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Slightly anxious about calorie intake

Jinxy23
Jinxy23 Posts: 33 Member
edited February 20 in Food and Nutrition
Evening,

So after my initial progress, my weight loss has slowed drastically. Recently my work has also been more active, going from Lightly Active to Active. So I have decided to lower my target loss to 0.5lbs a week and thus increase my calorie intake to 1600 a day (I'm 5ft 5 and currently 135lbs) in order to lose the final 5lbs to reach my current target weight before hopefully gaining a little muscle and becoming leaner.

Does this sound fairly reasonable? I'm pretty anxious of increasing although I have read countless times on this forum that it is sometimes the best thing to do. I guess I just need to take the plunge really but make sure I fill the extra calories with healthy bits and not just chocolate :P

Replies

  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    That sounds reasonable.

    Another approach would be to go straight to trying to build muscle (i.e., eat at a bit of a protein-heavy surplus while doing weight work). Then when you decide to cut the rest, the extra muscle will make it easier. If you go this route, I'd recommend hiding the scale and concentrating on measurements...if you're anal about weight, per se, you'll get all freaked out when you start building muscle.
  • Jinxy23
    Jinxy23 Posts: 33 Member
    Yea I may have to hide the scale for a little bit lol.
    Also over the last week I've started adding more protein to my diet, hitting about 80-110g a day. I do some muscle work but I probably need to look into some more really. I feel a forum search coming on lol.
  • mxmkenney
    mxmkenney Posts: 486 Member
    I just upped my calories too (from 1500 to 1800 but I stopped eating back my exercise calories). As long as you don't have lofty weight-loss goals at this stage of the game, then you should be fine. 1/2 a pound to 1 pound every two weeks is reasonable when you are within 10 pounds of your goal weight. Just make sure your activity level is accurate! Good luck!
  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
    I really like the notion of slow and steady weight loss. You get to eat more, lose less muscle and when you reach a weight that's good for you you've already changed your eating habits so maintenance isn't a drastic change in food consumption.
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