[Help] 5'4 female calorie deficit
H275D
Posts: 9 Member
Good day guys,
My gf is 5'4, 22 years old, she's trying to lose some weight, she's 143 lbs and her goal is 130 lbs, she has been eating 1560 calories, 130 protein 35 fat and the rest is carbs, she's exercising 4 days/week, resistance training, 45 mins. Other than that, she a sedentary lifestyle, doesn't move around a lot. Being strict day by day and she lost 2 lbs after 3 weeks. I know that that's good and a progress is a progress. She wants to speed up the process just a little bit, around 1.5 lb/week. The question is, how low can she go on calories?
My gf is 5'4, 22 years old, she's trying to lose some weight, she's 143 lbs and her goal is 130 lbs, she has been eating 1560 calories, 130 protein 35 fat and the rest is carbs, she's exercising 4 days/week, resistance training, 45 mins. Other than that, she a sedentary lifestyle, doesn't move around a lot. Being strict day by day and she lost 2 lbs after 3 weeks. I know that that's good and a progress is a progress. She wants to speed up the process just a little bit, around 1.5 lb/week. The question is, how low can she go on calories?
2
Replies
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How 'bout she joins this site and asks her own questions? It sounds like she's doing fine, she doesn't have much to lose so 1/2 pound per week is the right rate.
1.5 pounds per week is too aggressive at her current weight.
I'd stick to the 1560 calories. No reason to eat that much protein. What's that about?18 -
I wouldn't change too much if she is already successfully losing weight and finds her meal and exercise routine maintainable. Maybe just start with 100 calories less, bringing it down to 1460 a day and go from there.
She can go lower still, but it is about finding a lifestyle that she can stick with. She could technically drop down to 1200 and probably lose weight faster, but it would be a pretty restrictive diet, and she might have less energy for working out. And in the long run, might not be maintainable.
My suggestion would be to make small changes first, see how it goes, and then adjust again depending on how she is feeling. I think the first goal should instead be to find ways to be more active throughout the day. I've learned the hard way that sitting/standing all day without moving is pretty bad.2 -
cmriverside wrote: »How 'bout she joins this site and asks her own questions? It sounds like she's doing fine, she doesn't have much to lose so 1/2 pound per week is the right rate.
1.5 pounds per week is too aggressive at her current weight.
I'd stick to the 1560 calories. No reason to eat that much protein. What's that about?
It doesn't matter who asks the question, maybe she doesnt know about forums and MFP..
0.9g/lb ..2 -
I wouldn't change too much if she is already successfully losing weight and finds her meal and exercise routine maintainable. Maybe just start with 100 calories less, bringing it down to 1460 a day and go from there.
She can go lower still, but it is about finding a lifestyle that she can stick with. She could certainly drop down to 1200 and probably lose weight faster, but it would be a pretty restrictive diet, and she might have less energy for working out.
My suggestion would be to make small changes first, see how it goes, and then adjust again depending on how she is feeling. I think the next goal would be to find ways to be more active throughout the day.
Thanks for your reply, what is it about ppl saying dont eat less than BMR and 1200 will stall your weight after couple weeks?1 -
cmriverside wrote: »How 'bout she joins this site and asks her own questions? It sounds like she's doing fine, she doesn't have much to lose so 1/2 pound per week is the right rate.
1.5 pounds per week is too aggressive at her current weight.
I'd stick to the 1560 calories. No reason to eat that much protein. What's that about?
It doesn't matter who asks the question, maybe she doesnt know about forums and MFP..
0.9g/lb ..
What 22 year old doesn't know about the internet and google?
I'm team if it ain't broke, don't fix it.7 -
cmriverside wrote: »How 'bout she joins this site and asks her own questions? It sounds like she's doing fine, she doesn't have much to lose so 1/2 pound per week is the right rate.
1.5 pounds per week is too aggressive at her current weight.
I'd stick to the 1560 calories. No reason to eat that much protein. What's that about?
It doesn't matter who asks the question, maybe she doesnt know about forums and MFP..
