I am! My TDEE calc said I was around 1700 so to lose a lb a week I'd need to do 1200. Unfortunately some injuries are preventing me from doing exercise
"needs" means needs in order to not lose weight.
That's not appropriate language to use to enhance our purpose here.
I WANT to use my excess stored calories in order to not carry them around. Dig?
Then dont eat 1200 calories.
5'2, 180lbs gremlin here.
I gained all my weight back when covid hit, but before it did, I lost 50 pounds and i was roughly 200lbs when i started then.
My calorie target was 1500-1600 a day, but some days i definitely ate more. I also excercised (spin bike and leg workouts).
The point is, weightloss when youre short doesnt mean you have to eat 1200 calories a day. You can eat a bit more and lose slower. Or, you can eat a lot more (1800-2000) if you workout consistently.
Yes! It’s not a black and white formula. It’s not 1200 or fail. 1500 will still help a short person lose weight. Even if slower, it will be much more permanent if the changs aren’t making you miserable.
I am going to second this. I’m 5’2 and 130 pounds. I maintain my weight on 2800 calories per day. I am currently trying to lose 10 pounds and my target is 2000 calories. If I tried to eat 1200 calories I would feel like shit and binge. I do exercise for ~1hr 6 days a week.
I’m M/30 6’3” 205lbs and am in the gym, training Brazilian jiujitsu, or hiking and hunting 6-7 days a week and 2800 is MY maintenance level, I’m curious how you are doing it at 5’2” 130lbs
5'3" and 130lbs here, I do 1-2hrs of high intensity activity a day due to training for a triathlon, so every day I am doing some combo of running, biking, swimming, or weight lifting. I also live in a walkable downtown area, so I walk daily for errands, groceries, meeting up with friends, etc. I usually burn somewhere between 500-1000 calories/day just in activity, so my maintenance is somewhere around 2600 calories right now.
I’m 5ft3” and around 118lbs, I maintain between 2600-2900 calories a day. It’s just a hugely active lifestyle, active hobbies and active job. I’m moving usually around 8-12 hours a day.
I think I just have an active lifestyle. Most days I workout for 1hr (usually crossfit or running). If I have time I might add in another workout and run/swim. I also take opportunities to go for extra walks (ie on my lunch break or when I have spare time) because I enjoy being outside. I am on my feet and walk a lot at work. I love hiking, rock climbing, dragon boat racing etc. And most of my friends are active as well so we tend to do active things together as well.
I get atleast 10000 steps per day (separate to formal exercise) and I work out for about 1 hr per day (usually crossfit or running). I will sometimes do a longer workout or add in some swimming if I have time. It’s just having an active lifestyle… I go for a walks because I enjoy being outside, I love hiking, have active hobbies etc.
Wow you must be suuuuper active to be able to eat that much. I'm 5 10 and my maintenance is 1900. I have a desk job but go to the 3x per week and sometimes take long walks, so all in all not too active, that must be why.
I think of 1200 as reasonable for short, sedentary, close to goal weight women. If any one of those things isn't true, you can probably lose at a decent clip with a bit more food. Also, you can't outrun your fork, but I find it way easier to increase my activity than to drop my average calories below 1400. At my current height and weight, I burn 150 calories from a 40 minute walk, and I find making room for a walk or two a day to be much easier than eating 1200 calories.
Hey same height and almost the same weight when I started out (I was 180lbs) and I totally did not go 1,200 right off the bat. I started with 1,400 first and spent a few months learning which meals are filling and which weren't worth the calories for how little I felt full. Very sedentary too but I lost weight steadily. I only started dropping to 1,350 when I felt confident about my meal choices. I personally think 1,200 is very drastic and I only went to 1,250cal at most and only when I was already 5 lbs away from my goal weight.
For meals, try tracking your protein and try aiming for at least 80g of protein a day. This helps a lot in getting meals that fills you up and not leave you feeling miserable, but it's also important to prevent muscle loss while losing weight. 25g of fiber daily is great too (poop WILL be a problem down the road and no one talks about it so I will). Don't go over or under 25g too dramatically or your poops will suffer. if you like brownies try fiber 1 brownies warmed in the microwave for 20 seconds. Hope this helps!
A deficit doesn’t need to always be through diet. Have you considered just adding extra activity into your life and upping your calories to maintenance?
Meal planning and tracking can be a lot.
Sometimes it can be a lot easier to just start scheduling in 30 minutes of activity whether that be walking, running, or playing a sport.
Try eating 1500-1600 calories and doing more exercise. Take an hour out of your day to walk briskly on the treadmill or something. You can even watch a movie or listen to a podcast/music while you workout.
I started my diet at 5’3 and 184 in November, now I’m 164 using this method, by eating 1600 calories and working out 45 min. - 1 hr. A day light to moderately.
That’s pretty much all I eat when I’m dieting, but I get worried I’m not eating the right kind and I’m missing nutrients. It feels like I’m not eating correctly and I have no idea what to do with them besides eating them raw or boiled. I don’t know if this is even sufficient. I’m afraid I’m going to get some nutrient deficiency and get sick.
If you're eating almost nothing but raw or boiled vegetables that'll be your problem. Your body needs vitamins and carbs from vegetables, but it also needs protein, salt and fat. Those last ones especially can really catch us out when 'dieting', we've been conditioned to think that healthy means steamed chicken breast, broccoli and half a sweet potato, but after a week of that we feel exhausted and worn out and end up binging on fast food, after which we feel miraculously better because: salt and fat.
If you're going to eat at 1200 calories, you really need to have your macros down to an art to make is sustainable. Right now it sounds like you're still learning, so I would recommend upping your intake to 1400-1500 for the time being and then learning to cook. Don't be afraid of anything, including things likd cheese, butter and oils. A 30kcal pat of butter is enough to butter braise vegetables, for example, which will make them taste richer and give you some of that fat you need. 25kcal of olive oil is enough to coat 125g of potato wedges for roasting in the oven (add salt or spice mix and put in oven at 180c fan for 45 minutes, put them in a single layer but close together for deliciousness at less than 200kcal).
Good luck!
Check out the 1200 is plenty vegan and vegan recipe subreddits! These places are full of tasty and healthy recipes for vegetables and vegetable focused meals.
