Maintaining weight

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sarahowell5548
sarahowell5548 Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
For a 5’4 120lb female is it healthy to have a calorie intake of 1700 cal to maintain weight? I haven’t lost any on it and I feel full after consuming that much.

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  • ALZ14
    ALZ14 Posts: 202 Member
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    That sounds about right to me. It certainly isn’t dangerously low but you will want to keep an eye on it and adjust as needed (up or down) depending on how it goes long term.
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,984 Member
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    I’m 5’4” and around 125-127. I maintain at around 1700 calories before exercise, so definitely possible. The proof is in your results.
  • ChickenKillerPuppy
    ChickenKillerPuppy Posts: 297 Member
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    I am 5’4” and 120 pounds and I maintain at about 2100 calories, but I am very active.
  • sarahowell5548
    sarahowell5548 Posts: 8 Member
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    ChickenKillerPuppy wrote: »
    I am 5’4” and 120 pounds and I maintain at about 2100 calories, but I am very active.

    I’m trying to get active. Do I gradually increase if I workout more? I only use the recumbent bike for 60min every other day and a 30 minute workout on the other days.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,677 Member
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    I am 5'6" and have maintained 121-125 for several years with a base level of 1600. I log my exercise and eat back my exercise calories, so my actual is around 2100 or more. (I run 5 days a week and walk a couple of miles every day.)

    The recumbent bike burns around 300-350 calories in an hour, so that wouldn't give you that many extra calories, but it does give you some.
  • sarahowell5548
    sarahowell5548 Posts: 8 Member
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    spiriteagle99 wrote: »
    I am 5'6" and have maintained 121-125 for several years with a base level of 1600. I log my exercise and eat back my exercise calories, so my actual is around 2100 or more. (I run 5 days a week and walk a couple of miles every day.)

    The recumbent bike burns around 300-350 calories in an hour, so that wouldn't give you that many extra calories, but it does give you some.
    Is it healthy to stay at the calorie intake I’m at or should I eat more?
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,984 Member
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    sarahowell5548 wrote: »
    spiriteagle99 wrote: »
    I am 5'6" and have maintained 121-125 for several years with a base level of 1600. I log my exercise and eat back my exercise calories, so my actual is around 2100 or more. (I run 5 days a week and walk a couple of miles every day.)

    The recumbent bike burns around 300-350 calories in an hour, so that wouldn't give you that many extra calories, but it does give you some.
    Is it healthy to stay at the calorie intake I’m at or should I eat more?

    You have determined through your experience that 1,700 calories is maintenance for you, which is great information to know. Real data is much better than any calculator could estimate for you.

    At your height and weight, that's not unhealthy at all, assuming you are getting a proper amount of protein, fat, fiber, and other nutrients.

    Now that you know your maintenance, you can play with the number based on your goal. You stated in another thread that you'd like to lose 10 pounds. This would put you on the low end of a healthy weight. If you want to do that, with so little to lose, you would want to have a very small calorie deficit and lose those pounds very slowly.

    A daily deficit of 250 calories would be your goal to lose about .5 pounds per week. So, if maintenance is 1,700, your weight loss goal would be 1,450. You could add exercise calories on to that. You would have to be precise and patient, understanding that weight fluctuates from day-to-day, and you would not lose weight every week or in a consistent manner.

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