How Many Calories Do I Need to Maintain My Weight?
Question from Jenny: Was your weight maintenance/loss formula for PCOS women only? (Jenny was referring to a recent post I did on PCOS) . At 5′1″ and 123 lbs (and a longtime dieter) I’d have to eat 730 calories a day to lose 1/2 lbs a week. Is that right?
Answer from Martha: No, Jenny - that calorie level would be too low for you. The formula I used in that post was mainly geared towards women with PCOS. Women with PCOS tend to be insulin resistant and may have a more difficult time losing weight. Despite the fact that you say you are a chronic dieter, you are not obese by any means and likely are not insulin resistant (nor do you have PCOS - right?). Therefore your caloric needs would not be that low to lose weight. You would end up slowing your metabolism if you only ate 730 calories a day.
So assuming you are exercising moderately, you should need about 1750 calories to maintain your current weight (14 calories/pound) or 1440-1600 calories if you are not exercising (12-13 calories/pound). Therefore to lose 1/2 pound a week, you would subtract 250 calories a day from these levels: 1200 - 1500 calories a day.
Keep in mind that this is just a formula and needs to be fine tuned to meet the individuals needs. Taking your calories too low will actually slow your metabolism. I am going to write a post in the next few days on the topic of eating too few calories.
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