Ladies 5'5 - 5'6 (around 170lbs)

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Nicola1944
Nicola1944 Posts: 348 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
OK i need help.... Any other 5'5 - 5'6 ladies here? What are your daily calorie goals (with out exercise) ? I'v recently upped mine and feel like im eating too much!!?? Please help!

Since starting MFP I have been having 1200 per day. Since hearing upping them can help increase weight loss slightly I have changed my goals to lose 1lb per week and am now on 1440.... I feel like im eating too much?

HELP! X
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Replies

  • mamasmaltz3
    mamasmaltz3 Posts: 1,111 Member
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    Sounds ok to me. You may try changing up your exercise as well. Sometimes your body gets used to what you are doing and you need to up the intensity or change completely. I am a big fan of circuit training. You don't necessarily need to exercise longer just harder. Great job losing 52 lbs! That is quite an accomplishment.
  • Nicola1944
    Nicola1944 Posts: 348 Member
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    Well im off to step aerobics tonight and havnt been for over a year! Hopfully that will help! Just wanted to know on average what everyone else my size is eating....? And thank you very much :) Same to you on your amazing 26lbs! x
  • IveLanded
    IveLanded Posts: 797 Member
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    I had to raise mine to around 1500 to get over a plateau. I think that there is more to it than just "raise and lose". For me, what I noticed was that I had lost a lot of fat and then I started to really noticeably gain muscle. As I had parts of my body become more defined, I noticed I was plateau-ing. I hit that weird spot where I did lose inches (or rather, I toned up parts of me) and I didn't lose weight. I think the "eat more/lose more" , with some people (especially women) needs to be at the sweet spot where you have built up enough muscle to keep your metabolism higher through the day.

    I was at 1200 for about 4 months before I hit that spot. I lost almost 30lbs and then just got stuck. I raised it to 1500 and, yes, I DEFINITELY felt like "omg, I'm eating so much!!!!". I refocused my diet to be more protein heavy and went back to cutting drinking and sugar way back and I started losing again. I'm 5'6" and I hit that plateau at around 156. I'm down to 148 now.

    If you were losing before and you just want to lose faster, I might hesitate to raise the calories too much. But if you hit a plateau, and you have been working out regularly, I would say go for it.
  • cookiefluff
    cookiefluff Posts: 115
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    Hi, so I'm 5'6 and I'm on my 4th week counting calories. I'm on a 1200cal minimum but zigzag daily from 1200-1300 somedays/1400-1500 other days, I try to never go over 1600cal or under 1200, unless I've exercised loads!

    anyway, here is my progress

    sw: 172.9 (78kg)
    cw: 164.9 (74.8kg)
    gw: 149.9 (68kg)

    So, slow and steady but I feel great....
  • carriempls
    carriempls Posts: 326 Member
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    I've just started here (transitioning off a much stricter plan) so I might not be helpful yet.

    I'm 5'5", 165.4 lbs and my daily goal is 1200. I am completely sedentary for work (desk job). I take the stairs and try to go for walks but I don't get in lots of exercise. I ride my bike to work 2-3 days a week (when weather permits) but I'm much more active on weekends with bike rides, hikes, etc,

    So on weekends I will allow myself a few more calories. 1500 or so, depending on how active I am.

    Once I add yoga back in a few times a week I may increase my daily calories.
  • knapowell
    knapowell Posts: 230 Member
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    I'm 5'6" and 151. I recently broke a 2-3 month plateau by upping my calories. I am set to 1640 and have started to see the scale move consistently over the last few weeks. I am getting ready to add lifting back into the mix, so I'll be reassessing, and surely adding more calories.

