I see a lot of posts about 1200 kcal/day and if petite folks can get away with eating more. I want to show that we most definitely can!
I’m 4’11” and, according to MacroFactor, my TDEE is 2222 kcal. I’m aiming for body recomposition with a small calorie deficit of ~150- 200 kcal. My fitness activities comprise of:
aerial/pole fitness 2x/week
a modified version of r/bodyweightfitness’ recommended routine as a 4 day upper/body split
10 mins/week of jump rope
10-15 minute mobility routine every day minus Sunday
20 minute stretching routine every weekday evening
Come November, I’ll be replacing jump rope with an hour of BJJ per week so my TDEE will probably rise up again.
@senni I'm 5'0", 123 lbs and sadly my TDEE is around 1750 calories. My weekly routine is as follow:
Brisk walk: 1 hour 3 days and 30 minutes 3 days.
Running: 40 minutes 3 days.
Strength training w/dumbbells: 30 minutes - 1 hour 4 days.
Full rest: 1 day.
My Fitbit tracker puts me between 1650-2100 calories depending on if it is a running day or not. The rest day is 1400. Fitbit is not renowned for its accuracy but I maintain at an average of 1750 calories.
@denjet8888 Fitbits are inaccurate but a great tool! They have a margin of error of about 200 calories either way, but after wearing it for long enough youll be able to get a good idea of days you “burn more” or “burn less”!
@senni Based off of the calculators which also aligns with my Apple Watch - when I work out consistently my TDEE is 1800. I am 5’2 and 105 lbs.
I do 3 days of lifting, 2 days CycleBar, some hot yoga and walking. It could be higher or lower I’m not sure I just choose the moderately active status on the calculators.
@senni I am 5’1 and at my lowest weight (104lbs) my TDEE was 1800-2100 calories. Currently I am 116lbs and have more muscle and am more active! So now it’s about 2000-2300.
I strength train 4-5/week, and walk everywhere and I loosely eat low carb and low sugar (because I have a metabolic condition)
@senni According to my watch, my typical day ranges from 1,800 to 2,200; the average for the past seven days has been 1,975. It tends to align with a calculator when I add in exercise separate from sedentary estimate based on weight/height. (I'm 5'4".) I aim to eat at a deficit of ~400 from that.
Day-to-day, I aim for 30 minutes of brisk walking at a minimum and I try to row at least 30 minutes most days (this doesn't always happen). When my household isn't a mess of sickness, I do weights at the gym 3/week, plus pole once a week.
@senni I would love to see your progress. Most of us are just scared to eat more because of our small bodies. And most of us fall into this stupidity of eating 1200 cals. I did that for a long time.
@txsunshine22 That’s understandable! What about my progress would you like to see? Tbh, I’m about 2.5 years into my fitness journey and probably have a few more years to get where I want my body to be.
I’m 5’1”, 27, and according to my spreadsheet, mine averages out around 1900. I have hypothyroidism but it’s medicated back to normal now - I think my TDEE was around 1200 before I got on medication, and that’s a huge part of why I gained 40 pounds despite never eating poorly. Life is unfair tbh. I started really trying to lose weight for real (as opposed to half-assedly) in mid-July and have lost about 10 pounds total, though the first couple of pounds came off in the preceding few half-assed months.
I do eat 1200 on sedentary days, but I usually eat around 1400-1500 on active days (which are most days). I do intense dance classes three hours a week and ice skate between 1 and 8 hours a week depending on my schedule, probably averaging 3 or 4. I’d like to do more but my schedule’s been a bit difficult to coordinate! I fell off the weight lifting wagon a few weeks ago but I’m going to get back to it this or next week. I’ve been losing about a pound a week on average, which disappointed me as I thought I could lose two pounds a week, but it turns out we short people were lied to and now I’ve gotten used to it.
@csh97 I was so dismayed to learn that 2lbs a week was unrealistic for me as well. Everything I read made it sound like you have to work not to lose faster than 2lbs a week, so it was such a shock to find out that I would have to eat 1200 kcal a day AND work out 70 minutes 5 days a week just to lose 1lb a week. diet alone would be just 2lbs a month, which is quite unmotivating...
The rate short women gain muscle is pretty disappointingly slow too, but at least it does add up and make a difference in the long run.
@senni My TDEE is around 2100-2200 across different calculations. And my Apple Watch has been perfectly aligning to the numbers so i think it’s accurate. Here is my daily routine for 5’3” and 110lbs.
Vinyasa yoga 1 hour not recorded by watch
Running for 6 miles (~1 hour)
Walking for 4.5 miles (~ 1.5 hours) not recorded by watch
Daily average steps are around 24k
@yuripanta Since the kids were back to school I just have a lot of free time. I guess one and half years? I don't usually take rest days because I always hit major events like COVID+ and travels then I could not make to the workouts.
Hmmm my eating disorder spidey-sense is tingling a bit with that schedule because I've been down that road. But if you don't have a history of ED and you have managed to stay injury-free without taking a day off for that long... perhaps you are just genetically blessed!
@yuripanta You are spot on! I think I’m at the peak of my relapse. I am constantly training for races so running was always one of my daily workouts. Adding the walking part since this summer because I joined a step challenge. But I shared my routine and calories burned just to answer OP’s questions.
