Wondering if I'm on the right track...
 

So this week I'm really working on meal planning and staying within the calorie budget. So I know I calculate my bmr and try to get 3500 or 7000 calories off of that in a week, to lose one or more pounds.

So that puts me at 2543.34 cals a day with the 1.2 slightly active
For a 2lb deficit in a week I should only consume 1543.34 cal a day.

But fitday says I should eat 1684
And spart people said I should eat between 1550-1900 calories.

I put the same goals in at each pleace to go from 301 to 175 by Oct 10, 2010.

Now I think I have too much information.

Yesterday I worked out at the gym. I had a apple and a yogurt for snack before my workout and after my workout I had my lunch big salad with chicken and I still seemed so hungry after even though i was very filled up. it was strand, I was wondering if it was afterburn but my workout was only 35 minutes of cardio and heavy weights.

I had a good day and last night my calories were only at about 1474 and didn't make a good choice for a snack, I had toast with pb, for 300 calories, so I should have only done one toast or something else.

All week my number hasn't change much at all, I've been at 301.4 or .6 all week, not change though this morning it teased me at 299.9 before going back up.

I'm really trying to balance what I'm eating and getting all my food groups in, so I feel like I'm doing okay but I'm confused on the calorie budget so I'm sticking to the spark peopel one for now.

Hmmm, you might want to also check out the Calorie Counters thread on this site. Don't know much about this, but am MASSIVELY impressed with your workout! Keep it up!
Kira

Think of those calculators as a guideline. The only way to truly know how many calories you will need to lose weight is to either get professionally tested (unnecessary, I think) or trial and error. You could take the average and give that a try for a week or so and adjust up or down as needed. Or take a reasonable high number and work down for a few weeks until you see the loss you are looking for. It really is very individual what works for one person versus another.

I can only report what works for me (so far): sparkpeople gave me 1200 - 1550 and I always eat at the higher level, losing an average of just under 2lbs a week. I didn't believe eating that high would work but I tried it for a week and it did. So as a totally professionally UNqualified suggestion I would say try the higher level and see.

I agree that you should think of those sites as guidelines or starting points. Weight loss is not one size fits all. You have to work out what works for you.

Time based goals never have worked for me so I want to give a kind-of warning. Of course, it depends on your personality. How will you take it if you don't stay on track to weigh 175 by Oct 2010? Will you be tempted to give up? Don't be too hard on yourself.

I don't calorie count so I can't advise you on that, but I can advise that lifting weights will definitely make you hungrier, and you need protein immediately after finishing training. Since I don't do carbs and can't do protein shakes, I would eat a handful of shrimp or some chicken. Many people have a protein shake though. If you are working out, then you're hungry, you have to eat or your body will break down the muscle you have NOW ~ and you don't want that!

I did a lot of calorie tracking to figure out the best place for myself for losing weight. Even though some sites have said I should eat 1800 or 2000 calories to lose weight, it wasn't working for me. I have a GoWear Fit which just says to consume 500 fewer calories than I burn, but from what I've learned from MY body, I need to eat around 1600 calories a day to lose weight. 1800 and I'll maintain. 2000 and I'll gain weight.

You can have as many calculations as you want, but your body isn't as methodical as some website. We are all different which is why some of us struggle so much with weight loss and others don't need to.

I would say that 1500 is too low for you. I was eating 1700 at your weight (and still am) and am losing well if not quite as fast as I was.

Snowbound--you do know that the feewer calories you consume, the more your body will hang on to it? It goes into "starvation" mode and just won't let your body shed an ounce of fat.

I would think that 1400, even 1500 is too low. Try 1800 and see what happens.

Great stuff with the exercise! Way to go!

Thanks for the reminder. I was thinking the low numbers were too low for me and yes, I realized that I could put my body in starvation mode and I don't want that. I'm def looking at the higher number because I was eating around 2000 calories and still losing but I went and had to look at the numbers and look at my goals. Thinking maybe I need to be more precise, I will just keep working at it and seeing how it goes.

My goals are just guidelines, they aren't steadfast. I'm trying to keep this light and easy as much as I can but still make progress in this whole change. Dang, I've had salad and chicken for lunch all week, that's just weird. I went and got some salmon from my mom yesterday so I can change things up.

This is also my first steady week back at working out since the begining of may when hubby started work and I didn't have free lunches all month. So it was the gym yesterday and today I went to Aquafit for the first time with a friend and it was a great workout. I really enjoyed it and my knees didn't hurt during the lunges and squats. Though that has been getting better as the weight comes off.

Still feeling really good! Thanks everyone!