1200 Calories and Short Women

Hello - I almost fear asking anything about 1200 calorie intake, but I can't find any other information here on CC that answers my question, so I'll just have to ask it myself!

I am 40 year old woman, 5'1" and weigh 128 lbs (down from 152 in July).  CC tells me I burn 1550 (on the sedentary level) and I should eat 1250.  I have been sticking to an intake of 1200 - 1300 every day as well as going to the gym (mainly cardio) or running (about 5 miles) 6 days a week.  I have been managing a 600 - 700 calorie deficit 6 days a week.  My weight loss was very consistent until about a month ago, at which point I stopped losing, totally.  I understand the concept of a plateau and I understand it could last a long time.  What I'm unsure about is the chance that keeping my calories low could have lowered my metabolism and that's why I'm not losing any more. 

My question is how to handle the situation since I don't have much room to alter my calories, I can't lower them any more, but I can't increase them much and still maintain any type of deficit.  All I know is I'm stuck at half way.  What is the best way to proceed to get back to losing?

Thanks!

If you've been maintaining that calorie deficit then there is zero chance you've not been losing fat - it's just not possible. You could be losing at a lower rate, for sure, but you've probably also been gaining muscle weight. If I were you I'd start clocking waist/thigh/arm measurements and body fat percentages and not worry about what the scale says. Your deficit sounds fine, perhaps a little higher than necessary but not unhealthily so. Don't worry too much - you sound like you're doing really well.

Be aware that your body can only burn 31 calories of fat per pound of fat every day.  So, if you have 20% body fat (to pick a number out of thin air), any deficit over 750 calories would be counterproductive.  If your bodyfat% is lower, you'll need an even smaller deficit.  Maybe try dropping to a deficit of 400-500 calories per day instead?

Thank you both for your input.  Susiecue, I don't believe I knew that 31 calories fact, if I did, I had forgotten it.  I will need to remember that. 

Have you experimented with increasing your caloric intake a bit?  I know that for a lot of people, they just need a little boost to their metabolism to break the plateau, so I would give it a try.  Like susiecue said, try a 400-500 calorie deficit to start instead of such a big one.  As long as you have a deficit, even if it's small, you'll lose weight.  Some people start losing weight faster when they eat more.

You can increase your calories by plenty. You only burn 1550 if you do absolutely nothing but lay in bed all day. You burn way more than 1550 doing cardio and running 5 miles 6 days/week.

You said you intake 1200-1300 and have a 600-700 calorie deficit; that means your net intake is 500-600.

I think the first thing you need to do is adjust your settings to "very active." Create only a few hundred calorie deficit for a while & see if your body recognizes that you're not going to starve it anymore.

if i were you i'd change-up the workout routine. add in more strength training, or (since you're a runner) try swimming a couple times a week. the problem with doing any type of exercise at such a consistent level is that our bodies become more and more efficient (and therefore burn less calories) at that exercise.

i agree with some of the other answers here, as well. try increasing your intake a bit and see what happens!

stick with it! ;)

Original Post by freshbakedpi:

You said you intake 1200-1300 and have a 600-700 calorie deficit; that means your net intake is 500-600.

 

No, it means the net intake is minus 600 or 700 - that is, eating ~1200 calories and burning ~1800 calories (1550 by just existing, the extra 250 through exercise). Over the week that's going to be a 3600-4200 calorie deficit, assuming no deficit on the 7th day, which means the loss of about a pound per week (1 pound = 3500 calories). If your net intake is over zero you will gain weight.

I have my activity set at sedentary, then I add in the burn for any extra exercise.  I do mix up the gym work, but our gym does not have a pool.  I recently completed the C25k program, which is why I am running 3 days a week - I think it's important for me to stick to that schedule until I become an established runner. 

Last week I took the full week off from counting (it was Thanksgiving here and we were out of town) and didn't work out at all, just normal busy stuff.  I'm hoping that will aid in kicking my weight loss back up.  My goal has been to hit 125 by Christmas and I thought I was going to surpass that, until the past month. 

While I recognize the importance of being healthy over being a certain weight, I'm feeling very let down after all this work and it doesn't look like I'll make my Christmas goal.  Thank you everyone who offered up advice.

Yes, I am retarded. Thank you for your correction & illustrating my point.

One day she eats 1200 calories (btw I'm a short gal & calorie count recommends I eat 1250 to lose, however my rmr is 1350)

She burns 485 running 5 miles in addition to her BMR of 1550.

http://www.runnersworld.com/channel/0,7119,s6-242-0-0-0,00.html?cm_ re=HP-_-Homepage%20Channel-_-Nutrition%20And% 20Weight%20Loss

IN 1200

OUT 2035

She has plenty of room to eat more.

I would try upping your calories and adding strength training.  Maybe run just a little less and lift weights 2 days a week.  If you don't want to lift weights, think about high intensity interval training (HIIT).  You can get more a fat burn with HIIT than continuous steady state cardio and you only need to do it about twice a week.  

The way I see it, if you've got a deficit and you're not losing weight, you might as well eat your maintenance calories - you won't be losing weight either way. After you've maintained for a while, you could then try dropping your calorie intake again. This worked for me when I hit a plateau, I didn't gain any weight by increasing my intake to a maintenance level and basically started fresh from a new weight when I reduced my intake again. I ate maintenance calories for about a month.

Hi there

I am also a shorty, I'm 1.48m tall and currently weigh 56kg and have a small to medium bone structure.  What I have learned is to keep changing my calorie intake as to not plateau.Example for normal fat loss: Mon=1175, Teus=986,Wed=1410,Thurs=1175,Fri=1058,Sat=129 3,Sun=1175.

For extra fat loss from Mon to Sun as follows:986,986,1183,986,986,1085,986. I would recommend that you not follow this for more than two weeks a month and to be safer every other month for two weeks only.

Hope this will help some.Kind regards.

Rene'

ren64, sorry to say, but you are eating too little. 1200 is the absolute minimum.

The 1200 Calories a day is guideline, and doesn't fit for everyone.  If you are  tall even 1200 a day is to low, but if you are "short" like Ren64 (4'9") then there must be a different minimum... Right?

Original Post by fourfolks:

The 1200 Calories a day is guideline, and doesn't fit for everyone.  If you are  tall even 1200 a day is to low, but if you are "short" like Ren64 (4'9") then there must be a different minimum... Right?

 NO!!!  Eat!! I am 5'0" and I got fantastic results when I upped my calories from 1200 to 1600-1800 while adding strength training.  Now with all the extra muscle and continuing strength training, I eat 2000 to maintain.  1200 is really too low for most everyone.

What about a midget or a dwarf,  wouldn't it be a mistake to apply big persons science to little people?  At 5 feet you are not in that category, but under 5 feet you are considered a little person.

It's my understanding that the 1200 number is more about internal organs and less about body mass. 

Original Post by a_mckh:

It's my understanding that the 1200 number is more about internal organs and less about body mass. 

That makes sense, cell regeneration needs to be kept up to be healthy and even if my legs are shorter, kidneys and such are probably pretty similar in size.