Confused about calories & guidelines - please help

littlekittybub
littlekittybub Posts: 5
in Food and Nutrition
i'm an 18 year old female, 5 foot 2 inches, 123 pounds. i used a tdee calculator on iifym.com to figure out how many calories i need to consume to maintain my weight so i could choose an accurate amount of calories to eat for safe & effective weight loss. i used the mifflin-st jeor calculator which tells me that my tdee is only 1777 calories per day, taking into account my weekly exercise as well. my bmr is apparently 1292 calories/day.

is it just me or does this seem like a super low amount of calories to anyone else? it surprised me a lot because the government guidelines suggest women need 2000 calories per day, and children 1800. so i need to eat the same amount as a child, according to government guidelines. i've also read a few articles that suggest even 2000 calories is not enough to sustain most women (although i think i disagree with that).

why does the government suggest at least 2000 calories a day if i'd gain a couple of pounds within a few weeks if i was eating that amount?

thank you for any insight you may have.

Replies

  • drazani
    drazani Posts: 98 Member
    The government guidlines are based on averages for the population, so if you do more excercise or your height/weight is different from the average then your calories could go up or down.
  • littlekittybub
    littlekittybub Posts: 5
    i understand that. i feel that i'm relatively average though (disregarding my height) so i don't understand why my tdee is below even the guideline for children.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    What exercise do you do? I ran your numbers through the Scooby calculator and they came out higher (based on 1-3 hrs exercise per week)

    TDEE 1911
    BMR 1390


    Considering your low height / weight this puts you pretty close to the often stated 2000 cal average.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    i understand that. i feel that i'm relatively average though (disregarding my height) so i don't understand why my tdee is below even the guideline for children.

    (Older) children can have a higher calorie need than adults, because they are growing which requires a lot of energy.
  • littlekittybub
    littlekittybub Posts: 5
    What exercise do you do? I ran your numbers through the Scooby calculator and they came out higher (based on 1-3 hrs exercise per week)

    TDEE 1911
    BMR 1390


    Considering your low height / weight this puts you pretty close to the often stated 2000 cal average.

    i do 3 hours of cycling per week plus some resistance training. that's quite a difference between the two calculators!
  • littlekittybub
    littlekittybub Posts: 5
    i understand that. i feel that i'm relatively average though (disregarding my height) so i don't understand why my tdee is below even the guideline for children.

    (Older) children can have a higher calorie need than adults, because they are growing which requires a lot of energy.

    i might still be growing too... probably not, but i like to think maybe i'll grow another inch :P
  • littlekittybub
    littlekittybub Posts: 5
    does anyone have any recommendations as to how many calories i should eat per day to lose weight? i'd like to weigh 100 - 110 pounds ideally.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    i understand that. i feel that i'm relatively average though (disregarding my height) so i don't understand why my tdee is below even the guideline for children.

    (Older) children can have a higher calorie need than adults, because they are growing which requires a lot of energy.

    i might still be growing too... probably not, but i like to think maybe i'll grow another inch :P

    It's certainly possible you are growing at 18, and if not in height then muscle mass and bone density can certainly still increase, along with hip width, etc. so it's important to make sure you eat enough calories.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    The cookie cutter calorie recommendation goes along nicely with the other official cookie cutter recommendation.

    You have to read the fine print - YMMV.

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