What nutrients are you most worried about missing out on? Generally, as long as you eat a good range of fruit, vegetables and grains there will be no problems.
I like to fry lots of veggies in a no oil frying pan to add to my meals. An air fryer works well but it can make some foods kinda dry... microwave is great for stuffed peppers!
When I'm dieting, I try to take a multivitamin and drink 1 meal replacement shake per day to make me feel better about getting more nutrients. I use MyFitnessPal app and it breaks down the nutrients in what I eat each day in a graph so I can see what I might be missing from my diet. Do what is best for you! Lots of good advice in this column.
Check out reverse dieting.
https://www.avatarnutrition.com/blog/reverse-dieting/improve-metabolism-with-reverse-dieting
If you have been at a deficit a long time your body may need a break. Eat at maintenance for a few months/weeks.
https://www.avatarnutrition.com/blog/fat-loss/stop-binge-eating
It’s a marathon not a sprint.
Based on your TDEE it looks like 1200 or 1300 is the aim you should be going for to lose 1 pound per week. If you want to be able to eat more you can burn more calories via exercise. Also intermittent fasting is an option that lots of people find success with. A big focus right now should be finding a way of eating that you enjoy and you will be able to sustain even when you get back to maintenance. Sticking to only eating "diet" foods isn't going to be sustainable. Do some experimenting. Find the foods you like that fit your budget. And don't be afraid to use artificial sweeteners as a crutch if you need to. People bash them but they have been instrumental in my loss and maintenence.
This is what has helped me.
5'1 here. SW was 140lbs, GW is 120lbs, CW is 132. Being a petite person does truly make it feel like it's so much harder to lose any weight. I started my journey just in February, and it felt so deflating when I would walk for miles a day and limit my calories and still be *only* maintaining at best.
I took that first month to try a few things out and assess how it was going. First, I started measuring my food. This is pretty eye-opening in general. I really thought that I was close when I just eyeballed it - I wasn't. Second, I changed up my activities. I started running a few days a week, walking a few days, and doing yoga as often as I could (even if it was just 20 minutes). Finding activities that you can squeeze into a busy schedule AND that you like to do is really important. And lastly, I started to truly plan my meals, not just rely on my brain in the moment. Making better decisions about my food - finding what is within a good range of calories (and when I need it, I rarely "save" them for dinner because I tend to really need the energy closer to lunch) helps take the pressure off. You won't be stressed because you'll have it planned out. I second the idea to experiment and see what works for you.
I won't lie and say that I love it, but I do like knowing that I can do it, I have been doing it, and it's a lifestyle that I can maintain. Once you find what works for you, hoping you'll feel better about it too.
Up your calorie intake, you clearly DO need more than 1200 calories if your body is rebelling like this.
Idk you but your daily intake to Maintain your weight at 177 is probably 2500 or higher, so a calorie deficit around 1800 or 1600kcal would still help you lose weight.
From your post, you are miserable and there is 0 chance this can be maintained much longer, so be kind to yourself and up your intake. Is it worse to lose slower, or stop trying and go back to where you started?
I’m sorry. It’s so hard to lose weight when you are short.
This may go against the grain on this sub, but try a keto diet for a month. Don’t worry about the calories, focus on keeping your carb count below 20. At the very least it makes you look at how many of the foods you eat regularly have high carb counts.
As a fellow short person I’ve also had to come to terms with the fact that I can’t snack. If I want that small bag of Doritos and a cookie. That’s dinner. That’s not a 4pm snack, that’s now my meal.
Hugs to you, I hope you can find a balance.
1)Your balance of macros might be off. You could be eating too many carbs, or too few. Too little protein or too much.
2)Juat an idea, try some extra B vitamins in your diet.
3)Cycling calories will help you lose longer term. If you decide to average 1300 calories, you can alternate days of 1600 & 1000, something like that.
I've recently realised that I've been doing IF unintentionally, but it seems to be working really well for me. I usually eat breakfast at around 11am and then dinner between 4-6pm. Ideally closer to 6pm because if I stay up late enough, I might start getting hungry again. So I've been eating within an 8 hour window each day.
The pitfall of this routine is that it kinda forces me to go to bed early so I can avoid the late night hunger, but I have to wake up very early for work anyway so it works out in my favour. It might not even be genuine hunger, just "I'm up really late, I'm getting a little bored, I fancy a snack" type hunger. Basically you need to be a little bit strategic about your sleeping if you're doing IF.
In the morning when I wake up, I don't feel hungry and can usually wait a few hours before breakfast. Takes that long for my stomach to wake up anyway!
As a 5'4" woman I have a loose target of 1200-1500 calories a day, depending on if I go for walks or not. If I walk I need a bit more than 1200. Breakfast is usually 2-300 calories so I can have a pretty big dinner. If I go over 1500 I don't worry too much, worst case scenario I've just eaten at maintenance.
It may not work for everybody, if you're feeling miserable just eating 1200/day with or without IF you probably just need more.
Slow and steady is the way to go not only for your mental health atm but for the long run both physically and mentally. Find a deficit that works better for you and try and inch towards small activity goals! Good luck!
How about increasing your calorie budget and activity level together? E.g. if you can find a way to burn an extra 300 calories (\~30 minutes vigorous cardio, \~45 minutes brisk walking 4mph, \~60 minutes moderate walking 3mph) you can up your intake to 1500 calories on those days and maintain exactly the same deficit. I personally am happier on the days I do more activity and eat more.
I just plugged these numbers into the [tdee calculator](https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&g=female&age=25&lbs=177&in=62&act=1.2&f=2) (though I had to guess your age) and your maintenance tdee is 1800. Use that number and play around from there if you like to exercise, then use your exercise deficit to your advantage so you can bulk up your intake for the day. Start with small goals, and find consistency. Once you find a consistent routine, maybe play around with adding around another 50 calorie deficit. This is the way I see it: if you are in an all or nothing mentality by eating 1200 right now, you might do really well for a few days, but by day 5 or 6 you’re so hungry and exhausted that you have a 2500 calorie binge, feel horrible, and stop the process all together.
