Hi everybody, I have been around the board for a while but I am new to calorie counting. I have lost a bunch since January (see siggy) on an old WW plan which I was doing by myself (so no meeting etc). It is still working and I am quite happy with the losses.
However, I am a little worried about entering maintenance on WW since the level of detail on nutrition is limited with WW points. So I figured I check calorie counting.
I signed up on MyFitnessPal (btw, still looking for friends there! I am Josey12 if somebody wants to add me). I like the iPhone app and web platform. Especially since the nutrition data is massive. And I can log my workouts and make sure I eat enough.

I noticed a big difference between WW points and calories for the day. I have about 10-20% more points than calories (MFP put me on 1200 calories). One reason is that WW doesn't count veggies and most fruits. I do count some fruits because if I eat too much I found out I won't lose.

Anyways, here are some questions:

* Is 1200 right for me? Is there a way to double check?

* Regarding sodium, sugar, carb, etc. goals? Do you stick to that? I figured protein I can go over but I always exceed the sugar goal (i.e. way higher) and don't meet the sodium goal (way lower).

* Do you stick to a certain split of calories through out the day? For example 200 cal minimum for breakfast, 400 minimum for lunch etc?

why not just convert the points over to calories and go from there?

I love calorie counting (& I've been on WW a few times in the past). I like the flexibility of it---nothing is off limits. I don't stress about the macronutrients, but because I do use an calorie counting app & can see how many carbs, fat, protein, etc. I'm eating, it does make me more aware of the need to eat more protein. However, I subscribe to the K.I.S.S. method of weight loss ("keep it simple, stupid"). As such, I don't go nuts worrying about trying to meet specific goals other than my calorie count.

As for how many calories you should have, that's a matter of doing some investigating on the Internet (i.e., plugging your numbers--weight, height, age, etc.--into "calories needed" sites) & trial and error. I've found this site to be a good one: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
Some calorie counting sites seem to be overly generous with how much they say one can eat, but I've found the freedieting site to be the most realistic (for me).

@cherrypie: No idea how to do that since they are based on calories and fat.

Thanks for the link! Wow, huge difference. They suggest 1700 cal for normal weight loss (that's what I am aiming for). I think I will have to check more into that.

Most online sources, and even other sources are a good starting point. Generally you look at them and then pick a number close to the one given. If you lose more than 2lbs a week, eat more calories. If you stop losing or you think you'd like to lose a little quicker then eat less calories. The sources just give a good starting point.

As for other questions:
for meals, I do set a limit and I don't at the same time LOL. I've started to learn about how many calories I should be eating in the morning and afternoon to leave room for dinner and a snack. I eat between 1400-1500 each day. So breakfast is usually around 300, lunch is about the same. Then dinner is about 500 and then I have about 3-400 for a snack.
But, every one is different. Some people need a larger breakfast and a smaller dinner. That will take you a bit to figure out for yourself. It generally takes a week or 2.

Sugar most people go over because of fruits. Basically, the sugar to watch out for is sugar from pops, or sweets. Fructose (sugar in fruit) isn't really anything to worry about. I generally only have about 3-4T of sugar (from sweets or added to coffee) each day. The rest comes from fruit or naturally occurring sugar.

I also would like to congratulate on your success so far!! You're doing awesome!!! Keep it up!

I use fatsecret.com . It, too will not only calculate what you should be eating each day, but you can pretty much do everything you could do on the weight watcher's site. I log my food there each day and it tells me the nutrient percentage because I try to get in 25% protein and want to watch the fat.
I just started again this week as the last year I had pretty much not paid attention.

Oh, yeah....and it's free, too.