How many calories to maintain after a 1200 calorie diet??? 4 ft. 10. girl

KGiss1
KGiss1 Posts: 2 Member
edited November 22 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi friends,
I have reached my weight loss goal a few times now, but I struggle with maintaining it. I'm 4 ft. 10 in. and 106 lbs and I struggle going from such a low calorie amount to the recommended 1800-1900 calorie amount. If your body type is like me, short and petite, what was a realistic amount of calories for you to eat to maintain? I've never recorded the amount of calories I eat after I reach my weight loss goal, so I'm not sure how many I can eat to maintain, and because I'm so small, I don't trust websites to give me accurate numbers.

Replies

  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    On average, how much weight did you lose each week when you were eating 1200 calories? If you lost a pound a week, your maintenance would likely be somewhere around 1700 calories. If you lost 2lbs per week, your maintenance would be around 2200, etc.

    If you are worried about increasing your intake, do it slowly. Add 100 calories per day each week until you hit your maintenance level.
  • Bonitarita1986
    Bonitarita1986 Posts: 1 Member
    I'm guessing 1500-1600 would be a good idea
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  • kirstens1984
    kirstens1984 Posts: 96 Member
    I'm petite too and maintain at about 1600 net calories (net of exercise logged). Hope that helps :)
  • worldofalice
    worldofalice Posts: 148 Member
    I'm very light and currently maintain on around 2000, however had to increase up to that amount very slowly - increase up to 1500, then reverse diet by adding another 100 a week or so until you are maintaining on an amount that leaves you feeling satisfied, energised,and not deprived. It is possible to slow your metabolism by maintaining on too little, many people could eat far more if only they went about it the right way! But the most important thing to do is listen to your body (easier to do with wholesome, unprocessed foods), and remember that you don't have to eat the exact same amount every day!
  • brittanyhiatte
    brittanyhiatte Posts: 40 Member
    I am very small and mine to maintain my weight is 1400. I started at 1200 and will go to 1400 when i reach my goal.
  • brittanyhiatte
    brittanyhiatte Posts: 40 Member
    To be honest, you probably don't need 1800-1900 per day to maintain your weight, unless you exercise a lot...

    hqy3uql9b0c2.png


    I couldnt agree more!

  • snoringcat
    snoringcat Posts: 131 Member
    I'm slightly taller than you, but same weight. I was on 1200 when losing, but have been maintained on a net of 1500 since March.

    If you are not recording how many calories you eat, then there's no way you are going to easily maintain - you need to keep up the logging discipline you had when you were losing.
  • bioklutz
    bioklutz Posts: 1,365 Member
    5 foot no inches. 100ish pounds. 41 years old. I eat 1900-2000 calories a day. I work out about 5 hours a week. This is the calculator I used as a starting point: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ I still lost weight so had to adjust and eat more (YEAH!).
  • 2snakeswoman
    2snakeswoman Posts: 655 Member
    The fat2fit website has some good calculators you could experiment with. I agree that you should continue logging at least until you arrive at a good understanding of what it takes to maintain your weight. Good luck!
  • 5'2", 109 lbs, and I maintain on about 1600 calories plus exercise. If you can eat more, great, but we shorties don't always get to eat as much as taller people. :neutral:
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    KGiss1 wrote: »
    Hi friends,
    I have reached my weight loss goal a few times now, but I struggle with maintaining it. I'm 4 ft. 10 in. and 106 lbs and I struggle going from such a low calorie amount to the recommended 1800-1900 calorie amount. If your body type is like me, short and petite, what was a realistic amount of calories for you to eat to maintain? I've never recorded the amount of calories I eat after I reach my weight loss goal, so I'm not sure how many I can eat to maintain, and because I'm so small, I don't trust websites to give me accurate numbers.

    there are a lot of other factors that go into your calorie requisites...like what you do for work and the like...how often you exercise, etc...not everyone with the same height and build as you is going to have the same calorie requisites..

    my buddy and I are both of similar stats...I need about 3000 calories to maintain and he needs about 2400....'cuz I'm always moving and he's not.

    nobody here is going to be able to give you anything more accurate than another calculator would...most calculators are pretty much in the ball park unless you're putting in garbage data to begin with.
  • KGiss1 wrote: »
    Hi friends,
    I have reached my weight loss goal a few times now, but I struggle with maintaining it. I'm 4 ft. 10 in. and 106 lbs and I struggle going from such a low calorie amount to the recommended 1800-1900 calorie amount. If your body type is like me, short and petite, what was a realistic amount of calories for you to eat to maintain? I've never recorded the amount of calories I eat after I reach my weight loss goal, so I'm not sure how many I can eat to maintain, and because I'm so small, I don't trust websites to give me accurate numbers.