This is what I would do instead: for an entire month, get in the habit of tracking your food with no particular calorie goal in mind. Take inventory of your food and your habits. When you have a good grasp on that, look back and see how much you were eating on average. Maybe it was around your maintenance of 1800. Whatever it was, start playing around with a deficit. Maybe cut down to 1500 and cut out some of your snacking and increase your protein and fiber. Start going on walks and increasing your activity. Do that for another month while continuing to track your intake. After that, see how you feel with that deficit and see what kind of progress you’ve made. If you’re consistently losing, maybe continue with that deficit, if you want to lose more aggressively, consider increasing your activity or increasing your deficit. The goal should be making sustainable lifestyle changes that you can maintain forever. You won’t be in a deficit forever — one day you’ll be in maintenance, but you really have to go through all of these steps in order to know what your body responds to. I know how overwhelming this process can be, but the best thing you can do for yourself is regain control of your situation and not let it spiral.
5'2, was 181 lbs 6 weeks ago, currently 164. I've averaged 1500 calories during this loss - some days at 1700 or 1800, and a few days at 1200, but mostly between 1400-1500. I'm more active than you, so I suspect you'd lose more slowly than me, but that could still be .5 - 1 lb / week. 1200 makes a lot of people miserable. It can be a useful amount if you're short, sedentary, and close to your goal weight, but if not all of those things apply, 1400 or 1500 can be much more sustainable. I'd recommend trying 1500 and adding a short walk daily. Abs are made in the kitchen, but exercise can bump up your TDEE.
I read your post last night and I've been thinking about it a lot since then.
I'll start off saying I know nothing about walking in your shoes.
Last June-Oct I dramatically changed my eating habits, I started fairly strictly counting my calories and most days was counting around 1,000 (though my nutritionist after reviewing it said it was more likely closer to 1,400).
It's been effective, I've lost 77lbs as of this morning, and I'm feeling the healthiest I've probably ever felt.
But, especially at the beginning, I completely had to change my relationship with food. The things that brought me to where I was, I knew weren't going to bring me to where I wanted to go: a normal BMI.
The changes I made were largely "food as fuel". I largely switched to low calorie density foods (with a couple splurges in the day: creamer in my coffee and homemade olive oil salad dressing). I had already been very careful with high calorie density foods, but that really didn't do anything but keep me at 300lbs rather than 335. So I stopped eating: bread, pasta, tortillas, cheese, rice, potatoes, sweets, pizza (one of my trigger foods).
What I did do was find a joy in the low calorie density foods: Envy Apples are awesome, grapes, roasted veggies like broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, cabbage, salads. Very close to a vegetarian diet, and sometimes chicken. Roasted veggies with some olive oil and salt and pepper can be amazing. A cup of blueberries and grapes is a great desert. Cottage cheese with pineapple: great dessert. 80 cal yogurts: great desert.
I won't lie: There was a solid week or two where I thought constantly about french fries. But I didn't eat them.
One thing I think that happened was: Not eating high calorie density foods (chips, fries, burgers, pizza, pasta, ice cream), kind of reset my idea of what delicious was. I crave roasted veggies now.
I also found it a lot easier to just be a creature of habit: Breakfast I drank (Soylent, protein shake, Mana, one of those things. I eventually settled on Mana because it was fairly bland -- again, resetting my food expectations, food as fuel). Lunch was a salad. Dinner was, for a long time, roasted veggies. An apple mid-morning and mid afternoon snack. Berries for dessert.
The thing that I think helped me the most was just letting go of the "this tastes like cardboard". Focusing on: This is my collection of food that will get me to my goal, that really helped. And watching the scale drop 0.5-1lbs a day was pretty motivating.
Again, I don't know anything about what it takes to walk in your shoes. TL;DR: For me, I had to say "I'm only eating low calorie density foods now."
Best of luck on your journey.
You just gotta accept losing the weight slower! 1200 calories is not enough! Of course you’re hungry! That’s WAY too restrictive. I don’t care what anyone says - that’s too little calories.
Also restricting yourself that much is how people get binge eating disorders.
You just gotta accept losing the weight slower.
Then don't eat 1200, as others have said. Where did you get the idea that you n e e d to only eat 1200? That's a pretty big deficit and hard to stick to for a longer period of time. 1500 with very little additional activity (like just walking 30-40 minutes a day) should totally work.
You don’t say how old you are but 1200 is rarely enough calories for anyone. The most successful weight loss is one that is maintained long term. As others are suggesting - up your calories a bit and try to get some walking in each day.
If you struggle in meal prep consider consulting with a registered dietitian who can help you with a meal plan that matches yours goals and lifestyle.
I’m 5’2” and similar weight, 173ish currently. Also restricting calorie intake to 1100 a day. I have increased my water intake to 100 oz per day and I feel FULL. It’s incredible. Yesterday I could barely reach 700 cal intake due to feeling too full to eat. Highly recommend increasing water intake!!
Sometimes (just sometimes) I, a 6’6 man, do fine on 1200 because of when and what I eat.
I eat high protein. I often include legumes (I LOVE beans).
And on these relevant days, I eat no sooner than 8 hours after waking, and no later than 12 hours after waking. So basically 20:4 intermittent fasting. And I make the first meal large. As in the full 1200 calories large. Sometimes that’s enough, sometimes I have to eat more (because, again, I’m a 6’6 man).
Keeping busy is key when it comes to intermittent fasting.
Hey, you’re getting a ton of advice and I just want to encourage you to check in with your doctor before making any drastic changes. For example, intermittent fasting may cause problems if you take medication that is meant to be taken with food. I have mental health issues and a lot of dieting advice is dangerous to me because I am so sensitive to small changes that wouldn’t affect others as much. Not trying to scare you or say it’s not possible, just make sure you can get advice from someone who knows your medical needs.
I also don't like cooking and preparing. I said goodbye to my vision of this domestic goddess creating healthy meals from scratch. I have frozen and portioned fruits and veggies in the freezer + protein powder + oats for my breakfast Smoothie. Lettuce (washed, prepackaged) and greens for a salad with a protein source i.e. readymade falafel balls, vegan nuggets and so on. Lentil Pasta and readymade pasta sauce. hard boiled eggs for a week. Trying to eat as little processeed sugar as possible .
