Maintenance advice please - cals for 5ft5” female
lauraemily84
Posts: 140 Member
Hi everyone - haven’t used this app for a while so I know everyone differs but just interested in roughly seeing how everyone else manages to stick within maintenance cals and what they are etc. I lost just over a stone over a year ago but my weight has crept back a little as I struggle with maintaining - I think most online calculators willest I need around 1500-1650 for my height at 5ft5” but this seems very low to be able to function on? I don’t work out at a gym but I’m a mum of two young children and do walk school/pre school daily and around shops/ house work etc but I get so drained then eat more then gain. Any tips would be great x
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Replies
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Right now I'm also struggling to find maintenance and will maintain for a few weeks and then steadily drop more weight.
I'm 27 years old 5'5" and weigh 170 right now. I'm not currently working out and have my MFP set to sedentary and it gives me 1890 calories a day. Eating that everyday has me losing a pound a week on average. I recently have changed it to 2300 calories a day and am slowly increasing my calories to get to that.
Are you set to sedentary? If so are you actually sedentary? I ask because having two kids and walking if you're doing it daily and not as intentional exercise should be part of your selected activity level.
Are you accurately tracking your calories? Could you be underestimating your intake and actually be eating more than you think? Do you use a food scale?
I might not be the best to give advice because like I said I'm still trying to figure my maintenance out as well but if you're gaining weight then you're eating over your maintenance calories so IF IT WAS ME I would like at tightening up my logging food wise to make sure that it's correct.0 -
I'm on 1660 calories and I'm 5'5" but 219lbs. I have a deficit of about 700 calories a day. Your deficit can be calculated if you know your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) about 500 under that would be one pound a week of loss.0
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I would enter my Activity Level as Active on Myfitnesspal. With kids, that's not unrealistic.
Then log your food here. If you do intentional exercise on top of your daily routine, add it as Exercise and eat those additional calories.
Do that for two months with whatever the MFP recommendation is. Then adjust as needed.
I eat way more than what online calculators say I should and have been maintaining for many years. Several hundred calories more.
The only way you'll know is by running the experiment. None of us can guess any better than an online calculator and you need good data over a couple months to make that determination.
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Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »I'm on 1660 calories and I'm 5'5" but 219lbs. I have a deficit of about 700 calories a day. Your deficit can be calculated if you know your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) about 500 under that would be one pound a week of loss.
She's in Maintenance (in the Maintenance forum.) Your higher weight and the fact you are trying to lose changes your calorie goal. Your advice doesn't apply.
Same with the post by @maybe1pe - If you are overweight your maintenance numbers will NOT be the same as at goal weight, and you're still losing at 170 and 5'5"- right? That's a 28.5 BMI.
My post above assumes she is at Maintenance weight...since she posted about maintaining in the Maintaining Forum.
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Oh, I didn't realize this was the maintanence forum. She still needs to know her TDEE though.0
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cmriverside wrote: »Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »I'm on 1660 calories and I'm 5'5" but 219lbs. I have a deficit of about 700 calories a day. Your deficit can be calculated if you know your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) about 500 under that would be one pound a week of loss.
She's in Maintenance (in the Maintenance forum.) Your higher weight and the fact you are trying to lose changes your calorie goal. Your advice doesn't apply.
Same with the post by @maybe1pe - If you are overweight your maintenance numbers will NOT be the same as at goal weight, and you're still losing at 170 and 5'5"- right? That's a 28.5 BMI.
My post above assumes she is at Maintenance weight...since she posted about maintaining in the Maintaining Forum.
and if you'll notice I said I'm trying to MAINTAIN my weight. Hence why I posted in the maintenance thread.... BMI is not the only standard for a healthy weight. I gave advice about my experience finding maintenance calories which according the MFP are significantly too low hence why I'm continuing to lose weight that I didn't want to lose.5 -
Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »Oh, I didn't realize this was the maintanence forum. She still needs to know her TDEE though.
The thing is, people throw out numbers all the time...This is how much I eat...unless you are at the same point as someone else, with the same amount of daily activity - it's meaningless.
