1000 calories enough to lose 1 pound a week?

lesliereloaded
lesliereloaded Posts: 29 Member
edited November 14 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 4'9 currently at 104 pounds trying to get to 95 pounds, at a pace of losing 1 pound a week, is 1,000 calories enough?? Too much or too little? By the way I also go to the gym 5-6 times a week for about an hour and a half, I mostly do cardio and about half an hour to forty five minutes of weights. Any advice/ help? And is 1000 calories enough?

Replies

  • SexyKatherine73
    SexyKatherine73 Posts: 221 Member
    You're already within the health weight range, and with little to lose 1/2 pound a week is best.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    One pound a week is 500 calories below your TDEE. With exercise, you should be able to eat more than 1000 calories and still lose weight.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I'd be changing it to .5lbs a week.
  • svinson023
    svinson023 Posts: 1
    I personally would eat 1500 a day about 5 or 6 little meals throughout the day. Also drink a lot of water. If you eat less than that your body would go into starvation mode and it will eat muscle and not fat which will make you feel and look heavier. your exercise sounds right. Take a multivitamin as well, just my suggestion. Good luck
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    You need to eat at least 1200 to meet your nutritional needs. You're already at a healthy weight.
  • hsmith0930
    hsmith0930 Posts: 160 Member
    You might benefit more from changing your body composition instead of losing weight. The scale is really just our gravitational relation to the earth. Health wise, you're right where you should be. But if you aren't happy with what you are seeing in the mirror you might benefit from trying some exercise changes, including lifting, in order to lower body fat and create a body you like seeing.
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    This calculator from the Baylor College of Medicine will tell you not only your BMI, but how
    many servings of various foods to eat to maintain that weight.
    https://www.bcm.edu/cnrc-apps/healthyeatingcalculator/eatingCal.html

    It says that at 104 lb, your BMI is 22.6 and you need 1055 cal to maintain weight if you're inactive.
    At 95, you'd be 20.6 and need 1014 cal/day if inactive. Active more than 1 hour/day,
    you'd need 2013 to maintain that weight.

    So yeah, if you want to get to 95 eating 1000 and exercising an hour a day would get you there,
    but why torture yourself? Eat 1750 (that's 250 less than you need). Watch to be sure you're
    losing 1/2 lb per week. If not, cut another 100 calories & wait a few weeks. Repeat until
    you're consistently losing 1/2 lb per week, which with so little adjustment to make is a
    better idea than doing a 1000 calorie deficit (2 lb / week).
    .
    You need to eat at least 1200 to meet your nutritional needs.
    :angry: That's the minimum for a woman of _average_ height. 4'9" is well below average,
    so no, she doesn't need to eat 1200 to get the nutrition she needs.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    If my maintenance was 1055 calories I would force myself to exercise, simply so I could eat more!!
  • marissafit06
    marissafit06 Posts: 1,996 Member
    christinev297 wrote: »
    If my maintenance was 1055 calories I would force myself to exercise, simply so I could eat more!!

    I know, 1055 is a large sandwich or a few slices of pizza. So sad
  • Unknown
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  • pollypocket1021
    pollypocket1021 Posts: 533 Member
    I'm 4'11 and 120. I eat about 1450 per day and that seems to be a good number for me to loose about 1/2 per week.

    It's hard when you are so small to get the number just right. I had to tweak it before I was good with it. I would start with 1100 or 1000 and just see what happens. Then adjust calorie intake appropriately.

    And to those who want to post all sorts of BMI stats, they are pretty darn meaningless at this end of the spectrum. Healthy kids (humans under 5 feet) can come in at 15 because the formula doesn't work the same way for people of relatively short stature.
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
    MKEgal wrote: »
    This calculator from the Baylor College of Medicine will tell you not only your BMI, but how
    many servings of various foods to eat to maintain that weight.
    https://www.bcm.edu/cnrc-apps/healthyeatingcalculator/eatingCal.html

    It says that at 104 lb, your BMI is 22.6 and you need 1055 cal to maintain weight if you're inactive.
    At 95, you'd be 20.6 and need 1014 cal/day if inactive. Active more than 1 hour/day,
    you'd need 2013 to maintain that weight.

