How many calories should I be consuming per day?

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Crazygurl1211
Crazygurl1211 Posts: 29
in Health and Weight Loss
I am female, currently weigh about 225 pounds (at 5'4"), and I am looking to get down to 120. I've lost about 20 pounds so far, but I want to speed up the rate. Of course I don't want to do anything unhealthy, but I want to lose weight as fast as possible.

I am trying to work out (right now just cardio on a Bowflex Treadclimber, and I'm going to try to add in Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred within the next couple of days) for about an hour each day. On days when I don't work out, I try to keep it between 1200 and 1400 calories. On days when I do work out, I usually have about 2000 calories per day. My question is, would I lose weight more quickly if I reduce it to 1500-1800 calories per day? I know that to lose weight, calories out>calories in, but I also know when you have too few calories, weight loss can stall. But I wouldn't think 1500 would be too few. What has been others' experiences?

Replies

  • ottermotorcycle
    ottermotorcycle Posts: 654 Member
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    Yes, you would lose weight more quickly if you reduced your calorie intake on exercise days. I don't do those exercises myself, so I can't tell you even ballpark what you might be burning doing them. You can try reducing your intake to 1500-1800, but make sure you take care of yourself. If your workouts start to get harder, you feel fatigued, you get headaches, or you start having binge eating episodes, those are all signs that you are eating too little and you should increase again.
  • lautour
    lautour Posts: 89 Member
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    I use this to figure that out:

    http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

    Underestimate your workout rather than overestimate.
  • 120by30
    120by30 Posts: 217 Member
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    There's no reason to speed up your weight loss. Rapid weight loss isn't good for you anyway. At your current weight, you could probably even be eating the 1500-1800 calories on non-exercise days. Don't try to restrict yourself too much. If what you're doing is working, why change it? Patience is so helpful while losing weight.
  • SEAFOODMAN
    SEAFOODMAN Posts: 342
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    I am female, currently weigh about 225 pounds (at 5'4"), and I am looking to get down to 120. I've lost about 20 pounds so far, but I want to speed up the rate. Of course I don't want to do anything unhealthy, but I want to lose weight as fast as possible.

    I am trying to work out (right now just cardio on a Bowflex Treadclimber, and I'm going to try to add in Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred within the next couple of days) for about an hour each day. On days when I don't work out, I try to keep it between 1200 and 1400 calories. On days when I do work out, I usually have about 2000 calories per day. My question is, would I lose weight more quickly if I reduce it to 1500-1800 calories per day? I know that to lose weight, calories out>calories in, but I also know when you have too few calories, weight loss can stall. But I wouldn't think 1500 would be too few. What has been others' experiences?



    http://retireddieter.com/resting-metabolic-rate-what-is-your-rmr
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    There's no reason to speed up your weight loss. Rapid weight loss isn't good for you anyway. At your current weight, you could probably even be eating the 1500-1800 calories on non-exercise days. Don't try to restrict yourself too much. If what you're doing is working, why change it? Patience is so helpful while losing weight.

    ^ THIS. If you've lost 20 lb. and you joined MFP this month, you're doing great--maybe even losing too fast, unless the 20 lb. is over more than the last couple weeks. Even so, losing more than 2 lb. per week is hard to sustain, and you run the risk of losing too much muscle mass or getting loose skin.
  • rainbowxelephant
    rainbowxelephant Posts: 71 Member
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    Why are you consuming more on days you workout? As long as your weekly calories average out, it doesn't really matter.. I think 1200 calories on any day is far too few for any person, except toddlers and young children. My personal opinion is that you should aim for 1800-2000 calories a day, every day. You'll still lose weight, but weight loss is a journey, not a destination. You want to create habits that are sustainable.
  • rainbowxelephant
    rainbowxelephant Posts: 71 Member
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    Yes, you would lose weight more quickly if you reduced your calorie intake on exercise days. I don't do those exercises myself, so I can't tell you even ballpark what you might be burning doing them. You can try reducing your intake to 1500-1800, but make sure you take care of yourself. If your workouts start to get harder, you feel fatigued, you get headaches, or you start having binge eating episodes, those are all signs that you are eating too little and you should increase again.

    In response to this, one time I did Insanity and was eating 1300 calories perday, and that lasted for one or two days. Then I ate 1800-2000 per day. When I did p90x I started out eating (aiming for) 1800, and ended up at 2400 or higher most nights because I'd still be famished and end up binging on something sweet or carby. Don't restrict yourself, you're only going to hurt your body that way (and it's the only one you've got)
  • Crazygurl1211
    Crazygurl1211 Posts: 29
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    The 20 pounds is actually over the last 10 months or so, not the last month. So I don't think anyone could call this rapid weight loss, haha. I admit I did get really lazy about it for months at a time, gained and then lost again, etc. I've probably lost 3-4 pounds this last week alone just by being conscientious about it though.

    I'm not looking for extremely rapid weight loss, but as fast as possible would be good. I know patience is important, but I would really like to lose it as soon as possible. I'm not doing anything too extreme and am trying to get proper nutrition. 15-20 pounds a month would be awesome.
  • Bounce4
    Bounce4 Posts: 288 Member
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    Everyone is different. You have to plug in your own numbers to come up with a starting point and tweak things as you go and figure out what works and doesn't work for you individually.

    I have a desk job so I'm not very active. I did 1200 calories a day and ate back my 200 calories from 30DS. I was hungry all the time so after 6 weeks I slowly upped that until I got to 1500 cal and I usually eat back my 30DS calorie burn. My weight loss is slower but it is still a loss. This is a balance between not being hungry and still losing so it works for me. I'm learning smarter ways of eating and nutritional things so the calories i do eat keep me more satiated. I also go way over about three days out of the month so it also affords me a tiny bit of leeway. Those are just my numbers and what works for me though.

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