It's meaningless anyway. Like I said, all the online calculator do is give a VERY general start point. "Knowing" your TDEE takes many months of accurate tracking, and that is the only way to find it.
So yeah, she needs to find her own TDEE. Not take anyone elses' recommendations. By throwing out your 1660 calorie goal when you weigh 219 - it just muddies the waters.7 -
cmriverside wrote: »Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »I'm on 1660 calories and I'm 5'5" but 219lbs. I have a deficit of about 700 calories a day. Your deficit can be calculated if you know your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) about 500 under that would be one pound a week of loss.
She's in Maintenance (in the Maintenance forum.) Your higher weight and the fact you are trying to lose changes your calorie goal. Your advice doesn't apply.
Same with the post by @maybe1pe - If you are overweight your maintenance numbers will NOT be the same as at goal weight, and you're still losing at 170 and 5'5"- right? That's a 28.5 BMI.
My post above assumes she is at Maintenance weight...since she posted about maintaining in the Maintaining Forum.
and if you'll notice I said I'm trying to MAINTAIN my weight. Hence why I posted in the maintenance thread.... BMI is not the only standard for a healthy weight. I gave advice about my experience finding maintenance calories which according the MFP are significantly too low hence why I'm continuing to lose weight that I didn't want to lose.
The BMI ranges are not off by that much. 28.5 is more than just a few pounds.
I get that you are trying to maintain at 170 - but she didn't even state her weight, and most people don't try to maintain at overweight by that much. That is bordering on obesity. 29.9 is obese.
Throwing out a calorie goal that isn't what she asked for (?) Okay, then.6 -
Tips would be:
Don't compare yourself to anyone else - their activity, logging accuracy and methods are different.
Don't go to calculators when you have your own data - calculators are just estimates and use a different methodology to MyFitnessPal anyway.
Just be consistent and make small adjustments without chasing or reacting to fluctuations.
This sentence makes me wonder if you aren't giving adjustments enough time to see if your actual weight trend changes - "I get so drained then eat more then gain."8 -
It's a fairly average height so I'd start with the average maintenance calories for women, which I believe is 2000 and adjust as necessary.0
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I am also 5'5" and I had lost about 35 pounds a few years ago and had set my maintenance calories based on MFP recommendations (roughly 1800 calories) and continued to lose weight so I upped my calorie intake to 2200-2500 and seemed to be able to maintain at that level. It was a guessing game so I upped it by 200 calories after a couple weeks if I continued to lose.
Right now I'm working on losing about 10 pounds as life got in the way and I was slacking on the exercise and not logging so some pounds have come back. I currently have my tracker set to lose half a pound a week and it has me at 1560 calories so I'm guessing that if it has you as roughly that to maintain you need to increase depending on age and activity level.0 -
cmriverside wrote: »Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »Oh, I didn't realize this was the maintanence forum. She still needs to know her TDEE though.
The thing is, people throw out numbers all the time...This is how much I eat...unless you are at the same point as someone else, with the same amount of daily activity - it's meaningless.
It's meaningless anyway. Like I said, all the online calculator do is give a VERY general start point. "Knowing" your TDEE takes many months of accurate tracking, and that is the only way to find it.
So yeah, she needs to find her own TDEE. Not take anyone elses' recommendations. By throwing out your 1660 calorie goal when you weigh 219 - it just muddies the waters.
I was just giving her an example of what works for me, nowhere did I say she needs to follow that. I said she needs to find her TDEE and she did say she gained some weight, I was assuming along with maintenance she might want to lose those first, Read properly before commenting.
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cmriverside wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »I'm on 1660 calories and I'm 5'5" but 219lbs. I have a deficit of about 700 calories a day. Your deficit can be calculated if you know your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) about 500 under that would be one pound a week of loss.
She's in Maintenance (in the Maintenance forum.) Your higher weight and the fact you are trying to lose changes your calorie goal. Your advice doesn't apply.
Same with the post by @maybe1pe - If you are overweight your maintenance numbers will NOT be the same as at goal weight, and you're still losing at 170 and 5'5"- right? That's a 28.5 BMI.