0.9g/lb ..
What 22 year old doesn't know about the internet and google?
Let's leave the main subject aside and talk about why my gf is not into forums. Good idea.3 -
cmriverside wrote: »How 'bout she joins this site and asks her own questions? It sounds like she's doing fine, she doesn't have much to lose so 1/2 pound per week is the right rate.
1.5 pounds per week is too aggressive at her current weight.
I'd stick to the 1560 calories. No reason to eat that much protein. What's that about?
It doesn't matter who asks the question, maybe she doesnt know about forums and MFP..
0.9g/lb ..
What 22 year old doesn't know about the internet and google?
Let's leave the main subject aside and talk about why my gf is not into forums. Good idea.
<----self proclaimed queen of off topicedness8 -
cmriverside wrote: »How 'bout she joins this site and asks her own questions? It sounds like she's doing fine, she doesn't have much to lose so 1/2 pound per week is the right rate.
1.5 pounds per week is too aggressive at her current weight.
I'd stick to the 1560 calories. No reason to eat that much protein. What's that about?
It doesn't matter who asks the question, maybe she doesnt know about forums and MFP..
0.9g/lb ..
You said she's your GF. How about you tell her about forums and MFP? It actually is kinda odd (to me) that you're here asking this when it's her life/weight/choices.
Why is she eating so much protein?
Why does she need to lose faster?10 -
cmriverside wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »How 'bout she joins this site and asks her own questions? It sounds like she's doing fine, she doesn't have much to lose so 1/2 pound per week is the right rate.
1.5 pounds per week is too aggressive at her current weight.
I'd stick to the 1560 calories. No reason to eat that much protein. What's that about?
It doesn't matter who asks the question, maybe she doesnt know about forums and MFP..
0.9g/lb ..
You said she's your GF. How about you tell her about forums and MFP? It actually is kinda odd (to me) that you're here asking this when it's her life/weight/choices.
Why is she eating so much protein?
Why does she need to lose faster?
Because she doesnt speak english and there arent many useful forums in our native language that I know of where people can discuss nutrition. She wanted to go and pay to see a "nutritionist" but i told her i could post whatever questions you have on a forum that i know which is really good for these kind of things. Little did I know that I would come across people who care about her more than I do. And about the protein after reading and watching videos on how to create macros for a calorie deficit, protein should be between 0.7g/lb - 1g/lb so she went with 0.9g/lb which is in the middle. And why does she want to lose faster, we are not talking about much here, just around 0.7kg / week.9 -
Fair enough!
I think she's doing great. It's slow going when there isn't much weight to lose. That's the healthiest, most sustainable way.
With that said, I used to be able to lose 10 pounds in two weeks when I was 22. But, to be fair - I was living off beer, cigarettes, caffeine and bike rides. Not Recommended!!
Here's a good graphic: weight loss should be slow with 6kg to lose.
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cmriverside wrote: »Fair enough!
I think she's doing great. It's slow going when there isn't much weight to lose. That's the healthiest, most sustainable way.
With that said, I used to be able to lose 10 pounds in two weeks when I was 22. But, to be fair - I was living off beer, cigarettes, caffeine and bike rides. Not Recommended!!
Here's a good graphic: weight loss should be slow with 6kg to lose.
That's very informative, thank you! And yes, i keep on explaining to her that she needs to lose the last pounds slow and steady, im totally with that. But she keeps freaking out when weight loss doesn't go her way and the scale moves up a little bit which make me freak out because shes freaking out xD .. I'm just trying to support her and guide her through whatever goal she wants to reach but in the right way.3 -
At 22, she's gonna have a lot of hormonal fluctuations. Plus all of us have normal water weight swings of 1-5 pounds on any given day due to heat, sleep, salt, hormones, travel, stress, etc.
Don't freak out with her.
Be that calming force.
Here's another informative read:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1
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I wouldn't change too much if she is already successfully losing weight and finds her meal and exercise routine maintainable. Maybe just start with 100 calories less, bringing it down to 1460 a day and go from there.
