Keto calculator/calories & Macros for a short woman

katijjaa
katijjaa Posts: 34 Member
edited November 2018 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys,

So I've decided to join the Keto cult finally, and started reading more and setting up my plan. I'm 5''0 feet (152 cm) and I would like to ideally lose 1.1 lbs (0.5 kg) a week. According to most calculators I should be consuming from 850 to 1000 kcal a day. The same calculators warn from going under a 1000 at the same time. I'm quite lost because I know that height is a huge factor. I'm currently 120 lbs (54.5 km) but I'm still slightly overweight for my height. In fact, Many years ago I joined one of these programs that send you ready made meals daily, and the nutritionist put my daily kcal as 1100-1200 and I gained weight instead of losing. Also I usually don't eat much food. I'm not sure if I should go with the calculators and do the 850 kcal or go up around 1100 kcal. Also any suggested macro ratio for women? Will appreciate your help. P.S I've been eating healthy low carb & low fat diet for quite a while now so I believe that going keto wouldn't be that hard for me.. Cheers!

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    Do you weigh everything you eat with a food scale? It is eye opening.
  • katijjaa
    katijjaa Posts: 34 Member
    Thanks for the replies. I recently moved to a new country, so still on the hunt for a scale. But I will definitely do. Shadow soul, ignore my ignorance what is recomposition?
  • Running2Fit
    Running2Fit Posts: 702 Member
    Girl, I'm also 5' 0' I don't know where you are getting your numbers but 120 is not overweight.

    I eat 1200 - 1300 calories a day and lose weight. Granted, I'm at a higher weight than you (160) but there's zero reason you should be gaining if you are truly eating 1200 calories a day. Are you weighing and measuring everything you eat?
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    Ditch those calculators; they’re giving you a dangerously low number of calories.

    You do not need to go below 1200, the minimum recommended intake for women. I’m just under 5’0” and I lose on 1200 plus exercise calories. I maintain on 1400 plus exercise at 110-115 lb. Note that I would lose VERY slowly if I wanted to lose more weight, which brings me to my next point.

    A pound per week is too aggressive when you are in the normal BMI range, as you are. 120 is not overweight for someone who is 5’0”. If you are really invested in losing weight, then you should aim for 0.5 lb/week, and recognize that this may still be an unrealistically fast pace for you. You would need to be meticulous about weighing everything you eat, because you will have a very small deficit and it is very easy to accidentally wipe it out with just a few logging errors.

    As you are already in a healthy BMI range, I would recommend looking into recomp to build muscle and reduce fat rather than focusing on weight loss.

    If keto is how you prefer to eat, then do that, but keep in mind that neither keto nor any other specific diet is inherently better for weight loss. Any diet that causes weight loss does so only by creating a calorie deficit, and you can create a calorie deficit without following any named diet.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    Your calories are pretty low. I would not stay that low at all times. Perhaps an occasional day, but not every day.

    If you do Keto with calories quite low, say 1200, I would go for at LEAST 80 g protein and about the same in fat, that would be 25-30% or more protein and 65-60% or less in fat. Carbs are often 5-10%
  • ghudson92
    ghudson92 Posts: 2,061 Member
    I am 5"1 and losing weight at 1300 calories a day. I weigh everything, and make my best guess at logging food when eating out. I think your next steps should be to buy a food scale and work at the calorie deficit in a realistic way. Anything below 1200 isn't going to do you any favours in the long run.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited November 2018
    katijjaa wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies. I recently moved to a new country, so still on the hunt for a scale. But I will definitely do. Shadow soul, ignore my ignorance what is recomposition?

    It’s the very slow loss of fat and addition of lean body mass. Since it happens at almost equal rates the scale won’t really move but you will lose inches. This thread is about it:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat
  • katijjaa
    katijjaa Posts: 34 Member
    Thanks for the helpful comments. I'm getting a scale soon.

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