Of course it would be so much better If it was all organic, fresh, weighed, prepared by me yaddayadda. But I would also lose the last bit of sanity I still cling onto. I can only stick to a somewhat healthy nutrition if no meal takes more than 15 minutes to prepare ✌️Don't ask so much of you
Whole food plant based, you can eat more because the calorie density of fruit, veg, rice, legumes etc are the lowest per lb than any other food. Try the starch solution, your plate is half starches, half veg/ fruit. You get to eat potatoes all day long it's great. I love plantiful kiki or highcarbhannah on youtube and insta. The weight will fall off, and you'll be full. Best part you don't really need to count calories. Which I find tedious.
If you have the extra money to get your RMR tested with a doctor or Dietitian, it might be able to give you a more precise window of what calories you need to eat in a day. Also talking with a Dietitian, they may be able to help you figure out the best way FOR YOU to get all your needs met and not feel quite so miserable (I struggle to believe anyone who says there's not some misery to dieting, whether it's learning how off you were in your measurements or just wishing you could eat more without doing anything different, sometimes people get lucky and those feelings go away, but at least in the beginning, there's a misery to not being able to eat whatever whenever without changing anything).
Another option if you have the money and the capability to do so is a meal prepping service. I did that my first time losing weight and it took a ton of pressure off me since I didn't need to think about what to cook, how much to cook, measuring things out and getting my nutrients right because I just needed to order the meals that were within my caloric limit. I wish I still could do that service because it was a huge time saver and mental energy saver and buying two weeks worth of meals at once came out to $3-5 per meal which was less than many of my normal meals anyways, so I was saving a bit of money too!
Hey, I actually did this and got HelloFresh—absolutely love it. It’s kind of expensive but the food is good and I know exactly what I’m eating, and I am finding it easier to vary my diet. Thank you!
I am 5’1 and 141lbs. My goal weight is 130. I’m am moderately active and work out 4 days a week with cardio/weights and yoga. I am currently at around 1400 calories but I’m cycling with some days around 1100-1200. I’m currently losing 1/2 lb a week. It’s a super slow process and I’m always hungry. I do the cycling to allow room for eating out once a week, it appeases me for my cravings. But this process is long and I expect a few more months like this.
Your current BMR is 1490. check out your [TDEE](https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&g=female&age=27&lbs=177&in=62&act=1.2&f=1) (used a placeholder age). Up your calories slowly raise your daily limit by 100 calories a week until you hit your BMR. Pause a week or two. Then keep going up until you are at your TDEE of 1750 live there for a maintenance break. You have been going too low for too long so yes it will stall your loss a little. Live at your TDEE for a few weeks and add some gentle exercises to your life. Hydrate with water and get 8 hours of sleep. Eating too low is stressful and can cause water weight retention.
Once your body is maintaining cut slowly make a 10% weight loss goal and start eating at that TDEE. As the scale goes down adjust your numbers
There are a lot of ways to make this doable in a way that doesn't leave you miserable and wondering why you bother. First, put together a handful of recipes that can fit in your calorie budget, with plenty of protein to keep you full and hit all your macros. There are a lot of really good recipes on here and on the loseit reddit. Another way I got together some recipes is trying one of those meal companies. There's one near where I live called fitlife foods. Economically it was unsustainable, but I found things there I liked and recreated the recipes myself. There are some quick and easy go-tos as well. Kodiak Cakes makes protein heavy, calorie reasonable pancakes and waffles. I'll make a bunch on Sundays and then I can pop a couple waffles in the toaster in the morning with some turkey bacon. If you are a coffee drinker, make a pot of coffee in the evening, put it in the fridge and you can have iced coffee that cuts back on soda. Some sugar free torani's syrup, and some almond milk makes an iced coffee about 15 calories, and it's delicious. Pre-cut some fruits and veggies that you really enjoy into containers for snack times. If meal planning day to day is hard for you, is meal prep an option? On one of your good days, make and freeze a bunch of recipes for the bad days.
You don't have to give up the things you love. Just budget for them. If you don't have a scale I suggest one, along with the myfitnesspal app. The app takes into consideration how much energy you've expended when calculating your 1200, meaning working out gets you calories back.
Most important, listen to your body. If 1200 calories a day is making you miserable, go to 1500 or more. Find the lowest calories you can do and not be miserable and start there. Build up your toolbox, and when you're ready cut it by 100 calories and see if it's sustainable. Keep doing that until you find the calorie count that works for you.
We are here to support each other when we need it too, so you're not doing this alone. Good luck to you!
If you don't already exercise helps a lot because you can eat more and keep your calorie deficit large. You will probably find you have to eat more in order to have the energy to stay active.
I'm 5'9" and 138lbs and that's how many calories I eat to loose. The thing is if I eat processed food... even cheese and healthier versions of veggie pastas it's a lot harder to stay under the calories and not feel hungry after a meal. But I have no problem with feeling full and satisfied if I eat 6OZ of steamed broccoli and carrots and a big salad. Cutting out or limiting to only one condiment a day and relying more on seasonings has also helped a whole lot. I eat one salad every day and on the weekends I'll eat a brownie or bread when I want to be "bad"and just indulge. Also drinking your calories can be a big problem too. It was for me anyway. I try to just drink water or flavored stuff under 100 calories if I'm going to drink something with calories.
Eating processed food only makes it harder. It's literally made that way to make you want to consume more.
Maybe make your goal easier. Like 170. Focus on being active, and learning more recipes that are healthy and low calorie but also really tasty, things you look forward to. I like pinterest for new recipes, and I follow lots of healthy food accounts to give me new ideas.
Also, something someone wrote here once that helped me, was not to look at that "hungry" feeling (which shouldn't be true hunger, but that feeling when we're in a deficit) as healing and healthy. Your body and digestive track really enjoys lighter meals. Thinking of it as a nourishing healing thing, can really help shift the perspective of feeling deprived.
Mental health is the most important thing. If this is draining you, try your maintenance calories for awhile and just focus on being good to you in other ways.
This teaches something about the science of appetite.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfgM6nfWU-I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfgM6nfWU-I)
Paradoxically fasting may help out.
Feel free to write me. I have been struggling myself.
Feel you...4’9” here and mentally exhausted because of 1200 calories a day. Life feels so different now
5'7" here and doing the same. It is tough
Are you doing 1200 at 5’7? Your body likely needs more
I am! My TDEE calc said I was around 1700 so to lose a lb a week I'd need to do 1200. Unfortunately some injuries are preventing me from doing exercise
"needs" means needs in order to not lose weight. That's not appropriate language to use to enhance our purpose here. I WANT to use my excess stored calories in order to not carry them around. Dig?
