Calories needed to lose weight - 39 y/o woman

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  • Firstcomeslove
    Firstcomeslove Posts: 21 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Firstcomeslove wrote: »
    sunsweet77 wrote: »
    If you tried the numbers it suggests and you're not losing...and your weighing and tracking properly...try lowering your calories by a little bit. See if that helps. Make an appt with a nutritionist? Are you weight lifting and doing cardio? Possible your gaining a little muscle?

    Hi! Thank you for the good advice. I have to knuckle down on my numbers and see how it goes for a month at 1200 calories per day. I can only do limited exercise unfortunately. I have thought of looking for a nutritionist, but want to see how I go first.

    Why only limited exercise? Are you physically unable? Are there any sorts of exercise you can do? Is it a time factor?

    1200 is the bare minimum recommended for women and is not always necessary for women to go that low in order to lose. The goal you entered of 1.5 lb/week is probably more aggressive than needed for the amount of weight you have to lose (20-40 lbs) and so 1200 is probably lower than you should be aiming for as well.

    Do you have a food scale for weighing your foods to ensure logging accuracy?

    Thanks for your help.

    Yes I have a food scale, would be so hard without it.

    I am physically able but unable to exercise due to previous back issues. So I can do light walking (say 2 x 20 minute walks per day), light weights at home and stretching, but for me - it's pretty limited to that.
  • Firstcomeslove
    Firstcomeslove Posts: 21 Member
    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    You might be better off setting weight loss to 0.5 pounds a week, with so little left to lose.

    It seems like a huge number to me, as I've never been this big. Maybe after I lose some lbs I can adjust down.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,941 Member
    Firstcomeslove wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    Yes, I started losing weight with 40 (and untreated hashimotos, btw). I wanted to lose about 5kg originally to get back to 70kg - was 75kg at 169cm. It went so easily that I thought: lets see if 67, my old 'dream weight' was possible. And then I started maintaining at 58, but ended up around 55 as my maintenance cals were much higher than I thought.

    Wow, great results! Congratulations. Were you at 1200 calories? How long did it take to get 67 and then to 55? What calories are you at for maintenance now.

    No, I ate more. I can't really remember, but I think it was around 1350 or so in the end. I took a long time for it though and never really felt hungry or low in energy. Maintenance cals at 55kg were at around 1750-1800 plus workouts (calculators gave me 1540, and I went into maintenance far too slow and so I lost more weight). I must say that I've regained some weight since the beginning of the year due to being very depressed and everything going wrong, after maintaining for two years. I'm slowly trying to go 5kg down to about 60/59. I think this will be a good weight for me. Everything lower was just too low.
  • Slowfaster
    Slowfaster Posts: 186 Member
    I think 1200 calories a day should put you at your goal by November.

    When I go that low I usually lose 10 pounds the first month and thereafter, about a pound and a half a week. So say you lose ten in August and five pounds each in September and October, plus a few pounds in July and November, I'll bet you could be down 25 pounds on the big day. If you're not losing, try getting more of your calories from fat. One theory is that fat (butter, olive oil) helps break down body fat for burning.
  • Firstcomeslove
    Firstcomeslove Posts: 21 Member
    Yirara thanks for posting and I'm sorry that you have been depressed recently. I hope that you are feeling better and thanks for taking the time to share your experience here. It's really useful.
  • Firstcomeslove
    Firstcomeslove Posts: 21 Member
    AbstemiousMe wrote: »
    I think 1200 calories a day should put you at your goal by November.

    When I go that low I usually lose 10 pounds the first month and thereafter, about a pound and a half a week. So say you lose ten in August and five pounds each in September and October, plus a few pounds in July and November, I'll bet you could be down 25 pounds on the big day. If you're not losing, try getting more of your calories from fat. One theory is that fat (butter, olive oil) helps break down body fat for burning.

    I'm hopeful after hearing from eveyone here that it'll go well. I've written down everyone's advice so I can refer back to it. Thank you!
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Again just going to post this one more time as I feel it is being overlooked OP... I know you are eager to get the weight off but cutting calories to the bare minimum recommended for women and not really doing any significant exercise/resistance training (although what you've posted does count as exercise, FYI) is likely to result in losing lean body mass and potentially ending up with the dreaded "skinny fat" appearances. Do you really want to just strive for loss on the scale in a relatively short amount of time, or do you want to lose weight in a sustainable fashion and potentially improve your body composition? If so, slowing down the loss to 1 lb/ week and getting an adequate amount of protein should be part of your focus.
  • texteach66
    texteach66 Posts: 92 Member
    Firstcomeslove wrote: »
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    That's a very sensible goal.

    Set your diary to a 1.5lb loss per week and eat the calories it gives you.

    Thank you. I have looked and it gave me 1200 per day.

    Does anyone have experience with eating that many calories and losing steadily - esp women in 30's and 40's?

    I don't think anyone is meaning to be unkind. It sounds like you are using the app correctly to figure out the calories to try. The best advice is to try eating that amount for a few weeks and see how it goes for you. Is there a special event or reason you want to lose it by the end of November? If not, then you might consider taking a slower route - more sustainable. I had 120+ pounds to lose when I started, but only set out to lose a pound a week. I've lost 100 lbs now, but it took a year and a half. I'm 5'4" and 50 years old. I weigh 167 now and continue to lose on 1350 calories/day - averaging about a pound a week. I am able to workout, though.

    Good luck to you! I know you can be successful, and there is help and advice here. You are welcome to add me as a friend if you'd like.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    1.5 lb a week seems like a lot for what you have to lose, IMO, and your goal of losing 40 lbs seems extreme to me with your stats. Wouldn't it take you to the bottom of the healthy BMI range? Maybe aim for the middle and see from there. I can't imagine how you wouldn't feel miserable and just give up on 1200 calories. Losing even 20 lbs will be healthier than nothing because you gave up.
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