She can go lower still, but it is about finding a lifestyle that she can stick with. She could certainly drop down to 1200 and probably lose weight faster, but it would be a pretty restrictive diet, and she might have less energy for working out.
My suggestion would be to make small changes first, see how it goes, and then adjust again depending on how she is feeling. I think the next goal would be to find ways to be more active throughout the day.
Thanks for your reply, what is it about ppl saying dont eat less than BMR and 1200 will stall your weight after couple weeks?
I don't know about that personally, I'm just talking about keeping a routine. I'm not a physician so I can't give advice on what is physically unhealthy or what might stress the body. I just think that if she eats too few calories, she wont be able to keep going. She might be able to lose weight quickly on the short-term, but I almost guarantee she'll gain it all back.
She's only been going for 3 weeks which is a very short amount of time to already feel frustrated. She has lost weight, and that is an awesome victory! I understand wanting to go faster, but healthy and maintainable weight loss takes time. 3 weeks is too short of a time to build new habits and keep them. The key to losing weight and keeping it off is finding something she can keep doing long-term, and preferably do it in a way that doesn't make her feel miserable while doing it. On the contrary, she can still lose weight and be happy, especially if she accepts that .5 lbs a week is a great achievement! So that also means accepting that there will be weeks when she doesn't lose weight either.
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I wouldn't change too much if she is already successfully losing weight and finds her meal and exercise routine maintainable. Maybe just start with 100 calories less, bringing it down to 1460 a day and go from there.
She can go lower still, but it is about finding a lifestyle that she can stick with. She could certainly drop down to 1200 and probably lose weight faster, but it would be a pretty restrictive diet, and she might have less energy for working out.
My suggestion would be to make small changes first, see how it goes, and then adjust again depending on how she is feeling. I think the next goal would be to find ways to be more active throughout the day.
Thanks for your reply, what is it about ppl saying dont eat less than BMR and 1200 will stall your weight after couple weeks?
I don't know about that personally, I'm just talking about keeping a routine. I'm not a nutritionist so I can't give advice on what is physically unhealthy or what might stress the body. I just think that if she eats too few calories, she wont be able to keep going. She might be able to lose weight quickly on the short-term, but I almost guarantee she'll gain it all back.
She's only been going for 3 weeks which is a very short amount of time to already feel frustrated. She has lost weight, and that is an awesome victory! I understand wanting to go faster, but healthy and maintainable weight loss takes time. 3 weeks is too short of a time to build new habits and keep them. The key to losing weight and keeping it off is finding something she can keep doing long-term, and preferably do it in a way that doesn't make her feel miserable while doing it. On the contrary, she can still lose weight and be happy, especially if she accepts that .5 lbs a week is a great achievement! So that also means accepting that there will be weeks when she doesn't lose weight either.
Thanks for your reply, I agree with you 100%!1 -
send her here. we will help.
we dont bite.
well. usually we dont.2 -
Huh. Got advice to lose 1 pound a week when I only had five to go.cmriverside wrote: »Fair enough!
I think she's doing great. It's slow going when there isn't much weight to lose. That's the healthiest, most sustainable way.
With that said, I used to be able to lose 10 pounds in two weeks when I was 22. But, to be fair - I was living off beer, cigarettes, caffeine and bike rides. Not Recommended!!
Here's a good graphic: weight loss should be slow with 6kg to lose.
Makes me wonder if you have very few to lose if it makes sense to do a quick cut instead of prolong it so your body doesn’t get super used to the new low calorie range. What do you guys think? I get confused over whether lowering my calories will *kitten* me up in the long run if I’m eating lower than I burn for a longer period. Rather doing a quick and dirty cut and then returning to maintanence.1 -
Luluetduet8 wrote: »
Huh. Got advice to lose 1 pound a week when I only had five to go.cmriverside wrote: »Fair enough!
I think she's doing great. It's slow going when there isn't much weight to lose. That's the healthiest, most sustainable way.
