NHS advice

Hey im in the same position as you. I got referred to the health trainer through Gp. She gave me a website to use similar to mfp to log my calories but once i entered my stats i also got 1200 calories. Its been hard sticking to 1200 and counting every calorie because its so easy to go over. I dont really know the answer to yourquestion but just try it out for a few weeks and see how you feel. Try increasing your calories after a few weeks if you struggle and exercise will allow you to eat a little bit extra.

my maintenance is 1500, and I'm a couple of inches taller than you so 1400 sounds about right for when you're an average weight. obviously when you're carrying more weight, your energy expenditure will be higher though. if you're eating lots of plant-based foods, 1400 really isn't a small amount of food... but, as eldamiano says, if you exercise you can afford to eat more.

if you're worried that what your nutritionist says isn't right for you, then you should bring your concerns to her! there are some people on here that know what they're talking about, but it's this person's job and they know more about you/your health than any of us do.

nb: I'm british and there are a lot of other british people on here. there's actually a huge group if you want local friends, but it is predominantly american.

spamarie wrote: »

She doesn't really advise calorie counting because she says for some people it causes them to obsess (that would be me!) but I asked what I should be aiming for anyway. She reckons 1100-1200 a day for weight loss, and ca. 1400 for maintenance.

When I started I had the idea calorie counters were nuts, but it took me a whole 3 days to learn how dieting and MFP works to start counting calories. The reason you do it is becayse its the only accurae way to put yourself in a position where you know you will lose weight. Information is vital if you want to establish whether you are in deficit or not. Imo its essential.

That strikes me as unfeasibly low. I don't want to 'diet'.... I can't imagine only eating 1400 calories for the rest of my life (or less as I age).

First I would enter your details into one of the many calorie counting tools to establish maintenance for your age, weight and height. Its then -250 for every half pound a week you wish to lose. 250 is the equivalent of a Mars bar a day less.

In terms of not wanting to diet if you are overweight (your ticker indicates you have 25lb to drop) then you will simply need to burn more than you consume in calories. That means either eating less or burning more by moving more. You cannot lose weight without being in deficit. As suggested the only way to get round this would be to exercise more. Approximately 30 minutes of reasonable cardio a day would give you back 250 calories. You can eat more by exercising more, although whatever you decide to eat back should be an accurate reflection of what you have burned.


What you can do is incorporate lifestyle changes into what you eat normally, eat more fruit and veg, cut out/ moderate the sweets and that should have an impact on your calorie consumption. That should be sustainable. theres no point or you will have to get used to the idea that you should only be eating as much as your body needs. If you wnat to do it without calorie counting, then thats cool, but see where you are and what progress you have made in a few months by denying yourself the means to know whether you are eating too much or too little.

If it were me then id prefer to eat soemthing like 1500-1700 a day and just exercise more.

Just another thing that sucks about being short. Can’t reach tall things. Can’t see over the tall people in front of you. Can’t eat as many calories as taller people. I’m just over 5’ 1” but at 50 I’m a bit older than you so my calorie goal is even less. My sedentary calorie goal to maintain is only 1340ish. Crazy low!! Doesn’t even sound right, but it is. Fortunately, I am pretty active. I got a Fitbit for Christmas last year and I love it. It tells me how many extra calories I can eat based on my movements throughout the day. But even before the Fitbit, I used to add back my exercise calories to be able to eat more. I just had to add them in manually, where now the Fitbit adds them in automatically. I can eat quite a lot more, and I just FEEL better with exercise! I usually earn between 400-900 extra calories a day. Sometimes (but seldom) I even earn over 1000 on the days I do a longer run. I try to run in the mornings and then do another walk in the afternoons/evenings. So typically I can eat around 1700+ calories a day.

Another thing I try to do is “save” a few calories for the weekend. I don’t usually eat back ALL of my exercise calories. For one reason, I think the Fitbit over estimates for me or it might also be my logging inadequacies. I try to do my best, but I know I am not perfect at it. So not eating everything back keeps me closer to maintenance. Plus, it gives me a little wiggle room on the weekends for when I typically go over calories. That way I can splurge a little bit and have some of the stuff I love that is so calorie dense. So basically, I try to eat between 1400-1600 during the week, then on the weekends I might eat over 2000. Keeps me sane by allowing me to eat the goodies on the weekends. I find I usually don’t crave them too much during the week anymore. If I do crave them, I will still eat them in much smaller portions, if they fit, but on the weekends I don’t have to be quite as careful. I’ve been maintaining this way for over a year.

It’s still hard sometimes. Sometimes you just want to eat without thinking about it anymore, but for me I can’t. I need to be accountable. Over the past 20 years I’ve lost and gained the same weight so many times and that’s not healthy. With MyFitnessPal, I’ve finally been able to truly maintain and that’s pretty cool!