1800 kcal?

brokenstar1
brokenstar1 Posts: 4 Member
edited November 13 in Health and Weight Loss
MFP is telling me 1300 kcal to lose half pound per week. But sticking to 1500 is hard enough! If I factor in drink, it's 1800 on average p/d.
Has anyone short managed to lose on 1800?
I just started rowing, but that's only weekly and I've not got the time / dough to do much else.
Every day or two I try to do as many "proper" press ups as I can (17 atm).
Is it possible to lose fat on this kinda intake? Or do I need to cut more?
Age 33, 5'3", 9 stone ish. Belly fat to lose / chunky legs to slim down, don't wanna be skinny, just healthy feeling...

Replies

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    That 1300 is without exercise, you should eat back some exercise cals as well.

    Having said that, I'm 5'4". My maintenance while lightly active is @ 1800 cals. I had to eat 1500 to lose.

    If I'm converting right, 9 stone is 126 lbs? You are a healthy weight, so yes it will be hard to lose more. I know you said you don't have much time, but you might be better off eating maintenance and doing strength training to build muscle. You can do a body weight program like Nerd Fitness, Convict Conditioning, or You Are Your Own Gym for free or very little if you can't invest in the gym.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Loads of people would lose on 1800 but they would tend to be bigger than you and more active than you.

    If MFP is calculating 1300 (+exercise) to lose half pound a week then it's calculating 1550 (+exercise) is your weight maintenance calories.
    Not looking good is it? But at least you don't have much to lose!

    There's loads of free exercise of course so is the real constraint time?
    If you don't have time to exercise then build as much activity into your daily/weekly routine as you can.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    That 1300 is without exercise, you should eat back some exercise cals as well.

    Having said that, I'm 5'4". My maintenance while lightly active is @ 1800 cals. I had to eat 1500 to lose.

    If I'm converting right, 9 stone is 126 lbs? You are a healthy weight, so yes it will be hard to lose more. I know you said you don't have much time, but you might be better off eating maintenance and doing strength training to build muscle. You can do a body weight program like Nerd Fitness, Convict Conditioning, or You Are Your Own Gym for free or very little if you can't invest in the gym.

    It's unlikely OP is earning 3500 calories (500 calories per day to eat 1800 instead of 1300 calories) to "eat back" from one rowing session per week, plus a few push-ups every day or two.

    OP, nobody can really tell you whether you can lose on 1800 cals, and it makes absolutely no difference to your results what anybody else who is short has managed -- for instance, in my 50s, at 5'4", I lost on 1800 calories, but my SW was about 80 pounds (about 6 stone) more than yours. Try eating at 1800 cals for a while and see what happens. If you don't lose, reduce your calories or get more exercise, or both.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Get yourself an activity tracker, i have a fitbit, sync it to MFP and start walking :smiley:
  • brokenstar1
    brokenstar1 Posts: 4 Member
    Cheers all! Scales say I lost a bit, but I imagine that's water. Will keep going for a while n see what happens.
    I know I walk a bit bouncy / weird so maybe burn more casually. Plus always walk quickish (4mph), plus faster rarely when someone overtakes me!
    I'll look up your recommendations Kim.
    And if nothing changes I'll try to starve myself more intensely...


  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    Try it and see. I can lose 2lb/week on 1600 (5'2") but I need to exercise a lot (swimming 4-5 times/week, kickboxing 60 min/week, weight lifting 2-3 times per week, plus the steps at work).

    Log for a few weeks, see what happens. If you aren't losing, then look at your food diary and see if there are extra calories coming in that you can reduce for a while.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    That 1300 is without exercise, you should eat back some exercise cals as well.

    Having said that, I'm 5'4". My maintenance while lightly active is @ 1800 cals. I had to eat 1500 to lose.

    If I'm converting right, 9 stone is 126 lbs? You are a healthy weight, so yes it will be hard to lose more. I know you said you don't have much time, but you might be better off eating maintenance and doing strength training to build muscle. You can do a body weight program like Nerd Fitness, Convict Conditioning, or You Are Your Own Gym for free or very little if you can't invest in the gym.

    It's unlikely OP is earning 3500 calories (500 calories per day to eat 1800 instead of 1300 calories) to "eat back" from one rowing session per week, plus a few push-ups every day or two.

    OP, nobody can really tell you whether you can lose on 1800 cals, and it makes absolutely no difference to your results what anybody else who is short has managed -- for instance, in my 50s, at 5'4", I lost on 1800 calories, but my SW was about 80 pounds (about 6 stone) more than yours. Try eating at 1800 cals for a while and see what happens. If you don't lose, reduce your calories or get more exercise, or both.

    I know. OP was saying she doesn't think she can eat only 1300 cals. I was just pointing out that the 1300 MFP gave her does not include exercise, she can exercise to get more calories if she needs to. I don't disagree with the rest of your post, was just relaying my experience. She is already light and short, so she might have to increase her activity to eat at a comfortable level.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    That 1300 is without exercise, you should eat back some exercise cals as well.

    Having said that, I'm 5'4". My maintenance while lightly active is @ 1800 cals. I had to eat 1500 to lose.

    If I'm converting right, 9 stone is 126 lbs? You are a healthy weight, so yes it will be hard to lose more. I know you said you don't have much time, but you might be better off eating maintenance and doing strength training to build muscle. You can do a body weight program like Nerd Fitness, Convict Conditioning, or You Are Your Own Gym for free or very little if you can't invest in the gym.

    It's unlikely OP is earning 3500 calories (500 calories per day to eat 1800 instead of 1300 calories) to "eat back" from one rowing session per week, plus a few push-ups every day or two.

    OP, nobody can really tell you whether you can lose on 1800 cals, and it makes absolutely no difference to your results what anybody else who is short has managed -- for instance, in my 50s, at 5'4", I lost on 1800 calories, but my SW was about 80 pounds (about 6 stone) more than yours. Try eating at 1800 cals for a while and see what happens. If you don't lose, reduce your calories or get more exercise, or both.

    I know. OP was saying she doesn't think she can eat only 1300 cals. I was just pointing out that the 1300 MFP gave her does not include exercise, she can exercise to get more calories if she needs to. I don't disagree with the rest of your post, was just relaying my experience. She is already light and short, so she might have to increase her activity to eat at a comfortable level.

    OK -- I just wanted to be sure that OP didn't read it as suggesting that what she's doing now would make a 500-calorie a day difference in her (or his) maintenance. I agree with the rest of your first post (and don't disagree with eating back realistic exercise calories), and I agree with your second post as well.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    brokenstar1 wrote: »
    Cheers all! Scales say I lost a bit, but I imagine that's water. Will keep going for a while n see what happens.
    I know I walk a bit bouncy / weird so maybe burn more casually. Plus always walk quickish (4mph), plus faster rarely when someone overtakes me!
    I'll look up your recommendations Kim.
    And if nothing changes I'll try to starve myself more intensely...


    If you find you are eating the right calories but are still hungry, look at what you are eating. Everyone is different, but if your diet is very low in fiber, fat, or protein, adjusting those may help. No good ever came from starving yourself!
  • TOXUTHAT
    TOXUTHAT Posts: 38 Member
    I try to stay below 1800 whether I exercise or not. Some times I go over if I exercise but I try not to. I am 58 yrs old and over 200lb. Have lost 32 lb. It works for me.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    at your height/weight - you might want to look at something like body recomp vs. losing weight
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