Ladies 5'2"-5'5" with 30lbs to lose: How often do you go to the gym and how many calories?

ajc1309
ajc1309 Posts: 255 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm trying to lose the 30lbs I've put on in the last year and I've joined a gym and am going 4 days a week and spending about an hour there. I've been eating around 1300-1500.

Is this a good plan to stick to or should I switch it up?

Replies

  • animatorswearbras
    animatorswearbras Posts: 1,001 Member
    edited July 2017
    Averaging 1400 cals with 4 hours of gym a week is probably bordering the low side and you might be netting less than 1200 cals a day on average which would be quite aggressive, are you sedentary apart from this? How do you feel and how quickly are you losing? With 30 pounds to lose it's best to aim for a pound a week loss max going to half a pound for the last 10-15 pounds. :)

    Edit: to answer your question I'm 5'5" and do 2x circuit training/HIIT classes a week plus a lightly active amount of walking (approx 7500 steps a day) I consume on average about 1500-1600 cals a day and have 5-12 pounds to lose.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Do whatever works for you! I didn't do any planned exercise this time around (to lose 50 pounds, again), and for the most part I ate around 1600 calories. I'm 5'3".
  • JMinney7
    JMinney7 Posts: 61 Member
    I am 5' 4" and have been steadily losing 1.5 to 2 lbs a week. I have 30lbs to go and I know I am averaging 1200 cals a day. I spend 30 min. at least 3-5 times a week on my spincycle (moderate-brisk effort) watching Netflix! I switch it up and do other exercises on nights that I don't spin to keep my body guessing. I think you should switch things up/around if you want to keep regularly losing weight IMO. I hope you aren't struggling too much at the gym. I can't imagine going to the gym and exercising for an hour. How do you feel afterwards? Are you tired? I've been doing everything at home because I want something easy to maintain at the end of my work day. (Lifestyle change) Your 1400-1500 cal intake with all that exercise...Good for you. :) I admit that I couldn't maintain that amount of energy expenditure for the estimated 15-20 weeks it will take to lose the last 30lbs. MFP will probably say you will lose weight regardless because of cal in/cal out. I am always afraid of gaining bulky muscle or hitting a plateau. Is that how you feel? If you are really loving the gym and the plan you already have, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Maybe a great trainer will pop on here and give you some advice. If you aren't happy with your schedule, you could always change it around... Best Wishes!
  • boulank
    boulank Posts: 51 Member
    I lost 30lbs since Jan 30th.
    I'm 5' 2" and have 6-9lbs left to lose to be at goal weight
    I did it on 1200 calories a day with no more than a 60 minute walk for exercise.
    On days where I would go to the gym I would enter my exercise and eat back half of my calories from the gym as well as my 1200.
  • alexistexas33
    alexistexas33 Posts: 121 Member
    5'5 when I was 275 I was doing cardio for 30-45 minutes 5x a week and lost 100 lbs with 1,400 calories no cheat days.
  • MrsPinterest34
    MrsPinterest34 Posts: 342 Member
    An alternative way to lose the weight. 5'2" started at 175lb on Jan 2 and down 22.5lb. I still have to lose 17.5lb to get to a normal BMR at 135lb then my next goal is lose vanity pounds to 125lb. No gym. I hate the gym. Just walking on average 15,000-17,000 steps 7 days a week. I set my fitness tracker to minimum 12,000 steps daily but I walk more than that. If it's too cold or too hot outside I march/jog in place inside my home or dance while watching my favorite sitcoms on TV. MFP gave a goal of 1200 daily on lightly active settings, but I'm eating on average 1300-1500 daily.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Do whatever works for you! I didn't do any planned exercise this time around (to lose 50 pounds, again), and for the most part I ate around 1600 calories. I'm 5'3".

    I always figured you were a guy and taller :)
  • vmbourg
    vmbourg Posts: 125 Member
    edited July 2017
    I am 5'4 and currently 168lbs. I go to the gym 5 times a week. One day is a light Yoga day, 1 day focuses on muscle group like a *glute* day, adn the other 3 days are full body interval training. I currently eat 1600 cals a day on non workout days (or light workout days). On days were I really push to my max heart rate for an extended period ( like in a Kettlebell conditioning class), I eat anywhere between 1600-1800 cals. I let hunger cue me if I need to eat more. So far i have lost 23lbs. I have gone down from a size 14 to a size 8. Significant increases in flexibility and strength from mixing it up. Good luck and feel free to add!

    Edit: I also work a VERY sedentary job. I am at a computer 8hrs plus a day. So I go to the gym daily on my hour break to get up and move.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Do whatever works for you! I didn't do any planned exercise this time around (to lose 50 pounds, again), and for the most part I ate around 1600 calories. I'm 5'3".

