5'2" and maintaining: how many calories?

Title is pretty self explanatory I think :) I'm wondering if anyone else out there is 5'2" (or thereabouts) and maintaining, how much do you weigh and how many calories do you eat to maintain? Also how active are you?

 You could say that brushing your teeth is a compulsive act of behavior too. Couldn't you? Why would you otherwise do it everyday? Omg.

Everyone has a routine throughout their day. Do what works for you and blow off everyone elses bs answers. Suggestions are wonderful as is good advice. However, at the end of the day none of it matters. Just try different things, until you find what works for you.

Everyone is different.

I'm between 5'2" and 5'3", but I'm not quite at maintenance. I still have 5 pounds to go to get to maintenance (and 3 extra vanity pounds) and I will still be in a normal range.

To maintain where I am at now, I would need to eat 1700-1800 a day.

To maintain at my goal weight will be around 1400-1500 a day.

I am always moving around, and burn anywhere from 300-500 calories in daily exercise.

hi,I am 4:10 three years ago I put on almost 13 pounds and sinse I am trying to loose those pounds ,sometimes I loose 7 pounds and regain them quickly ,I am back to exersise ( steps aerobics)I can do 90 min easily ,but it seems exersises don't work alone and I am wweak when it comes to diet .I need buddies to help  me.

i'm 5'2" and 110 lbs trying to maintain this weight while toning up while also trying to pull myself out of starvation mode. this site says i need 1500 calories a day to maintain and i have a moderate activity level.

I'm 5'3, 125 lbs and have been maintaining this weight for a little over a year - (from a high of 186lb) on roughly 2000 calories a day.  Some days I eat  more, as much as 2300, other days as little as 1800, I just try to keep a balance between the two amounts.

I lift very heavy 3-4 times a week, do HIIT once a week and some form of incline intervals cardio once a week and have a fairly low bodyfat% (18.65%)...so I get to eat a little more just because my body needs more food to maintain its current weight.

Just to add my 2cents on the calorie counting discussion earlier in this thread...while it's a given that everyone has to do what works for them, it's also a fact that somewhere between 85%-90% of people who lose weight fail to maintain that loss.  Among the people who do maintain significant weight losses for 5 or more years, one of the common stratagies they share is to continue keeping daily track of their food intake:  whether it's in the form of journaling, counting calories, WW points, portion sizes, whatever.

I always monitor my portion sizes and most days I just keep a loosely running calorie tally in my head...with a goal of not going too far over or under 2000.  I weigh weekly, and if the scale ever creeps above 2lbs over, I go back to writing everything down and keeping it at 1800 until I'm back to "normal" weight...only had do to this twice in the last year though.

And yea, it's a pain in the tush having to be watchful over calories and portion sizes...but I've accepted that it's going to be something I'll have to do in some form for the rest of my life if I want (and I do want) to stay lean.  It's preventative.

As for counting and maintaining, I do find it somewhat distressing that so many people don't maintain their losses.  But I peg a lot of that on the "diet" mentality a lot of people have.  There's a difference between learning what's in stuff and building good habits and deciding it's time to stop agonizing over every calorie (when, really, the best foods are the ones without nutrition labels whose precise content varies with the seasons and subspecies) and saying "all right, goal reached, let's go back to normal eating."

If you need the strictness of counting and measuring to keep from going back to that, I can see that.  I know to me it leads to over-counting, under-eating, going hungry, eating too much at night and feeling miserable.

I think another reason people gain weight back is dieting below one's set point. (man was it a relief when I remember my old weight was not only based on less excercise and eating until stuffed, but four years of taking an ssri.) 

I'm not trying to stop anyone from continuing to count.  Different things work for different people.  But it's not necessary to do so in order to eat healthy, once you know the basics of good nutrition.  I find it's easier to listen to your body, but if one's body is saying "eat chocolate, eat pizza, large quantities, all the time... I can see how counting might help."

 

hi shiptona, thanks for the information but what about 4:10 there are many many persons with that height ,I am one of them ,how many calories do they need to mantain?