My post above assumes she is at Maintenance weight...since she posted about maintaining in the Maintaining Forum.
and if you'll notice I said I'm trying to MAINTAIN my weight. Hence why I posted in the maintenance thread.... BMI is not the only standard for a healthy weight. I gave advice about my experience finding maintenance calories which according the MFP are significantly too low hence why I'm continuing to lose weight that I didn't want to lose.
The BMI ranges are not off by that much. 28.5 is more than just a few pounds.
I get that you are trying to maintain at 170 - but she didn't even state her weight, and most people don't try to maintain at overweight by that much. That is bordering on obesity. 29.9 is obese.
Throwing out a calorie goal that isn't what she asked for (?) Okay, then.
she actually does say she wanted to know everyone's maintenance calories and how they stick to them. So again.... was just putting out there MY stats and experience. Didn't say it would be her's, didn't say she had to do what I did. Didn't say she had to choose to stay at that weight.
Also, have had bf% tests done and based on those I am actually a healthy weight for myself personally. And if I was a couple inches taller no one would have brought up my BMI.
OP you do you. Try a few things and see what works.7 -
Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »Oh, I didn't realize this was the maintanence forum. She still needs to know her TDEE though.
The thing is, people throw out numbers all the time...This is how much I eat...unless you are at the same point as someone else, with the same amount of daily activity - it's meaningless.
It's meaningless anyway. Like I said, all the online calculator do is give a VERY general start point. "Knowing" your TDEE takes many months of accurate tracking, and that is the only way to find it.
So yeah, she needs to find her own TDEE. Not take anyone elses' recommendations. By throwing out your 1660 calorie goal when you weigh 219 - it just muddies the waters.
I was just giving her an example of what works for me, nowhere did I say she needs to follow that. I said she needs to find her TDEE and she did say she gained some weight, I was assuming along with maintenance she might want to lose those first, Read properly before commenting.
Here was your answer:Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »I'm on 1660 calories and I'm 5'5" but 219lbs. I have a deficit of about 700 calories a day. Your deficit can be calculated if you know your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) about 500 under that would be one pound a week of loss.
She didn't ask for a calorie number for a 219 pound person who has a 700 deficit to lose - she asked for this:lauraemily84 wrote: »Hi everyone - haven’t used this app for a while so I know everyone differs but just interested in roughly seeing how everyone else manages to stick within maintenance cals and what they are etc. I lost just over a stone over a year ago but my weight has crept back a little as I struggle with maintaining - I think most online calculators willest I need around 1500-1650 for my height at 5ft5” but this seems very low to be able to function on? I don’t work out at a gym but I’m a mum of two young children and do walk school/pre school daily and around shops/ house work etc but I get so drained then eat more then gain. Any tips would be great x
I would guess she's at a healthy weight, or she wouldn't be given a 1500-1650 calorie goal to Maintain. I'll bet your calories to maintain are around 2400 for your weight (if you use an online calculator.)
Read properly before commenting.
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I would guess she's at a healthy weight, or she wouldn't be given a 1500-1650 calorie goal to Maintain. I'll bet your calories to maintain are around 2400 for your weight (if you use an online calculator.)
Read properly before commenting.
Touche'. I would be at a healthy weight if it wasn't for meds I take, and she did not state her weight.
Do you have anything better to do than shame strangers on the internet?!? Please go do whatever that is.11 -
Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »
I would guess she's at a healthy weight, or she wouldn't be given a 1500-1650 calorie goal to Maintain. I'll bet your calories to maintain are around 2400 for your weight (if you use an online calculator.)
Read properly before commenting.
Touche'. I would be at a healthy weight if it wasn't for meds I take, and she did not state her weight.
Do you have anything better to do than shame strangers on the internet?!? Please go do whatever that is.
What do meds have to do with any of this?
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I'm 5' 5.5". I maintained at 2600 until my late-thirties. Now I maintain at about 2000. I am still trying to figure that out. Daily activity levels and age matter.0
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cmriverside wrote: »Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »
I would guess she's at a healthy weight, or she wouldn't be given a 1500-1650 calorie goal to Maintain. I'll bet your calories to maintain are around 2400 for your weight (if you use an online calculator.)
