Hey, I’m a 5’3 guy and I’m trying to dial in a calorie deficit, but I’m kind of stuck on what I should actually be eating. I weight around 144 to 143.

I work out pretty regularly (mostly weight lifting, and my goal is to get leaner without losing muscle. The problem is I keep seeing wildly different numbers online.

I was thinking somewhere around 1700 calories, but part of me feels like that might still be too high. At the same time, going under 1200 seems really aggressive and probably not sustainable, especially if I’m training.

For anyone around my height or with similar goals, what calorie range actually worked for you? And how did you balance fat loss without tanking your strength?

Just trying to get a realistic baseline instead of guessing. Appreciate any advice.