How many calories do 5'0 - 5'2 women maintain on?

4'11" (close...) Right around 1600 keeps me within a pound of where I want to be. When I ignore that I creep up a bit over a year or two...then I come back here for a few months and lose it again.

Isn't MFP supposed to calculate that for you?

I'm much taller... 5'4.5 and around 127 now. MFP says I should maintain on 1650 (sedentary). However, I only burn off on average 300 calories a day with intentional exercise. I've been focusing on lifting with running dispersed throughout the week. So let's just say 1850-1900. I've been eating around 2000-2100 with some much higher days (I'm doing TDEE now). It's been 6ish weeks since I've been maintaining and I've lost 6 lb. so I'm working on upping the calories. (I started maintaining at 133).

Point of the story... Start with what it says and keep going up from there. You may be pleasantly surprised that you can maintain on more!

5'2, 110-112lbs and 2 years maintenance. I consume 1200-1600 calories. I exercise 4-5 days a week. I do have some days where I go over (1800ish). For me, if I eat more calories than that, the weight starts creeping up on me. You just have to find a calorie range that works for you!

May33338 wrote: »

I've been struggling with figuring out my maintenance calories and would love to know how much each of you are eating to maintain your weight.

Scoobys TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) ...this will also include exercise you intend to do and average it out for the week

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

I'm 5'0, 110lbs, very sedentary... I maintain on 1400-1500 a day unless exercising.

TeaBea wrote: »

May33338 wrote: »

I've been struggling with figuring out my maintenance calories and would love to know how much each of you are eating to maintain your weight.

Scoobys TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) ...this will also include exercise you intend to do and average it out for the week

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

@TeaBea Thank you so much for posting this link! The estimates given by this calculator are VERY close to what I've found to be true for my metabolism and I've bookmarked it for future reference!

I'm 5'2.5" and 43. I am a good 60lbs away from needing to know this for myself, but I still feel myself worrying about it in the back of my mind. I can manage 1400-1600cal days right now without getting hangry or sad about not having much food, but I tend to eat 1800-2000 at least one day on the weekend. I'm just not sure I can exercise enough to justify that kind of eating at my goal weight range of 120-130lbs.

That really depends on your activity level . At 5'2 I maintain at 1800-1900 but can easily get to 2,300 on a really active day. However if I became sedentary I would probably maintain at 1500-1600.

I am 5' 0", 103 lbs. Currently I am maintaining on about 1870 calories/day. I run between 35-40 miles per week, which I estimate burns about 2800 calories, or 400 calories/day. I do not account for these in my eating, so if I did not run, I would guess my maintenance would be somewhere in the range of 1450-1550.

SomeGirlSomewhere wrote: »

HelloChampion wrote: »

Isn't MFP supposed to calculate that for you?

The MFP calorie calculations are an estimate based on the "average" metabolisms of people who are the same gender, age, height, etc...but some people are going to have a slower or faster metabolism than the averages MFP uses. For example, I seem to lose weight faster than they predict the "average" 44 year old female will and I suspect this is because I never had kids and also because I (unfortunately) smoke cigarettes.

I would imagine it would still be a bit more accurate than getting a general consensus of posters here who have nothing more in common than their height.

OP, there are a lot of different variables you would have to take into account, not the least of which would be your maintenance weight, age, and your activity level.

I'm 5'2" and I maintain on 1800-2000 calories a day, but that's with working out 5x per week (cardio and heavy lifting.)

4'11 102lbs and 15% bodyfat, maintain on 1850-1900 a day with 3.5 hours a week weightlifting and 1 hour of boxing sparing a week.

There are so many faactors to be taken into account and they are personal. I am currently on 1440 and I aim to lose 1lb per week. There are several formulas for calculated Basal Metabolic Rate (the amount of calories your body uses doing nothing) but even this is only a guide. However MFP uses a formula to calculate this based on the profile you enter. Then 500 calories, per pound of loss you want, are deducted from BMR to achieve this. However these are only a guide. Generally, when you have reached your goal weight, you would be advised to increase your daily calories by 200 and trial this for a week. Weigh in and see what has happened. If you have maintained and want to eat more then increase again. I hope this helps.

May33338 wrote: »

I've been struggling with figuring out my maintenance calories and would love to know how much each of you are eating to maintain your weight.

First of all congrats on reaching your goal.

Second, if I learned anything from this whole journey is that one simply can't base one's maint. calories on others as everyone is different! Height & Weight alone doesn't account for body frame & activity levels.

Best suggestion is to figure it out for yourself using your current stats. I saw someone posting the much raved about Scooby or try this IIFYM Plug in your data and use it as a guide. Make adjustments as needed.

As with weight loss, there is NO magic formula which will work for everyone. Because if that was the case over 50% of people who lose weight wouldn't gain it back.

Best of luck to you!