How many calories for the shorter gals? :)

christinefrano · March 2022

I'm 5'1 and I weigh a about 100 lbs. I'm trying to gain muscle on maintenance calories (recomposition) but I don't know if I'm eating too much, or too little.

I've been eating around 1,600 calories and I while I don't want to lose weight, I want to lower my body fat %. I have gained a couple lbs since December, but I don't really know if muscle or fat. I definitely feel/look stronger.

Do I continue to eat this amount, or lower it on less active days? I lift 3-4 times a week.

sijomial · March 2022

If you think that 2lbs in 12 weeks is a genuine weight gain trend (either fat or muscle) then taking roughly 500cals off your weekly calorie allowance should get you closer to maintenance calories.

kshama2001 · March 2022

It doesn't sound like you are fully utilizing MFP, as it does these calculations for you. (This is just a starting place - use your data for at least a month and adjust as needed.)

Go here:

https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

Set your goal to Maintain my current weight.

"How would you describe your normal daily activities?" refers to your job or lifestyle, not time in the gym - eat back the calories you earn from exercise.

AnnPT77 · March 2022

In addition to good advice above, there's a thread in the Maintaining Weight part of the Community with a discussion of various ways of determining maintenance calories, with useful insights from quite a range of MFP maintainers:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level/p1

Presumably you've already seen the good recomposition thread there, too, but I'll link it in case other readers may not know about it.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

tporter9999 · June 2022

Read more about body recomposition. If you are really into this get a DEXA body scan and start a bodybuilding/shaping program from a reputable trainer. Log all your food and manage macros per your health goals. You can make it happen.

How many calories for the shorter gals? :)

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