With that said, I used to be able to lose 10 pounds in two weeks when I was 22. But, to be fair - I was living off beer, cigarettes, caffeine and bike rides. Not Recommended!!
Here's a good graphic: weight loss should be slow with 6kg to lose.
Makes me wonder if you have very few to lose if it makes sense to do a quick cut instead of prolong it so your body doesn’t get super used to the new low calorie range. What do you guys think? I get confused over whether lowering my calories will *kitten* me up in the long run if I’m eating lower than I burn for a longer period. Rather doing a quick and dirty cut and then returning to maintanence.
I think a quicker cut (month or less) to lose a small amount of weight might be a viable strategy for someone who is young, healthy and without other sources of physical/psychological stress in their life, and who does not have body composition or exercise performance goals. In most other cases, it's a counter-productive strategy for impatient people. If they're lucky, it won't cause major problems.
On another thread, you seem to have pretty major body composition goals, something about getting toned/ripped and looking really good? Quick cut is potentially pretty counter-productive for those goals, at best would be back-burner-ing long term goals for a not very meaningful short-term hit of lighter/thinner but maybe also listless, sallow, later thinning hair/brittle nails, etc. If lucky, nothing worse; if really lucky, none of that stuff either.
It's a risk/reward question.
Some of this applies to OP's GF, maybe. Or maybe not.
Cmriverside is giving good advice about OP's GF, IMO.callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »send her here. we will help.
we dont bite.
well. usually we dont.
I think we're usually even pretty nice to people whose first language is not English.
Often, we're not very nice to guys who come here to get advice for their GF/wife. That's probably unfair to guys whose heart is in the right place, but there are quite a few controlling, domineering guys in the population at large, some posters here have been burned in that way, so there's a level of suspicion that enters into our replies. That may also be a thing a guy whose heart is in the right place might understand, in evaluating replies, if he thinks about it. 🤷♀️8 -
I wouldn't change too much if she is already successfully losing weight and finds her meal and exercise routine maintainable. Maybe just start with 100 calories less, bringing it down to 1460 a day and go from there.
She can go lower still, but it is about finding a lifestyle that she can stick with. She could certainly drop down to 1200 and probably lose weight faster, but it would be a pretty restrictive diet, and she might have less energy for working out.
My suggestion would be to make small changes first, see how it goes, and then adjust again depending on how she is feeling. I think the next goal would be to find ways to be more active throughout the day.
Thanks for your reply, what is it about ppl saying dont eat less than BMR and 1200 will stall your weight after couple weeks?
Seriously underfueling can cause fatigue, lower activity levels (including spontaneous movement - fidgeting and other like stuff - and other subtle things), impair exercise intensity/performance, maybe lower body temperature a little bit, maybe slow hair/nails growth (leading in a few weeks to breakage/thinning), and in rare cases maybe worse.
Eating below BMR is not really a bright line, in evaluating that, though it can be one indicator of concern, along with losing more than 0.5-1% of body weight weekly (lower end for sure if fewer pounds to lose), cutting more than 20%ish of TDEE, inability to fit adequate protein/fats/veggies & fruits into calorie goal so undernutrition, and that sort of thing.
Besides the ways underfueling can decrease calorie expenditure (so slow weight loss below expected), it's also a physical stressor that - especially in the presence of other physical/psychological stressors - can trigger creeping water retention, making the scale look like fat loss has stopped, when it hasn't. (Cutting further, in that scenario, is utterly dysfunctional, for obvious reasons.) That's without mentioning health risks of underfueling/undereating.
So, it's not so much "eating under BMR" or "eating under 1200" that's the problem, it's adopting unsuitable, dysfunctional strategies for one's particular situation. How to recognize that that's happening is situational, individual, a little squishy.2 -
cmriverside wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »How 'bout she joins this site and asks her own questions? It sounds like she's doing fine, she doesn't have much to lose so 1/2 pound per week is the right rate.
1.5 pounds per week is too aggressive at her current weight.
I'd stick to the 1560 calories. No reason to eat that much protein. What's that about?
It doesn't matter who asks the question, maybe she doesnt know about forums and MFP..
