Is 1600 calories too high for someone my size ?

Hello everyone,

Yes, I know the Subject is vague. But I will give my stats. I am 5'2 and I weight 114.4 pounds. That is me weighing myself in the morning, when I wake up and after I have peed. Oh yes, and assuming I didn't eat too late and have a large meal the night before. Which I try my best to avoid.

I had my baby girl on February 24, 2014 and I was 168 when I was admitted to the hospital, then 155 when I was discharged. I then naturally went down to 145, I guess from breastfeeding. Then it all stopped and as of March 18, 2014 I had to start implementing a diet change and a rigorous workout routine. These workouts mostly include workout DVD's (T25, Taebo, Turbo Jam, Pi-Yo, Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels workouts) which work out great since I don't have someone to always watch my daughter for me to go to the gym. So yes, it has been 6 months later and I am at 114.4 lbs which is great by all means but the weight is coming off slower than a snail! Sometimes I lose NOTHING at the end of the week, sometimes I get lucky and lose 0.2 or 0.4 lbs. I would like to be around 105 lbs. i am very small framed, and that weight is ideal for me. I do implement many weight workouts, but nothing like the heavy lifters do. Maybe one day I can start adding those to my routine when my daughter is older and I can utilize the gym childcare and weights. Anyways, MFP says to lose 1lb a week I should be eating 1410 calories. When I try to stay within that range I am typically STARVING. Well, actually, I am always hungry. I feel like even after I eat, I am still hungry...always! It is actually hard for me to feel satisfied from 1600 calories. I feel hungrier now than I did when I was pregnant. What gives? Currently I am on my 11th week of T25 (The Gamma phase) and I don't know if it is all the jumping in the workouts or what, but I am hungrier than ever. I workout about 6 days a week, sometimes 7. Anywhere from 25 minutes up to 75 minutes.

This brings me to the huge debate of eating back exercise calories. Ever since I have been doing this, which has been for more than a month, I have barely been losing any weight. I hear the sides from people who say do NOT do it, what is the purpose in working out if you are going to eat back your exercise calories. Then there are the ones who say you NEED to eat those calories back. Heck, which is it!? I need some documented evidence. Because everything I have found on Google has just appeared to of been someones opinion. Not a scientific proven answer. If I AM supposed to eat back my exercise calories then I guess being at 1600 is fine for me. If I am NOT supposed to, I guess this would explain why I am not losing weight very well.

By the way, I am hungry right now. But I am at 1605 calories for the day. So I need to go to bed and just dream of food, where the calories don't exist. :)

Replies

  • newdaydawning79
    newdaydawning79 Posts: 1,503 Member
    If you work out about 3x/week your TDEE is about 1659 (using your age in your profile), according to http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    So to lose a half-pound a week you'd want to be around 1400.
  • michelle225
    michelle225 Posts: 42 Member
    Are you still BFing? I had a lot of trouble losing while nursing. At 15 months I'm still nursing but it definitely still makes me hungry. Also, being so small with less than 10 lbs to go .2-.4 lb per week is actually pretty good. I'd eat what you feel you need to eat.
  • No... I stopped breastfeeding around mid March.
  • Ugh! That is so unfortunate to hear because I am SO hungry when I only have 1400 calories. :(
  • violasmith85
    violasmith85 Posts: 274 Member
    I eat 1300 cals (what MFP suggested) and I'm 5'7" and 250lbs. So it's doable, just takes some getting used to and I find eating more low cal foods throughout the day helps me stay feeling full.
  • You're right, it is definitely doable. I was doing 1200-1300 when I started out and it gave great results paired with my exercising. I keep reminding myself EAT TO LIVE not live to eat. The problem is, is that I LOVE to eat, lol.
  • violasmith85
    violasmith85 Posts: 274 Member
    Oh lord, me too. lol
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