How many calories should a 5 foot 2 woman eat to lose weight? A 5 foot 2 woman should aim to eat 1,500 calories based on her age and level of physical activity. This is the average amount of daily calories a woman of this height should consume in order to lose weight. However, if you want reliable results you need to track your calorie intake by using an app such as My Fitness Pal. The app allows you to choose your weight goals, height, and the level of physical activity to calculate the ideal caloric intake for your needs.
How Many Calories Should a Woman Eat per Day to Lose Weight?
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Whether you’re paleo or vegan, following Atkins or Dukan, or eating like women in France, you’ll probably lose weight if you follow the pre-set meal plans presented by these diets’ advocates. The authors of these plans may go into detail about why their specific approach to eating is superior to others, but really, they just offer different ways to cut calories. When you burn more calories than you consume, weight loss occurs.
Every woman has different levels of success with various diet plans, not because one diet works better than another, but because every woman has different caloric needs that vary according to body size, activity level, age and genetics. For weight-loss success, estimate how much you personally should eat per day to lose weight. Then, apply that amount to any balanced diet and watch pounds drop away.
Calculating Your Calories Per Day
The Harris-Benedict equation helps you estimate your basal metabolic rate, or BMR, which is how many calories you need daily to maintain your weight independent of daily activity and exercise. Many online calculators use this equation to give you a quick answer, but you can put pencil to paper to figure it out on your own. Plug your numbers into the following: 655 + (4.35 x your weight in pounds) + (4.7 x your height in inches) – (4.7 x your age in years). For a 40-year old, 5-foot, 5-inch woman weighing 160 pounds, the result comes out to 1,468 calories, for example.
Next, account for any movement you do during the day. If you’re pretty inactive and spend much of your time sitting, reading and watching television, multiply your basal metabolic rate, or BMR, by 1.4. If you have a job that requires mostly sitting, but you do make an effort to exercise about one hour most days, multiply your BMR by 1.5. If your day has you cleaning house and performing active chores as well as doing regular exercise, multiply the number by 1.6. For those who are active military, construction workers or a full-time athlete, multiply the BMR by 1.9.
How Many Calories Should a Five Foot Two Woman Eat to Lose Weight?
Whether you are trying to lose weight or gain muscle, knowing how many calories a five foot two woman should eat is important. The guideline for a healthy diet is based on a healthy diet plan for a 30-year-old woman who is 165 centimeters tall. Nevertheless, it is best to use a body mass index (BMI) calculator to get an accurate estimate of your caloric needs.
Using a calculator to calculate your daily caloric needs is a good idea, but if you want to know the exact number of calories you need, you must do the math yourself or use an online calculator. Remember that your body burns calories even when it is not moving. The resting metabolic rate is your body’s resting rate and will take into account your height, age, gender, and current weight.
Women need about 1,200 calories a day to maintain their current weight. However, if you exercise often or participate in physical activities, you will need more. If you’re under the minimum calorie requirements, your body will begin to burn excess fat. As a result, it will become more difficult to maintain a healthy weight. For this reason, it is important to increase your intake of foods rich in calories.
How Many Calories Should a Five Foot Woman Eat to Lose Weight?
Generally, a five-foot-tall woman should aim to eat between 1,300 and 1,800 calories per day. While one to two pounds per week may seem a bit much, a slower rate of weight loss is ideal for long-term success. A simple method for estimating a five-foot-tall woman’s caloric needs is to estimate her target body weight.
The Harris-Benedict equation estimates basal metabolic rate (BMR), or basal body weight. Using this formula, a woman should consume six 55 calories per day to maintain her ideal weight. A five-foot-tall man should eat between 148 and 183 pounds a day. This range does not account for increased muscle mass or illnesses. However, a five-foot-tall woman should increase her physical activity and eat more healthy foods. To do this, she should consult a dietitian nutritionist or a personal trainer.
How Much Should a Five Foot Two Girl Eat to Lose Weight?
If you’re five feet two inches tall and 126 pounds, then your calorie intake is probably pretty close to what a six-foot-four woman needs. However, you need to remember that her weight and activity levels are different. This means that you need to adjust your eating habits to match your own needs. You shouldn’t assume that a shorter woman will consume fewer calories than a taller one.
Minimal Calorie Needs for Women
If you’re like some women, the only way for you to achieve your weight-loss goal is to eat fewer than 1,200 calories per day, so it’s probably time to reevaluate your goals. You’ll likely lose valuable muscle mass, battle extreme hunger, have little energy for daily activity — let alone exercise — suffer nutrient deficiencies and slow your metabolism when you try to sustain a diet that’s so low in calories.