    OOOOO 'fun size'! :)

    I am the same exact height & I've just celebrated my 2 yr maint anniversary. :D My TDEE at 45 yo working out 6 days a week at 'Difficult' pace is 1498. So although MFP may suggest my maint calorie be 1600-1800, I ignore it because it is well over my TDEE. Make sense? If my body only needs 1498 to support what I'm doing then why in the world would I want to eat more? Eating more than what my body needs is what made me fat in the first place so ahhm yea. LOL

    I'm not sure where 1800-1900 came from but to your original question your daily calories should reflect your level of activities.

    Run your TDEE using a calculator based on your height, age, and most importantly activity level.

    Also keep in mind that MFP is geared towards the average and us 'fun size' gals are certainly not so do your homework, run your numbers and use that as a baseline.

    Best of luck to you!

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited August 2015
    when you're smaller to get to eat as much as 1800-1900 cals a day you'd have to be very active, I have a few inches on you, extremely active and can just about pull off 2100 gross cals...
    it takes a while to figure out individual TDEE, so play around with cals and see what your progress is like in a few weeks, it took me a few months to figure out my actual TDEE.

  • earthnut
    earthnut Posts: 216 Member
    I'm 5'2" and maintain at 1400-1500 calories. :s My MFP setting is at "lose 1/2 pound a week". So increase your allowance by 100 calories every week or two until you stop losing.
  • annette_15
    annette_15 Posts: 1,657 Member
    5'1, 108lbs and maintain at 1400+workout calories
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    auddii wrote: »
    On average, how much weight did you lose each week when you were eating 1200 calories? If you lost a pound a week, your maintenance would likely be somewhere around 1700 calories. If you lost 2lbs per week, your maintenance would be around 2200, etc.

    If you are worried about increasing your intake, do it slowly. Add 100 calories per day each week until you hit your maintenance level.

    This is exactly what you need to do - if you don't plan on changing your workout routine.

    Forget the calculators assuming you are sedentary - which is impossible to advise as you shared nothing regarding your exercise or daily life routine. That advice is based on nothing then.

    That's just as inane as saying you should be eating 1800 calories without that knowledge.

    And you should gain water weight - same big rush in firs week that was water weight.

    Good needed part of LBM water weight, increase your metabolism slightly water weight. Part of natural body function water weight.
    And since it's spread out throughout your muscles - shouldn't even notice it.

    If that concerning, then realize you should have a weight goal range - not number.
    Or you'll drive yourself batty thinking something is going on when it's not.

    Always be aware of the math for fast increases in case you think it's fat.

    You'd have to eat 100 calories DAILY over maintenance for 35 days to slowly gain 1 lb of fat.
    If weight lifting - won't even be all fat.

    Anything faster is water.
  • Prayerwarrior7
    Prayerwarrior7 Posts: 27 Member
    To be honest, you probably don't need 1800-1900 per day to maintain your weight, unless you exercise a lot...

    hqy3uql9b0c2.png

    Hiya? Which site did you get this from? I wanna do mine. Thanks ;)

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    KGiss1 wrote: »
    Hi friends,
    I have reached my weight loss goal a few times now, but I struggle with maintaining it. I'm 4 ft. 10 in. and 106 lbs and I struggle going from such a low calorie amount to the recommended 1800-1900 calorie amount. If your body type is like me, short and petite, what was a realistic amount of calories for you to eat to maintain? I've never recorded the amount of calories I eat after I reach my weight loss goal, so I'm not sure how many I can eat to maintain, and because I'm so small, I don't trust websites to give me accurate numbers.

    I'm a few inches taller (5ft 2) and very active and maintain on 2100..it'll take you a little time figuring yours out, just up your cals by say 200 cals/day for a few weeks and see how it goes...


  • brynnsmom
    brynnsmom Posts: 945 Member
    I'm petite too (5'2", 104-105 pounds) and I slowly increased my calories from 1200 once I hit maintenance. I exercise every day for about an hour and 1800-2000 is a good range for me now. I usually eat at a small deficit for several days during the week to allow more calories for the weekend.
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  • GreenIceFloes
    GreenIceFloes Posts: 1,491 Member
    Like some of the posters have mentioned above, to find your maintenance you need to keep increasing your net by 100 cals a week until you stop losing weight.
  • lisaxxa
    lisaxxa Posts: 5 Member
    If you were losing weight, you need fewer calories to maintain (than those who never lose weight on a low cal diet). Like say if you were losing weight on a 1200 diet, then 1600 may be your maintaining calories. (But if you were gaining weight on a high calories diet then you may need higher calories to maintain. I'm 5'2" gaining from 85lbs to 107 lbs on a 3000 calories diet. Now maintaining on 2000. Now If I eat less than 2000 I'll lose weight. But my sister who's never have ED or weight loss/gain. She's always been maintain on 1800ish. I remember years ago I lost weight on a 1200 diet, and found that any diet more than 1500a day would made me gain weight, sadly, so I kept restricting and that's how I became Ana). Since you were losing weight. So you might need slightly fewer calories. I will say maybe 1600-1700. But listen to your body. Your body will adjust too! Once you upper your intake for a period of time, your body will probably need more to maintain since your metabolism will become faster when you feed yourself more. Maintaining weight is important but hard.
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