Cut back to 1200 calories a day then up to 1500?

[Anonymous]

I am 45 and had an easy time with my weight until the past 18 mos. I am 5’4” and normally weighed around 110. I gained 12 lbs in the past 18 mos. i think it is hormones shifting and making me feel hungrier/eat more than I used to eat. I was eating about 1900-2000 calories a day most of my life. I exercise an hour a day 5-6 days a week.

My question is if I go to the 1200 calorie a day plan, can I lose 12 lbs? And once I am there, can I go up to 1500 a day to maintain it? Or will I have reset my metabolism and any increase will just lead to more weight gain?

[Anonymous]

1200 calories is starving. Up your exercise if you are worried. You are still very thin. You are going to weigh more as you get older. Deal with it.

[Anonymous]

Read the hormone cure by sara gottfried

[Anonymous]

You had a very fast metabolism if you were 5'4 and 110 eating 1900-200 calories. I am the same height and at times have been a meticulous recorder of intake and ate 1700 with the same amount of exercise to weigh 125. You sound like the perfect weight now. Enjoy it and focus on maintaining.

[Anonymous]

5’4” and 122lbs? Sounds wonderful. Accept and enjoy your new weight. Keep exercising daily. You sound very healthy as is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5’4” and 122lbs? Sounds wonderful. Accept and enjoy your new weight. Keep exercising daily. You sound very healthy as is.

+100 Just about to say this! You sound perfect. 110 sounds underweight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1200 calories is starving. Up your exercise if you are worried. You are still very thin. You are going to weigh more as you get older. Deal with it.

It's really not starving, if you're 5'4. Your advice to eat more and up exercising makes no sense.
The only way to lose weight is to eat less. And as we age we should eat less.

[Anonymous]

It's this simple. 12 pounds over 18 months is 0.15 pounds per week. A pound is 3500 calories, so you were eating 525 extra calories per week than your body needed or 75 calories extra per day. 75 calories per day could be anything - it could be 20% more cereal/milk in your bowl than usual. It could be a 20 ounce soda every few days. It could be a slice of cake on Friday night. It could be a few glasses of wine on the weekend. This should be an easy lifestyle adjustment to make

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's this simple. 12 pounds over 18 months is 0.15 pounds per week. A pound is 3500 calories, so you were eating 525 extra calories per week than your body needed or 75 calories extra per day. 75 calories per day could be anything - it could be 20% more cereal/milk in your bowl than usual. It could be a 20 ounce soda every few days. It could be a slice of cake on Friday night. It could be a few glasses of wine on the weekend. This should be an easy lifestyle adjustment to make

Also I should have added that no hormonal changes are necessary to scapegoat for this weight gain. 75 calories on a 1900 calorie diet is only a margin of error of 4%. The only real problem you have is that you let that small error go uncorrected for so many months

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am 45 and had an easy time with my weight until the past 18 mos. I am 5’4” and normally weighed around 110. I gained 12 lbs in the past 18 mos. i think it is hormones shifting and making me feel hungrier/eat more than I used to eat. I was eating about 1900-2000 calories a day most of my life. I exercise an hour a day 5-6 days a week.

My question is if I go to the 1200 calorie a day plan, can I lose 12 lbs? And once I am there, can I go up to 1500 a day to maintain it? Or will I have reset my metabolism and any increase will just lead to more weight gain?

At 45, if you are 5'4 and weigh 122, you seem super skinny. At 45 I was about 133. I was pretty slim. I work out ALOT. At 50, my weight really is inching up. I am obsessed with it. I am now 139 and work like hell to keep it there. The only good thing is that I still only wear a size 6. Thank God for muscle memory. I never thought that I would be one of those people who gained weight at 50. Ha! Boy was I wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:5’4” and 122lbs? Sounds wonderful. Accept and enjoy your new weight. Keep exercising daily. You sound very healthy as is.

122 at 5"4 is great! 110 would look anorexic honestly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am 45 and had an easy time with my weight until the past 18 mos. I am 5’4” and normally weighed around 110. I gained 12 lbs in the past 18 mos. i think it is hormones shifting and making me feel hungrier/eat more than I used to eat. I was eating about 1900-2000 calories a day most of my life. I exercise an hour a day 5-6 days a week.

My question is if I go to the 1200 calorie a day plan, can I lose 12 lbs? And once I am there, can I go up to 1500 a day to maintain it? Or will I have reset my metabolism and any increase will just lead to more weight gain?

Your body is going to go into starvation mode if you work out that much on 1200 calories. You'll feel like crap and all you will lose is strength.

[Anonymous]

Are you still gaining weight and if not how many calories are you currently eating?

1200 is a reasonable amount for a goal of 100 lbs, but you may not need to go so low if you are currently eating and maintaining at say 1900.Personally I would go down to 1500 and see how you feel and how the scale reacts. Track your weight over the course of a month. If you lose then stay there. If you aren't losing adjust down. It's always better and more sustainable to slowly adjust down as needed then to be extremer right out of the gate.

Once you hit your goal weight slowly adjust calories up to figure out your maintenance calories.

Dieting won't ruin your metabolism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5’4” and 122lbs? Sounds wonderful. Accept and enjoy your new weight. Keep exercising daily. You sound very healthy as is.

122 at 5"4 is great! 110 would look anorexic honestly.

Really depends on the body type. I have a small frame and looked great at 5’5” 115lbs much of my adult life. Just turned 40 and 10 lbs have snuck on. I’m struggling to get them off before it gets worse.