Need advice! 1200 to lose so called 'vanity' lbs?

Hello there!

So I need a little advice. I'd like to lose 20 pounds, which isn't an extraordinary amount I know. The trouble is, they're sort of classed as 'vanity' pounds. I'm already at a healthy weight (5'6, 134lb) but I'm getting married sometime in the next year or so. FYI, don't try to change my mind about losing the weight or anything like that; I've made my choice.

So anyway, I'm trying to figure out my ideal calories.
I maintain quite easily at the moment on what I can only guess to be between 2000-2200 calories daily. This is a huge approximation because I have trouble with binge eating. Im terribly lucky, but even if I binge once or twice a week (2500+ calories in one sitting, not including other meals!) I still seem to maintain. I can only put this down to being quite active.

The typical advice is that I wouldn't have to go as low as 1200 daily to lose the weight with me being able to maintain at such a high number. But since these are 'vanity' pounds (notoriously hard to drop!) I'm thinking I might have to drop that low to get them to budge! I'm also trying to be realistic and know that along the way I will almost definitely have a couple cheat days per week (or maybe even binges, though I'm trying to stop that habit...) so setting my goal to 1200 seems sensible, so as to counteract going over for a couple days.

Phew! Sorry, that turned into quite a ramble! But any sort of advice would be SO greatly appreciated!

Junko

As others have mentioned going down to 114 lb for you at 5'6" is too low so you should reconsider that. The 1,200 calorie goal is debatable but I personally think you will get better results setting your weight loss to .5 lb per week and going with the daily calorie value MFP sets for that goal. From my own personal experience and from what I've read on the forums the 1,200 calorie goal works best for petite women. The general rule of thumb for losing less than 25 lb is to have a low calorie deficit with a weight loss goal of .5 lb per week. My concern with your dietary goals is the admitted binging and already talking of cheat days, both of which can slow your weight loss. Binging itself is another issue. I agree that heavy lifting is the way to go. You could also use kettlebells and resistance bands to help tone and strengthen. If using the MFP method then eat back 50% to 75% of your exercise calories. If using the TDEE method, set your calorie intake to TDEE - 10% and don't eat back your exercise calories.