[xGurlyGrlx]

I was thinking about the post Jen put up regarding maintenance calories. I was thinking...I don't really know how many calories I should be eating to lose. I just kind of picked a number that sounded good. I am following South Beach but also watch my calories. I know what my BMR (1906.4 & calories to maintain my weight now - 2621) is but I am kind of lost as to how to figure out how many calories I need to eat to burn a certain amount of lbs. Can someone who understands it help me. I just don't know what do with those numbers.

[kuhljeanie]

Absolutely. First you decide how much you want to reasonably lose a week. Say it's 1.5 lbs. At 3500 calories a pound, that works out to a 5250 calorie deficit a week, or 750 a day. If between resting BMR and exercise you burn 2500 calories a day, you'd need to eat (2500-750) or 1750 calories a day. If you exercise more, you eat more to maintain the same level of deficit. If you want to lose more, you have to increase the deficit.

Does that make sense?

[Meg]

The best thing to do with the numbers is to ignore the numbers.

It's impossible to accurately assess either your BMR or the calories you burn (through exercise and daily living) unless we put you in a lab for several weeks, hook you up to a machine that measures your O2 consumption, and measure all your intake and output. All the calculators are just guesses and averages and may be completely off-base for you.

You did the right thing by picking a reasonable calorie level and trying that out. If you're losing 1 - 2 pounds a week, then you know it's the right level for you. It's that easy!