Are my goals realistic?

katieca123
katieca123 Posts: 70 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a couple of goals that I hope will hopefully help me with weight loss and in general live a healthier lifestyle. Are they realistic given my daily calorie goals? I'm a 5'1" 21 year female trying to lose 20 pounds, and I eat 1200 calories a day. I just want to make sure I'm not overexerting myself.

1. Walk 10,000 steps a day in addition to regular exercise
2. Exercise every day for 30 minutes (usually an interval workout on the treadmill)
3. Be able to run at least a 5k by the time I'm done losing weight.
4. Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day

Replies

  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,899 Member
    I'd make sure to eat back your exercise (not fitbit/pedometer) calories and make sure you are getting plenty of protein. Shoot for more veggies than fruit, though nothing is wrong with fruit :)
  • succeedin2
    succeedin2 Posts: 501 Member
    Your goals look very realistic!
  • Jim_Barteck
    Jim_Barteck Posts: 274 Member
    I'd make sure to eat back your exercise (not fitbit/pedometer) calories and make sure you are getting plenty of protein. Shoot for more veggies than fruit, though nothing is wrong with fruit :)

    ^^THIS

    At 1200 calories, you're already at the bottom of a daily net calorie intake. Adding exercise on top of that would actually put you in a really severe deficit. While doing this for a few days wouldn't be detrimental, it's not sustainable over the long run.

    Protein intake is going to be especially important, so make sure that's your first priority in determining what you're going to eat. Also, taking a multivitamin wouldn't hurt given that it's going to be extremely difficult to get all of your nutritional needs met with your intake + exercise regimen.
  • CallMeRuPaul
    CallMeRuPaul Posts: 151 Member
    I suggest you eat more and incorporate some cross training in your work-out regimen.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Eat back your exercise calories.

    Give yourself one full rest day. It doesn't have to be completely sedentary but maybe you aim for 5000 steps and you take the day off from formal exercise. That sort of thing.

    I'd also recommend that you do some strength training in addition to cardio.
  • markjacobs1987
    markjacobs1987 Posts: 162 Member
    Your goals are realistic, but I'd start at a higher calorie level. 1200 is rock bottom for where you can go on calories and if you end up plateauing (which is very likely) you will have nowhere to cut from. I'd try starting at 1600 calories and see how that works for you. If you can lose weight at 1600 calories stick with that and if not you can slightly cut back from there. Also try to eat around 50% protein, 30% carbs, 20% fats or 40/40/20 if 50% is too hard for you to hit. With the fruit and veggie servings with 5 servings I'd have no more than 2 servings of fruit due to the carb and sugar content. Veggies you can eat a bunch of (especially green veggies) so 3-4 servings of those would be great for you. You can definitely lose 20 pounds though and meet your goals.
  • katieca123
    katieca123 Posts: 70 Member
    Thank you for everyone's feedback! Definitely some things to think about!
  • jjeanmneis
    jjeanmneis Posts: 83 Member
    I have a couple of goals that I hope will hopefully help me with weight loss and in general live a healthier lifestyle. Are they realistic given my daily calorie goals? I'm a 5'1" 21 year female trying to lose 20 pounds, and I eat 1200 calories a day. I just want to make sure I'm not overexerting myself.

    1. Walk 10,000 steps a day in addition to regular exercise
    2. Exercise every day for 30 minutes (usually an interval workout on the treadmill)
    3. Be able to run at least a 5k by the time I'm done losing weight.
    4. Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day


    Don't try to cut too many calories in addition to so much exercise. If your hungry all the time you will fail. As for exercise 30 mins a day doesn't sound so bad, but if you're planning on using that $app you talked about, you could get burned out - quit - and go broke. :tongue:
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    If you are exercising that often, you are going to want to eat more to fuel your workouts, otherwise you'll burn out real fast.

    MFP is quite notorious for setting calorie goals FAR too low, regardless of height and weight. For example, it told me to eat 1200, and my BMR (the bare amount of calories I need to LIVE) is 1280. And I am extremely tiny, only 4 '11.5". So unless you are smaller than me, or bedridden, it is almost a CERTAINTY that you are eating too little. (This can result in lean muscle loss, chronic fatigue, metabolism damage, and bingeing due to over-restriction.)

    Go to

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

    and enter your height/weight/activity level.

    Subtract 10-20% from the number it calculates for you, and that is the number of calories you should be eating a day in order to lose weight. With this method you do not eat back your exercise calories, as they are already figured into your daily goal.
  • katieca123
    katieca123 Posts: 70 Member
    Thank you!!
  • vaibhavroy5
    vaibhavroy5 Posts: 1
    cut on the sweet fruits

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