I guess I’d better get used to barely eating anything 🙄

nuke11

New member
Just ranting. 5’2, trying to lose weight, need to eat 1400 to be at a deficit at my current weight. Been doing that, plus exercise, and I’ve already lost 4 lbs (yay!) This got me wondering what my my maintenance will be once I lose weight and hit my goal. At THAT weight? My maintenance will be 1400 😑 being short sucks. That’s all. Happy Memorial Day.
 
@nuke11 Search here for body recomp. Plenty of people 5'3 and shorter are eating 1800-2100 calories by building muscle.

More muscle, more calories burnt at rest.

It's all about your goals. I like volume eating so I am frequently full with less calories.
 
@hcmcity Yes, this.

I am not an athlete or anything but I am 5’2 and lost 40 pounds eating over 2,000 calories a day. I now maintain my weight (120ish) at about 2,000-2,300 calories a day with about 120 grams of protein a day.

I’m not anywhere close to an expert here, but building muscle has been sooo important to me because I love to eat. I was literally miserable and exhausted when I used to eat 1200-1400 calories a day. It was not healthy at all.

I recommend looking into weight lifting, macro tracking, and reverse dieting. All of these things have helped me to get to a really healthy place, physically and emotionally.
 
@anxious I’m 5’2” as well - what does your workout routine look like in terms of exercises/reps/weight lifted? I’d love to build a bigger caloric buffer without sacrificing performance
 
@tandervel Nothing crazy.

I do two leg days a week with squats, lunges, Bulgarians, hip thrusts…. Then usually two upper body days with curls and rows and all that. My weights aren’t particularly impressive at this point. And I do body pump at least once a week which a full body work out weight lifting class, but more like HIIT than real weight lifting.

I don’t do any cardio, just ten mins on the tread mill if I have time. And I’m a mom so I’m active at home too and go on daily walks with my kids usually so I don’t feel the need for cardio at the gym
 
@healing Not the person you asked but I usually eat around 100-150g of protein a day. I start usually with a high protein breakfast ( a shake, a banana and some walnuts as a pre workout snack and after I hit the gym I’ll eat again. Some cottage cheese with fruits or Greek yoghurt). For lunch I like going for some sort of meat/protein and a lot of vegetables. Dinner is pretty much the same. But I also eat like A LOT of cottage cheese and quark (it’s a German thing probably). Tuna is also great if you like that as a wrap filling. Protein bars can helped but I haven’t found one yet that I really like that isn’t crazy expensive😅
 
@healing I only have European/German suggestions so I’m not sure if there’s “myprotein” available in your country? I tried their vegan protein powder and it was alright. Especially for baking.
 
@healing I see you don’t eat meat so I’m not much help unfortunately!

It isn’t hard for me to hit that goal. Most days, breakfast is Greek yogurt with fruit and protein granola. Lunch is some sort of chicken wrap with a low cal, whole wheat wrap that has protein in it too. Snack is a protein bar with fruit or veggies. Dinner is typically some kind of chicken and veggies. And then I have dessert every night because I love it, and usually it’s some kind of protein shake recipe or protein baked oats. So I’m usually well above 120 after that desert and sometimes have to omit the protein from it!

So yeah, that’s my general meal plan but I know that doesn’t help you much :(
 
@hcmcity This has been working for me and it’s the only way I’ve been able to stay consistent - just diet makes me obsessed with food and I always fail. Now I do workout classes in my neighborhood and I eat to stay strong and continue to have the foods I enjoy.

Eating more, making sure I get protein, and staying active has been game changing. I eat 1800-2100 calories a day and my body is still noticeably changing (I’m 5’2). Plus I’m not miserable.
 
@hcmcity Interested to know - based on your muscle % how do you work out what your TDEE is?
Obv I’ve seen calculations based on height/weight/activity level, but how do you adjust this for muscle mass?
 
@hcmcity WOULD NOT recommend body recomp for anybody that wants to lose weight. That's probably the worst advice someone can give to people that want to lose weight, it's great for people that have achieved their goals already and want to maintain but not for people looking to lose weight, true more muscle, more calories burnt at rest but with recomp you can only build so much muscle, the best way to build muscle is by bulking. OP I'd recommend checking out this post as it talks about everything you'd need to know before deciding on recomp, I'd suggest stay at a deficit even if it's a small deficit you'd be making more progress that way than with recomp.
 
@dawn16 Re read the post and then reflect on what you just said.

Particularly this part of OPs post.

This got me wondering what my my maintenance will be once I lose weight and hit my goal. At THAT weight? My maintenance will be 1400 😑 being short sucks. That’s all. Happy Memorial Day.
 
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