Instead of trying to subsist on such a low number of calories, increase your daily calorie burn. Move more by taking the stairs and walking at lunch as well as by hitting the gym for 60 to 90 minutes on most days of the week. You’ll be increasing your calorie deficit without depriving yourself.
The Calories It Takes for a 5-foot 2-inch, 126-Pound Female to Lose Weight
A woman who is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 126 pounds is not classified as overweight. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, she has a body mass index of 21.6, which is classified as a normal, healthy body weight. However, if her goal is weight loss, she can lose a few pounds and still be within a healthy weight category.
Healthy Weight Range
According to the University of Washington, a healthy weight range for a 5-foot-2 woman is 120 pounds, plus or minus 10 percent to account for differences in frame sizes. Therefore, small-framed women who are 5 feet 2 inches tall may weigh as little as108 pounds, while large-framed women of the same height can weigh up to 132 pounds and still be within a healthy weight range. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute classifies 5-foot-2 women who weigh less than 108 pounds as underweight, meaning they are at risk for nutrient deficiencies, fatigue and hair loss.
Calorie Deficit
If you’re 5-foot-2 and weigh 126 pounds, reducing your intake by 500 to 1,000 calories daily will help you shed 1 to 2 pounds per week. This rate of weight loss is safe and will help you keep lost weight off long term, notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You can also create a 500- to 1,000-calorie deficit by increasing your physical activity, or combining a reduced-calorie diet with a regular exercise program.
General Recommendations
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute provides general weight-loss recommendations for women. Based on these guidelines, a woman who is 5-foot-2 and weighs 126 pounds requires 1,000 to 1,200 calories daily for weight loss if she’s sedentary, but 1,200 to 1,600 calories daily to lose weight if she exercises regularly. Women should avoid dropping below 1,000 calories per day unless supervised by their doctor. Very low-calorie diets can cause nausea, fatigue, constipation, nutrient deficiencies and even gallstone formation, according to Weight-control Information Network.
Calories per Pound
You can use your goal weight to estimate your individualized calorie needs for weight loss. The University of Washington reports that eating 10 calories for each pound of your ideal, or desirable, body weight can help you reach your goal. For example, a 1,200-calorie diet will help a 5-foot-2 woman weighing 126 pounds with a goal weight of 120 pounds reach that goal. If you’re 5-foot-2 with a small frame, your goal weight should not fall below 108 pounds, and if you’re a medium-framed 5-foot-2 woman, your goal weight is about 120 pounds.
Calculating Your BMR for Weight Loss
The number of calories each individual burns per day is different depending on factors like age, size, sex, and activity level. Things like hunger hormones and medical conditions can also make it harder or easier for someone to lose weight. If you are trying to understand how to lose weight and manage your weight in the long term, you can get a general idea of how many total calories you should eat each day, to either maintain or lose weight, with the following formula:
- First find your BMR (basal metabolic rate: the amount of calories needed to perform your normal bodily functions at rest).
BMR = your current weight × 10 - Next, multiply your BMR by an activity factor.
BMR × 0.30 (for average daily activities) - Last, add your BMR to your activity factor.
Example for a 130- pound woman
130 pounds × 10 = BMR of 1,300 calories
1,300 calories × .30 = 390 activity factor
1,300 + 390 = 1,690 calories per day
BMR changes based on a person’s activity level. People who participate in regular physical activity more than three times a week will need to raise the activity factor to .40–.60. Similarly, muscle burns more than fat. People who participate in regular weight training and physical activities may have a higher percentage of muscle and a lower body fat percentage. This means their bodies burn calories more effectively.
How to Maintain and Lose Weight
The example shows that an average 130-pound woman can maintain her weight on 1,690 calories per day. Now, let’s say she wants to lose a few pounds. To lose weight, she needs to create a negative balance by reducing the number of daily calories and increasing her exercise to burn even more calories. For instance, she needs to get on a 1,400-calorie food plan, plus work out aerobically 4 –5 days per week. She’d have no problem shedding some weight safely and efficiently. The lower your starting body weight, the fewer calories you generally burn per day. This means that shorter or smaller women shouldn’t aim to lose weight at the same speed of their taller peers.
Plug your own stats into the formula, and figure out what it will take calorically to melt away those unwanted pounds. Understand that no one should ever eat less than 1,200 calories per day; you will slow down your metabolism and set yourself up to gain all the weight back. Even if you are very petite, and the math works out to be less than 1,200—stick with 1,200 calories and jack up your exercise.
If you decide to work with a nutritionist, remember: you want a food partner, not a food dictator! Find a qualified registered dietitian (R.D.) who will move at your pace and make you feel completely comfortable.