Help -- I am a newbie wanting to start their fitness journey.

[poercellaine]

Hi! I'm a 5'3, 173.4lbs, 19 year old female wanting to start their fitness/weight loss journey, but wanting to do it the standard, traditional way (eating less + exercise) in the healthiest way possible. I tried keto, eating less, and exercising for a few days but became exhausted, so switched my goals to calorie counting!

Online calculators say my BMR/TDEE should be around 1700-1800, but I feel as though that's too high considering I rarely eat over 1700 when I used to count calories before. Fitbit says it's more like 1548. That would mean to lose a pound a week, I'd be restricting to 1048 calories a day. More if I want to lose 1.5lbs, which is what I want. Is that healthy, or am I doing something wrong?

Thank you! Any help is appreciated.

[Glenda · Accepted solution]

@poercellaine  You seem exactly right to me.  You can multiply anyone's weight by 10 and that is  about the  maintenance number of calories.  Reduce that by 500 to lose a pound a week.  Studies show that people who start an exercise program to lose weight,  almost always eat more and DON'T lose weight.  So you are right to not just make yourself exhausted.  Exercise is critical for good health but needs to be something you enjoy.  You are wise to concentrate on food to lose weight.  Except for people who like to cook and do it well.....most people eat about 10 different things over and over.  If you made a list of all the things you eat regularly, maybe you could find a substitute  that you would really enjoy eating for a couple of them, that had fewer calories?  Look for things you eat that have too much  fat, or any sugar or flour.  Mayo Clinic says it is fine to use artificial sweeteners to make it easy to avoid sugar.  Fat has the most calories as you know and sugar is very bad for us.  When you eliminate flour you might want to eat popcorn  sometimes just for something dry to eat.  Best wishes.  I'm sure you are going to do well..

[poercellaine]

Thank you so much for the quick and thorough response! I was so worried that I'd be undereating at 1048, but you've given me a lot of hope for my journey. I really appreciate it and will take all your tips into consideration 🙂

[Lexierox65]

Try Starting Your Fitbit Steps Up to 5000 minimum per Day, just by walking 🚶 to start, as I did that, & Now I Walk 🚶 10,000 steps every day to keep fit. Thanks Lexie xxx 

[PineyJim]

Glenda's input is spot on IMHO.  When I started my weight loss journey, I thought excercise was as important as calorie deficit.  Of course excercise is important for health,  it's very easy to "justify" a cheat meal/snack after a workout and blow the benefit. After a lot of trial and error, Iearned that 1300-1400 was my magic number for 1.5 LBS of steady loss with minimal (if any) stalls during my 14 month loss phase. 

Honest, accurate tracking of intake, every day, and every calorie was key to my 160 LB loss although I did and still do workout regurarly. 

You CAN do it!   Anyone can do it, once truely committed. 

[Glenda]

@Lexierox65   For decades I walked 5,000 steps in 40 minutes.  Then I got shingles and fell and  my exercise habit disintegrated.  Now I'm working my way back to it but I only am up to walking 27 minutes and much slower than before too.   If you told me I had to walk 5000 steps minimum  I wouldn't walk at all.  I'm working back up to it though.  Besides I walk more around the house and shopping.

[Lexierox65]

I didn't mean any disrespect, however this person is 18 yearold and asking
for ideas that was all. Thanks