Really need help with this process (calling all short women!)

Lindsgess
Lindsgess Posts: 3 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I am 20 years old and am 5'0" and I weigh 135lbs (I am an athlete) but I want to lose 10-15lbs. I have been trying to lose for a month now- working out intensely and restricting, calorie cycling, iifym, basically tried everything and the scale literally has not budged. I either lose .5lbs or gain a lb. What gives?? I have no idea how many calories I should be eating because I get different results on all calculators I try. I thought I was training too hard and not eating enough but I am hesitant to up my calorie intake because of my height. I started on 1200, but then calculated my BMR to be 1350 (on one of the thousands calculators out there) and bumped my intake to 1430 cals because of intense exercise but nothing seems to be working... How do I burn the fat?

Thanks!

Replies

  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    edited June 2015
    I am not a woman, and I'm not too short. But I'll try to help you as best as I can.

    Go to the goal section in MFP, set it at either 1lb loss per week or 0.5lb loss per week. It will give you a calorie number to eat at to lose the desired weight per week. (1lb might be a bit too aggressive).

    Eat at this number. This is your golden number, there are many other numbers, but this number is yours.

    When you do cardio exercise and burn calories, eat back 50-75% of those calories to compensate for any inaccuracies.

    When it comes to eating in a deficit; you can eat whatever you want. Just make sure you eat nutritious foods and eat some foods you like, i.e. ice cream (who doesn't like ice cream?).
  • Lindsgess
    Lindsgess Posts: 3 Member
    IsaackGMOON wrote: »
    I am not a woman, and I'm not too short. But I'll try to help you as best as I can.

    Go to the goal section in MFP, set it at either 1lb loss per week or 0.5lb loss per week. It will give you a calorie number to eat at to lose the desired weight per week.

    Eat at this number. This is your golden number, there are many other numbers, but this number is yours.

    When you do cardio exercise and burn calories, eat back 50-75% of those calories to compensate for any inaccuracies.

    When it comes to eating in a deficit; you can eat whatever you want. Just make sure you eat nutritious foods and eat some foods you like, i.e. ice cream (who doesn't like ice cream?).


    Hah, I love ice cream! Thank you. Do my macros count in this? I am trying to do 30% carbs, 40% protein, and 30% fat.
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    Your macros seem fine. I don't generally work with percentages but instead grams. As long as they compliment whatever exercise you do and you feel comfortable with them, you're good to go.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    Are you sure you're logging thoroughly? Weighing the solid foods and measuring liquids? Maybe you're consuming more calories than you think.

    Could your athleticism have anything to do with it? Maybe you have more muscle than the average person which may account for what you feel are extra pounds.
  • pollypocket1021
    pollypocket1021 Posts: 533 Member
    That's about the same height and weight I started at in January. 1450-1600 has worked for me as far as daily intake. I am also 10 years older, not remotely athletic, and I rarely find time for exercise, so I doubt my BMR is higher than yours.

    Do you eat back your exercise calories?
  • TnTWalter
    TnTWalter Posts: 345 Member
    I'm 5'2" and older and fatter. When I was my fittest in my 30s [about 10 years ago]. I weighed just under 130 and my body fat was 16-18%. Do you weight train at all? That will reduce fat and give you lean muscle. The weight might not change but you'll look leaner.
  • initialsdeebee
    initialsdeebee Posts: 83 Member
    I'm 5'1", 32 years, 130 lbs. I struggle too since I'm not really overweight, quite physically active and have a big appetite. I'd like to lose maybe 10. Probably like you, I'm not obese at all, but I personally have lumps and bumps and could stand to drop a few, in spite of being active. My focus or goal is to try consistency consistency consistency. I have tended to go hard core, lose a few then fall back into frequent pizza/rich dessert and minimal activity. I'm hoping this app helps. So I'd just work on sticking with it and not setting to huge a goal.
  • runrascal
    runrascal Posts: 53 Member
    I can only suggest that you aren't working out your calorie intake correctly. I have checked your numbersin a reliable medical calculator and get your BMR at 1374 (pretty much what you have) Using the Harris Benedict Formula your calorie intake to maintain your current weight with no exercise is 1648 and with 5 days/week training 2129. Your aim is a daily deficit of around 500 calories for a 1lb per week loss. Do you use a food scale and log every morsel? Do you use energy drinks/supplements these can be super high in calories by their very nature.

    BTW weight training or any physical activity will only reduce body fat if you are in calorie deficit. Fact.

    I'm 4'11" and 120 lbs, age 61 years - my daily intake varies between 1000 - 1400. I'm not athletic but pretty active, walking gardening and stuff. I'm losing 1.5lb per week 10lbs down and 10 to go.
  • littlehedgy
    littlehedgy Posts: 192 Member
    Hey there... I'm 4'11 and about to turn 23. I eat 1600 cals a day minimum. If I'm honest I'm almost always over. I had a baby 7 months ago and lost the baby weight down to 130 ish lbs. With breastfeeding I'm burning somewhere between 300-500 cals a day, comparable to someone who works out daily. I chose my calories by looking up what my maintenance calories would be at my goal weight and activity level. Feel free to add if you'd like
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
    I am 5'2". I lost weight counting calories on my own from 185 lbs. to 138 lbs. I never weighed my food-just measured and eye-balled.
    I plateaued at 138 for a couple of years then started MFP and did 1200 calories plus eating back 1/2 to all my exercise calories depending on my hunger levels.
    I lost down to 122 in 4 months.
    The only difference between doing it on my own and with MFP is that with MFP I weighed all my food on a digital scale!
    It works!
    If your not losing, then you are most likely eating at maintenance!
    Weigh everything that goes into your mouth and watch the pounds come off;-)
  • ercarroll311
    ercarroll311 Posts: 295 Member
    I'm 5'2", 26 years old, and have been between 175-128 during my time on MFP. I would say part of the issue is you're not giving one method the time to work. Each one of those methods--calorie cycling, iifym, etc--should be given a month itself to work.

    In my opinion, I'd go with iifym and their 20% weight loss method. The important thing is to make sure you're logging accurately--I've had this as a downfall before. You also want to make sure the info you're putting in there is correct. Body fat percentage can make a big difference in the calories they give you. And if your body fat percentage isn't too high, then ask yourself why you're wanting to lose. Once I got down to 128, my body refused to lose more. I realized that was not because I was doing something wrong, but because I was where I should be physically, and to lose more than that I would need to be unhealthy. 128 at 5'2", though, is not even close to considered underweight, so remember that those guidelines aren't for everyone.

    Best of luck!
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    You're eating too much.
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