 calories left for dinner at the end of the day and I'm usually hungry and eat double at dinner.

In order to stay within the deficit I have to exercise which is fine with me lol, I walk the dog 1-2 days and do long distance running 3-4 days. I like to take a day or two to not exercise to recover from my runs, I have a hard time staying under 1200 calories these days and if I try change my eating routine then I usually loose the plot and binge.

So have any of you maybe have a a different formula for calculating your calories but still be in a deficit. Or any other tips that you found work to help you stay under?

Thanks guys
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Replies

  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
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    okay i'm 5:5.5" and started at 1200 calories & could not lose weight. I started losing at about 1400 calories per day. Hope this helps-
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
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    Select to lose one or half a pound a week. I am 4'11" 118 pounds and I eat an average of 1500 calories a day, maintain at 1750. You might also have to try intermittent fasting or something like that. That way I can have 1000 calories for diner and go to bed full. You just have to experiment to know what work for you.
  • vwbug86
    vwbug86 Posts: 283 Member
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    There is the TDEE approach which estimates your activity level and then you need to eat that many cals a day.


    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    I am not allowed to have anymore then 1200 calories a day! It flippen sucks.

    I doubt this will help but the reason you need so few calories is because with your size you NEED so few calories. I'm the same way (though not as tiny), but I try to remind myself that me limiting myself to 1200 is like someone who burns 2400/day limiting themself to 2000. And there are advantages to needing less food, really. It's cheaper and easier, for one thing.

    But if you feel deprived on 1200, maybe it really isn't enough for you. Only you can tell for sure. The online calculators are just estimates based on population averages. Try more and see what happens, if you want.
  • exercise2day2
    exercise2day2 Posts: 46 Member
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    At 5'8" I am not what you call short at all, but I have been eating at 1200 cal for the past 2 months. I have lost 16 pounds during that time. I also exercise 3-4 times per week. My diary is open, so you can see what I am eating to stay within my calorie count. It is not perfect by any stretch, but it might give you some ideas on the types of food that you can eat to stay within your target and not feel like you are starving yourself. Hope this helps :) Keep on reaching for your goals!
  • pixiesgreene
    pixiesgreene Posts: 88 Member
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    Could you do 16:8 or something like that? I'm 5'4" so not as short as you, but I have a bit to lose so MFP has given me 1350 a day. I'm trying to eat all my calories between 2pm and 10pm and that way I find it much, much easier to stay at or just under my goal.

    Sometimes I get to 10pm and find I'm WAY under because I just wasn't that hungry through the day, then I'll extend it to midnight and have some fruit on fruit toast or something. So on those days I'm doing more like 14:10, they're not hard and fast rules, but it helps me not to go over.

    Having said that, I'm one of these people who hates to eat breakfast and doesn't get hungry until around 2, so there's that. YMMV.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    2 questions:

    are you eating back your exercise calories?
    why are you trying to stay UNDER 1200?
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
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    2 questions:

    are you eating back your exercise calories?
    why are you trying to stay UNDER 1200?

    Good questions! If you are running long distance a few days a week plus shorter walks a couple of days a week even being short you should be eating more than under 1200. I'm 157cm and with only walking around 5 days a week I can lose on 1700.
  • Gioooo
    Gioooo Posts: 301 Member
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    I'm 5'3 and I compete in bikini shows - i eat about 1500-1600 calories a day and workout (some cardio but mostly weightlifting) when im on prep and when Im off prep I eat 1750-1800 cals a day! I cant imagine eating at 1200 id die! If your are working out , you can definately be eating more! Eating that little - youll definately lose weight rapidly but youll hit a plateau eventually and just be hungry all the time !
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
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    I am not allowed to have anymore then 1200 calories a day! It flippen sucks.

    I doubt this will help but the reason you need so few calories is because with your size you NEED so few calories. I'm the same way (though not as tiny), but I try to remind myself that me limiting myself to 1200 is like someone who burns 2400/day limiting themself to 2000. And there are advantages to needing less food, really. It's cheaper and easier, for one thing.

    But if you feel deprived on 1200, maybe it really isn't enough for you. Only you can tell for sure. The online calculators are just estimates based on population averages. Try more and see what happens, if you want.

    I do not agree. I am tiny and could not eat just 1200 a day, day in day out......and I lost the weight going on 3 years now.
  • Escape_Artist
    Escape_Artist Posts: 1,155 Member
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    I am not allowed to have anymore then 1200 calories a day! It flippen sucks.

    I doubt this will help but the reason you need so few calories is because with your size you NEED so few calories. I'm the same way (though not as tiny), but I try to remind myself that me limiting myself to 1200 is like someone who burns 2400/day limiting themself to 2000. And there are advantages to needing less food, really. It's cheaper and easier, for one thing.

