Tall Girls (5'9 and up): How Many Calories Are You Eating?

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  • goodies81
    goodies81 Posts: 16
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  • crrc78
    crrc78 Posts: 207 Member
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    This is really interesting to me because I'm in the same boat - the forever plateau.
    I'm 5'10" and 220. I have really been trying to cut carbs (75/day is my goal), and I'm set at 1400 calories.
    I don't get to work out too much because of my job, but I do wear a FitBit and track my steps and exercise that way. Most days I earn at least 300 calories and try to only eat about 1/2 of them back.

    I had seen a nutritionist who told me to eat 1800-2000 calories/day, but I gained doing that.

    Honestly, my biggest concern is that I'm not accurately counting my calories and could be grossly underestimating what I'm eating.

    I'm pretty sure that if I can get below 215, then I'll be on my way - but for 6 months now, I've been going back and forth on the same darn 5 pounds and it's driving me crazy!
  • DoodleDaft
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    I've just read that a 2 to 3 year old sedentary child requires 1,000 cals a day, so it makes sense to me that a taller than average female adult doing regular cardio and lifting weights must eat a reasonable amount extra just to be healthy. I'm 5'8" and have MFP set at 1,800 net to lose 1/2 a pound a week.
  • fels123
    fels123 Posts: 44
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    I'm 5'10 and around 140lbs. I find eating around 1700 cals works for me but then I usually exercise 5-6 times a week. Try calorie cycling if you want to eat more on some days.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    This is really interesting to me because I'm in the same boat - the forever plateau.
    I'm 5'10" and 220. I have really been trying to cut carbs (75/day is my goal), and I'm set at 1400 calories.
    I don't get to work out too much because of my job, but I do wear a FitBit and track my steps and exercise that way. Most days I earn at least 300 calories and try to only eat about 1/2 of them back.

    I had seen a nutritionist who told me to eat 1800-2000 calories/day, but I gained doing that.

    Honestly, my biggest concern is that I'm not accurately counting my calories and could be grossly underestimating what I'm eating.

    I'm pretty sure that if I can get below 215, then I'll be on my way - but for 6 months now, I've been going back and forth on the same darn 5 pounds and it's driving me crazy!

    I hate to ask, but are you weighing/measuring your food? It is really, really easy to deceive yourself if you're not doing that.
  • emmalou2206
    emmalou2206 Posts: 109 Member
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    I am 5' 8" so not quite 5'9" I weigh 210 lbs and want to lose 1.5lbs a week and MFP says my daily calorie goal is 1360. Is this right think it seems low. I am doing exercise just so I can eat more calories.
  • Matiara
    Matiara Posts: 377 Member
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    5'11" (I have been typing my height a lot in the past couple of days)

    MFP has my net set at 1830 and I had been eating around 2200-2400 calories per day. However, I started dialing that up a bit in the past couple of days because my body has been torching food the past week or so. Things that used to keep me full for X amount of time are not going as far and I'm getting hungry faster. It's not cravings or boredom, it's stomach growling hunger. I finally snapped to and realized that my body is asking for more food for a reason.

    I think it's due to a couple of factors. When mornings got light at the beginning of April, I started walking both ways for my commute, a mile each way. In the fall/winter, I take the bus to work because it's dark and walk home, so I've added an extra mile of walking five days a week after six months of walking one way and it doesn't take much extra activity to turn my body into a calorie grubber. Also, I'm doing Turbo Fire, which has a lot of intervals/HIIT combined with a lot of body weight and free weight resistance training.

    Anyway, I'm aiming for a gross intake of 2600 calories on workout days and 2200 or so on non workout days. I'm basically going to listen to my body and eat when I'm hungry. So disappointed that I actually have to eat more. :tongue:
  • kristenlees122
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    i'm 5'9 and currently at 140lbs. MFP has me eating 1460, I'm confused by the BMR and TDEE and all that jazz, but I eat my exercise calories back.. havent lost anything in a couple weeks though..
  • rjsink
    rjsink Posts: 1
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    Its nice to see other tall girls having the same problems as me. I am 5"10 and just joined fitness pal.com and love it. I am at 196lb stuck right now and haven't lost in 2 weeks and I have been following a strict calorie regimen of 1260 on non work out days and 1500 on workout days. I eat a lot of salads and subway. Before I joined the website I had lost 42lbs.My goal weight is 180lbs. I have recently added weight lifting a couple weeks ago and I am wondering if that is why I am not losing. I workout about 4 to 5 times a week on my lunch hour. I am very frustrated but don't want to give up but I am a slave to the scale and when it doesn't budge I get frustrated. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
  • wonderkitten711
    wonderkitten711 Posts: 109 Member
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    Its nice to see other tall girls having the same problems as me. I am 5"10 and just joined fitness pal.com and love it. I am at 196lb stuck right now and haven't lost in 2 weeks and I have been following a strict calorie regimen of 1260 on non work out days and 1500 on workout days. I eat a lot of salads and subway. Before I joined the website I had lost 42lbs.My goal weight is 180lbs. I have recently added weight lifting a couple weeks ago and I am wondering if that is why I am not losing. I workout about 4 to 5 times a week on my lunch hour. I am very frustrated but don't want to give up but I am a slave to the scale and when it doesn't budge I get frustrated. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

