I'm 33 years old, 5'6" and weigh 184 lbs. I maintain when I eat 1400 kcal. I try to stick to roughly 1400 and rely on exercise to lose weight. It's very frustrating to have such a rubbish metabolism, but maybe it's the way I do it - the foods I choose etc. I am trying to just come to terms with it and adjust my eating habits accordingly.

Im 22 and 5'6. I am new to calorie counting and just started on Jan. 4th. I stay around 1100-1400 cal/day. So far I like it and have lost 3.6lbs. I havn't been exercising, but I plan to start running and going to the gym next week. I will probably bump up my calories to stay around the 1400 area since I will be exercising.

I try for 1500 a day

On a good day I m 1200 calorie give or take, on a slightly off track day.. I'd say around 1500 ><

56
5'4"
190.4 pounds currently - have lost 15
Eating between 1100 and 1200 calories most days, occasionally more.
That is base calories without exercise. If I exercise I add on those days commensurate with the exercise.

Hi all! I just started my calorie counting diet this past Monday. I have been eating 1500 calories a day, and have started riding my exercise bike one mile each night, just to start. I am new here and just signed up today. I am 32 years old, married 14 years, one four year old daughter. My hubby and I are selfemployed and stress plays a huge factor in my daily life. I love to read and write, crafts and cooking. I live in NC and am your basic southern mom. I would love some serious diet buddies here and on yahoo messenger, as I am constantly logged into that. Any friends made and advice given is appreciated.

I'm 5'4", 152# and I currently eat between 1200-1400 calories per day. I usually exercise everyday for at least 30 minutes. I average 1-2 pounds per week.

I am 42. I eat between 1600 -1800 calories a day. i am also just starting to work with kettlebells, which I love! Today, I am going to try Pilates.

I'm 45, 5'6" and this morning weighed 141.

I have been maintaining a 190+ pound loss for 18 months now and average around 1900 calories a day to keep it off. When I was in the losing stage of things I ate 1200 calories Monday thru Thursday and 1500 calories Friday thru Sunday. I lost it all within 17 months.

The secret to my success was not my calorie count. nor my daily excercise it was that I stuck to it day after day after week after week after month after month. I didn't give up, and didn't have cheat days, I didn't start over on Monday. I just kept swimming.

NOW, I have cheat days, and I have some fun with my food choices, but ALWAYS, if I'm one pound over my highest range weight (143) I'm back into losing mode until I'm back under 140.

Lori Bell, you are amazing! Such much good advice in one short post :)

This is a very helpful thread. I started counting calories last Monday after thinking "I know what I eat every day, have a pretty good idea what my caloric intake is everyday, and I workout...why am I not losing weight?!" Once I tallied them up, I was wayyyy off. :)

I am 5'8, 31 years old, and started last Monday at 196.8. I am eating between 1460-1650 calories a day and seeing what happens. I checked this morning (even though I weigh in on Fridays) and my weight was 193.6, so I am hoping this caloric range works for me because it's easy to maintain and I am not starving on it.

Emme - Sounds like a GREAT place to start!;) Congrats on your loss!:)

Thanks, I appreciate it! I have been hovering at 195-200 for just over a year now, and I am ready to start losing again :)

I'm 5'4 and 215lbs. I eat 1400-1450 calories per day. If I exercise, then I add the calories burned so I'm still at 1400-1450 calories. I've lost 2.4 lbs in my first 5 days.