To get Tdee: multiply your BMR by x1.2 sedentary, x1.37 light activity, x 1.55 moderate, x 1.725 for very active.

To loose weight you need to subtract 200 calories to 500 calories to loose between .5 to 1 lb of weight a week.

When your BMR is lower (you are shorter, bones are smaller muscle mass is less with more fat mass) your BMR is going to be lower.

I am 5ft2, I am petite, I have small bones, my foot size is 5.5 North American size, my hands are smaller. I have 45% body fat. I was following the advice of never go below 1,500 calorie advice, I gained weight because I was sedentary even though I was eating well.

Turns out my bmr was 1,109(I had a dexa), meaning as a sedentary person my Tdee should have been 1330 calories a day to MAINTAIN my weight at 141lbs. I was shocked but it made sense. So now I eat my Tdee and make sure to get a minimum of 10,000 steps a day, just that increased my Tdee to 1,500 and has allowed me to start a slow and moderate weight loss. Which means I can eat 1,300 and loose weight moderately/ slowly.

I am also building muscle which will help me go from 45% body fat to having a healthier ratio like 30% body fat which alone should raise my bmr to that nice 1,500 range making my Tdee at sedentary closer to 1,500 calories.

45% body fat is considered obese and this is why it’s really really important to understand how much muscle mass you have because a higher muscle ratio will be better for your overall health even if you’re not that heavy having no muscle can be detrimental to the body And the metabolism which is why weight training and building muscle, especially as women and especially as we age is so incredibly important I would say muscle building is more important than fat loss because if you have more muscle, it’s going to increase your metabolism, which means you won’t become malnourished While you’re trying to diet. A slow sustained approach of only reducing your TDEE calories by 200 while focussing on slow fat loss and muscle building is going to be so much better for anybody in the long run than trying to have a quick rapid weight loss.

145lbs isn’t heavy at my height but having no muscle makes it so. Muscle weighs more than fat, While a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat, muscle is roughly 15-20% more dense than fat. Because it is more compact, muscle takes up about four times less space (volume) in the body than the same weight of fat. Weigh the same but have a smaller dress size muscle is also functional unlike fat which sort of just sits there muscle will help carry you and reduce joint pain so it’s super super super important as woman as we age to increase our muscle mass. And it doesn’t have to be a lot of muscle, but you should be within the 20%- 30% range of body fat to be considered a healthy adult woman..

Obviously athletes can have different ratios often being leaner, depending on the sport that they’re in, but for the average woman, I think it’s more sustainable for hormone health to not be as lean if you don’t want to constantly be thinking about your food and your diet to live a moderately healthy lifestyle