Read properly before commenting.
Touche'. I would be at a healthy weight if it wasn't for meds I take, and she did not state her weight.
Do you have anything better to do than shame strangers on the internet?!? Please go do whatever that is.
What do meds have to do with any of this?
You said I wasn't at a healthy weight and I told you why, it has nothing to do with this but neither does your shaming. Go away please.
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If you've lost weight using MFP, use your actual data to work out maintenance?
Other than that, start with what MFP gives you and tweak after 4-6 weeks depending what the scales do.5 -
Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »
I would guess she's at a healthy weight, or she wouldn't be given a 1500-1650 calorie goal to Maintain. I'll bet your calories to maintain are around 2400 for your weight (if you use an online calculator.)
Read properly before commenting.
Touche'. I would be at a healthy weight if it wasn't for meds I take, and she did not state her weight.
Do you have anything better to do than shame strangers on the internet?!? Please go do whatever that is.
What do meds have to do with any of this?
You said I wasn't at a healthy weight and I told you why, it has nothing to do with this but neither does your shaming. Go away please.
I'm just trying to get the facts straight. If you feel shamed, that is not my intention.
If you are going to post your stats I don't see how "shaming" it is to be quoted. There is no shame in being 219 pounds. I started at 215. My calorie goal at 215 and my calorie goal at 140 are not the same. It's just a fact. It's just that the numbers are not the same, I don't think you understand that. Yet.
If you feel shame, that is entirely on you. I cannot make you feel any way whatsoever. Examine where that is coming from, but it's not coming from me.
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I'm just under 5'5" (actually 5'4.75"), 117 lbs, and 32 years old. My experimentally determined maintenance is about 1950 calories per day. I lift weights twice a week and have started to throw in some body weight accessories.
One thing that really helped me nail down my TDEE more accurately was a step counter. If you do a lot of walking, but it varies (for example school days vs. nonschool days), having a step counter might help you adjust your intake based on what you're using for each day. Many of them sync up with myfitnesspal and will adjust your calories for you.1 -
If you feel shame, that is entirely on you. I cannot make you feel any way whatsoever. Examine where that is coming from, but it's not coming from me.
Not only did you shame me you also shamed someone else so I'm calling you out on it.
You specifically came in here to comment on our comments and to tell another person that a 28 bmi is not good. Maybe we have an athletic body type and can't slim down to 130 lbs and that's okay. Deal with yourself, if you are maintaining a perfect weight good for you, if not than fix it but don't tell other people who are working on themselves that where they are is bad.
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To the OP, my maintenance cals are 2300, I spent most of last year eating out due to being depressed but I have lost 10 pounds and have been 200-210 for 9 years so I know I can get back there and under it. I know my maintenance cals will go down but if I make it to 140 (ultimate goal weight in 2 years but I'll probably be happy with 160), my maintenance cals will be 1800, so yes your maintenance cals seem low. Keep logging and figure out where the sweet spot is, don't give up!7 -
Iwantahealthierme30 wrote: »
If you feel shame, that is entirely on you. I cannot make you feel any way whatsoever. Examine where that is coming from, but it's not coming from me.
Not only did you shame me you also shamed someone else so I'm calling you out on it.
You specifically came in here to comment on our comments and to tell another person that a 28 bmi is not good. Maybe we have an athletic body type and can't slim down to 130 lbs and that's okay. Deal with yourself, if you are maintaining a perfect weight good for you, if not than fix it but don't tell other people who are working on themselves that where they are is bad.
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To the OP, my maintenance cals are 2300, I spent most of last year eating out due to being depressed but I have lost 10 pounds and have been 200-210 for 9 years so I know I can get back there and under it. I know my maintenance cals will go down but if I make it to 140 (ultimate goal weight in 2 years but I'll probably be happy with 160), my maintenance cals will be 1800, so yes your maintenance cals seem low. Keep logging and figure out where the sweet spot is, don't give up!