    When I first upped my calories, I did see a few weeks of small gains, as my body got used to the changes. After that, it started coming off again. I also zigzag my calories (not on purpose like some), and when I have too many days that net on the low end, I don't see a loss.
  • Lizlicious2187
    Lizlicious2187 Posts: 178 Member
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    I'm 5'5" and started out at around 189. I was pretty strict with 1200 calories for the first couple of months and lost the first 20 pounds pretty quickly. But that was really hard for me to sustain with increased exercise so I then upped to 1350 and started losing again. I hit a plateau at 166 and was stuck for a good 3 weeks. I had to take off from exercise because of the flu and family trouble for about 2 weeks and i was eating around 1600 calories but I did not gain any weight. Once I got back to exercising I decided to stay at about 1650 and started losing again. I am at 158 right now and started zig zagging my calories so my low day is around 1500 (my bmr) and my high day around 1900. I just started P90X so I know the scale may not move quickly but I'll be adding muscle and hopefully losing inches!
  • konerusp
    konerusp Posts: 247 Member
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    Im 5" 5.5, i eat around 1650 each day with/without exercise,on days i worked out more than 500 cals i try to eat around 1900-2000.Been consistently losing.
  • mamasmaltz3
    mamasmaltz3 Posts: 1,111 Member
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    Btw I am eating 1410 calories and I am 5'6". I have a lot more to go than you though.
  • louiloui123
    louiloui123 Posts: 22 Member
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    I was trying to eat 1200 im 170lb and the weight was coming off, then it stopped I didnt know for the life of me what I was doing wrong and I was always hungry so I have stuck to the reccomended intake of 1460 and started as of 2 days ago I feel happier for it and introduced gym this week also. I am finding it a bit harder this time around I joined last year and stopped. So I am back and looking for girls of a similar height and weight to support and in return help me. I just realised that I may have to cut out the white carbs altogether after introducing it back it made me so ill... so I guess this is me back on my journey good to meet you all x
  • cjmas
    cjmas Posts: 63
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    I'm 5'6" and 170. My goal before exercise is 1200, but I run and do Insanity workouts. I try to eat back most of my calories, but rarely actually do. It's also hard to estimate because I almost always work out at the end of the day, and so I don't want to eat huge amounts of calories for dinner. (I do drink wine most nights.) After exercise, my goal is usually between 1600-2000, but most days I eat around 1450.

    Saturday is particularly challenging with calories back because Saturday is my long-run day. Between a long run and Insanity, I burned over 1000 calories last Saturday.

    In mid-April I was 183.2. By the beginning of May, I was about 177. (The first week of Insanity I lost three pounds.) I've sort of stalled and lost very slowly since then, sometimes less than one pound a week, sometimes more. My ulitmate goal is 145, but even getting to 160 is starting to feel impossible. (I'm going to keep at it, but progress is killing me!)
  • tcm118
    tcm118 Posts: 54
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    I'm 5'5", and I eat about 1400 calories daily at 159 lbs. I have been stuck at 163 or so for months, but I feel like the scale is moving again finally. I usually eat back 20% of my exercise calories and have a day a week that I eat 1700 calories to change things up. I started my journey at 225 lbs.
  • invisibubble
    invisibubble Posts: 662 Member
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    I'm 5'6.5. At that weight I was eating 1600 a day, plus half my exercise calories.
  • iqnas
    iqnas Posts: 445 Member
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    I weigh 135 pounds, and I eat 1,700 to maintain. So no, I don't think where you are right now is a bad decision at all!
  • Nicci93
    Nicci93 Posts: 398 Member
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    I am 5'6 and I currently weight 168. I am eating about 1450 a day. I exercise daily (the 30 day shred) and I always eat back my exercise calories because I am hungry for them usually.
  • tlynnweb
    tlynnweb Posts: 201 Member
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    My opinion is 1200 calories is way too low for most. That being said, I don't have the answer! LOL! I'm currently researching this TDEE -15%, 20% situation. www.scoobyworkshop.com for the calculator. There's a whole detailed post on here about calories and the TDEE. (Total daily expenditure, yada yada)
  • tlynnweb
    tlynnweb Posts: 201 Member
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    Oh and I forgot, I'm 5'6" and 159. I was eating 1410 a day and eating back exercise but haven't lost a lb in a week doing that. I workout about 30-40 min a day on the elliptical or treadmill and ZERO loss.
  • beauty2323
    beauty2323 Posts: 70 Member
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    I'm 5'5 and eat 1510 calories.... sometimes less. When I exercise I try to eat some calories back.

    1200 is not enough for me!
  • abbysmommy7
    abbysmommy7 Posts: 211 Member
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    bump to read this evening
  • Asenaith
    Asenaith Posts: 7
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    I have read that changing (increasing) your intake of calories can help get over being stuck if you do it for a short time (say a few days or maybe a week). Your body will take a few days to adapt to the change in calories metabolically and having a calorie increase tells your body "we need to burn more calories now". Then when you go back to your normal lower calorie intake your body is still working to burn more calories for a day or two and that extra burn will help you get over being stuck.

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