Hey guys, I was wondering if I could get some opinions on how many calories I should be getting every day. I punched in my stats to the Katch-McArdle Formula, and it tells me that I need 1980 cals to maintain my current weight...which means I need 980-1480 cals a day to lose 2 or 1 lbs a week, respectively. Isn't 980 calories a day exessively low? Does that mean it's only safe for me to lose 1 lb a week, or am I good to shoot for the lower number?

Btw, my stats are:
5'4"
159 lbs
33% bf

Oh, and I'm a girl.

Thanks for any insight you can give me. :)

ignore the 980 calories a day. that's just ridiculous, unless medically supervised.

if i were you, i'd shoot for 1300-1600. it's good to do 1300 one day, then 1600 another day. good luck, and if you also decided to give us an exercise regimen or what you planned to eat, it would be even more helpful in deciding. also, what your current daily activities are, how much time you plan to set aside to exercise, how many days a week, if you belong to a gym, etc.

ignore the 980 calories a day. that's just ridiculous, unless medically supervised.

if i were you, i'd shoot for 1300-1600. it's good to do 1300 one day, then 1600 another day. good luck, and if you also decided to give us an exercise regimen or what you planned to eat, it would be even more helpful in deciding. also, what your current daily activities are, how much time you plan to set aside to exercise, how many days a week, if you belong to a gym, etc.

But according to the formula, 1600 cals a day means I won't even be losing 1 lb a week. :(

For meals, this is what a typical day looks like for me:

1 cup cereal w/ skim milk - 8:00am
1 low fat yogurt - 10:30am
tuna sandwich - 12:30pm
rice krispie square (I know, but I need *something* sweet) - 12:30pm
celery w/ 1 tbsp. fat free dressing 4:00pm
1 bowl chicken noodle soup 7:00pm
bun 7:00pm
40 grams whey - 9:30pm

I go to the gym and do 30 mins of cardio and 15 mins of weights 3 days a week. Other than that stuff I'm generally pretty sedentary.

I'd go back and check the formula again. That doesn't sound right at all. I haven't used this one myself. Is it one that accounts for activity and exercise as opposed to being sedentary? really it should. did you?

I'd go back and check the formula again. That doesn't sound right at all. I haven't used this one myself. Is it one that accounts for activity and exercise as opposed to being sedentary? really it should. did you?

Yeah, I did it twice. Here are my stats using the formula:

You are female
You weigh 159 lbs. (72.1 kilos)
Your body fat percentage is 33% (52.5 lbs. fat, 106.5 lbs. lean)
Your lean mass is 106.5 lbs. (48.3 kilos)
Your BMR = 370 + (21.6 X 48.3) = 1413 calories

I figure my activity level is just over lightly active (I go to the gym 3X a week), so I guessed at BMR X 1.4 (Lightly is 1.375, Moderately is 1.55)

So 1413 X 1.4 is 1978 to maintain, 978 to lose 2 lbs a week, 1478 to lose 1lb a week. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Your calculations are right, but you shouldn't shoot for calories that low. A good friend of mine was anorexic and sustained(?) herself around somewhere a bit under 800 cals/day. She counted calories better than anyone here, and it was really sad.

My recommendation is to shoot for a 500 cal deficit a day, and get your butt to the gym more times a week. What you're eating is important, and you need to get all that good food in your body. Don't skimp on it. So since you are going to be eating all that great food, you need to bump up that metabolism as much as possible (since a calorie deficit can slow it down), and getting more weight training and cardio will help you do that, while burning calories and helping you lose weight faster. The food gives you energy, helps you build and maintain muscle, helps you work harder at the gym, improves your cardiovascular fitness, therefore preventing disease and all the ailments that go along with sedetary lifestyles.

Going too low for too long without a physician's careful watch can be dangerous. You will slow your metabolism, encouraging your body to store fat and break down muscle. Very low calorie diets are medically necessary for the extremely obese and are meant to be prescribed by doctors.



Yeah, I did it twice. Here are my stats using the formula:

You are female
You weigh 159 lbs. (72.1 kilos)
Your body fat percentage is 33% (52.5 lbs. fat, 106.5 lbs. lean)
Your lean mass is 106.5 lbs. (48.3 kilos)
Your BMR = 370 + (21.6 X 48.3) = 1413 calories

I figure my activity level is just over lightly active (I go to the gym 3X a week), so I guessed at BMR X 1.4 (Lightly is 1.375, Moderately is 1.55)

So 1413 X 1.4 is 1978 to maintain, 978 to lose 2 lbs a week, 1478 to lose 1lb a week. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Btw, my stats are:
5'4"
159 lbs
33% bf



How old are you?

You should work out the formula to maintain your goal weight and work with that.
Are you losing weight with your current diet?
If you are then stick with that, eventually the weight loss will slow and then you need to cut back another 500 cals.

1500+ calories a day. Try that, and see. I was heavier than you when I started and I got all the way down to 125 with 1500 cals a day. That calculator is not correct. Don't go too low or you'll end up tired and cranky and with no metabolism. :)

And that 1500 calorie diet I did included one 'free' day per week, even better.

Also, it looks like to me that you may need more protein in your diet?

For what it's worth, my wife was 5'2", 127lbs and 30% bf 4 weeks ago.

I worked out her BMR according to the Katch-McArdle (http://www.google.com/search?q=Katch-McArdle) formula with a lightly active profile she worked out to 1500 calories for maintenance. For a 1lb deficit per week the target cals should have been 1000/day, but I felt that was a bit low, so instead I reccomended 1200, and 30minutes of 70% cardio 5 days a week.

Now after 4 weeks she's down to 119 and feeling great.

Just anecdotal evidence...

I also think your diet seems light on protein, and you are getting all of it in one huge dose at the end of the day. Try shooting for a macronutrient ratio of 30/40/30 (fat/carbs/protein) and keeping that ratio for each and every meal. This will give you a nice even distribution of nutrients all day - a very important consideration.

You may just have to accept that fact that your weight loss may not be as fast as you’d like. However, if you keep a steady calorie deficit, 400-500 calories a day, supported by a well-designed diet & exercise routine, you can rest assured that the weight you lose will be fat, and not lean tissue. Losing lean muscle mass will reduce your metabolism, meaning after a while you’ll stop losing weight on your low-calorie diet, and you’ll be gaining it by eating at your former maintenance levels.

Sad but true, women just don’t have as much room to play around with calories. You need fewer calories, so you can’t, in general, cut as many out and still remain healthy. Better to increase the deficit by increasing your activity factor and keeping the calories consumed 1500 or more. Add cardio more days/week to increase your expenditure. Increase the duration of your cardio. It takes ~20 minutes to get into the fat-burning zone. With a 30-minute cardio session you’re only burning fat for 10 minutes. With a 40-minute cardio session, you’ve doubled the ‘useful’ time of your cardio, but you’ve only increased the actual duration by 33%.

Thanks for all the responses! I generally try to keep my diet to something close to 30/50/20 (protein, carbs, fat). I find it really hard to keep the carbs down, but for now I figure it isn't *too* bad. I will definitely try to have one of my 2 protein shakes in the morning, just to spread it out a little more - you're right, almost all my protein is in the evening.

I will try to hit the gym 4 days a week instead of 3, and do 40 minutes of cardio instead of 30 every time I go. After some thought, I figure doing more at the gym is easier than eating less. :)

Thanks again for all your input, I will keep you posted of any progress. Thanks!