1500 calories a day

[roobyro]

Hi
I am now 14 stone 7 and need to lose weight. I started yesterday and have eaten 1500 calories both days. I'm fearing this may not be low enough to lose anything. I have dieted over the years and discovered not eating a proper dinner is what makes me most miserable. Therefore I am eating a very small lunch and banking my calories for dinner time. Trying to do some exercise as well (although, this is tough as I have never really exercised in my life).

Do you think this is going to work? I need to break bad habits which have crept in- mainly snacking!

Yes you can absolutely do this.

I do calorie controlled diet and have lost 2 stone since November. Slow and steady is better than over restricting because it becomes unsustainable in the long term.

I use an app called my net diary
It's free and if you enter your height and weight and how much you want to lose (eg 1lb a week) it sets you a calorie target.

You can then scan the barcode for anything you eat in and it tracks your calories.

The only thing I would say is make sure you actually weigh your food because it's easy to over eat without realising your portions are too big.

I lost 5kg from eating 1650 a day and am currently another 6kg down from eating 1500 a day. It definitely works! And it doesn't make me feel deprived.

@effiesgoldwig thanks so much!
Do you think 1500 calories is too much? I need to lose weight but also be a realistic as I don't want to fall off the wagon!

@Sanct this is what I need to hear!!

I have done very low calorie diets before such as 1000 and never been able to last more than a couple of weeks.

Yeah you will definitely lose weight, just slowly probably. Go on a website calculator to find out exactly what your BMR is (the amount of calories you burn in a day just by existing). As you gradually find it easier to exercise then your bmr will be get higher anyway, because people who exercise more burn more calories at rest (in addition to the calories burned actually during the exercise).

You'll get there, definitely! 1500 a day will probably make a massive difference in 6 months

Look up TDEE calculator online and put in your details.

I've attached mine, anything you eat below the 'maintenance' calories is deficit and you should lose weight. For 1 lb loss a week you want to aim for about 500 below your maintenance number every day

I'm on just under 1800 calories a day - I've just reduced it by 100 calories a day as the less you weigh the less you're allowed to eat and still lose weight. I'm now 15st7 and it's still coming off for me at this rate, just very slowly. I'm considering dropping it a little more in the next few weeks.

Yikes! Less than 1500 calories per day is rather extreme.

I lost a lot of weight but it has taken me about a year and the key is not to crash diet.
Because you then go back to normal, and end up putting on more weight than you started with.

I don't calorie count, and weigh 9.5 stone (down from 12 stone a year ago) which at my height is still at the upper end of healthy BMI.

I'd like to lose a bit more, so since two years ago I have basically had to change my attitude to everything I eat or drink (cutting out booze particularly) every day and if I give it another year I'll probably be about 8.5 stone which is my ideal but then I can't go back to eating like I did when I was bigger, you need to permanently eat less but only a bit less if you know what I mean.

Also, if you have the time, exercise more but only a bit each week don't go crazy.

Thank you so much everyone.
I have never really exercised (I'm ashamed to say). Even when at school and a size 8 I never did PE. However, tonight I did 30 minutes of dance and exercise bike and although tired, feeling better. I don't actually feel hungry but I'm craving something sweet. I really want to do this, so going to resist 😬

I aim to eat 1400 calories a day and double my weight in protein and have seen a difference. Saying that you need to be doing exercise as well.
I usually have porridge and boiled egg for breakfast, chicken/tuna salad for lunch and something like a protein bar in the afternoon. Then in the evening I usually have half a packet of uncle bens rice, fajita chicken and veg (not the wrap) or stir fry or something like veg and salmon.
It fills me up x

How tall are you???

I'm 5'5 and it's do able. You just need to adjust to what is manageable for you. I find eating more in the morning easier, I always go to bed a bit hungry

If you crave something sweet in the evenings you could try sugar free jelly or a little fruit such as strawberries or a tangerine.

Also freeze grapes and can then suck them like sweets.

Work out your tdee and go from there. My calories are less than 1500 as I’m stupidly short and have less to lose now. I use my fitness pal, I just have the free membership and it does everything I need it to. Through a calorie deficit I’ve managed to lose 4 stone. Have another stone to go to get where I want to be and then I’ll go into maintenance.

Upping protein massively helps as you feel fuller longer and also helps preserve your lean muscle. Also drinking plenty of water helps. I only eat between 11am and 7pm and I find planning my next day’s meals stops me grabbing whatever is to hand when I get hangry. I try and stay away from anything too carb heavy but I wasn’t a huge carb lover anyway.

https://www.jamessmithacademy.com/macro-calculator/ This is a good website for working out your TDEE, the figure you get from it essentially tells you how many calories you can eat and lose weight.

As others have said, use a free TDEE calculator to work your calories out.
I'm 5ft 6, 10 stone 8lbs and I get just over 1600 calories a day to lose at a steady rate of 1lb a week.
I use weight loss resources. It's not free but a great site. Links to your fitbit, works out your protein, carbs etc. You get a 24hr free trial if you're interested in trying it. I lost weight using it, really found it helpful.. but have since put some on- so I've re-joined to lose a bit of weight for summer!

Really refreshing to see no posts saying they gain weight on 1500 calories a day. 1650 is plenty enough to eat good food and not feel hungry just track and log everything and use scales they take the guess work out of it.

I wouldn't gain weight but I doubt I'd lose much on 1500. Currently doing 1200. It's hard, but doable.

According to my fitbit I burn an average of 1700 calories a day. This varies from 1500 on a day where I am largely working at a desk and do little else to 2500 on a weekend day where I am active all day.

I am losing extremely slowly (0.2 kg a week) on 1200-1400 calories a day but am almost at my target weight. A few months ago when I had more to lose I was losing 0.5kg a week. I don't feel hungry though as I stick to a largely whole food diet with lots of veg which makes my calories go far.