I am a 20 year old woman, 5'3", weigh about 132 lbs., I do cardio every day for about an hour (burning between 450-600+ calories daily) and weight train a couple of times a week. I've calculated my BMI to determine how many calories I need, but it seems very high to me. I'm convinced that if I ate that many calories per day, I would gain weight. How many calories should I consume to lose weight? maintain weight?
I appreciate any useful advice! 10 points for the most thorough.
2007-09-10 14:14:12 · 2 answers · asked by nirvana9 3 in Health ➔ Diet & Fitness
Most of the calculators are WAY off. My suggestion would be to pick a number and follow it for a week and see how it goes. You can always change it. Based on your age and activity level I'd start at around 1800 calories. The minimum for a healthy woman is 1200.
2007-09-10 14:20:25 · answer #1 · answered by janisko 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
body needs (for people under 150lbs) about 50cal/hour just for basic functioning and thats 1200cal/day.
dont count calories burned doing cardio because machines dont show the right number - just do it 4-6 times a week for average of 45min - never go over an hour.
enter "daily calorie intake calculator" in search engine and it will give you several sites - check a few to compare because they vary a little and some tell you only maintenance number while some give weight loss and even carbs, proteins needed a day.
2007-09-10 14:23:22 · answer #2 · answered by Natalie 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