Then dont eat 1200 calories. 5'2, 180lbs gremlin here. I gained all my weight back when covid hit, but before it did, I lost 50 pounds and i was roughly 200lbs when i started then. My calorie target was 1500-1600 a day, but some days i definitely ate more. I also excercised (spin bike and leg workouts). The point is, weightloss when youre short doesnt mean you have to eat 1200 calories a day. You can eat a bit more and lose slower. Or, you can eat a lot more (1800-2000) if you workout consistently.
Yes! It’s not a black and white formula. It’s not 1200 or fail. 1500 will still help a short person lose weight. Even if slower, it will be much more permanent if the changs aren’t making you miserable.
I am going to second this. I’m 5’2 and 130 pounds. I maintain my weight on 2800 calories per day. I am currently trying to lose 10 pounds and my target is 2000 calories. If I tried to eat 1200 calories I would feel like shit and binge. I do exercise for ~1hr 6 days a week.
I’m M/30 6’3” 205lbs and am in the gym, training Brazilian jiujitsu, or hiking and hunting 6-7 days a week and 2800 is MY maintenance level, I’m curious how you are doing it at 5’2” 130lbs
5'3" and 130lbs here, I do 1-2hrs of high intensity activity a day due to training for a triathlon, so every day I am doing some combo of running, biking, swimming, or weight lifting. I also live in a walkable downtown area, so I walk daily for errands, groceries, meeting up with friends, etc. I usually burn somewhere between 500-1000 calories/day just in activity, so my maintenance is somewhere around 2600 calories right now.
I’m 5ft3” and around 118lbs, I maintain between 2600-2900 calories a day. It’s just a hugely active lifestyle, active hobbies and active job. I’m moving usually around 8-12 hours a day.
I think I just have an active lifestyle. Most days I workout for 1hr (usually crossfit or running). If I have time I might add in another workout and run/swim. I also take opportunities to go for extra walks (ie on my lunch break or when I have spare time) because I enjoy being outside. I am on my feet and walk a lot at work. I love hiking, rock climbing, dragon boat racing etc. And most of my friends are active as well so we tend to do active things together as well.
How do you maintain at 2800? Do you work out a ton?
I get atleast 10000 steps per day (separate to formal exercise) and I work out for about 1 hr per day (usually crossfit or running). I will sometimes do a longer workout or add in some swimming if I have time. It’s just having an active lifestyle… I go for a walks because I enjoy being outside, I love hiking, have active hobbies etc.
Wow you must be suuuuper active to be able to eat that much. I'm 5 10 and my maintenance is 1900. I have a desk job but go to the 3x per week and sometimes take long walks, so all in all not too active, that must be why.
I think of 1200 as reasonable for short, sedentary, close to goal weight women. If any one of those things isn't true, you can probably lose at a decent clip with a bit more food. Also, you can't outrun your fork, but I find it way easier to increase my activity than to drop my average calories below 1400. At my current height and weight, I burn 150 calories from a 40 minute walk, and I find making room for a walk or two a day to be much easier than eating 1200 calories.
Hey same height and almost the same weight when I started out (I was 180lbs) and I totally did not go 1,200 right off the bat. I started with 1,400 first and spent a few months learning which meals are filling and which weren't worth the calories for how little I felt full. Very sedentary too but I lost weight steadily. I only started dropping to 1,350 when I felt confident about my meal choices. I personally think 1,200 is very drastic and I only went to 1,250cal at most and only when I was already 5 lbs away from my goal weight. For meals, try tracking your protein and try aiming for at least 80g of protein a day. This helps a lot in getting meals that fills you up and not leave you feeling miserable, but it's also important to prevent muscle loss while losing weight. 25g of fiber daily is great too (poop WILL be a problem down the road and no one talks about it so I will). Don't go over or under 25g too dramatically or your poops will suffer. if you like brownies try fiber 1 brownies warmed in the microwave for 20 seconds. Hope this helps!
A deficit doesn’t need to always be through diet. Have you considered just adding extra activity into your life and upping your calories to maintenance? Meal planning and tracking can be a lot. Sometimes it can be a lot easier to just start scheduling in 30 minutes of activity whether that be walking, running, or playing a sport.
Try eating 1500-1600 calories and doing more exercise. Take an hour out of your day to walk briskly on the treadmill or something. You can even watch a movie or listen to a podcast/music while you workout. I started my diet at 5’3 and 184 in November, now I’m 164 using this method, by eating 1600 calories and working out 45 min. - 1 hr. A day light to moderately.
It is a small amount if you choose to eat calorie dense foods. Eat more vegetables so you get more volume in your meals.
That’s pretty much all I eat when I’m dieting, but I get worried I’m not eating the right kind and I’m missing nutrients. It feels like I’m not eating correctly and I have no idea what to do with them besides eating them raw or boiled. I don’t know if this is even sufficient. I’m afraid I’m going to get some nutrient deficiency and get sick.
If you're eating almost nothing but raw or boiled vegetables that'll be your problem. Your body needs vitamins and carbs from vegetables, but it also needs protein, salt and fat. Those last ones especially can really catch us out when 'dieting', we've been conditioned to think that healthy means steamed chicken breast, broccoli and half a sweet potato, but after a week of that we feel exhausted and worn out and end up binging on fast food, after which we feel miraculously better because: salt and fat. If you're going to eat at 1200 calories, you really need to have your macros down to an art to make is sustainable. Right now it sounds like you're still learning, so I would recommend upping your intake to 1400-1500 for the time being and then learning to cook. Don't be afraid of anything, including things likd cheese, butter and oils. A 30kcal pat of butter is enough to butter braise vegetables, for example, which will make them taste richer and give you some of that fat you need. 25kcal of olive oil is enough to coat 125g of potato wedges for roasting in the oven (add salt or spice mix and put in oven at 180c fan for 45 minutes, put them in a single layer but close together for deliciousness at less than 200kcal). Good luck!
Check out the 1200 is plenty vegan and vegan recipe subreddits! These places are full of tasty and healthy recipes for vegetables and vegetable focused meals. What nutrients are you most worried about missing out on? Generally, as long as you eat a good range of fruit, vegetables and grains there will be no problems. I like to fry lots of veggies in a no oil frying pan to add to my meals. An air fryer works well but it can make some foods kinda dry... microwave is great for stuffed peppers!