0.9g/lb ..
You said she's your GF. How about you tell her about forums and MFP? It actually is kinda odd (to me) that you're here asking this when it's her life/weight/choices.
Why is she eating so much protein?
Why does she need to lose faster?
Because she doesnt speak english and there arent many useful forums in our native language that I know of where people can discuss nutrition. She wanted to go and pay to see a "nutritionist" but i told her i could post whatever questions you have on a forum that i know which is really good for these kind of things. Little did I know that I would come across people who care about her more than I do. And about the protein after reading and watching videos on how to create macros for a calorie deficit, protein should be between 0.7g/lb - 1g/lb so she went with 0.9g/lb which is in the middle. And why does she want to lose faster, we are not talking about much here, just around 0.7kg / week.
Geee I'm a independent woman, but nothing wrong with helping each other in relationships why does he have to explain xyz just to get a decent , respectful answer here. Get out people relationships already unless they ask you.
Alot of people old and young alike are just like his girlfriend. Sick of seeing responses that have nothing to do with the subject.
🙃🤫🤪🤐👎
1 -
If you care to know this site can be converted to multiple languages, just search the site 😉1
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yweight2020 wrote: »If you care to know this site can be converted to multiple languages, just search the site 😉
And that includes forums in other languages too.
But with other people and sometimes very different kinds of advice. I tried the forums in Dutch and every poster seemed to get the advice to calculate their TDEE via an external website and to certainly NOT trust the MFP numbers, for example! I think the English boards are the most visited too (certainly compared to Dutch and French, I seem to remember).3 -
yweight2020 wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »How 'bout she joins this site and asks her own questions? It sounds like she's doing fine, she doesn't have much to lose so 1/2 pound per week is the right rate.
1.5 pounds per week is too aggressive at her current weight.
I'd stick to the 1560 calories. No reason to eat that much protein. What's that about?
It doesn't matter who asks the question, maybe she doesnt know about forums and MFP..
0.9g/lb ..
You said she's your GF. How about you tell her about forums and MFP? It actually is kinda odd (to me) that you're here asking this when it's her life/weight/choices.
Why is she eating so much protein?
Why does she need to lose faster?
Because she doesnt speak english and there arent many useful forums in our native language that I know of where people can discuss nutrition. She wanted to go and pay to see a "nutritionist" but i told her i could post whatever questions you have on a forum that i know which is really good for these kind of things. Little did I know that I would come across people who care about her more than I do. And about the protein after reading and watching videos on how to create macros for a calorie deficit, protein should be between 0.7g/lb - 1g/lb so she went with 0.9g/lb which is in the middle. And why does she want to lose faster, we are not talking about much here, just around 0.7kg / week.
Geee I'm a independent woman, but nothing wrong with helping each other in relationships why does he have to explain xyz just to get a decent , respectful answer here. Get out people relationships already unless they ask you.
Alot of people old and young alike are just like his girlfriend. Sick of seeing responses that have nothing to do with the subject.
🙃🤫🤪🤐👎
Thanks for that!
2 -
yweight2020 wrote: »If you care to know this site can be converted to multiple languages, just search the site 😉
And that includes forums in other languages too.
But with other people and sometimes very different kinds of advice. I tried the forums in Dutch and every poster seemed to get the advice to calculate their TDEE via an external website and to certainly NOT trust the MFP numbers, for example! I think the English boards are the most visited too (certainly compared to Dutch and French, I seem to remember).
Thanks for passing by!0 -
For sure. For some background that other post was not done for my personal goals. It was actually more of a thought I was having while on a walk. I just had a little fun with the way I wrote it which probably came off as someone super impatient for change.
That said I am a little mad about the advice I was given to do a cut the way I have done. I wouldn’t have done it this way if a fitness professional didn’t make that plan fit me, but now I’m questioning their professionalism since in hindsight, it seems a little unnecessary for someone aiming at general fitness. Hopefully four weeks of a pound a week cutting didn’t mess up something lol.2 -
I wouldn't worry too much about one month causing permanent harm at one lb a week. We're pretty resilient as a species!
