[CinnamonGirl]

OK, I have a Fitday account and am tracking my calories and exercise. I'm trying to figure out how many calories/day I should be targeting to lose 1-2 lbs/week. I'm 5'10" (70"), weight 169 lbs, 44 years old. I have a fairly sedentary job (1/2 the time I'm on my feet all day standing - not much walking and 1/2 the time I'm on my butt all day at a computer). I found a website (preventdisease dot com) that had a BMR + AMR calculator but honestly it's so confusing I don't know what the outcome is. The site calculates my BMR @ 1515 and my BMR + AMR @ 1590. OK, but what does that mean? Do I shoot for 1590 calories a day to lose weight or go below because 1590 is to maintain where I am now?

Sorry for the long question but I've not lost counting calories before so don't really know what I'm doing.

TIA for all you help!
Beth

PS I don't eat fast food, drink pop (diet or otherwise). I've joined the wholefoods forum and eat whole foods/super foods. I drink 64 oz. of water/day and exersize (weights and cardio) at least 5x/week.

[alinnell]

I suggest you log in a week's worth of food to see where you are NOW calorie-wise and then cut it by 200-300 to see if you are able to lose at that calorie level. There is no cut and dried calculation and everyone is different. It takes a lot of trial and error before you zone in on the level that is meant for you (and then you have to change it as you begin to lose).

My job is similar (but mostly computer work) but I do work out daily (30 minutes on my Nordic Track). I eat about 1200-1400 calories per day (but I've stagnated and am trying to figure out why I'm not losing again).

[AnAbsoluteDiva]

Go to caloriesperhour dot com and read the tutorials. Everything you need to know is there.

[CinnamonGirl]

Thanks you both for the help!

Beth

[fitbyforty]

http://nutrition.about.com/library/b...tion_guide.htm

[CinnamonGirl]

Thanks, fitbyfourty. Oh, so much information. This is good.

Beth