What's the correct calorie range?? (Help please)?!
Question: Ok, being a 5'5 19 year old female... I've decided to lose weight on Jan 1st this year (since I was 150). I don't have a scale now but I've been eating 1200-1400 calories a day using help from the food pyramid and getting lean proteins and complex carbs every meal and small fruits for snacks (to a total of 5-6 meals a day). I've also worked out an hour-and hour and a half each day, walked on either saturday or sunday and one day was the rest day. (Oh and some strength training in there)
But according to some calculators on sites I've seen, I should be eating 1400-1800 calories a day to lose weight! Er...
People with experience is appeciated... I'm nervous to up my calorie intake for weight loss... :S
(Here's the site) and I'm guessing I'm around 145-150)?
http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l...
Answers: Ok, being a 5'5 19 year old female... I've decided to lose weight on Jan 1st this year (since I was 150). I don't have a scale now but I've been eating 1200-1400 calories a day using help from the food pyramid and getting lean proteins and complex carbs every meal and small fruits for snacks (to a total of 5-6 meals a day). I've also worked out an hour-and hour and a half each day, walked on either saturday or sunday and one day was the rest day. (Oh and some strength training in there)
But according to some calculators on sites I've seen, I should be eating 1400-1800 calories a day to lose weight! Er...
People with experience is appeciated... I'm nervous to up my calorie intake for weight loss... :S
(Here's the site) and I'm guessing I'm around 145-150)?
http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l...
Well, common thoughts are that to maintain your weight you need about 2000 calories a day. Less than that and your weight goes down, more than that and your weight goes up.
If you exercise more your weight goes down, exercise less and it goes up.
If your food intake goes down too far then your mbody thinks it is being starved, and slows down and stores the food it gets - and you can actually gain weight by eating less!
If I was you I would consider increasing how much you eat to say, 1600 - 1800 calories a day (10% drop), and continue your exercises. This wont drop your weight quickly but it will be a maintainable weight loss.
If you eat 1600 calories and exercise averaging say 300 calories worth a day then that shyould be a steady 1 1/2 lb weight loss a week - not fast but you will change your lifestyle more easily to do that and make permanent changes
To my knowledge it's 2000 cals a day for a woman and 2500 for a man.
If you deprive yourself of what your body needs it will only store body fat and begin to eat away at muscle.
1200-1400 calories a day should be causing you to lose weight, if not maybe you are eating too many carbs. I would cut out the fruit. Keep your carbs at 100 grams or less a day.