calorie confusion
 

http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/ will give you a formula for determining your basal metabolism rate (BMR), which is an estimate of what your body burns if your are just sitting there.

You are not going to trigger starvation mode with 1400 calories. That is usually a concern if a person is eating less than 1200 caolires. If you are doing weight training and aerobic exercise, you probably could lose weight with 1600. If you are losing weight OK and feel fine at 1400, IMHO there is no need to change what is working.

Relax. Breathe. Ahhh. Good. Thing is, no one or nothing, no calculator, no test (spending money NOT necessary) doctor, nutritionist, dietician, someone who's "been there done that", genie or psychic reader can tell you the exact amount of calories that will work specifically for you. They are all just guesstimates. You my dear will have to figure that one out on your own through experimentation and trial and error. You do that by picking a number, sticking to it faithfully for 2 - 3 weeks and see what results you get. Then you can make adjustments as need be.

I think 1400 calories would be a great place to begin.

^^^ Listen to Robin. She is absolutely correct.
As Meg is fond of saying, "we are al laboratories of one".

And, I concur - given your starting weight and height, 1400 is a splendid number to start with.

Coincidentally, it is my maintenance number (but I am significantly shorter, and a lot older than you).

There might be something to the goal weight x 10 thing. I am eating 1500 calories, and my goal weight is 150.

I don't see how goal weight x 10 could work. I mean if I am 160 or 360 and I want to weight 150 I should eat 1500? I don't think so.
Like others have said, you have to start somewhere and see what works for you. And even what works for you will change as you lose weight and your body adjusts.
My advice? Stop worrying about the formulas and calculators, and focus on learning about your own body and how it works. Good luck!

Not only will it not "work" for the shorter folks, but what about the ones who are starting out at higher weights that have the same exact goal? For instance, you've got 2 people, both 5'4", both have a goal weight of 130 lbs. So that would be 1300 calories. But one is 295 pounds and one is 165 lbs. Well it might be okay for that 165 pound person, but what about that 295 pound person?

Like Robin said...

But yeah, I use this calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Then from there, I use their BMI and Daily Calorie Needs calculator as well. They've worked for me, to the T!

You can also try tracking your 'normal' intake. Track for a few days or weeks and see how many calories you are eating then cut from there.

Why don't you just take the experimental "feel" approach. Reduce your calorie intake by cutting out sweets, softdrinks, and reduce your meal portion size. If you start losing weight great. If not reduce more. If you lose too much increase a little. Once you are happy where you are at count how many calories you are eating and stick with that. That is truly about the only way to find out specific needs for you.

I for one can't go by what I "feel", especially when I first started out. I "felt" like I always wanted to eat. For many of us, just watching ourselves, cutting out the sweets, reducing portion size, eating only healthy, is just not enough. Too "open ended". We need more "guidelines" so to speak. Something to put the brakes on overeating, built in accountability and FORCED portion control. That is what calorie counting did/does for me. And I personally needed it from the very beginning because THAT is what taught me what I "should" *feel* like. So I personally think it's EASIER and WISER to pick one of those "guesstimates" and work from there.