How much should I be eating?!?

Ok, I just don't know how much I should be eating, even though I've been dieting for about two months.

I'm a 5'3 19 year old female. I weigh 127 right now. I was mostly just dieting, with little exercise. I ate 1300 calories a day and have lost 5 pounds or so.

I really don't wanna be skinny fat, so I've starting running 2 miles a day and a little bit of weight lifting afterwards, but I'm getting so hungry!! I'm not the type of person that can go hungry at all! Today, I ate 1500 calories, possibly more if I'm incorrect in my counting (hopefully not!).

So, exactly how much do you think I should be eating a day to reach my goal weight of 120??

1500 calories is the bare minimum for a female teenager who sits around all day. You're active so you need more than that, say 1800 to 2000 calories. The running is great and burning more calories means you get to eat a bit more.

I'm a fairly active female as well, I weight 162 right now, with a long term goal of 145 and a short term goal of 150, which will actually be a pretty low body fat % for me.

You can use calorie count to get your calorie target.  I'm assuming running that much takes you 20-30 minutes?  That's probably 200-300 calories per day burned, add in weight lifting, and you've probably got another 100 going for you.

Hmm. When I plug your numbers into the calorie target tool, it says 1200 if you are sedetary, 1400 if you are light activity, and 1700 for moderate activity.  1200 and 1400 seem a bit low to me, but its all for naught if undereating causes you to give up or binge.

Personally, I'd try to eat 1500 on days that you workout, and if you are hungry, focus more on high fiber foods, like fruits and vegetables, etc.  Good luck.

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