    Take measurements a couple of times a month in addition to using the scale. I started doing more weight training a couple of months ago, and my weight "loss" has slowed a bit (in part because I wasn't eating enough), but I'm losing inches like mad (22+ inches from all over my body just between Valentine's day and the beginning of this month). You may also need to eat more. 1260-1500 is probably not even above your resting metabolic rate based on height and weight, so your body may be clinging to as much weight as it can because it is not getting fueled properly (especially with weight lifting).
  • wonderkitten711
    wonderkitten711 Posts: 109 Member
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    Hi Ladies,

    I'm 5'11 and when I started MFP, I was eating around 1400 calories and managed to lose 10 lbs and a few inches without exercise over about 2 months. I started exercising consistently for the past month and I changed my goal to lose 1 lb per week, which upped my calories to 1650 and the weightloss and inches loss have stalled. 3x-4x a week I do a mix of 1hr cardio and different classes at my gym (strength, spin, cardio kickboxing, abs) and I burn between 400-600 calories a day (according to my Polar HRM). I've even tried eating back some of my calories and nothing is working. How many calories are you ladies eating? Is it working for you?

    Thanks!!

    I'm 5'9" and weight 285, working my way towards 180, and I eat 2300 on nonworkout days, 2500-2600 on workout days (3 days of strength training, 2-3 days of light cardio such as walking or lower intensity Zumba), and I'm losing pounds and inches consistently. My weight loss has actually accelerated a bit since I started upping my calories (from initial goal of 1800-2000) and I am noticing more energy and less moodiness (much to my husband's happiness, haha!)
  • shaelataylor
    shaelataylor Posts: 224 Member
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    im 6' and mfp suggests right around 1700 calories a day for me to lose 2 pounds a week...not counting exercise calories. yes, i eat back most of them normally. i always eat more than 1200, but i dont always make it to the 1700. i weigh 243.5 as of today. i run 3 times a week and walk once. i work 5 days a week at least though and it has me on my feet for 8 hours. so far all of this has worked for me. i only has one week with a 0 pound loss so far and none with gains. best of luck!
  • Jessica_Henry74
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    I'm 5'11 and 302.2 LBS and my daily goal is at 1885. Some days I take advantage and eat all, while others (like today) I don't always make it! I've still got about 400 calories left, plus exercise calories after my workout I am about to do. I started MFP on March 2nd, 2012 and have thus far lost about 16 pounds. BUT I have cut soda cold turkey out of my diet, and junk food like chips, cookies, candy, cake, you name it. Plus, I NEVER used to drink water. MAYBE 8-20 ounces a day and that was it. Today on the other hand, I have had over 100 ounces and still going.

    It's different for everyone, and you're already getting tons of different answers. I guess we all just have to experiment and find what works, have patience and NEVER give up!

    Feel free to add :-)
  • dojomama
    dojomama Posts: 12
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    So happy I found this thread! I am 5'10" with a goal weight of 165 (healthy BMI) I spent the morning on various websites educating myself what my BMR, TDEE, lean body mass and activity level calorie burns are all about. I'm going to try and up my calories this week to see if I can break my 3 week plateau. Hope it does not come back to "bite" me!
  • jadesign19
    jadesign19 Posts: 512 Member
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    I'm 5'9", and 160lbs. I eat 2000-2500 a day. My TDEE (I have a BMF) is anywhere from 2300 to 3000.
    what is a TDEE?
  • Marge321
    Marge321 Posts: 131 Member
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    5'10" here, 196 pounds. I joined the "eat more weigh less group" here on MFP and it made sense to me after a couple of days! At first, I could not think of eating more and lose pounds but it worked! 2 pounds in about 10 days. Feel more energy too.

    So I'm eating about 2000-2250 calories a day. I want to drop 10 pounds in a first time, maybe another 10 after too.

    Oh and btw, feel free to add me as a friend, been on MFP for 20 days, I could use the help :)
  • i_miss_donuts
    i_miss_donuts Posts: 180 Member
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    I'm 5'9", and 160lbs. I eat 2000-2500 a day. My TDEE (I have a BMF) is anywhere from 2300 to 3000.
    what is a TDEE?

    Total Daily Energy Expenditure = your basal metabolic rate "BMR" (which is what you would burn just laying in bed all day) + the amount of calories you burn/expend through added daily activities.

    Calculate your TDEE here http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
  • bizzmania
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    I am 5'10" and weigh 165 pounds. My goal is to be around 140. I see on here everyone is saying to eat upwards of 2000 calories a day. Why then, did MFP start me off at 1200 a day? HELP! I am just starting this, and don't want to start off on the wrong track.

    Everyday I am slightly over the 1200 goal they set for me...not by an excessive amount, but still over. I have not started excercising yet. I need advice and asap so I can get this weight loss going! THANKS!
  • MMAQueen
    MMAQueen Posts: 279 Member
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    i'm 5'19 170. i aim for eating 1200 calories. i eat back my calories sometimes if i'm hungry, but not that often.

    i've lost 12 lbs or so this month doing this.

    i've heard and read it all on here. but this works for me, and i'm sticking with it.
  • dolldreams
    dolldreams Posts: 245 Member
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    I'm 5'11" and weigh 192 right now. I pretty much only eat when I am hungry because I just got back into losing again and am able to lose really easily right now. Because of that, I eat a different amount of calories every day.

    I know that when I stall out, it helps to up my calories whether I'm hungry or not. I only do this for a couple of days though, and then take them right back down. I just up them by about 200 calories from what I ate the day before and keep it there for two days.

    It's been working okay for me.

    My diary is open so you can look in it if you want.