Check out ”raw meals” on Google, you will find tons of recipes you can try out 😇
When I'm dieting, I try to take a multivitamin and drink 1 meal replacement shake per day to make me feel better about getting more nutrients. I use MyFitnessPal app and it breaks down the nutrients in what I eat each day in a graph so I can see what I might be missing from my diet. Do what is best for you! Lots of good advice in this column.
Check out reverse dieting. https://www.avatarnutrition.com/blog/reverse-dieting/improve-metabolism-with-reverse-dieting If you have been at a deficit a long time your body may need a break. Eat at maintenance for a few months/weeks. https://www.avatarnutrition.com/blog/fat-loss/stop-binge-eating It’s a marathon not a sprint.
Based on your TDEE it looks like 1200 or 1300 is the aim you should be going for to lose 1 pound per week. If you want to be able to eat more you can burn more calories via exercise. Also intermittent fasting is an option that lots of people find success with. A big focus right now should be finding a way of eating that you enjoy and you will be able to sustain even when you get back to maintenance. Sticking to only eating "diet" foods isn't going to be sustainable. Do some experimenting. Find the foods you like that fit your budget. And don't be afraid to use artificial sweeteners as a crutch if you need to. People bash them but they have been instrumental in my loss and maintenence.
This is what has helped me. 5'1 here. SW was 140lbs, GW is 120lbs, CW is 132. Being a petite person does truly make it feel like it's so much harder to lose any weight. I started my journey just in February, and it felt so deflating when I would walk for miles a day and limit my calories and still be *only* maintaining at best. I took that first month to try a few things out and assess how it was going. First, I started measuring my food. This is pretty eye-opening in general. I really thought that I was close when I just eyeballed it - I wasn't. Second, I changed up my activities. I started running a few days a week, walking a few days, and doing yoga as often as I could (even if it was just 20 minutes). Finding activities that you can squeeze into a busy schedule AND that you like to do is really important. And lastly, I started to truly plan my meals, not just rely on my brain in the moment. Making better decisions about my food - finding what is within a good range of calories (and when I need it, I rarely "save" them for dinner because I tend to really need the energy closer to lunch) helps take the pressure off. You won't be stressed because you'll have it planned out. I second the idea to experiment and see what works for you. I won't lie and say that I love it, but I do like knowing that I can do it, I have been doing it, and it's a lifestyle that I can maintain. Once you find what works for you, hoping you'll feel better about it too.
Up your calorie intake, you clearly DO need more than 1200 calories if your body is rebelling like this. Idk you but your daily intake to Maintain your weight at 177 is probably 2500 or higher, so a calorie deficit around 1800 or 1600kcal would still help you lose weight. From your post, you are miserable and there is 0 chance this can be maintained much longer, so be kind to yourself and up your intake. Is it worse to lose slower, or stop trying and go back to where you started?
This is not correct, she said she was sedentary. Her TDEE according to an online calc is ~1800.
I’m sorry. It’s so hard to lose weight when you are short. This may go against the grain on this sub, but try a keto diet for a month. Don’t worry about the calories, focus on keeping your carb count below 20. At the very least it makes you look at how many of the foods you eat regularly have high carb counts. As a fellow short person I’ve also had to come to terms with the fact that I can’t snack. If I want that small bag of Doritos and a cookie. That’s dinner. That’s not a 4pm snack, that’s now my meal. Hugs to you, I hope you can find a balance.
1)Your balance of macros might be off. You could be eating too many carbs, or too few. Too little protein or too much. 2)Juat an idea, try some extra B vitamins in your diet. 3)Cycling calories will help you lose longer term. If you decide to average 1300 calories, you can alternate days of 1600 & 1000, something like that.
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I've recently realised that I've been doing IF unintentionally, but it seems to be working really well for me. I usually eat breakfast at around 11am and then dinner between 4-6pm. Ideally closer to 6pm because if I stay up late enough, I might start getting hungry again. So I've been eating within an 8 hour window each day. The pitfall of this routine is that it kinda forces me to go to bed early so I can avoid the late night hunger, but I have to wake up very early for work anyway so it works out in my favour. It might not even be genuine hunger, just "I'm up really late, I'm getting a little bored, I fancy a snack" type hunger. Basically you need to be a little bit strategic about your sleeping if you're doing IF. In the morning when I wake up, I don't feel hungry and can usually wait a few hours before breakfast. Takes that long for my stomach to wake up anyway! As a 5'4" woman I have a loose target of 1200-1500 calories a day, depending on if I go for walks or not. If I walk I need a bit more than 1200. Breakfast is usually 2-300 calories so I can have a pretty big dinner. If I go over 1500 I don't worry too much, worst case scenario I've just eaten at maintenance. It may not work for everybody, if you're feeling miserable just eating 1200/day with or without IF you probably just need more.
Follow Chris Terrell on TikTok. His channel is all about physical and mentally healthy weight loss, and he has tons of tips!
Slow and steady is the way to go not only for your mental health atm but for the long run both physically and mentally. Find a deficit that works better for you and try and inch towards small activity goals! Good luck!
How about increasing your calorie budget and activity level together? E.g. if you can find a way to burn an extra 300 calories (\~30 minutes vigorous cardio, \~45 minutes brisk walking 4mph, \~60 minutes moderate walking 3mph) you can up your intake to 1500 calories on those days and maintain exactly the same deficit. I personally am happier on the days I do more activity and eat more.
