How many calories a day should I consume?

Question

I'm 5'4" and want to get down to 120 lbs. How many calories a day would I need to get there? Is 1200 to few???

Answer 1

If your goal is to lose weight by burning off excess body fat, aim to eat 500 fewer calories per day than your daily caloric needs, and maintain or increase your exercise activity. Do not go below 1200 calories per day unless you are on a medically supervised weight loss program or after consultation with your doctor.

Answer 2

It honestly depends. You can't just look at calories. You have to look at where they are coming from, fats, sugars, etc. It also depends on your age. If you are a teenager and still growing, I'd say to take in some more healthy calories. Eating healthy alone won't lose the weight easily, but couple it with exercise and you've got yourself a good combo. Make sure to eat well and exercise, don't just focus on calories, but focus on where they are coming from. An example would be:

A) 1 cup of mashed bananas, 200 calories, a lot of those come from the carbohydrates, but these are GOOD carbs, from a fruit. Bananas are high in potassium.

B) A pepsi. about 150 calories. Less then the mashed banana...but..ALL of the calories come from carbs. Bad carbs. It's LOADED with sugar. Upwards of 25grams of sugar per can! This isn't only pepsi, but relatively all pop.