Info I came across a few years ago in the book Turbo Protein Diet says to maintain desirable weight consume 11 calories per pound of weight.  It does matter where the calories come from.  I highly recommend the Almased Diet Program featured in Dieter Markert's book.  The book itself is THE BEST I have come across to explain how carbs and sugar affect your body and yo-yo dieting.  Good luck maintaining

Hi everyone,

Im not 5'2" but i find it interesting how different people of similar height and weight maintain on different no. of calories.

E.g. im 5'4", 103 pounds and maintain on 1800 to 2300 calories. I strength train for 15 minutes on alternate days. I don't do much cardio as I don't want to lose any weight.

My body fat % is 16.6... Im not sure if that plays a role in how fast your metabolism runs.

Anyways, thats my two cents. Carry on, interesting opinions!:) 

 

PERANNUM-wow, you must have a super small frame to maintain that weight, which i do believe is technically underweight?  im the same height but about 110 and still looking to gain a solid 10-20lbs.

Yeap, I do have a very small body frame but I am also underweight.

If I eat 2300 and above, I know I can gradually gain weight.

Agruskin how many calories do you consume daily in order to gain weight?

hi perannum-

im eating at least 2500/day but sometimes up to 3000 and either way i have the same rate of gain.  ive been underweight a while and only in the past few months got serious about gaining bc there are no benefits to being underweight.  at about 5'4 i think a weight of 125-135 or something would be optimal.  oh, also, im n ot very active and try to do toning/free weights a couple times a week only.

Hey, we're pretty similar... except that I need to put on a bit more weight.

The aim for me right now is to build a bit of muscle, and Ive read that you need to increase your food intake by 3500 calories for each pound of muscle. So I'll start eating between 2500-3000 to get there...

My highest weight was 120 pounds a year and a half ago, and then I dropped to 98 pounds and now up to 103 pounds. Id be content at 110 pounds i think..

 

imabout 110 and i think id look better at at least 125, at least i thought i looked great when i was around there, maybe a bit higher like 130, a few years ago. when you gain anything, some will be fat, even if youre doing weights just to let you know, but thats ok, its needed and part of being a woman.  how much weight lifting or whatever are you doing?  factor it into your intake as well. 

I'm only doing 15 mins of strength training a day... but I think Ill need to up my calories straight away to allow some growth of muscle.

Like yesterday i ate 2000 calories, maybe today i can have 2300...

hi, so if you want to gain weight you need to eat at least 2500, everyday, for 2 weeks, if you dont meticulously count calories, which i think is a nasty habit anyways, then just estimate.  AFTER the 2 weeks weigh yourself.  if youve gained 2lbs then stay at the 2500, if youve gained 1-2lbs then increase by 250 cals, aanything less that a 1lb gain you need to then add about 500 cals. 

sounds like youre on you way to getting healthy again!

Thanks for the tips agruskin!

Yeap, I think eating more and exercising more gives you so much more energy to enjoy all that life has to offer.

But when you're stuck in the mentality that being stick-thin is the best thing for you and avoiding activity, you're losing out on so many joys, and the rest of the world misses out on seeing you happy and full of life!

In quite the optimistic mood today, may aswell pass it on:)

so happy youre doing+feeling well!  when i wasnt eating enough i had like no energy and my father thought i was depressed, once i started eating more it was like, oh, ok, i just didnt have the energy to be happy and live life.  so yes, it may seem counterintuitive to want to eat+be healthy is this crazy world but you are doing the right thing!

keep it up! spread the joy! lol

hehe I didn't even realise how cranky I was when I was eating 1200 calories or less. And eating carbs gives you so much more energy and controls the moods. I think I have quadripled how many carbs i eat now, coz I've noticed the difference they make.

Go carbs, their not the bad guys..

 

yea, 1200 is the MINIMUM for an adult female to lose weight, deff not enough for someone to live on unless they want to lose weight rapidly or whatever.

carbs are not bad, theyre the biggest source of energy.  no food is bad persay, not treats or whatever you considar a bad food to be, some things should be in moderation more than others but everything should be incuded in order to have a good balanced "diet".