So I used the calculator at freedieting.com to see how many calories I should be consuming (now that I have a real scale and could weigh myself officially).

I'm new to this serious type of calorie counting. Previously, I would guess, and I was surely overeating. Now, I am really serious about this, and I am tracking absolutely everything.

The counter itself says that for fat loss, I should be consuming about ~2000/day and for extreme fat loss I should be consuming ~1500/day.

Man... this calorie counting thing is possibly more hectic than exercising

I also try my best to have extremely balanced meals in the day, trying to hit my numbers from SparkPeople on Protien, Fat, and Carbs. Thus far, I have come within 3 percentage points of each item/day.

Right now, I'm consuming between 1500 and 1700 cals/day. On days that I exercise (always cardio for now) I add a bit more.

Alright. That was the background. Hehe.

My questions are:
Do I sound okay, or should I be adjusting? Right now, 1500cals is actually treating me really well. I feel full, satisfied, and I'm not too tired or unfocused.
What are signs that I should look for to alter my intake (other than tiredness & faintness)?
How beneficial is calorie cycling?
How does exercise play in to all of this? (Someone had explained BMR or something, but I am still unsure)

Thanks

It sounds like it's working great for you so far- if it's not broken, don't fix it!

In addition to what you mentioned, I'd alter the intake if you feel like you can't stick with it. Key is being able to stick to this for your life. If you feel it's unrealistic in any way for the long term, start rethinking or restructuring.

I've personally found calorie cycling to be pretty beneficial. But for me it doesn't make significant enough of a difference to obsess over it. I'm not a fan of forcing myself to eat more if I'm not hungry, or of feeling hungry enough to gnaw off my hand. The best way you're going to figure this out is by playing around with it.

For me, I try to view exercise and diet separately so that I don't use my hard work in exercise as an excuse to eat more to "compensate" for the calories. That said, I don't feel terribly guilty eating slightly more on days that I do exercise. I find that exercise makes me more focused, feel better, and helps me stay on track- but I recognize my diet as the most important part of weight loss.

Your BMR is the energy you burn *without* exercise. There are all sorts of formulas out there that can help you determine your BMR and figure out how much you're burning vs eating, and it's good to have that knowledge, but it doesn't all come down to a formula- just nice to have that ballpark figure.

Thanks for the response, and the clarification.

I also like exercising, but unfortunately right now I have two jobs. When I cut it down to one (probably within the next month or two, I should be able to exercise more regularly. I usually was thinking of CC and exercise as separate, but I just wanted to check to see if it was important that I factor that in.

I figure it is too difficult to figure out how many calories I've burned in a workout, so subtracting some number would probably end up having me overeat.

M3K - Well let's see...It sounds right what you are doing but everyone's body is different. So monitor your calories for your losses. A good time to alter your calories is when you hit a stall for a week or more. Sometimes our bodies get used to functioning on fewer calories then it will stabilize and stall. Then you have to determine if doing a couple of days of higher will move you to loosing. If your weight increases try decreasing your calories but I would suggest not going down by more than 100 at a time. Depending on your body and how it adjusts to new caloric intakes. Calorie cycling can be beneficial but like djs06 said, don't obsess over it. If you aren't eating the same things everyday, you will probably be cycling accidentally. Do what works well for your body. This will be when you learn to listen to what your body is saying. If you get too hungry then eat. If you are satisfied don't eat just to get to a caloric number. On the workouts, whatever you set your calorie budget for the day then consume that number It may not be beneficial to you to eat the workout calories back. Just count that as an extra deficit. Say you eat 1560 calories today and you burn off 300...just let the 1560 that you ate be what it is for the day. Eating back those calories my work for a time but then it may cause some adverse effects. On the BMR...I don't get it either I just continue to do what my body says is working for it.

In the beginning counting your calories can be intense but after a little while it becomes what you do and it's kinda like going to work. It's extra things to do but it must be done. The best way to keep it from becoming obsessive, PLAN AHEAD!! If you can prepare your food on the weekend and get everything set for each day then it gets easy or do it the night before. It keeps it simple and you aren't rushing the next day.

Thanks! After six days of calorie counting and a few workouts (plus running around at my job all day) I've lost just about 1 pound!

It's a small victory, but I'm so happy about it! One down, 49 to go!

1 LB is a HUGE victory. That 3500 calories!

You sound like you are doing fine. I don't bother with the zig zag -- it really just depends on the person.

A.

Thanks! It feels awesome to have least seen a small decrease, even though I still feel huge! Hahaha. I even weighed myself right after I had eaten a reasonably large meal, and had a rough day yesterday at a family picnic. Woo!

I'll try cycling if and when a plateau comes up. Other than that, I usually naturally cycle anyway. Some days I have less than 1500, but I usually never go above 1700.