No I came in to answer the OP's question, which I did. I also disputed your post(s) because you were not reading the OP nor answering the question nor were either of you in a "normal" BMI, yet you were both throwing out your calorie goals, which confuses the issue. It's just a number. 28.5 is what it is. Feel free to continue to take shots - I've been on this site for many years and maintaining for many years, and I recognize errors when I see them, that's all it is. No one on this site cares what you weigh unless and until you start giving erroneous "advice."
There is no good/bad or shame involved. Both of you answered a question which wasn't asked. I commented on the facts. We can leave the emotions out of it, right? Well, I can.
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lauraemily84 wrote: »Hi everyone - haven’t used this app for a while so I know everyone differs but just interested in roughly seeing how everyone else manages to stick within maintenance cals and what they are etc. I lost just over a stone over a year ago but my weight has crept back a little as I struggle with maintaining - I think most online calculators willest I need around 1500-1650 for my height at 5ft5” but this seems very low to be able to function on? I don’t work out at a gym but I’m a mum of two young children and do walk school/pre school daily and around shops/ house work etc but I get so drained then eat more then gain. Any tips would be great x
You are going to get a wide range of numbers varying based on the responders chosen weight, activity level, logging accuracy, and other factors. Probably everywhere from 1500 - 2500. If you haven't been logging for awhile, put your stats into MFP to get your calorie goal. Any time you do get a chance to do some extra exercise, log that and eat back those calories. As someone else mentioned, with small children and day to day stuff keeping you moving, do NOT choose sedentary. Then give it at least 4 weeks and tweak from there if you are still creeping up or perhaps it is too low and you start losing too much.
If you find you feel hungry, check out your diary and see if there is anything obvious you're missing.1 -
I am 5'4 and 1/2. I maintain at around 1700 to 1850 depending on my activity level. I am not really active and I also use a fitbit. Like its been said, we all differ and it took several weeks of maintaining and tweaking before I knew my average. I am 150 pounds.0
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I'm 35 5'5" and as of today 9stone 9 walk a mile to work and back but mostly sit at a desk. I also work out 3 times a week 1x low intensity 2x very high intensity. My maintenance is 1890 + eating back exercise calories which is basically puts me around 2000 calories a day on average. I probably average 7500 steps a day too.
I would also say my metabolism is a damn sight better than it was this time last year when I was 17 pounds heavier because of strength work.
If you can get hold of a pedometer you can make a good guess at your activity level, mine seems about right as lightly active at those steps if you're knocking out more than 10000 a day with running around your kids you may be classed as moderately active or higher.
1650 does not seem out of order maintenance for someone who is sedentary though, it really depends on how active you are.
The most effective way to find out though is to get some food scales and measures, measure absolutely everything including cooking oil, beverages and condiments and see if you lose or maintain on the figures you've been given, if you lose you're probably more active then you have stated in the calculators.0 -
I'm 5'5 and 136 and MFP tells me I need 1640 at maintenance. I find it's quite accurate. I work out every day and eat the most of them so generally am actually eating probably 1900 a day.1
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I'm 5'5", 150 lbs, and 39 and on days when I mostly do things around the house and don't purposely get on the treadmill, I typically get 5000 steps, and my maintenance would be around 1800 calories. You're probably a bit younger so I'd say 1900 or so, depending on how accurate you are. 1600 does seem low (that's my maintenance if I'm completely sedentary).2
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When I reached goal weight before (120 lbs) I maintained at 1500-1600 as a 5'5" stay at home mother. If I regularly exercised though it went up closer to 2000.0
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I just want to add age makes a huge difference. I use to maintain my 116lbs 5'5 frame at 1900-2100 cals a day, pretty sedentary but did move around with kids. Not a lot of actual exercise though, between 30-36 years old. Now I have put on 13 pounds over the the last 2 years. I am back here to loose it. Now that I am 38 things have gotten harder, especially over the last year weight is creeping quicker. So age accounts for something as well. SO NOT FAIR.. My husband can eat 2500 cals and still loose weight.1
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