Calorie goals for short women?

Rlavigne93
Rlavigne93 Posts: 119 Member
in Food and Nutrition
MFPs calorie goal thing keeps giving me mixed signals.

I'm 5'3" and am mildly active I suppose. My job keeps me on my feet and moving, but it's hardly strenuous. With my current weight (140lbs) and a goal of losing one pound a week, my daily calories is set at 1200. Whenever I come in under my goal even by one calorie though, I get a warning saying anything under 1200 puts my body into a starvation state and is unhealthy and such....but that's the goal they set.

I usually end up right at or under 1200, and don't feel like I'm starving myself, I hardly ever notice myself getting hungry between meals or anything. So is my daily goal too low? It's the limit MFP set for me. Or is the starvation warning thing just an automatic thing not calibrated for short people? I really do want to lose weight the "right" way.

Replies

  • TutuMom41
    TutuMom41 Posts: 278 Member
    for your hight and weight
    YOUR BASAL METABOLIC RATE (BMR):
    1277 Calories

    YOUR DAILY CALORIE NEEDS TO
    MAINTAIN CURRENT WEIGHT:
    1756 Calories

    You can eat more than 1200 calories and still loose wight. I only get that warning if I am under 1000 calories. Check your settings As long as you do not get the warning every day do not sweat it :) you do need to eat to live though :)
  • BombshellPhoenix
    BombshellPhoenix Posts: 1,693 Member
    I think you're trying to lose weight too aggressively. Did you set it to 2 lbs a week loss? With so little left to lose, it would be beneficial to lose it at around .5-1lb a week. I'm 5'3.5" and lose weight eating 1650 net (so, I would typically eat 1900 average). The reason is with less weight to lose, your body is more likely to jeopardize muscle along with fat if you lose weight too quickly, and muscle is what helps you look leaner at goal. Another suggestion would be pick up a resistance training program like heavy lifting to incorporate to help retain lean body mass. If not heavy lifting, there are some good body weight exercises as well.
  • AutumnElf80
    AutumnElf80 Posts: 58 Member
    I'm a big big fan of eating (wonder how I got here?) and to me 1200 calories just would not cut it. I'm 5'2" and 206 lbs and I can eat more then that with a 20% deficit taken off. So I plugged your stats into the Scooby's Calculator (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/) and I got the following results. You can eat 1800 calories a day if you are lightly active with only 10% taken off. I only factored in 10% because you're much closer to a healthy weight then I am. It calculated your BMR at 1454. So I'm thinking that 1200 calories is low and less then 1200 isn't an improvement. Not fall over and die bad, but certainly not living at your healthiest.
  • savannahribeiro
    savannahribeiro Posts: 194 Member
    I'm the same --- around 5'3" and sitting at 155 when I started. My thing *****ed me out because I ate around 1300 cals but I also burnt off about 450 that day from exercising so I was sitting at 850. Did anyone else notice it also changes your protein/fat/sodium/carb ratios and stats from day to day? It seems to be different for mine.
    As long as you're not starving yourself it should be fine. Maybe eat a teensy bit more. That's the problem with these things; it doesn't really take into account genetics and a BMR is hard to calculate. Please please please don't starve yourself. I've been down that road and it sucks. Best of luck,

    Savannah
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    Or is the starvation warning thing just an automatic thing not calibrated for short people?
    Yes, it is automatic and is there for everyone. If 1200 feels right for you, go with it. There is big fear of it here but it's not unsafe. A quick google will show you that.
  • aedreana
    aedreana Posts: 979 Member
    I am 5' 3 1/2." I started my diet this past Saturday. I am on 700 calories per day. I am @ 121 pounds and my goal is 112. I do not exercise. A non-sedentary person might find it difficult or impossible to function on 700. My inactivity allows me to feel fine on 700 for the few short weeks it will take to lose 9 pounds. I imagine it would be difficult to stay on 700 long-term, for someone weighing considerably more than 121. Someone who has considerably more weight to take off than 9 pounds could conceivably still lose weight fairly quickly at 1200.
  • michellemybelll
    michellemybelll Posts: 2,228 Member
    I am 5' 3 1/2." I started my diet this past Saturday. I am on 700 calories per day. I am @ 121 pounds and my goal is 112. I do not exercise. A non-sedentary person might find it difficult or impossible to function on 700. My inactivity allows me to feel fine on 700 for the few short weeks it will take to lose 9 pounds. I imagine it would be difficult to stay on 700 long-term, for someone weighing considerably more than 121. Someone who has considerably more weight to take off than 9 pounds could conceivably still lose weight fairly quickly at 1200.

    re: bolded -- LOL
  • cbhubbybubble
    cbhubbybubble Posts: 465 Member
    I'm 5'2" with my settings at lightly active. My calorie goal is 1420 and I lose a steady 1lb per week at that. This week, 3lb for some bizarre reason....maybe some water weight or maybe more active than usual. I just hit a goal adjustment loss again, but decided to leave my cals where they were for a few weeks to see if I really need to adjust down. I like to eat, so don't want to go below 1400 if I don't have to. With only 25 left to lose, I'll be content if my loss slows down to 1/2lb even.

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