I'm sure you have heard this, but to lose 1 lb, you have to have a 3,500 calorie deficit each week from the amount of calories you burn. Personally, I am 28yo, 5'7" and weigh 159lbs. Sources will tell me that if I am mildly active, I would break even at about 2200 calories/day. I know for a fact that this is NOT true even though I run every other night for 30 mins at a 9 minute mile pace and weight/resist train the other nights except for Sunday. I stay at 1200 and have been losing 1 lb/week. Since you weigh a bit more, you probably also burn a bit more than I do (although at dental school I am constantly running around unless I'm in lecture). I suppose if I were you, I may start around 1500-1700 and see what you lose (bc everyone is different). If it doesn't work for you, try lowering it. They say women should NEVER go under 1200 and men should NEVER go under 1500. It's kind of something in the long run, that you have to play around with and figure out on your own. Good luck.

Of course the Paxil thing may also mean you will need to consume less calories and Singulair they have found no link to weight gain although I alway gain weight when I go on it for a few days before I visit my nieces and nephews that have a guinea pig. Maybe the best thing to do is figure out how many calories you are eating now and then subtract about 500 calories from that number every day.

At the top of the main Calorie Counters forum page are some sticky threads. Click the one called Frequently Asked Questions--it has some basic guidelines.

Jay

hey im about the same as you hieght and weight wise.. i consume 1700 ish calories give or take 100 so 1600-1800 calories per day and depending on my activty level i lose 1-3 pounds a week this way.. dont start too low becuase then you wont have any wiggle room..

start at 1800.. see if you are losing at that ... give it a few weeks and if you see no change then lower it to 1700 cals or burn an extra 100 calories with exercise.. perhaps a 15 minute moderate walk in your lunch break.. that would burn about 100 for you..

good luck

I'm 53 years old and I'm on my 53rd diet(heehee).
This time I'm calorie counting and logging food in an online fitness manager, fitday (hope I'm allowed to mention it). It has estimated 1750 calories for me, which sounds enormous but hey, in 15 days I've lost 10lbs, so maybe they're right!

BTW, if anyone has used fitday in the past, it's recently been Totally Revamped and has enough tabs and toggles and reports and stuff to read to stop you eating for hours!