I can tell you that when I first started eating healthy, I did not count calories. When I first weighed in, after starting my life change, I was 242. I was probably closer to 250 when I started as far as I know. Judging by old pictures, that's probably a pretty accurate figure. Anyway, I later started counting calories as I lost the weight and needed to boost the loss at plateaus. And I played around with the calories in Fitday and discovered that I was likely eating around 2,000 calories a day at first and was still losing weight. So yes, it could be accurate. The best anyone can do, as all our body shapes and metabolisms differ, is to play with your own calories to find which range works best for you. Try 1,600 for a couple of weeks and if it doesn't work, try something else.

I would even eat more at this stage -- as much as 2000, especially if you're exercising.

The general rule of thumb is to cut 250 per day from your maintenance calories and burn an additional 250 through exercise. This would result in 1 pound per week while still supporting your metabolism.

I agree. I started off at 214 pounds, didn't exercise enough to speak of, and averaged around 1800-2000 calories each day and still lost in the 1-2 pound per week range. It wasn't until my weight loss slowing (.5 a pound or less each week), that I really kicked in the workouts and reduced my calories to 1500. Even then I still had a few 1800 calorie days here and there. Now, at 150, I really enjoy working out and do it much more often, do as much weight training as I do cardio, and have had to up my calories back up into the 1600-1800 range to lose.

And Almostheaven is exactly right. There is no magic number that suits everyone. So, think of the calculator you used as a guide and start on the higher end of what it suggests and see how it goes. Then, make adjustments as needed.

I wouldnt believe calorie counters on the internet, because your calorie needs should be based off your body fat percentage not just your weight and height. An 150 pound female with 17% fat needs to eat less than an 150 pound female who has 12% fat to lose weight, ya know.

I agree.I use them as a guide,but I play around with the numbers.

At first,I didn't count calories and wiped out a lot of sugar from my diet.I reduced portions too.I lost 10 lbs that way.Then I decided to count cals.I would eat like 1760 cals,with no exercise(I weight trained at first,but fell off the wagon).Now I'm starting to get back on the wagon with daily walking,and found that 1760 cals left me hungry now that I do the walking.Now I eat 1860 cals,more or less and I'm fine.It depends on exercise level.If your stomach tell you you're hungry,and if you feel somewhat weak and not with enough energy to exercise,you need to increase your cals.It just depends on you too.For some peopl,1200-1500 cals is great!I feel like I'm starving with that amount.Anything less than 1700-1860 is not enough for me.

I started out at 248 and was eating around 2600 calories a day most days pre-diet. I'm now eating only about 1500 a day, and exercising, and I'm thrilled with my weight loss. If I'm hungry I eat more, so I'm not depriving myself, and I get one "free day" a month (first day of my placebo pills in my pill pack) ... I'm happy. I think that the others have had good suggestions and to start with, I think 1600 sounds great but if that's not enough right now, even 1800 or even 2000 is a good amount to start with. You can always cut further if necessary.