What is the best way to calculate how many calories I need to maintain my current weight. The internet is full of calculation website and they all seem to differ. Does anyone have a reliable way to calculate this that they could pass along? Thank you.
Um. Well. It does answer your exact question in the very first paragraph. Did you read it?
The answer is that there is no one perfect number to calculate your maintenance weight - or anyone's. The calculators online are all guidelines at best. The only way to know what works for you is to pick a number and start working with it. You'll need to tweak it some, I'm sure, until you get to a calorie level that works.
That's what every one of us here does - use the calculators to get a guideline, then adjust it for our personal situations, based on how much exercise we get, what kidn of food we eat, etc.
Or as the very first question in the FAQ said:
Quote:
How many calories should I be eating?
There is no set number that is perfect for everyone. Everyone's calorie needs are different, and while there are many online calorie calculators out there, they are really just guestimates. The only real way to know how many calories to eat per day is through trial and error. Basically, you have to find out what works for YOU.
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Last edited by PhotoChick; 12-31-2008 at 10:13 AM.
To borrow a phrase made popular by Barak Obama, let me just say.......
"Look it".....
What I wanted to know most you answered when you said, "The answer is that there is no one perfect number to calculate your maintenance weight - or anyone's. The calculators online are all guidelines at best." Thank you, that's what I wanted to know.
Some people consider the calculators to be entertainment at best It's really unfortunate, because it could be such a helpful tool if they worked. We have one on 3FC because people ask for it, but They are very rough guesses and very inaccurate for most people.
Just a guess here, but once we've been overweight or obese, our bodies change how we react to calories. Perhaps the old charts and calculators were based on average expenditure for someone of average weight (then numbers adjusted accordingly) but that doesn't work in real life. For example, we now know that a formerly obese person requires 20 to 25% fewer calories to maintain a weight than a never-overweight person at the same weight requires.
The only true way to find out would be to be tested by your physician or wellness center. A free method would be to carefully log your intake and determine what your unique body requires. Maybe eat 1800 calories a day for a week and see if your weight changed, then adjust accordingly. Trial and error, as noted above.
Another poster mentioned the other day you basically have to eat one calorie for every pound you are to maintain. If you exercise, you have to factor that in as well. I don't know if it's 100% true for everyone but I think it's pretty close to being true for me. If you continuing to lose and want to stop my advice is it increase slowly until you find your neutral zone. Then, you will know for certain.
Another poster mentioned the other day you basically have to eat one calorie for every pound you are to maintain. If you exercise, you have to factor that in as well. I don't know if it's 100% true for everyone but I think it's pretty close to being true for me. If you continuing to lose and want to stop my advice is it increase slowly until you find your neutral zone. Then, you will know for certain.
10 calories per pound maybe?
Even at that, there's no way I'm going to maintain on, say, 1350 calories. I'm losing on a lot more than that. But I guess you're saying to add exercise on top of that, so that might add back in a few hundred calories for me. Still seems low to me.
But yeah, you really just have to experiment. Three women weighing 130 pounds can be soooooo different from each other.
Thank you all so much for responding. Years ago....many years ago.....Dexatrim printed a little pamplet that said we need 13 calories for every pound that we are to maintain that weight. Then recently I looked online to find out if there was a more accurate calculation and I found that depending on which site you were at, that calculation varied from 8-11 calories and nothing above that. So it struck me curious, thus prompting my question. I thought there was a given calculation for this somewhere but I guess I was mistaken. I suppose if I start with a 5-7 hundred calorie reduction a day, then I will see about a 1-3 pound weight loss each week, adjusting accordingly for weight lost as I go. Thanks for all the input
Just to note: One of my very favorite sayings of the new year is "Look it" and yes, it is one that Barak Obama uses frequently and I just love the frankness of it.
OOOPPS, my bad. Yes, 10 calories for every pound to maintain. I eat about 1500 a day and run three miles a day. I am still losing at an acceptable pace.
Well, I am currently maintaining on about 1950 calories a day (I've been in the same 3 pound range for almost a month now). If you look at what I burn, it averages about 500 calories a day for exercise, and, with three little kids, I run around more than the average person, I think . So, with the exercise subtracted, that puts me at 1450, but then there is the extra kid lifting and walking and dancing with kids and chasing two-year-olds that I do so I am not sure the 10 calories per pound is really all that far off for my weight (134 this morning...) if I lived a more sedentary lifestyle. Of course, it would be even lower to maintain if I got less exercise because I have a very high lean muscle mass percentage for my weight -- part of it is natural, but most of it I have built over the last few months and that requires more calories to maintain than if I just sat around on my rear all day. So if I didn't get any exercise, my base metabolic rate would drop even farther.
1340 does not seem that impossible to me...while it is, obviously, a rough estimate, I think it is well within the realm of possible.
Hey Julie, do you mind me asking you how many calories you are taking in? Also, what do you do activity wise?
Nope, except I don't count calories anymore .
I did, however, put in yesterday's food. But it was (1) a light-ish day, and (2), I don't measure everything out, so I probably underestimated some quantities. It came out to 1744 calories, plus fudge up some for not measuring things.
Now, I didn't have my afternoon snack that day of raw veggies and hummus, because I wasn't hungry. I didn't have my drink with dinner (splash of white wine, splash of pom juice, fill with berry seltzer), because I'm trying to convince my body to start losing again . Didn't have any dark chocolate either. Then again I happened to have rice for both lunch and dinner . So not an entirely typical day.
So probably my usual day is more like 2000 calories? Hard to say. When I was counting calories, I usually had about 1475-1525. I felt nervous at less than that, because I worried about my metabolism going down.
According to FitDay, I burn ~ 2530-2592 calories including exercise. But I'm not losing at the rate that suggests. A consistent pound a week would be nice! Part of that may be eating more than I think I am, but I think it's mostly an overestimated basal rate. I think I need to change the setting to sedentary.
What that estimated 1752 calories was:
S - orange
B - pumpkin oatmeal w 2T flaxmeal and some soymilk; soy latte w agave
S - TJ 2% Greek yogurt, blueberries, Pumpkin Flax Granola
L - salad: brown basmati & wild rice pilaf (butter), chickpeas, roasted bell peppers, green & kalamata olives, pine nuts, garlic, OO, S&P; iced tea
S - 1 celery stalk, 1 Persian cucumber, 1 sm carrot, 1/4c hummus [skipped this snack, wasn't hungry]
D - brown basmati & wild rice pilaf (butter), stirfry (tofu, pom marinade, broccoli, bell pepper, mushroom, onion, cashews)
S - some grapes
C 225g 50% (185g net)
P 70g 14%
F 70g 34%
fiber 40g
My macros vary a lot, I'm not that consistent, but this is probably not too far off from typical. I am high on fat lately, but it's mostly plant fat.
What is the best way to calculate?
I think that will answer a lot of your questions.
It's really unfortunate, because it could be such a helpful tool if they worked. We have one on 3FC because people ask for it, but They are very rough guesses and very inaccurate for most people.
. Didn't have any dark chocolate either. Then again I happened to have rice for both lunch and dinner 
