How many calories should i eat in one day?

Question

i am counting calories. i weigh 117 lbs, i am 5'3", and i am 25. i exercise on a regular basis, but not to the extreme. i run about 1 mile everyother day, i do yoga, and light weight repetions for my arms for toning, and i also do ab exercises. i dont like to eat more than 1,000 calories per day. my co-workers freaked out when i told them that. they said they i am depleting my body, especially since i exercise. am i really doing harm to my body? how may calories should i intake to maintain my weight? does my exercise really burn alot of calories?

Answer 1

With your current workout regimen, you can eat about 2000 calories a day and maintain your current weight. You're only consuming 1,000 calories now and also doing physical fitness which is stripping your body of the necessary nutrients you need for a normal day.

You can safely raise your caloric intake to about 2,000 calories and not have to worry about gaining weight. Just keep your sugar intake down, as well as dairy products, and you'll be fine.

Answer 2

The actual amount of caloric intake required for you to maintain your weight will vary depending on your RMR (resting metabolic rate). If you have been taking in 1000 calories per day and doing the exercise you mention and maintaining the 117 pounds, then you have found a satisfactory balance for you. If you increase the exercise, increase the caloric intake, or you could start to lose weight. Since you are relatively petite, 1000 calories is NOT all that low.

Answer 3

Check out this page for your daily caloric needs http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm It says, for your stats, assuming 5 days a week of exercise (there are other choices) that your cals should be:
Maintenance: 1822 Calories/day
Fat Loss: 1458 Calories/day
Extreme Fat Loss: 1093 Calories/day


also on that site you can click the link for "calories burned" on the left, to see how many calories are burned doing certain activities for a specified amount of time.

Your calorie intake is TOO LOW. Never go under 1200 a day without a doc's okay. What you are doing is putting your body into starvation mode, so your metabolism slows down, burns less/hoards more. I've been there and out of my foolishness I now have the metabolism of a snail on downers. My heartrate is slow, and I have to work twice as hard as anyone I know, to lose half the weight...

It's not worth it...eat 4 - 6 small meals a day to keep your metabolism burning higher, and check the link above for recommended daily calorie intake. Very low cals may initially cause faster weightloss, but it also causes easier weight gain and more difficulty losing weight down the road.

Answer 4

The average woman needs about 2000 a day, but i'd say have a little more for all the exercise you do. 1000 is far too little! i think that you should just stop counting calories and just eat when your hungry, because i used to be like you too. It might be hard to start suddenly eating, i had to add extra things each week or something. That way you can gradually build up your calorie intake and maintain it.

Good luck, you'll feel better, i promise.

X x x X

Answer 5

First of all you need to find out what your resting metabolism is. I am 170lbs, 5'3", workout 5 times a week, run a mile every other day and my calorie intake is 1400. That's because my resting metabolism is 1200; which basically means that if I chose to lie in bed all day, I could still burn 1200 calories. Needless to say, with all that I am doing, and had started only this year, I have lost 30lbs and still losing.

Answer 6

Your average daily meals should be based on a 2000 calorie diet. The reason you see this on a lot of products is because if you consume more than that, obviously you are over eating. If you consume less, your body will know you dont have enough food/ or energy in your system... so it will automatically take whatever you ate, and store it as fat because your body will need something to rely if you dont give it enough. So even if you're eating less, you may not be necessarily be eating right. However, diet and exercise isn't always enough. Consult with you doctor if you feel you are missing something.

Answer 7

You need to eat at least 1200 a day. Anything less can cause your body to go into starvation mode.

You need to figure out your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), which is the # of calories your body burns on its own each day. If you want to maintain your weight, you would eat that # of calories or more if you do exercise a lot. If you want to lose (which it doesn't look like you need to), you would eat less.

Answer 8

Hey girl im 5'3 and 107 but i used to be 115 and i made my calorie intake 1300 for the day,and only worked out for like 30 min cardio on the stair STEPPER [tread mills dont work for people just trying to loose a little bit of weight] and doin crunches and leg lifts and squats and stuff... yeah if you eat too little of calories your body will store it as fat becuase it thinks you are starving yourself and it wants to "Save some for later" but if you keep consistant with under 1500 calories and work out your body will love it and youll loose those last few pounds

Answer 9

As a adult, you need to eat an absolute minimum of 1200 calories per day, and most active people need an absolute minimum of 1500 calories per day. Most people who are maintaining their weight do best at about 2000 calories per day.

Answer 10

You really aren't eating enough calories. You need about 2000 every day to stay around your weight because exercising does burn a lot of calories. Especially yoga and running.