    I always figured you were a guy and taller :)

    Haha, I'll take that as a compliment :D Did you imagine me as the athletic type too? I guess I've ruined all your illusions now :#
  • ajc1309
    ajc1309 Posts: 255 Member
    I'd say I'm lightly active as I work in a store and am on my feet for roughly 10 hours a day, 5 days a week. I've only been doing this for just over a week now and the scale has dropped by 4lbs but I know that's water weight. Should I be eating more?
  • rednote49
    rednote49 Posts: 124 Member
    5'4" starting weight was 190lbs no idea what my current weight is since I only weight once every 5 weeks but I've lost 4" at my waist and 3" on my hips. My daily cal intake is 1650 and I gym 3 times a week. Gym day consists of 30 mins cardio, then weights (either upper body or leg day) then end with 30 mins cardio.
  • AgileK9
    AgileK9 Posts: 255 Member
    edited July 2017
    I started out Jan 1 at 172 to lose 30 pounds and I'm just shy of 5'3" but I'm also 47 and have a sedentary job. MFP gave me a 1200 calorie diet to follow to lose 1 pound a week. I've probably averaged about 3/4 of a pound a week. I'm down 22 today.

    I mixed things up because I get bored easily. I try to do one of the following each day with maybe a rest day once a week. My rest day isn't sedentary though as I'm usually training or playing with my dogs.

    Walk 3 miles at lunch, brisk pace
    Swim 45 minutes
    Elliptical 45 minutes
    Mountain bike - 90 minutes or more on trails (that's once or twice a week now)

    I'd also throw in some resistance band work a couple times a week.

    The days I ride my bike I am so crazy far under what I should eat that day but I think it averages out and I do eat back most of my exercise calories except on biking days. The calorie expenditure mountain biking is crazy high!
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Do whatever works for you! I didn't do any planned exercise this time around (to lose 50 pounds, again), and for the most part I ate around 1600 calories. I'm 5'3".

    I always figured you were a guy and taller :)

    Haha, I'll take that as a compliment :D Did you imagine me as the athletic type too? I guess I've ruined all your illusions now :#

    totally! haha! its always weird how we form impressions of people online which may be drastically different just based on how they interact with ppl
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    deannalfisher wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Do whatever works for you! I didn't do any planned exercise this time around (to lose 50 pounds, again), and for the most part I ate around 1600 calories. I'm 5'3".

    I always figured you were a guy and taller :)

    Haha, I'll take that as a compliment :D Did you imagine me as the athletic type too? I guess I've ruined all your illusions now :#

    totally! haha! its always weird how we form impressions of people online which may be drastically different just based on how they interact with ppl

    Lesson learnt: I talk like a tall guy :p
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,228 Member
    ajc1309 wrote: »
    I'd say I'm lightly active as I work in a store and am on my feet for roughly 10 hours a day, 5 days a week. I've only been doing this for just over a week now and the scale has dropped by 4lbs but I know that's water weight. Should I be eating more?

    As long as you feel good (no weakness, moodiness, excessive fatigue, etc.), and that eating/exercise level is fitting into your life in a sustainable way, I'd suggest riding it out for another couple of weeks (or a full menstrual cycle plus a bit if you're premenopausal). Then adjust from there, based on your actual results.

    A common rule of thumb here is to lose no more than 1% of your body weight weekly (less as you get within maybe 25-50 pounds of goal). Losing more is a little more risky health-wise, including risk of losing more than minimum lean tissue alongside fat.

    I'm 5'5", lost 50+ pounds in just less than a year (180s to 120s), most of it while eating 1400-1600 net calories, eating back all my conservatively-estimated exercise calories (usually 300-ish per day). But that 'case study' tells you nothing: there's a lot of variation among individuals, the calculators will give you the best-guess starting estimate, and you adjust from there based on your actual results.

    Best wishes for much success!
  • ansmit4642014
    ansmit4642014 Posts: 67 Member
    I'm 5'4" eating 1400 cal and working out 3 days a week. If I workout more than that than I eat more. I've been losing 1.3 pounds a week.
  • narspips
    narspips Posts: 48 Member
    5'3" and around 28-30lbs to lose here. I don't work out - I walk around 30-45 minutes a day as part of my commute and don't log the calories (I also try and jog twice a week for 20 mins each time, and I do log those, but I don't enjoy it at all). Just eating 1200-1500 calories a day and planning to lose from that - any exercise I do is a bonus :)
  • maripanda
    maripanda Posts: 21 Member
    I'm 5'5, I have lost approx 40lbs more than once (rage-face lol) I do it on 1200-1300cals per day, treat day maybe once a month, I really don't like the gym and exercise at home when the babies are in bed, so I do a yoga dvd 4-5 times a week and walk a lot whenever I can (normal pace, maybe an hour at a time in lunch break). This has worked and takes me maybe 3-4 months to get the weight off, but every person and every body is different :)
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