Is 1500 too small of a calorie intake for a 21 year old female?

[Anonymous]

Yes

No

[NerdHerd]

1200 is the absolute minimum for most people to consume and below that will kick start your body's starvation mode. Does heavily depend on height and weight of course (as well as activity level and gender) but 1200-2000 is the average safe zone for humans.. The more active you are the more you should eat. However I've found that personally 1400-1600 is a much more stable intake for me and I'm about your age. (Women should consume slightly less than men due to body type differences)

I've dabbled in health and nutrition so if you have any specific questions and you'd like to include height/weight/exercise level etc, I'd be happy to help you find a good range. Although it's more important to have a varied diet than calorie count.. your body can be starved of certain nutrients which can cause unwanted weight gain or loss.

[Asker]

I'm now on weight watchers so we will see how this goes 😳

[NerdHerd]

Alrighty, I'd be a little weary of some of those sights because a lot of stuff they advertise is for profit.. not usually because they care about health. I'd suggest checking out some nutrition books for college students (those tend to be more accurate) just to make sure you're still getting the nutrients you need. If your goal is to lose weight then please remember that muscle weighs more than fat so don't just rely on the scale, also feel how you fit in your clothes.. Also, muscle burns more calories than fat so if you build some muscle you could start to increase your calorie intake and still shrink in size (there's a limit point of course). A good goal is happy and healthy rather than trying to be "thin".

[Asker]

Thank you girly!

[Azara]

no. unless you are an athlete or doing physical labor all day.

Though, you did not really give enough information.

of example-

1500 is too much if you are 4.5 and weigh 75 pounds and sit at a desk all day.
or 150 with an incredibly slow metabolism.

1500 Is too little if you are 6.5 and weigh 170.
or if you are 5.5 weigh 120 and are physically active ten hours a day.
or if you have an absorption problem like with cystic fibrosis and need to eat twice as much as usually would have to.
or have a super high metabolism.. and are not trying to lose weight.

--Just make sure you get enough protein and vitamins and minerals.

[Asker]

I just enrolled in weight watchers so I think I'll be good :)

[ivaneca]

Depends on your build and activity levels.

Try this - https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

Obviously, you can't expect it to be incredibly accurate, but it might give you an idea of the normal calorie intake for you.

Generally though, if you're not losing or gaining weight, it means you're probably burning as much as you eat, so you can tell by that.

[Dubhlann]

Honestly, starving yourself can be one of the worst things you can do to lose weight. Once you start starving yourself your body will freak out thinking you're actually starving and start to slow down its metabolism, thus burning LESS calories.

[ArtDent]

She isn't going to go into starvation mode at 1500 cals

[eagleriverjohn]

It's toward the low side, but you can survive on it as long as you're not extremely active

[Asker]

I exercise 3-4 times a week

[eagleriverjohn]

Maybe eat a little more on those days that you exercise more maybe 1700-2000. Other than that that's fine.

[Asker]

Alrighty

[SmoMan]

Depends on your body type but that should be just fine.

[Maik567]

Depends entirely on your size and how much you burn calories.

[MrTexan37]

Age matters not on calorie intake what matters is height weight and what are you doing trying to lose weight or is this gonna be your daily intake

[ConsultantIsBack]

No not too small, not recommended long term tho in my opinion

[jaketsu]

how tall are you and how much do you weight

[Asker]

5'7 late 100s

[Mesonfielde]

A calorie is not a calorie, you know

[BelleGirl21]

Not at all. I wouldn't go much above that.

[brnxsweet]

Depends on your height and weight but it's decent

[Polocrew]

way too small unless you are like 5'2