    But if you feel deprived on 1200, maybe it really isn't enough for you. Only you can tell for sure. The online calculators are just estimates based on population averages. Try more and see what happens, if you want.

    I do not agree. I am tiny and could not eat just 1200 a day, day in day out......and I lost the weight going on 3 years now.

    Same here. Mind you I'm not as small as Yanicka, I'm barely 5'1 but personally 1200 has never worked for me. Even though I don't do cardio and just lift/yoga I cut at 1691
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    That's great that there are so many small women here who can lose weight on higher calorie amounts. My point was just that the reason the calorie goal generators come up with 1200 is because the average woman 5' tall, etc., who wants to lose x/week, has to go that low. If you're not average, that's terrific.
  • DesireeNL
    DesireeNL Posts: 220 Member
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    Hi Natalyau, I'm 152cm and around 53kg. (I just came back from a vacation so probably a bit heavier now..) I eat around 1500 on average to lose. And I don't exercise much at the moment. 1200 calories is very little, I tried it when I signed up at MFP but I quickly found that it was way too little, making me hungry, tired and grouchy.
  • Leia1225
    Leia1225 Posts: 1
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    Did you tell MFP that you're sedentary or just very lightly active? I'm currently 5'0 and 121 and MFP was telling me the same thing, 1200 calories, and I was eating much more than that because I'm a human with needs, haha ;-) I got a fitbit though and linked the accounts-- ever since MFP has been upping my daily allotment and I've been eating an average of about 1400 to 1500 calories/day and losing about 1lb/week. Obviously you don't need to get a fitbit or anything (although I really love mine and think it's a great idea for anyone who wants to spend the money) but if you just spend a few average days logging ALL your daily activities (i.e., "preparing food/cooking," "walking around the house," "light housework," "carring things upstairs," etc) on MFP you'll be able to get an idea of about how many calories you're actually burning per day and then work from there.
  • socomary
    socomary Posts: 52
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    I'm 154 cm and was also on the higher end of my BMI. My initial goal was to lose about 20 pounds, so what I did was break up the 20 pounds into increments. That is, I would target losing 5 pounds, and once I got there, adjust the goal to lose the next 5 pounds. I did this at 1/2 pound per week. Doing it this way made my caloric intake limit tolerable - I never did feel hungry, and I lost the weight I needed to lose. The caloric intake has always been around 1400 or so for me.

    There is no way I could get by on 1200 calories!

    Make sure that you're not underestimating your daily activity level - that would be the first thing I'd look at. Maybe give the 5-pound increment a try. It seemed easier for me to chop the larger goal up in to smaller goals that were easy to obtain.
  • Mollysous
    Mollysous Posts: 30
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    I am an even 5ft and (currently) 156 lbs. I have been doing well with a 1320 calorie plan. I have been losing and most day's I don't go over my calories nor am I hungry, but some days I am ravenous, so I listen to my body and eat when I'm hungry, I just try to make it a healthier choice.

    Everyone is different and no two people are going to require the same caloric requirements, even if they are otherwise identical in size, shape, activity or whatever - and the suggestions from the website are just a guideline. You need to tweak your calories and find your happy place it sounds like to me. I would maybe start by increasing your calories by 100-200 and see if that works out better for you. Good luck!
  • adamnb13
    adamnb13 Posts: 9
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    Eat more protein and fat and eat less carbs.
    Carbs are not helpful for satiety and after like 100-150 grams of carbs in a day all your doing is feeding your body fat unless you've done a high intensity work out. (aka, resistance training, or HIIT based training)
    If you want to loose body fat, insulin is your enemy. Insulin stimulates fat storage and stops fat breakdown.
    Less carbs = less insulin

    Don't worry about specific calorie goals, not all calories are created equal. Reduce carbs (cut out sugar altogether, except mabey as a treat once a week or something, less if you can), eat to satiety, and perhaps do shorter more intense runs, which will increase your metabolic rate for the rest of the day.
    Also intermittent fasting as others have suggested can be very effective.
  • missbirrell
    missbirrell Posts: 133
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    I am 5 4' & 184lbs. I have been on 1200 since I started on Oct 7. On the days I exercise, I sometimes eat more calories but 1200 ish is working for me, albeit slowly.
  • adorable_aly
    adorable_aly Posts: 398 Member
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    Bump.
  • hastingsmassage
    hastingsmassage Posts: 162 Member
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    I am 5.4 ft tall, started on 1700 cal 10 months ago, lost 120 lbs so far
    9798744343_e9729f71ed_z.jpg
    weight loss by AnnaNat, on Flickr

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