[tracyg40]

different sites today to get an idea of what my 'daily calorie intake' should be
to lose weight. I swear I got a different answer at each one. Any where from
1488 to 2043.....so how do you figure out how much to eat when trying to lose?

[alinnell]

I recommend putting a typical day's worth of food into Fitday and see what your calories WERE. Then cut by a couple hundred (or more) and try it out for a few days and adjust it as needed. For example, say the day before you start counting calories, you enter your food and it comes to 2200 calories. Cut it down to 1800 and see how you are with that. If need be, cut it further. It takes a lot of experimentation. Don't go below 1200 or you'll really get hungry and you might jeopardize the diet.

[chick_in_the_hat]

I agree with the above - you need to get an idea of what you are eating now. If you are not gaining on what you are eating now, it's fairly safe to assume that this is your maintenance calorie level.

In order to lose a pound a week, you need to be 3500 calories below this. For example, if you are currently staying the same while eating 2000 calories a day (2000 x 7 = 14000) You need to cut back to 10,500 calories for the week or 1500 claoires a day. It isn't really as cut and dry as all that, but you get the idea.

FitDay is only annoying at first, once you get the stuff in there that you eat all the time, it goes pretty quick. So be patient and keep at it for like a month. A little information/ edjumacation goes a long way..

[Mami]

Wow chickinthehat, you are almost at your goal! You have lost a huge amount of weight and you must be feeling great.

I agree with the ladies above. I think those who cut so drastically to say 1200 calories when they were possibly consuming 2200 a day (but probably more likely 2500 or more a day), get burned out and starved, end up eating more than they planned because of this, then get discouraged and give up. Its just not necessary to go that low at first, later on you may need to cut more.

[SmartButt]

Chick! That's my Sacramento homie! Way to go on the weight loss!

I'm wondering if we should put a sticky at the top of this forum that explains what the essence of calorie counting, deficit from exercise & eating right, and all that jazz, is about. I think we get asked this question about figuring calories out every day, sometimes twice.

I don't mind answering individually, I just wonder if anyone else thinks it would help people?

[Mami]

LOL! It does get rather repetitive around here, and us regulars constantly, but happily, repeat ourselves to educate the newcomers (which we've all been) on this whole calorie counting thing. Good idea about the sticky, how is that done?

[aphil]

This is the exact reason why I don't believe in calorie calculators. Even if you did get the same exact answer at each one...you might lose weight at one calorie level...while someone else here at a similar weight may do fine 100 calories above or below each day what YOU need, due to personal genetics.

Basically, figure out what you eat in an average day. Do FitDay for a day-or food journal on paper, whatever works for you. Eat normally. If you had, lets say, 2500 calories...drop it down by about 500. Do that for a week, weigh in, and see what happens. If you drop a pound or so-then great! Keep it up! If not, drop it down another 100 calories a day for a week-weigh in again. See what happens. You have to find the HIGHEST calorie level that you can eat and lose 1/2-2 pounds per week.

Why do I say "highest"? Because as you lose, a smaller body uses less calories per day. Why? Because if you weigh 180 pounds...then a few months later you weigh 160...it takes less effort to move around 160 pounds all day than it did when you were 20 pounds heavier. Your body uses less energy doing the same things.

Basically, when you get to a point where you do not lose after a couple weeks at a calorie level-it is time to drop it down by about 100 a day. You don't want to START low...then have nowhere to go (without starving and eating in an unhealthy manner) when your loss plateaus.

[Glory87]

Cutting and pasting from something I answered yesterday!

It's really trial and error for each individual person - depending on how much you are burning every day. In my opinion, it is best to start high and then look at weight loss over time to see results and adjust the numbers accordingly. Ideally, you should find the "sweet spot" the place where you can eat as many calories as possible while still losing weight.

Eating as many healthy calories as possible is a good thing - being hungry sucks, it gives you more opportunities to get nutrition you need and being satisfied can help you stay motivated. In addition, if you start at a very low number of calories per day, it is difficult to reduce calories later, if needed (many people plateau during weight loss).

A good place to start is to track your calories for a week (every bite!) and find out what you are eating now. Then make small changes downwards until you start losing weight.

It is a process requiring patience, but you are WORTH IT.