All those who are under 160lbs

I am in the same boat. I am 5'7" and weigh 150. I started out weighing around 170-175. I recently upped my calories to 1300-1400 because I finally plateaued at 1200 and it did WONDERS for me... I was working out constantly but have cut back a lot because I have been so busy and every time I work out my knee begins to hurt so I dropped back down to 1200 to switch things up for my body.

I am content with my weight, of course I would like to be 135 but I dont thinking that it is realistic, so I am more focused on toning myself up and looking better with the weight that I am.

Well, you sound a lot like me...I'm 5'7, 165, 27% bf...so I have about 120 lbs of lean mass.

I wear a 10/12.

I have been this weight size for many, many years now. (I graduated high school at 165, but I would like to know my bf% then).

I would *love* to be around 155, 22% BF.

I am one of those people that no one ever guesses their weight correctly. Most people think I weigh 145.

You might want to join the group "Eat More Weigh Less". There are two amazing moderators to that group that have great information!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/3834-eat-more-to-weigh-less

We sound identical. Im 5'7. Currently stuck at 167. I appear thinner which is a good thing but I am aiming for 155. I weighed 150-155 throughout my 20's - early 30's. I have an athletic build so anything lower would not look good on me.

I'm 5'5" and around 155 (153-157 depending on the day, hour, phase of the moon, whatever) at 37 years old. I'm also one of those EVIL creatures that eats around 1,100-1,200 cal a day (occasionally more if i get hungry, about 1,350 or so). My exercise is either lifting moderate weights (10-pound dumbells) in the morning or doing 30-day shred or a kickboxing video in the morning and walking at least 45 minutes at a brisk pace after work, usually more and a lot more on weekends. I'm somewhere between a size 10-12 depending on god knows what. i'm also insulin-resistant so that has something to do with the way i eat and the way i lose weight.

My goal is around 140 and i'm trying to up my free-weights and incorporating jogging into my weekly routine. My weightloss has stalled a bit but i'm still noticing changes in how my clothes fot (positive changes! yay!) so i'm going to keep doing what i'm doing. I know from past experience though that if i want my strength to improve i'll have to start adding some cals and protien to my daily intake so i'm considering some protein powder. If it matters to you i think adding cals was a good decision for you, but i'd also add in some intensity to your workouts if you feel that you can.

bump

I'm 5'5" 147 pounds down from 153. I've upped my calories to 1500 (from 1200 - I wasn't losing) and eat back my calories. I'm losing a pound a week now.

I'm 5'8 and currently 170. I eat 1500-1700 calories a day M-F, weekends probably at least 2000. I usually burn about 400 calories a day on exercise. This has worked for me over the past couple months. I lose 1-1.5lbs per week.

I think my plan falls somewhere in between the eat more to lose people and the eat less to lose people. The back and forth battle on this website just confused me, so I made my own decision.

OK...as someone who didn't understand this for a long time:

Your TDEE has ALREADY taken into account the exercise level you gave it. So, if you are exercising as much as you say you are, DO NOT EAT YOUR CALORIES BACK. People who are looking at net cals are just plain incorrect and most of them aren't losing weight. If you eat your calories back you are literally eating them twice. If your TDEE is 2000 (assuming you put in some level of activity other than sedentary), you eat 2000 cal/day. That's your goal. Period.

The only time you should ever eat back your calories is if your net cals after exercise fall below your BMR (what your body needs to literally perform it's life functions). Anyone who continuiously eats below their BMR will definitely lose weight, as their body is cannibalizing its own tissues and compromising its organ function in order to simply live.

Hope this helps.

That's only true if you consider your exercise as part of your daily activity. I base my daily activity level on what I do in a day besides exercising so that's why I add those calories back when I do workout.

Especially because TDEE is an estimate, from a website. At least when I add in my exercise from my heart rate monitor it's more custom to me (not totally accurate, but better).

I didn't read all of the responses, just thought I'd tell you about myself.

I'm 5'1.5'' and 139 lbs. My Grandmother always told me with my small frame a woman should be 100 lbs at 5 feet and then 5 lbs for every inch. For most my life I've kinda gone between 110 & 125 lbs. In highschool I was 103-110. Obviously I've gained weight these past 4 years and now I'm 139 trying to get back down to 120 (and more if I find that it's going well). I do the 1200 calorie thing. Anytime I've ever tried to lose weight 1200 seems to be the key # for me the aim for. I eat back some of my excercise calories, but not all (incase my heart rate monitor is off). Obviously some days are better than others and if I eat 1300 or 1400 calories I still loose a little weight but 1200 calories will get me the healthy loss of 1-1.5 lbs a week.

It's going to be different for everyone. Most people think I'm crazy when I tell them I eat around 1200 calories a day. They think I'm starving myself. But through Trial and error I've found that's what works for me. 1200 to loose weight 1500 to maintain. Some people think that I'm crazy that I think 139 is too heavy for me because I'm a size 6. But I am technically over weight, and I am more comfortable in a size 2. It's different for everyone.