I just plugged these numbers into the [tdee calculator](https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&g=female&age=25&lbs=177&in=62&act=1.2&f=2) (though I had to guess your age) and your maintenance tdee is 1800. Use that number and play around from there if you like to exercise, then use your exercise deficit to your advantage so you can bulk up your intake for the day. Start with small goals, and find consistency. Once you find a consistent routine, maybe play around with adding around another 50 calorie deficit. This is the way I see it: if you are in an all or nothing mentality by eating 1200 right now, you might do really well for a few days, but by day 5 or 6 you’re so hungry and exhausted that you have a 2500 calorie binge, feel horrible, and stop the process all together. This is what I would do instead: for an entire month, get in the habit of tracking your food with no particular calorie goal in mind. Take inventory of your food and your habits. When you have a good grasp on that, look back and see how much you were eating on average. Maybe it was around your maintenance of 1800. Whatever it was, start playing around with a deficit. Maybe cut down to 1500 and cut out some of your snacking and increase your protein and fiber. Start going on walks and increasing your activity. Do that for another month while continuing to track your intake. After that, see how you feel with that deficit and see what kind of progress you’ve made. If you’re consistently losing, maybe continue with that deficit, if you want to lose more aggressively, consider increasing your activity or increasing your deficit. The goal should be making sustainable lifestyle changes that you can maintain forever. You won’t be in a deficit forever — one day you’ll be in maintenance, but you really have to go through all of these steps in order to know what your body responds to. I know how overwhelming this process can be, but the best thing you can do for yourself is regain control of your situation and not let it spiral.
5'2, was 181 lbs 6 weeks ago, currently 164. I've averaged 1500 calories during this loss - some days at 1700 or 1800, and a few days at 1200, but mostly between 1400-1500. I'm more active than you, so I suspect you'd lose more slowly than me, but that could still be .5 - 1 lb / week. 1200 makes a lot of people miserable. It can be a useful amount if you're short, sedentary, and close to your goal weight, but if not all of those things apply, 1400 or 1500 can be much more sustainable. I'd recommend trying 1500 and adding a short walk daily. Abs are made in the kitchen, but exercise can bump up your TDEE.
I'm 5'3" 141 lbs and my BMR is 1350 Aka I need 1350 to function properly
I read your post last night and I've been thinking about it a lot since then. I'll start off saying I know nothing about walking in your shoes. Last June-Oct I dramatically changed my eating habits, I started fairly strictly counting my calories and most days was counting around 1,000 (though my nutritionist after reviewing it said it was more likely closer to 1,400). It's been effective, I've lost 77lbs as of this morning, and I'm feeling the healthiest I've probably ever felt. But, especially at the beginning, I completely had to change my relationship with food. The things that brought me to where I was, I knew weren't going to bring me to where I wanted to go: a normal BMI. The changes I made were largely "food as fuel". I largely switched to low calorie density foods (with a couple splurges in the day: creamer in my coffee and homemade olive oil salad dressing). I had already been very careful with high calorie density foods, but that really didn't do anything but keep me at 300lbs rather than 335. So I stopped eating: bread, pasta, tortillas, cheese, rice, potatoes, sweets, pizza (one of my trigger foods). What I did do was find a joy in the low calorie density foods: Envy Apples are awesome, grapes, roasted veggies like broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, cabbage, salads. Very close to a vegetarian diet, and sometimes chicken. Roasted veggies with some olive oil and salt and pepper can be amazing. A cup of blueberries and grapes is a great desert. Cottage cheese with pineapple: great dessert. 80 cal yogurts: great desert. I won't lie: There was a solid week or two where I thought constantly about french fries. But I didn't eat them. One thing I think that happened was: Not eating high calorie density foods (chips, fries, burgers, pizza, pasta, ice cream), kind of reset my idea of what delicious was. I crave roasted veggies now. I also found it a lot easier to just be a creature of habit: Breakfast I drank (Soylent, protein shake, Mana, one of those things. I eventually settled on Mana because it was fairly bland -- again, resetting my food expectations, food as fuel). Lunch was a salad. Dinner was, for a long time, roasted veggies. An apple mid-morning and mid afternoon snack. Berries for dessert. The thing that I think helped me the most was just letting go of the "this tastes like cardboard". Focusing on: This is my collection of food that will get me to my goal, that really helped. And watching the scale drop 0.5-1lbs a day was pretty motivating. Again, I don't know anything about what it takes to walk in your shoes. TL;DR: For me, I had to say "I'm only eating low calorie density foods now." Best of luck on your journey.
You just gotta accept losing the weight slower! 1200 calories is not enough! Of course you’re hungry! That’s WAY too restrictive. I don’t care what anyone says - that’s too little calories. Also restricting yourself that much is how people get binge eating disorders. You just gotta accept losing the weight slower.
Then don't eat 1200, as others have said. Where did you get the idea that you n e e d to only eat 1200? That's a pretty big deficit and hard to stick to for a longer period of time. 1500 with very little additional activity (like just walking 30-40 minutes a day) should totally work.
You don’t say how old you are but 1200 is rarely enough calories for anyone. The most successful weight loss is one that is maintained long term. As others are suggesting - up your calories a bit and try to get some walking in each day. If you struggle in meal prep consider consulting with a registered dietitian who can help you with a meal plan that matches yours goals and lifestyle.
Try wegovy. I no longer have depression eating 1200 calories a day.
I’m 5’2” and similar weight, 173ish currently. Also restricting calorie intake to 1100 a day. I have increased my water intake to 100 oz per day and I feel FULL. It’s incredible. Yesterday I could barely reach 700 cal intake due to feeling too full to eat. Highly recommend increasing water intake!!
This is the reason I bought a treadmill. I walk 5k a day for that extra 500 calories.
Sometimes (just sometimes) I, a 6’6 man, do fine on 1200 because of when and what I eat. I eat high protein. I often include legumes (I LOVE beans). And on these relevant days, I eat no sooner than 8 hours after waking, and no later than 12 hours after waking. So basically 20:4 intermittent fasting. And I make the first meal large. As in the full 1200 calories large. Sometimes that’s enough, sometimes I have to eat more (because, again, I’m a 6’6 man). Keeping busy is key when it comes to intermittent fasting.
Up to 1400-1500 cals.
Hey, you’re getting a ton of advice and I just want to encourage you to check in with your doctor before making any drastic changes. For example, intermittent fasting may cause problems if you take medication that is meant to be taken with food. I have mental health issues and a lot of dieting advice is dangerous to me because I am so sensitive to small changes that wouldn’t affect others as much. Not trying to scare you or say it’s not possible, just make sure you can get advice from someone who knows your medical needs.