    So yeah, if you want to get to 95 eating 1000 and exercising an hour a day would get you there,
    but why torture yourself? Eat 1750 (that's 250 less than you need). Watch to be sure you're
    losing 1/2 lb per week. If not, cut another 100 calories & wait a few weeks. Repeat until
    you're consistently losing 1/2 lb per week, which with so little adjustment to make is a
    better idea than doing a 1000 calorie deficit (2 lb / week).
    .
    You need to eat at least 1200 to meet your nutritional needs.
    :angry: That's the minimum for a woman of _average_ height. 4'9" is well below average,
    so no, she doesn't need to eat 1200 to get the nutrition she needs.

    That Baylor calculator says my BMI is 15.2 which is not right! It's 19.5. I wonder if it goes off a different scale??

  • Swamplady100
    Swamplady100 Posts: 14 Member
    lesliereloaded wrote: »
    I'm 4'9 currently at 104 pounds trying to get to 95 pounds, at a pace of losing 1 pound a week, is 1,000 calories enough?? Too much or too little? By the way I also go to the gym 5-6 times a week for about an hour and a half, I mostly do cardio and about half an hour to forty five minutes of weights. Any advice/ help? And is 1000 calories enough?
    I am 4' 9" too. I weigh 190 -193 going up + down due to water gains + being discouraged. Just getting back to the routine. I am puzzled why they give you only 1000 calories. You should loose a lot of weight on that for sure but will you get all your nutrients? That is the big question on my mind. They have me on 1200.
  • teanahk
    teanahk Posts: 81 Member
    MKEgal wrote: »
    This calculator from the Baylor College of Medicine will tell you not only your BMI, but how
    many servings of various foods to eat to maintain that weight.
    https://www.bcm.edu/cnrc-apps/healthyeatingcalculator/eatingCal.html
    From that page:
    "The Healthy Eating Plan Calculator provides general dietary guidance for feeding healthy, normal weight children over the age of 4."

    Their calculator is not intended for adults. Children have different nutrition and calorie needs and their BMI is calculated differently. Entering certain age/height/weight combinations in this calculator will give you ridiculous calorie suggestions. You may get obscenely low numbers. If you tell it for example that you are a 65 year old who is 5 feet tall and 100 pounds it will suggest 49 calories a day.

    Please don't base your diet on this site.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited March 2015
    That Baylor calculator claims that if sedentary I need 829 calories. The others generally estimate about 1550 if sedentary. I'm not sedentary, but extrapolating from what I need when active (close to 2000), 1550 is about right.

    Of course, I'm not a child, and I guess luckily am not 65, as 49 is even worse than 829.
  • pollypocket1021
    pollypocket1021 Posts: 533 Member
    Swamplady100 wrote: »
    lesliereloaded wrote: »
    I'm 4'9 currently at 104 pounds trying to get to 95 pounds, at a pace of losing 1 pound a week, is 1,000 calories enough?? Too much or too little? By the way I also go to the gym 5-6 times a week for about an hour and a half, I mostly do cardio and about half an hour to forty five minutes of weights. Any advice/ help? And is 1000 calories enough?
    I am 4' 9" too. I weigh 190 -193 going up + down due to water gains + being discouraged. Just getting back to the routine. I am puzzled why they give you only 1000 calories. You should loose a lot of weight on that for sure but will you get all your nutrients? That is the big question on my mind. They have me on 1200.

    4'9 at 100lbs has different caloric needs than 4'9 at 190lbs.

    My sister is 5'0 and 95lbs and her maintenance is below 1200.
  • Kimdbro
    Kimdbro Posts: 922 Member
    hsmith0930 wrote: »
    You might benefit more from changing your body composition instead of losing weight. The scale is really just our gravitational relation to the earth. Health wise, you're right where you should be. But if you aren't happy with what you are seeing in the mirror you might benefit from trying some exercise changes, including lifting, in order to lower body fat and create a body you like seeing.

    This pretty much said it all.

  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    That Baylor calculator claims that if sedentary I need 829 calories. The others generally estimate about 1550 if sedentary. I'm not sedentary, but extrapolating from what I need when active (close to 2000), 1550 is about right.

    Of course, I'm not a child, and I guess luckily am not 65, as 49 is even worse than 829.

    On the Baylor calculator, "Inactive" is the same a BMR, and "Low" is more equivalent to sedentary.
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