Very confused - 5'0 girl needs caloric intake advice

So after reading a few threads about finding out my calorie intake. I don't understand anything anymore. I just came to the conclusion to get expert advise. I've scheduled an appointment with a dietician in which the initial consultation is 150 -225 and then 75 bucks for every visit. I'm not keen on doing this, but there isn't any reliable information for short females.

When I first did mfp. I did 1200 calories and dropped 10 lbs after 3 months and then went on a strange plateau.. for a month

The most recent attempted that happened in January, I brought my calorie intake to NET at 850 and used Turbo Fire for exercise
It went well for a month. Lost 10 lbs but then I began to feel very drained.


But there is so much information and not enough info for short ladies.

Here are my stats:

Height: 5' 0
Weight 174
Waist 36
Hips: 44
Fat ratio 45.9

I wanna try one more time, but I want to be fully prepared... :( This site is sooooooo confusing

Replies

  • mamaomefo
    mamaomefo Posts: 418 Member
    Did you look in the tools tab for the basal metabolic weight tool.? This might give you some useful information about calories.
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    I'm very similar to you measurement-wise right now: 5' tall, 173 (down from 202), waist/hips only about 1-1.5" less than yours. I don't worry about hitting a particular goal every day, but I keep 1200 as my average/middle marker. A lot of days, I don't hit 1200. It's not on purpose, I just eat nutritionally-dense and unprocessed foods that keep me from feeling hungry; I don't realize until I'm going to bed that I've only hit 800 for the day. Other days, I'll eat 1500 or so, depending on the circumstances. Overall, it averages out to approximately 1200/day. And I lose an average of 4 pounds a week.

    I focus on eating good, nutritious food rather than the numbers. I haven't ever eaten ridiculous calorie amounts in fruit/vegetables, nuts, and lean meats, but I do it pretty much any time I eat Doritos.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
    So after reading a few threads about finding out my calorie intake. I don't understand anything anymore. I just came to the conclusion to get expert advise. I've scheduled an appointment with a dietician in which the initial consultation is 150 -225 and then 75 bucks for every visit. I'm not keen on doing this, but there isn't any reliable information for short females.

    When I first did mfp. I did 1200 calories and dropped 10 lbs after 3 months and then went on a strange plateau.. for a month

    The most recent attempted that happened in January, I brought my calorie intake to NET at 850 and used Turbo Fire for exercise
    It went well for a month. Lost 10 lbs but then I began to feel very drained.


    But there is so much information and not enough info for short ladies.

    Here are my stats:

    Height: 5' 0
    Weight 174
    Waist 36
    Hips: 44
    Fat ratio 45.9

    I wanna try one more time, but I want to be fully prepared... :( This site is sooooooo confusing

    OK, I'm almost the same height (4ft 11.5) and weight (169lbs) as you, I am no expert on doing numbers, but know what works for me. I am losing almost 2lb a week eating a net 1600 calories. But when I put those numbers into MFP it tells me I will lose 0.2lb per week.

    I have put your info into this - http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ (put current weight as goal weight to estimate current TDEE)
    and this - http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

    both come out similar - 2100 for lightly active, 2400 for moderate.

    Also using Pu_234's calculation on the easy weight loss thread

    174 x 12 for lightly active = 2088
    174 x 14 for moderately active = 2436

    So everything points to a TDEE of 2100 - 2450 depending on lightly active or moderately active.

    Taking a 20% deficit from that you get 1680 - 1960 for fat loss, BUT these include exercise so you would not eat your exercise calories back.

    if you are moderately active, with a TDEE of 2400, eating at 1200 is a 50% deficit, which is not recommended.

    Hope you get your answer from your dietician - are they going to do metabolic testing or just give you general advice?
  • indigochilds
    indigochilds Posts: 69 Member

    OK, I'm almost the same height (4ft 11.5) and weight (169lbs) as you, I am no expert on doing numbers, but know what works for me. I am losing almost 2lb a week eating a net 1600 calories. But when I put those numbers into MFP it tells me I will lose 0.2lb per week.

    I have put your info into this - http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ (put current weight as goal weight to estimate current TDEE)
    and this - http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

    both come out similar - 2100 for lightly active, 2400 for moderate.

    Also using Pu_234's calculation on the easy weight loss thread

    174 x 12 for lightly active = 2088
    174 x 14 for moderately active = 2436

    So everything points to a TDEE of 2100 - 2450 depending on lightly active or moderately active.

    Taking a 20% deficit from that you get 1680 - 1960 for fat loss, BUT these include exercise so you would not eat your exercise calories back.

    if you are moderately active, with a TDEE of 2400, eating at 1200 is a 50% deficit, which is not recommended.

    Hope you get your answer from your dietician - are they going to do metabolic testing or just give you general advice?

    The dietitian, is going to build up my plan and give me numbers, I did request a metabolic testing to see where I am. But I'm going over the posts. My question is, how can you find out if you want to loose 2 lbs a week. Where does that come from.
  • vallemic
    vallemic Posts: 278 Member
    Eat between 1200-1400 calories per day. If you burn calories doing exercise, eat the amount of calories you burned in addition to your 1200-1400. It's that simple!
  • kristinL16
    kristinL16 Posts: 401 Member
    How old are you? How active? That will factor into the BMR and TDEE equation. I am 36, 5'0" and 148. My BMR and TDEE is nowhere near what the previous poster put up. However, I use the sedentary equation then add in exercise calories. I have a very inactive job.
  • indigochilds
    indigochilds Posts: 69 Member
    How old are you? How active? That will factor into the BMR and TDEE equation. I am 36, 5'0" and 148. My BMR and TDEE is nowhere near what the previous poster put up. However, I use the sedentary equation then add in exercise calories. I have a very inactive job.

    I'm 29 years old and I'm sedentary. I sit at a desk all day long. But I'm doing Turbo Fire which at most is 6 days a week with an average from 30 - 55 minutes a day. So almost 4 hours a week.


    Vallemic: That's what I did at first originally. But after 3 months. it just stalled for about 2 months.
  • Jessi__
    Jessi__ Posts: 31
    These guys are right about BMR/TDEE, you really need to look into it. If you eat at least your BMR but not above your TDEE, you'll lose weight. It may take a little while for your body to adjust to being fed properly again, but you will.

    It's physically impossibel to eat your BMR and not lose weight, once your body adjusts. Read into it! :)

    For what it's worth, I'm 5 foot nothing, weight 172 and am losing 1.5-2lbs per week eating at or slghtly above my BMR, which is 1626.
  • indigochilds
    indigochilds Posts: 69 Member
    These guys are right about BMR/TDEE, you really need to look into it. If you eat at least your BMR but not above your TDEE, you'll lose weight. It may take a little while for your body to adjust to being fed properly again, but you will.

    It's physically impossibel to eat your BMR and not lose weight, once your body adjusts. Read into it! :)

    For what it's worth, I'm 5 foot nothing, weight 172 and am losing 1.5-2lbs per week eating at or slghtly above my BMR, which is 1626.

    After doing some research.. I'm back.. Jessica is your calorie intake your NET or your total intake for the day.