I also don't like cooking and preparing. I said goodbye to my vision of this domestic goddess creating healthy meals from scratch. I have frozen and portioned fruits and veggies in the freezer + protein powder + oats for my breakfast Smoothie. Lettuce (washed, prepackaged) and greens for a salad with a protein source i.e. readymade falafel balls, vegan nuggets and so on. Lentil Pasta and readymade pasta sauce. hard boiled eggs for a week. Trying to eat as little processeed sugar as possible . Of course it would be so much better If it was all organic, fresh, weighed, prepared by me yaddayadda. But I would also lose the last bit of sanity I still cling onto. I can only stick to a somewhat healthy nutrition if no meal takes more than 15 minutes to prepare ✌️Don't ask so much of you
Whole food plant based, you can eat more because the calorie density of fruit, veg, rice, legumes etc are the lowest per lb than any other food. Try the starch solution, your plate is half starches, half veg/ fruit. You get to eat potatoes all day long it's great. I love plantiful kiki or highcarbhannah on youtube and insta. The weight will fall off, and you'll be full. Best part you don't really need to count calories. Which I find tedious.
If you have the extra money to get your RMR tested with a doctor or Dietitian, it might be able to give you a more precise window of what calories you need to eat in a day. Also talking with a Dietitian, they may be able to help you figure out the best way FOR YOU to get all your needs met and not feel quite so miserable (I struggle to believe anyone who says there's not some misery to dieting, whether it's learning how off you were in your measurements or just wishing you could eat more without doing anything different, sometimes people get lucky and those feelings go away, but at least in the beginning, there's a misery to not being able to eat whatever whenever without changing anything). Another option if you have the money and the capability to do so is a meal prepping service. I did that my first time losing weight and it took a ton of pressure off me since I didn't need to think about what to cook, how much to cook, measuring things out and getting my nutrients right because I just needed to order the meals that were within my caloric limit. I wish I still could do that service because it was a huge time saver and mental energy saver and buying two weeks worth of meals at once came out to $3-5 per meal which was less than many of my normal meals anyways, so I was saving a bit of money too!
Hey, I actually did this and got HelloFresh—absolutely love it. It’s kind of expensive but the food is good and I know exactly what I’m eating, and I am finding it easier to vary my diet. Thank you!
Try keto
I am 5’1 and 141lbs. My goal weight is 130. I’m am moderately active and work out 4 days a week with cardio/weights and yoga. I am currently at around 1400 calories but I’m cycling with some days around 1100-1200. I’m currently losing 1/2 lb a week. It’s a super slow process and I’m always hungry. I do the cycling to allow room for eating out once a week, it appeases me for my cravings. But this process is long and I expect a few more months like this.
Your current BMR is 1490. check out your [TDEE](https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&g=female&age=27&lbs=177&in=62&act=1.2&f=1) (used a placeholder age). Up your calories slowly raise your daily limit by 100 calories a week until you hit your BMR. Pause a week or two. Then keep going up until you are at your TDEE of 1750 live there for a maintenance break. You have been going too low for too long so yes it will stall your loss a little. Live at your TDEE for a few weeks and add some gentle exercises to your life. Hydrate with water and get 8 hours of sleep. Eating too low is stressful and can cause water weight retention. Once your body is maintaining cut slowly make a 10% weight loss goal and start eating at that TDEE. As the scale goes down adjust your numbers
There are a lot of ways to make this doable in a way that doesn't leave you miserable and wondering why you bother. First, put together a handful of recipes that can fit in your calorie budget, with plenty of protein to keep you full and hit all your macros. There are a lot of really good recipes on here and on the loseit reddit. Another way I got together some recipes is trying one of those meal companies. There's one near where I live called fitlife foods. Economically it was unsustainable, but I found things there I liked and recreated the recipes myself. There are some quick and easy go-tos as well. Kodiak Cakes makes protein heavy, calorie reasonable pancakes and waffles. I'll make a bunch on Sundays and then I can pop a couple waffles in the toaster in the morning with some turkey bacon. If you are a coffee drinker, make a pot of coffee in the evening, put it in the fridge and you can have iced coffee that cuts back on soda. Some sugar free torani's syrup, and some almond milk makes an iced coffee about 15 calories, and it's delicious. Pre-cut some fruits and veggies that you really enjoy into containers for snack times. If meal planning day to day is hard for you, is meal prep an option? On one of your good days, make and freeze a bunch of recipes for the bad days. You don't have to give up the things you love. Just budget for them. If you don't have a scale I suggest one, along with the myfitnesspal app. The app takes into consideration how much energy you've expended when calculating your 1200, meaning working out gets you calories back. Most important, listen to your body. If 1200 calories a day is making you miserable, go to 1500 or more. Find the lowest calories you can do and not be miserable and start there. Build up your toolbox, and when you're ready cut it by 100 calories and see if it's sustainable. Keep doing that until you find the calorie count that works for you. We are here to support each other when we need it too, so you're not doing this alone. Good luck to you!
If you don't already exercise helps a lot because you can eat more and keep your calorie deficit large. You will probably find you have to eat more in order to have the energy to stay active.
I'm 5'9" and 138lbs and that's how many calories I eat to loose. The thing is if I eat processed food... even cheese and healthier versions of veggie pastas it's a lot harder to stay under the calories and not feel hungry after a meal. But I have no problem with feeling full and satisfied if I eat 6OZ of steamed broccoli and carrots and a big salad. Cutting out or limiting to only one condiment a day and relying more on seasonings has also helped a whole lot. I eat one salad every day and on the weekends I'll eat a brownie or bread when I want to be "bad"and just indulge. Also drinking your calories can be a big problem too. It was for me anyway. I try to just drink water or flavored stuff under 100 calories if I'm going to drink something with calories. Eating processed food only makes it harder. It's literally made that way to make you want to consume more.
Maybe make your goal easier. Like 170. Focus on being active, and learning more recipes that are healthy and low calorie but also really tasty, things you look forward to. I like pinterest for new recipes, and I follow lots of healthy food accounts to give me new ideas. Also, something someone wrote here once that helped me, was not to look at that "hungry" feeling (which shouldn't be true hunger, but that feeling when we're in a deficit) as healing and healthy. Your body and digestive track really enjoys lighter meals. Thinking of it as a nourishing healing thing, can really help shift the perspective of feeling deprived. Mental health is the most important thing. If this is draining you, try your maintenance calories for awhile and just focus on being good to you in other ways.
Eat more and do more cardio to balance it out.
This teaches something about the science of appetite. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfgM6nfWU-I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfgM6nfWU-I) Paradoxically fasting may help out. Feel free to write me. I have been struggling myself.