New here
 

(posted an intro into cal counters)

Well I am new here and gonna do a whole foods approach with some calorie counting, because I figure you can probably get fat off too much of anything...except maybe only raw veggies, not sure on that heh.

My question is this, how do you bring your calories down, I have a really hard time getting rid of the weight but also I kept track of my calories for a few days and found I was eating more than I thought. (2600-3000 :o ) Should I do it cut and dry and just drop it to some arbitrary number and go from there? Or maybe work it down a bit. Go to 2000, then 1800 then 1600 ect.

Also I am not sure the level of calories I should try for, I know it will differ for every person but has anyone cut back too much and needed to up it or what? I was thinking of making my goal for a few weeks 1800 but I really want to start losing!!! If I stall out for too long I might get frustrated. Also I am not sure how accurate some of those calorie estimators are, they seem to come up with different numbers depending on where you go.

Anyway advice would be great! I plan for exercise in June on trying to walk 30 min daily, do calestinics (20 each of situp, pushups, jumping jacks and squats) and 10-20 min. of evening yoga. Hopefully I will find time to up it after june or july, building the habit is priority now.

Hello! Congratulations on making a decision to work on being healthier and leaner!

You can do it any way you want. I personally am a rip-the-bandaid-off-all-at-once sort of person, so I just drop my intake to the new calorie level all at once. You could stair-step down, though, if that works for you. Both will get you there!

You want to pick a calorie level that will give you weight loss, but is also sustainable for you. Remember, you will be eating at a reduced calorie level FOREVER to lose the weight and maintain it! My rule-of-thumb is that if it's not a level I could maintain forever, then it's not right. I find it comfortable to drop between 500-700 calories a day. It sounds like you will be adding exercise - maybe burning an additional 200 calories a day that way. So, let's say you decide to burn 200 calories a day in exercise and drop your intake by 500 calories - down to 2200 calories a day. You could expect to lose 1.4 pounds a week (3500 calories = 1 lb). At your weight, you might be able to reduce more calories and still be comfortable. If you burn 200 calories a day in exercise and drop your intake to 1800 (reduce by 900 calories a day), you can expect to lose 2.2 lb a week.

You could try to go lower than that (and lose more quickly) - but you have to ask yourself: Can I keep this up? For me, if I go below 1600 calories I start having a lot of problems. 1800 calories is a comfortable, sustainable level for me.

If you go down to 2000 cals, you should lose 1 lb/ dry weight per week. I say this because you will lose more at the beginning like the first 2 weeks and then it will taper off.

At about 1750 cals, you'll lose about 1 1/2 lbs. to 2 lbs. /week by math so figure on 1800 cals/day and you should be doing well.