1200 Calories for All Heights? (5'2" women opionions wanted)

MFP is a website...nothing more, nothing less. It is not your personal dietician, nutritionist or doctor. It uses a computerized algorithm to find an "average" of what you should consume based on the minimal amount of information you provide. My last client last night, for example. She's 4'9", 93 pounds. She doesn't see me to lose/gain weight, she sees me for a medical condition that she has in which she has to maintain certain dietary standards which I assist her with. Her daily average caloric intake is between 850-1000 calories, and I would NEVER tell her to eat more than that because it wouldn't be healthy for her. BUT, we did not figure this number based on punching a few lifestyle factoids about her into a computer program. This website is a tool, a helpful tool, but it is not science. There's no such thing as a magic calorie number to eat per day that is going to help you gain/lose/maintain weight. It's different for everybody. I have two clients with eating disorders. Both at the exact same height and weight when I started with them. Due to factors you cannot judge by a computer program, one of them is on a diet eating 300 calories a day more than the other. Everybody burns differently, and as I said before, if you want to know for sure, go see somebody who specializes in that field. You're already getting a ton of completely bogus and far out answers on this post, and I don't want your thought process skewed by people who are giving you bad/wrong advice.

MFP is a website...nothing more, nothing less. It is not your personal dietician, nutritionist or doctor. It uses a computerized algorithm to find an "average" of what you should consume based on the minimal amount of information you provide. My last client last night, for example. She's 4'9", 93 pounds. She doesn't see me to lose/gain weight, she sees me for a medical condition that she has in which she has to maintain certain dietary standards which I assist her with. Her daily average caloric intake is between 850-1000 calories, and I would NEVER tell her to eat more than that because it wouldn't be healthy for her. BUT, we did not figure this number based on punching a few lifestyle factoids about her into a computer program. This website is a tool, a helpful tool, but it is not science. There's no such thing as a magic calorie number to eat per day that is going to help you gain/lose/maintain weight. It's different for everybody. I have two clients with eating disorders. Both at the exact same height and weight when I started with them. Due to factors you cannot judge by a computer program, one of them is on a diet eating 300 calories a day more than the other. Everybody burns differently, and as I said before, if you want to know for sure, go see somebody who specializes in that field. You're already getting a ton of completely bogus and far out answers on this post, and I don't want your thought process skewed by people who are giving you bad/wrong advice.

I agree. I was tested twice within 2 months and the results varied quite a bit.

Here is another thought. I guess you feel you are dicriminated against for being short................I'm going to argue (jokingly) that I'm being discriminated against for being old since BMR fluctuated with age. Although I'm 5'8" at my age of 58 my BMR is only 1267 but at your age of 27 it is 1417 (if you were my height). So I guess we all have our burderns. Now the short, old people are really in trouble

Erm your bones don't actually use that much energy at all- your muscles maybe.

I'm 5'5" and if I eat the full 1200 calories I don't lose any weight. I have to eat around 1000 to lose. Even if I eat 1200 and exercise everyday I don't lose. So I ignore what they say, and hope for the best. I know they says it's unhealthy - but so is being overweight.

Exactly this for me too - even been doing Insanity and eating 1200 and not losing! When I go to 1000 I lose. I'm 5'4".

I am 5'3 and I have 8 more pounds to go.
I did not adhere strictly to1200 calories, though. I have a tendency to binge and overeat. But there was a week where I ate strictly 1200 calories and I managed to lose 2 pounds.

Here is another thought. I guess you feel you are dicriminated against for being short................I'm going to argue (jokingly) that I'm being discriminated against for being old since BMR fluctuated with age. Although I'm 5'8" at my age of 58 my BMR is only 1267 but at your age of 27 it is 1417 (if you were my height). So I guess we all have our burderns. Now the short, old people are really in trouble

Short and old, yup, I resemble that.

So I guess we all have our burderns. Now the short, old people are really in trouble

i'm short (5'4"), old-ish (54) and have hypothyroidism that's hard to stabilize. I think that means I'm really REALLY in trouble!

I'm 5'10" and if I ate 1,200 calories a day, I would go into starvation mode. So 1,200 would work well for a shorter person, but for me it would be extremely unhealthy.

I guess its a Western thing. I know in China and Korea (where the average height of a woman is around 5'2) doctors recommend women to ingest between 1000-1500 cals a day on a diet, depending on activity level. So the number is lower, but not by much. I'm sure if you eat different foods every day and make stuff nutritious, you'll be fine, especially being as health conscious as you obviously are, using MFP.

I'm personally 5'2 and I maintain at around 1500-1600cals, so I don't freak out if my intake doesn't hit 1200 (rarely happens anyway).