How many calories to eat?

emboch
emboch Posts: 60
in Food and Nutrition
Hi Everyone! I have been in a rough place recently with weight loss. I really want to start losing weight for my wedding which is a while away but I want to start now. I was doing good with eating and exercise a few months back then I saw no loss on the scale and was very upset. I was eating 1200 calories a day and I was not seeing any weight loss with that net calorie intake. Does anyone have any suggestions on what a 5'7" girl should take in for net calories to help lose weight? I am really focused on living a healthy lifestyle but I would love if that would come with some weight loss first. Any advice would be great.

Replies

  • Emili03
    Emili03 Posts: 164 Member
    first we need to know your current wgt, body fat% if you know it, and how much exercise you get...
  • Emili03
    Emili03 Posts: 164 Member
    if u dont feel comfortable sharing look at http://www.fat2fitradio.com/
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
    I am guessing that 1200 was far too little for someone of your height to lose weight on. To maintain my weight of 125Ibs, at just under 5'10, I have to eat at least 1800 calories, without exercise. So I am guessing that you should be eating at least around 1400, without exercise, to lose weight, maybe more if you are a pretty active person and don't sit around too much. It works better as then when you get to the weight you want to be, you aren't shocking your body by going to maintenance after being on really low calories. But that is just my opinion. I think eating a decent amount of healthy calories, along with exercise at least 5 times a week, is the best way to go.
  • mes1119
    mes1119 Posts: 1,082 Member
    I find it easier to ignore the net. I mean I think about it sometimes, but I just make sure that I eat a certain amount everyday. I've had the most success when I stay around 1400-1800 calories a day (I'm 5'3" 130, but this will be DIFFERENT for you)

    I don't like eating back ALL of my exercise calories because I mentally find myself eating when I'm not hungry because "I can" or "I have to".

    I know a lot of people will scream that you are slowing down your metabolism by not netting your BMR but I really don't think it does much. I also occasionally take a week or two off of logging as well to give my body a break from the deficit.

    You may benefit from learning what your BMR and TDEE. If you eat 15-20% less of your TDEE you should be able to lose a pound or two a week depending.

    For example my TDEE is around 1900+exercise calories. So during a hard exercise day I am probably burning 2400 calories or so. Eating around 1600 calories gives me a 800 calorie deficit for the day, which would be about 1.5 pound of a week loss if I did that everyday (BUT I don't...)

    Sorry if that was too much math or complicated, it is just how I've figured out how much to eat after a lot of personal research and discovery.
  • shiremom69
    shiremom69 Posts: 104 Member
    I don't think you were eating enough. Check out

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less
  • emboch
    emboch Posts: 60
    if u dont feel comfortable sharing look at http://www.fat2fitradio.com/

    i used this website because i did not know my body fat percentage. it said that i could eat 2072 with 1-3 days of exercise. that seems like an awful lot to me though
  • jsapninz
    jsapninz Posts: 909 Member
    Just fill out your numbers on MFP and it will TELL you. :huh:
  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
    Just try 1500 for a week.
    Make sure you have a good amount of protein and sufficient carb amount to suit how active you are with some fat thrown in.
  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
    Just fill out your numbers on MFP and it will TELL you. :huh:

    and then up the protein borrowing from the carb amount.
  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
    I find it easier to ignore the net. I mean I think about it sometimes, but I just make sure that I eat a certain amount everyday. I've had the most success when I stay around 1400-1800 calories a day (I'm 5'3" 130, but this will be DIFFERENT for you)

    I don't like eating back ALL of my exercise calories because I mentally find myself eating when I'm not hungry because "I can" or "I have to".

    I know a lot of people will scream that you are slowing down your metabolism by not netting your BMR but I really don't think it does much. I also occasionally take a week or two off of logging as well to give my body a break from the deficit.

    You may benefit from learning what your BMR and TDEE. If you eat 15-20% less of your TDEE you should be able to lose a pound or two a week depending.

    For example my TDEE is around 1900+exercise calories. So during a hard exercise day I am probably burning 2400 calories or so. Eating around 1600 calories gives me a 800 calorie deficit for the day, which would be about 1.5 pound of a week loss if I did that everyday (BUT I don't...)

    Sorry if that was too much math or complicated, it is just how I've figured out how much to eat after a lot of personal research and discovery.

    I like your advice.
  • Emili03
    Emili03 Posts: 164 Member
    I am 5'8" and eat around 1600 cals a day. According to this, I should lose about 1.5 per week but usually lose approx 2 lbs. probably due to exercise. 2072 is how much you will eat at maintenance when you reach your goal weight. You would continue to lose at that rate but much slower. My best and easiest recommendation would be to set MFP to lose 1 lb per week and try to exercise 1-2 times per week, 30-60 mins, If you are hungry, eat back some or all of your exercise cals.
  • robpett2001
    robpett2001 Posts: 320 Member
    if u dont feel comfortable sharing look at http://www.fat2fitradio.com/

    i used this website because i did not know my body fat percentage. it said that i could eat 2072 with 1-3 days of exercise. that seems like an awful lot to me though


    Hi,

    I'm guessing you're looking at the "daily calories" column on the chart that the BMR calculator generated. That would be your daily calories to maintain. In the paragraph just above that, it suggests you aim for a target about 200-300 calories below that to bring about healthy weight loss. That would give you a daily target of about 1700. Of course I'm also just guessing about your current and goal weights, too, so I could be barking up the wrong tree.

    I am a big fan of the fat2fitradio.com tools and podcast.

    Best wishes to you!

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