Sure, you COULD cause harm in one month under the above scenario--but not likely for someone starting from a non edge normal weight position.
female, small deficit, weight fluctuations... weight trend web site and/or phone app and patience
You pay money for results, right? So if you don't see immediate "results" you may not continue paying--right?
Now what happens when the best result would not include an immediate result?!
1 -
Is she eating more on days she lifts, eating back the exercise calories? I find that can often put me into maintenance if I mis-estimate. Also, at 5’5 with a desk job, my maintenance is close to 1600, so it would be easy for me to accidentally eat at maintenance. However I agree with others about patience and female weight fluctuations with monthly cycles, etc.1
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yweight2020 wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »How 'bout she joins this site and asks her own questions? It sounds like she's doing fine, she doesn't have much to lose so 1/2 pound per week is the right rate.
1.5 pounds per week is too aggressive at her current weight.
I'd stick to the 1560 calories. No reason to eat that much protein. What's that about?
It doesn't matter who asks the question, maybe she doesnt know about forums and MFP..
0.9g/lb ..
You said she's your GF. How about you tell her about forums and MFP? It actually is kinda odd (to me) that you're here asking this when it's her life/weight/choices.
Why is she eating so much protein?
Why does she need to lose faster?
Because she doesnt speak english and there arent many useful forums in our native language that I know of where people can discuss nutrition. She wanted to go and pay to see a "nutritionist" but i told her i could post whatever questions you have on a forum that i know which is really good for these kind of things. Little did I know that I would come across people who care about her more than I do. And about the protein after reading and watching videos on how to create macros for a calorie deficit, protein should be between 0.7g/lb - 1g/lb so she went with 0.9g/lb which is in the middle. And why does she want to lose faster, we are not talking about much here, just around 0.7kg / week.
Geee I'm a independent woman, but nothing wrong with helping each other in relationships why does he have to explain xyz just to get a decent , respectful answer here. Get out people relationships already unless they ask you.
Alot of people old and young alike are just like his girlfriend. Sick of seeing responses that have nothing to do with the subject.
🙃🤫🤪🤐👎
Are you new to internet forums?5 -
I wouldn't change too much if she is already successfully losing weight and finds her meal and exercise routine maintainable. Maybe just start with 100 calories less, bringing it down to 1460 a day and go from there.
She can go lower still, but it is about finding a lifestyle that she can stick with. She could certainly drop down to 1200 and probably lose weight faster, but it would be a pretty restrictive diet, and she might have less energy for working out.
My suggestion would be to make small changes first, see how it goes, and then adjust again depending on how she is feeling. I think the next goal would be to find ways to be more active throughout the day.
Thanks for your reply, what is it about ppl saying dont eat less than BMR and 1200 will stall your weight after couple weeks?- Undereating is stressful to the body
- Stress can raise cortisol
- Cortisol can cause water retention
- Water retention can mask fat loss on the scale
2 -
cmriverside wrote: »Fair enough!
I think she's doing great. It's slow going when there isn't much weight to lose. That's the healthiest, most sustainable way.
With that said, I used to be able to lose 10 pounds in two weeks when I was 22. But, to be fair - I was living off beer, cigarettes, caffeine and bike rides. Not Recommended!!
Here's a good graphic: weight loss should be slow with 6kg to lose.
That's very informative, thank you! And yes, i keep on explaining to her that she needs to lose the last pounds slow and steady, im totally with that. But she keeps freaking out when weight loss doesn't go her way and the scale moves up a little bit which make me freak out because shes freaking out xD .. I'm just trying to support her and guide her through whatever goal she wants to reach but in the right way.
My scale moves up when I retain water twice a month, at ovulation and premenstrually. Because of this, I compare my weight to the same point in my cycle as last MONTH, not last WEEK.
I can "gain" as much as 5 pounds of water weight when I ovulate.
I also weight daily and log this into the Happy Scale app, and look at my weight loss TREND rather than the daily number.1
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